Papa Bear Studios
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The past year has been right out of the pages of "Mr. Toads wild ride". Got laid off August of 23. Trying to find a like position in the tech industry has been impossible. By this march it really looked like I was going to lose the house and everything else. But I took the painful step of cashing out my 401k to cover expenses and then managed to parlay I prior contact into an hourly consulting project that put myself and another gent to work full time. Now I am a co founder of a software company building a product and on the investor hunt. Which brings me to here. Since we spun up our corporation my linkedin feed has been flooded with cold queries from salesp…
Last reply by fae_alba, -
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Slowly, oh so slowly I am getting my head above water with work. The company has been through one acquisition and now a merger with another software company, and the past 18 months have been very insane. During the initial acquisition my title went from senior solution architect to consultant (a demotion) then I was moved to a management position, then to a higher management position, all without a bump in pay. On top of that I manage three multi-million dollar projects in three states, and have to maintain a billable rate of 75% or better (I'm at 105% and work 60+ hours a week). Now the acquisition is in the final stages, with a round of layoffs about to happen in t…
Last reply by Fuchur, -
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In using A:M to create 3D models I've run into persistent challenges when trying to create a hole thru a solid body. For instance, for my seagull I need to model a servo mount with mechanical mount points for the servo. I want to model in screw holes so I'm not stuck with drilling and tapping after a print is done. Normally I would model a cylinder and stitch that into the model, but that always comes with messy splining, or a bunch of 5 point patches half of which can't be closed. So, I thought what about a boolean cutter? Could I use that to place a hole where I need it, then will the stl exporter see it and generate the proper code. So I tried, and and while the b…
Last reply by robcat2075, -
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Yes, another fur/hair question. For each of these contests of ours I endeavor to learn/try something new. This time it's hair. I am at the point of trying to create an animal skin (what caveman would be caught out in public without his high fashion cave fur?). I'm trying to get the pattern of a decal to color the hair. I've followed the steps, but all I'm getting is a solid brown, not the spotting I'm looking for. my fur decal the result the test project ProjectTest.prj
Last reply by fae_alba, -
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It's been quite a while since I've been on the forums. I've been heads down on my latest 3D printing project. This one is actually the one that got me into 3D printing to begin with. If any of you have been to Disney World, Epcot in Orlando you might remember the Finding Nemo ride, and the animatronic seagulls outside the entrance. I have been wanting to build one of these for the longest times, and this project was the reason for buying the 3D printer I did, since it was the best I could afford that would print the largest model. So a few months ago I started modeling one in A:M and this is where I'm at so far. I've been able to print the head and beaks, which …
Last reply by fae_alba, -
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Can anyone give some good tips/tuts on modeling a set of gears like the image below. The goal is to 3D print them so the tolerance of the teeth need to be fairly good.
Last reply by serg2, -
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In between other projects and work, I sometimes get a free moment to continue with A:M. Of course my latest obsession is my 3D printer. I decided to push the limits and create a print of Papa Bear fishing. Below is an A:M chor image of my model. The base with fish, Papa Bear, and the fishing pole all will be printed separately and glued together once cleaned up. As a first test run I printed them at a small scale (Papa Bear is only 2 inches for the test) with a "normal resolution". Papa Bear I printed standing up, with full supports to try and reduce the amount of surface contact and clean up. This is what he looks like coming off of the printer... …
Last reply by fae_alba, -
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I oft times get sucked down the rabbit hole when it comes to A:M. Someone shouts "squirrel!" and I'm off on a tangent faster than you can animate a blink. Last month I bought some new filament for my 3D printer. It was advertised to print looking like wood. So I ask myself, just what can I print to test out that claim? My mind went to a pirate cannon. Of course it did. So I go straight to my favorite 3D modeling software (A:M) and model up a pirate canon, and send it off to my 3D printer. Needless to say the first time through wasn't all that great, but lessons were learned. Below are some images to show how this little worked out. I'm forcing myself to move on…
Last reply by fae_alba, -
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I'm looking for thoughts on the best approach to weathering a truck model. I am trying to get this to look something like this No entirely so ratty, but not so brandy new either. I figure I could bring it into photoshop and paint up a decal, but I'm not all that proficient with that so am looking for a down and "dirty" (pun intended) way.
Last reply by Phil, -
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I've been spending a lot of time playing with my 3D printer, and started down the rabbit hole of using AM to model some parts for an animatronic projects I've started. The below screen grab is for an eyelid mechanism that i need to print but the infamous 5 point patch has reared its ugly head. Below is a patch that I cannot seem to close. The patch across from it did close as a 5 pointer, the one that won't is a product of extruding the closed patch. I cannot for the life of me figure what is wrong with it, having tried the lasso tool, hiding all other points then selecting, selecting in different orders... you name it. I've attached the model for anyone wish…
Last reply by fae_alba, -
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- 9 replies
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Santa got me a new monoprice 3d printer and I just started to have some fun with it. Decided to see how papa bear would fare inn the 3rd world so I tossed an older model over to the printer and came up with the same below.... It certainly is not the greatest, and there is a lot that can be improved, but hey, it's still kind of fun to see him in a more solid form!
Last reply by fae_alba, -
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This past halloween I on a whim did a display in my office window using a back projection screen (I never do anything for halloween, but this was fun!). We had crowds of people stopping on the sidewalk to watch a series of 4 videos (purchased from amazon). It got me to thinking that Christmas. My front porch wraps around the side, and would be the perfect place to do this, with the screen between the pillars Instead of shelling out hard earned dollars for someone else's animations, I thought I'd put A:M to work and do my own. This is a first pass of a christmas tree being unveiled by a flying spark. My goal is to match the opening from DIsney of Tinker…
Last reply by Shelton, -
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Here's a character that is so new that the paint is still wet on it! I pulled this guy out of my hat in a few nights of random splining. He even sports a very basic rig and pose sliders for eyes and eyebrows.
Last reply by RS3D, -
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Been playing hooky from work (not hard to do on a friday!) and decided to resurrect an old project from about 10 years ago for the summer classics contest. The basic idea is to create a Brazilian style hammock using cloth. I want it to hang loosely, forming itself around the body/shape lying in it. I know I can do it with bones, and shaping in muscle mode in the chor, but where's the fun in that I ask? I've gotten the cloth material on the hammock, and a cloth deflector on the body proxy. But after the cloth sim is run the proxy penetrates the cloth. Add to that it seems that the decal of the hammock disappears, which is really strange. edit...here's a s…
Last reply by fae_alba, -
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I've been trying to come up with an elegant way to model a quasi realistic palm tree. I have a model done that so far only has the trunk and one palm frond modeled. The frond itself is a simple mesh, with an image applied as a cookie cut. I have the trunk and one frond as a single model. The frond has a rig to allow me to position it in a chor as I need depending on the scene. The intention was to then to save off the frond/rig separately, then re-import and position each frond as I need to make a fully leafed out palm tree. The issue I'm bumping up against is that when I import the frond model, then translate it to the position I need it to, the rig doesn't translate…
Last reply by Rodney, -
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Have been investigating the possibilities.... This mod uses what I'd call a 'no frills' or 'quick' rig. In other words, I'm not sure anyone else but me would call it a rig.
Last reply by Rodney, -
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I was doing a little research on flour sack exercises and saw one post that the tabs, or arms and legs of a flour sack are more for conveying emotion than for a means to create motion. That sort of resonated with me, so I revisited the rig on my flour sack and added some dynamic constraints to the bones for the "arms", then ran a quick test. The result is below. The big question now is, if the tabs, tassels, whatever, are not for motion, then how to we motivate a flour sack to scoot across the screen? https://youtu.be/-hrv65lValY
Last reply by Rodney, -
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Well, I tried. A few weeks ago I dug up from my backup disk a halloween short that I had done 13 years ago. I thought I would simply re-render it, have my youngest write a quick soundtrack, and have a short done for this halloween. Of course, as soon as I looked at the chors I thought, "Heck I can improve on this!" What I intended to do was start off with the typical spooky scene of a cemetery, then have, off screen, two voices swapping silly halloween jokes. Cut to two talking statue busts (think the Haunted Mansion) cracking jokes and being an overall rowdy duo. Then cut back to the cemetery with a closeup of a tombstone, where a skeleton is breaking out of the grou…
Last reply by fae_alba, -
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Starting to get back into the swing of things, after a busy summer (wish it weren't over though!), new granddaughter, and tons of work around the house. Before I jumped into trying to animate Papa Bear, I figured I'd have a go at the ol' flour sack exercise. Here's the model with a first pass of rigging. I'll start some test posing tomorrow.
Last reply by pixelplucker, -
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I thought I'd poke my head in to say hey and "Merry Christmas". I had every intention of getting Papa Bear set up to work with my new mo cap suit. Did make a start, but then work took over. A 70 hour work week feels like a vacation to me now! Hopefully the project I'm on will quite down in a few weeks and I can get back to workin in A:M. Man I miss it!
Last reply by fae_alba, -
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Over a year and a half ago I sponsored on Kickstarter the Perception Neuron motion capture campaign. Didn't really expect they would meet their goal since they were looking for over $300k and were only $75k at the time. Much to my surprise (and my wallet) they did meet the goal and I had "bought" a $175 motion capture suit. It took them much longer than they expected to get the development done, but finally, last week, I got mine in the mail. It's a neat rig to be sure. I finally got it set up, though there are a few glitches that I suspect are more on my part, but I did capture a simple get up and walk sequence and now need to see how it will translate in A:M. The …
Last reply by fae_alba, -
- 18 replies
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Thought I'd share. Here's the scene I'm working on for the insect contest. i have my insect character very nearly done, but wanted to get the staging scene done first. I still need to get some sort of fogging added since I'm going for a film noir feel. I've surprised myself with the lighting, guess you really can teach an old dog new tricks. Any suggestions, let me have em!
Last reply by fae_alba, -
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- 9 replies
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A little history first: My oldest daughter loved Disney's Jungle Book, and always associated her old man with Baloo, and started calling me 'Papa Bear' which was the nickname of Baloo. I on the other hand always took a cotton to Disney's Humphrey the Bear, which is the basis for my Papa Bear character. My quandary is this, I created a blog site with the url of pappabearstudio.com. That domain is expiring, but I'm questioning if whether I want to maintain that domain or "re brand" my studio efforts into something a little more generic. I'm thinking of something along the lines of "Kitchen Table Studios" but that one has a fb page already. I'm looking for so…
Last reply by fae_alba, -
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- 8 replies
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I've re-rigged Papa Bear (again) with the Saucy Rig. So far I'm loving the ease of the rig. But I've run into the same challenge that I have before, with the big guys big belly. When I rotate the leg up, I want it to obviously not penetrate the stomach. I've messed with CP weights, with smartskin, and a combination of both, but it never really is as smooth as I want it to be. Below are some screen grabs of the upper leg forward and backward rotation and where the challenge is. Any suggestions?
Last reply by fae_alba, -
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You all may have figured out by now that I am a rather big lover of Disney art, particularly of an earlier vintage. One of my passions is trolling certain auction sites for various pieces of Disneyana. Usually I find props from recent movies, or signage from the Disney parks. But just last week I managed to score some original artwork from a Disney animated short. Sadly, the actual short it was used in is unknown, so as in all things, I had to take it on faith. BUT, it does look the part. It's this look that I have always wanted to reproduce with the Papa Bear shorts that I am working on, which hopefully, I'll actually be able to get back to soon! Anyways, for your v…
Last reply by robcat2075, -
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The project I've been on for work has had me totally swamped (as Rodney can attest to) for the past year. Every two weeks I'm flying across country to the client site and living out of a hotel room for 5 days. Very disruptive to getting anything done. Each trip, I hole up in my hotel room and wish I could get some work done on A:M. But not wanting to lug two laptops around in the airports leaves me without A:M (sigh). Well, just a few minutes ago, as I sat through another conference call and was gearing up for another trip, I bit the bullet and bought another copy of A:M, and loaded it on my work laptop. Now, assuming I have the energy, I can work on A:M at night. No …
Last reply by Rodney, -
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- 9 replies
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Or...Which Approach is Best for Wardrobe changes. When i started the first iteration of Papa Bear I knew he was gonna be cloths wearing bear favoring this wonderful, quiche tropical print shirts (his tastes favor mine, surprisingly). So I modeled him wearing a shirt, still uncertain how to go about changing the decaling on the fly. In rigging I discovered that it was a real pain in the neck trying to get the setup right to prevent the arm mesh from overlapping the sleeve. The solution at the time was to simply remove the mesh from the arm where the sleeves were. Fast forward to the latest contest where I wanted Papa Bear to wear a vest, instead of a shirt. Go figu…
Last reply by Shelton, -
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I had forgotten that I put together a terrain test for Papa Bear's fishing hole and just ran across some of the renderings from that test. I can't find the file at present but am sure I have it around here yet. The terrain was actually a test to see how rapidly I could create an outside set starting from top view (plan view) in a Chor while working simultaneously in the Modeling window. I thought that worked quite well. The attache .mov file is actually a representation of all the modes that can be used with the Merge Post Effect via Composite. And of course the settings can be animated (but we can't always see what we've set... not in the Timeline that is.…
Last reply by fae_alba, -
- 3 replies
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I've been cooking Papa Bear's rig low and slow for quite some time, adding cp weights, a face rig etc. Finally I got to a stage where I felt it was time to finalize things and executed the mirror bones plug in (2008 rig btw). Once I did this per the instructions, I noticed right away that the eye, ear, lip bones I added did not mirror. Upon further investigation I also noticed that the fan bones for the arms and legs, as well as the shoulder bone didn't mirror either. Well, as another bear once muttered, "Oh bother!" If anyone might give a look and offer up some hints I'd appreciate it. PappaBear2008RigFinal_7_2008_PostInstallRigV22pre_mirrorbones.mdl
Last reply by fae_alba, -
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- 5 replies
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Hope you have a fine birthday with minimal worries!
Last reply by serg2, -
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I am working on Papa Bear's face rig. Today's task is to work on the eyelids. Up till now I've always controlled eyelids with a pose slider and manipulating cp's in muscle mode, but that created a lot of keyframes and made it nearly impossible to have the right and left eyelid work the same. So this time I wanted to try using bones. To facilitate this I added more eye rings as well as changed the sape of the eyeball from an oblong to a normal sphere. So far I have three bones for the eyelid, one controlling the center of the eyelid, and one on the inner side and outer side of the eyelid. The inner and outer bones of an orient like constraint to the center bone. So f…
Last reply by robcat2075, -
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Paul, You mentioned in another topic your desire to see your Papa Bear production progress and suggested your willingness to have others assist in that effort. I'm curious if part of your project could be 'open sourced' to allow public input and contribution. Every aspect of production would not need to be made public but perhaps some could be. I realize that a goal and a significant challenge in such a thing would be to maintain your vision for the production as you move forward but I don't see that as a major obstacle as long as everyone knows you reserve the right to green light and approve each element... and even change them later as you see fit. Believe…
Last reply by Rodney, -
- 6 replies
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Papa Bear is going fishing in a few days, but he needs some fish to catch before he can. I've modeled up the fish, and am at the point of coming up with a rig that will best give the impression of a swimming fish. I started out with a simple backbone rig, adding some dynamic constraints to help simulate the swimming. The movie below is the result. While i kind of like the result, the fish swims more like a dolphin than your run of the mill trout. But for the life of me, I can't seem to suss out the best approach. Ideas? The rig: The result: (no keyframes applied, the result is simply the dynamic constraints at work) swim_test.mov
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 10 replies
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As a break to clear my head before finishing up some outstanding projects, I decided to experiment with hair on Pappa Bear. I'm not entirely sold on the benefits of the hair material, nor whether or not I will finally use it on this character. But, that being said, I wanted to give it a fighting chance. without hair with hair one issue is trying to get the hair from penetrating his shirt. I've removed as much of the mesh as possible, but there still is work to be done. I'm sure I could simply not include the hair material to groups where the shirt is if necessary. The other is the hair is just not convincin…
Last reply by Rodney, -
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I've been trying to get straight the rigging of Pappa Bears' rigging for his shirt sleeve. I'm seeing a lot of bleed thru of the arm thru the shirt sleeve. and no matter what I do I can only clean up some of it. I had thought about simply removing the arm geometry where the sleeve is but for some reason I have an aversion to doing that. So my question is, with the 2008 rig, which bones should be assigned to the cp rings in the shirt and arm... PappaBear2008RigFinal_WithShirtV3.mdl Any help is of course much appreciated
Last reply by fae_alba,
