Obnomauk

Hey all, Remember this Guy (note thicker hands :))? Well he and his growing cast of cohorts are getting ready to become mobile soon, but they could all use a bit of dressing up. To that end the Super Secret Project Crew™ is looking to add a new member, specifically a texture artist. (not only for the characters, the sets modeling will start soon and will also need texturing.) So if you fancy yourself as such or would just like to give it a shot please email me at [email=david@am-guide.com]david@am-guide.com[/email]. As an "audition" of sorts I will send out the model file for this character to all who email me. This is a volunteer project but I am holding it up to a certain level of quality. To any budding texture artists out there you might consider this a good way to get some material for your portfolio. If you have a few extra hours a week that you feel could be dedicated to something of this nature I encourage you to give it a shot. The production is pretty relaxed, but I will ask all applicants to agree to some basic terms of confidentiality. I am not necessarily looking for professional quality here, in fact if you show promise on the test and are willing to endure some critique that would almost be better, since i would feel less like a free loader on someone's talent :). All members of the project so far have been hand picked by myself and this is the first open call to any outside source. primarily because I know how collaborative projects can fall apart if there isn't some form of bond between the members of the team. In a sense I'm looking to this to see if it is possible to assemble a team just from the list/forum members. If anyone has questions about me, the current crew, or just wants to know a little more about the project feel free to email me directly.[email=david@am-guide.com]david@am-guide.com[/email] Thanks for your time, -David Rogers

Everyone seems to agree that the hands are a bit too anemic looking so I'll be using the good old Puzh plug-in to beef them up a bit. The colors are really just there as place holders so I'll worry more about that as i actually start textureing things. Thanks for all the feedback! -David Rogers

I just realized you probably haven't seen the 'finished' version. http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1461 see he does have feet -David

Yes a cast shot is deffinitelty coming, maybe after the January teaser image though as there are still some characters whose design is being hammered out. I have a whole string of little teaser treats kind of half planned to generate and maintain outside interest for the project. Hopefully it will all build to a fever pitch around the same time we complete the animation -David Rogers

Well of course it is, but like most projects of this nature it will be a long time in production. (which is why we keep these things secret we don't want to build up too much hype too far before we have something to really show off.) I think we will have something in the way of a teaser by the middle to end of january. Primary character modeling should wrap up by then, leaving a lot of things left to do Thanks for keeping the interest -David Rogers

What I did was run the utility in Virtual PC. works like a charm. I bought VPC a few years back to run a couple other PC only utilities (and you can run modeling plug-ins inside A:M on VPC to speed up modeling tasks as well.) It's not a perfect solution to be sure, but it gets the result. -David

Tip 1: Watch the weight and where it goes, the 'lean on the cane' pose it not too convincing because the weight doesn't read like it's flowing down into the cane, some of the other moves really don't feel weighty enough either... Tip 2: Take the nails out of his feet until he starts with the karate action his feet are firmly planted (I might have seen some small shift early on but if I have to wonder then it should probably get pushed a little more.) Tip 3: Specifically when he turns to look behind him, move the arms a bit, bring it up and out to sort of balance him out. Overall not a bad start, the timing feels very mechanical but that will improve once you start offsetting your keys. Don't be afraid to go a bit wild on the poses and the transitions into them, faster snappier motion is generally more appealing. a couple well defined extreme poses that go: Hold.... Snap..Hold.... Snap..Hold etc.... will serve you better. CRToonMike mentioned the silhouette and while you have kept it clear enough it is pretty static. hope this is some help, -David Rogers

looks nice there. the thing with offsetting is that it really depends on how far you do it that will make it look either loosy goosy or just natureal, but just about every character you animate should have some of it in there at some point. if you don't want things to be all liquid then offset just the main branches from each other: take the keys for the right arm and drop em back a frame even just that little bit will help out most animations. I like to offset down the chains, especially during fast motions, it helps to establish arcs and makes things look better in my opinion. -David Rogers

It looks very nice, and there are only a few things I would look at to make it even better. Mostly offsetting your keys for the body parts right now he looks like most of the major body parts hit their keys on the same frame (or darn close to it) try pushing it a little further especially with the arms. you'd be amazed at what one or two frames one way or the other can do. Great work, -David

Well I think this one is pretty much done, any critique/comments are welcome. to help me knock off the rough bits. -David Rogers

Well I need to get broadband, but knowing that if mr sutton posted it it would be well worth it I just bit the bullet glad I did, great work. -David Rogers

any chance of posting in something not DivX I don't have it and have no real desire to download it. I prefer standard codecs that are already installed on my machine. -David Rogers

I like the style here a lot. Nice design and the extra details like the shirt are great. more like a Klutz? Hmmm... untie one of his shoes? that's the first thing that comes to mind. dangling shoelaces.. very dangerous stuff. Elbow pads and knee pads perhaps. I think that the best way to make him look like a klutz, really, is to animate him so get cracking on that I look forward to seeing your progress on this. -David Rogers

The official crew is currently sitting at two, with additional 'angels' when i need a favor for a particularly troublesome aspect of production. Myself and Troy Gilliland are the primary workers, Carl Albrecht-Buehler is the "Pants Wrangler" other folks from the Chicago Hash User Group have provided help in one form or another, Jim Talbot is the most recent angel with the assistance on the coat. Folks like, Mooncaine (James), Carole Wilson, and John Burch did a lot of work on the original production run, much of which I am probably going to wind up retooling drastically as the new style of the piece takes over. There is indeed a secret website, but there is a lot to do before that secret isn't secret anymore and I tell you guys where to find it . There are other secret things that are also secret, so secret that even the knowledge that they are secret is a secret after this secret is no longer a secret I have another secret project tentatively planed to begin secret discussions with a secret collaborator . oh and here is the not so secret tomato with a shirt and tie -David "secret man" Rogers

well speaking as the tailor here... Yes -David

And with the assistance of Mr Talbotski who graciously allowed me to crib the the jacket off his Dapper Gent character I have some progress to show. Next up the shirt and tie, shoes and miscellaneous details. -David Rogers

I would use an environment map instead of ray-tracing it. a blurred render of the kitchen from the current angle would likely do it. if you need more accurate reflections than that, a simple plane can be mapped behind the camera to reflect what isn't there. always look for the cheat before doing all the work! -David Rogers

Actually this is one of the minor villains in the piece no rescuing planned for the tomato -David

nice clock face... I think you might be slightly nuts to build an accurate clock works but that's me Can't see much in the way of soft shadows but the DOF is nice (still see a little banding in it on the front bit, but animated you'll not likely see that. good to see you still have time for personal projects. -David Rogers

Once I get far enough to set up the materials and lighting for that shot I'll be sure to post it for you james 95% of glass is in the environment. you pretty much have to have it all in place with a color for the camera background that won't jump out since any areas that refract might show camera color. the other 5% is all lighting. as far as materials go I like a combiner which varies the refraction on a noise pattern that makes the glass look cheaper (like the jars in my fridge) only very good glass has the same transparency and refractive properties all through its surface. -David Rogers

Glad everyone seems to like my little tomato. He was started from a base provided by James Pouklos (mooncaine) nigh on three years ago. I took time off this project to work on Day Off the Dead (and other life things like a large book ) my plate cleared up and I am re-focusing on it, with the passing years my skills have improved and my design ideas have changed. So I have been working with Troy Gilliland on a ground up re-design. Slight script revisions, new boards, new character sketches, re-thinking of some of the basic style issues that kept things from feeling cohesive before. A ton of little things that now I know better than On a related note: If there are any modelers and/or texture artists in the Chicago Area who are interested in taking a part in this project, please feel free to private message or email me and we can set up a time to talk about it. I'm not actively recruiting and not really looking for folks outside the Chicago area (but if you have a strong desire and a whole lot of patience you can also feel free to contact me even if you live in the furthest flung corner of the globe!) Primarily because design issues need to be hammered out before the project progresses too far, issues that tend to be easier to talk about over a sketch pad and a cup of coffee than over the net. Thanks for taking a look fellers. i'll post more as it is available. -David Rogers

I'm not showing too much of this stuff around (just a treat for the forum crowd ) but here is a character I am working on for my In progress short film. More details and will be forthcoming as soon as the crew and I have things more in hand. -David Rogers