Rodney

In the tradition of 'if you build it they will come' I now tend to reverse that to 'If they come you will build it.' As folks show their interest in even the littlest of ways that will drive new creative spaces. Translation: I'm waiting for something to actually put into a forum before I build it. So (early adopters), please post your efforts wherever you think is best (i.e. in the appropriate topic) and then I (or another moderator) will move them to their proper place. In time organization will kick in but for the present (regarding Sports Day) there isn't much to organize yet. If you have to ask then the answer is 'Yes'. Strictly speaking you don't have to include the project file or the finished animation... involvement is what we are after here. If posting a still image gets someone moving toward animation then post that and then delve back into it. I suggest the following: Still image (teaser) - This could also be the 'poster' image that shows as the first frame of the movie. Project File - Recommend doing a Embed All, then Save Project As* Movie (presentation) - This can be any moving image format (.MOV, .AVI., .GIF, etc. but consider that some folks may not be able to view strange formats and codecs) As A:M natively renders to .MOV and AVI those two will work best although AVI will generally not display in browsers whereas MOV will Alternately folks can zip up a folder of sequentially rendered images and folks can load them up into A:M *Note that this method will not include texture images, etc. and the recommendation would be to not use them at all. Animation is the primary focus of Sports Day but as texturing and such is very important also where images are used the Project file could be made to generate those images or they could be consolidated into a Zip file via A:M's consolidate method or by zipping up the contents of a project folder all the assets are in. I also note that some do not use Project Files but try to use Choreographies exclusively. While Project files are preferred a embedded Chor will work too. Just make sure all the files are actually included (i.e. all files collected into a zip. As this is a learning effort we want to experiment and learn along the way. Expect a little frustration as people learn how to animate and share their experience. Together we will master animation. Apologies for the length of this response. I was trying to hit all the various angles. So to recap (and correct me where I'm off everyone! That's you Simon!): Recommended (but not required): - Post your Sports Day animation - Attach your Project file and assets - Attach an image that shows us what the event is all about If you don't have anything to post you can still join in and discuss, review, critique, reference, opine, advise, retrospect, pontificate...

I was experimenting with something like this in A:M about two years ago but I have no earthly clue were those project files were or even how to set it up in A:M at the moment. Reason No. 5673 why I should follow my own advice and post my projects to the A:M Forum. Then at least I could find them and pick up where I left off. I believe in order to assist Robert in his effort we may need to pick very specific targets and point to it (otherwise we get what we get... well, we'll get that anyway but at least then it'll be more specific) The problem with "Light Painting" is that not all FX we see is 'light painted'... much of it is compositing... and we get a similar effect as if it were lighting. A classic example of this is the trails behind a fireball. Those are usually created by manipulating a very basic image that can be created by a variety of means (particles, drawing, still images animated/scaled/transformed over time). This effect is then blended/composited with the back plate to complete the desired effect. I guess what I'm saying here is that the effect isn't created by a light in a 3D scene and therefore to me cannot strictly classify as 'light painting'. 'Light Painting' to me is actually using lights to paint a scene, environment, surface or effect in (more or less) real time. As such light painting is quite straightforward although just as in the real world there is smoke, mirror and slight of hand that produce the effect in a 3D scene. The image here... (http://digital-photography-school.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/light-painting.jpg) clues us into how one particular method of Light Painting works (as Fuchur mentioned... long exposure times). For one of many ways forward consider Marcos (Xtaz) Rezende's MUFOOF technique. This works the same as in the real world where an illuminated object moves quickly under the right conditions to have it appear as if it is almost a solid object... and in some cases fool the eye into believing it is actually a solid object. The light displays on the sides of buildings that has been all the rage in Europe over the past few years is a prime example of the latter. I'd be glad to suggest some tips in this direction but it is possible Robert may want to select this for his "It can't be done!" project in February so I'll defer for the present. I will note that a lot of blur and bloom gets thrown into the mix on some of the Final Fantasy shots I've seen. Those additions are (relatively easily) accomplished via Post Effects in A:M (esp. v18 as A:M Composite appears to be working even better for me). When painting with light one must consider several factors the minimum of which is: the lights themselves, the surfaces the light is hitting (even if those surfaces are not visible) and the environment in between.

Hey now... that's a whole new ballgame. Now you are talking some kind of macro language. Very doable as well but... very different than: I'm just sayin'...

Very nice! He's looking intense!

Not so much unreliable as unappreciated (and underpaid) I think it has more to do with lack of fiber optic cable which could take a few years to install. In the meantime we are looking into renting a few satellites but the auraoaoara boreaelaise... ororo spectaculitis.... you know... the northern lightis thingamajig with the magnetical fielding that does that interference at the most inopportune times.

I was deep into developing a solution to the Script to Animation method but it broke down at a critical point. Here's the basic flow: 1. Write script 2. Place script online 2A. Alternatively, write the script while it is online 3. Tiny elves read script 4. Tiny elves animate 5. Loop back to script until all script elements are animated and approved by 6. Done The problem was that I was having a really hard time keeping the script online due to intermittent connectivity. There was also the problem of the tiny elves mostly be available to work only during off peak holiday cycles. Back to the drawing/rendering board.

Dagooos! Hope it's the happiest one yet. Happy Birthday!

Stand by... I believe I've got a quick fix for you but it's easier (better?) to show you than to write it up. Edit: I believe what you are looking for is to change the Action application method from Replace to Add. It's possible that some actions will work better with the Blend setting but I didn't delve into that. The good news is that to change the settings for all of your Actions at the same time is just a few clicks.\ See attached P.S. Nice pirouette! ActionReplaceAddBlend.mp4

Hmmm.... the release must have hit a snag or two. The Mac version was previewed at NAB last year. With every release of the Win/Linux side though the Mac release has to be getting nearer.

If I didn't know better I'd say someone has coded a TGA image converter into the forum. Very interesting and very worth investigating. Nice logo Mark!

The Tinkering Gnome is one of the few who have bravely ventured into the realm of midi music and A:M and I've long thought to exploit the technology. I still haven't. I am however, moving in that direction. Here is a site that has a 3D keyboard that plays midi music that may be of interest to some (especially programmers as the code is available via github). Of specific interest to me is that this is similar to several sites where you can simply drag and drop the midi file into the browser window and the page's code takes it from there. http://qiao.github.io/euphony/#211 The song that should play by clicking the link above is Tchaikovsky's Sweet Dream Op-39 No-21. Yeah... like I'm sophisticated enough to differentiate that one from Op-39 No. 432... if'n there ever might be one. At any rate... midi... it's old tech... but still very useful... so embrace it. Added: I have ran into several programs that are useful for converting from .mid to .wav and back again. It's rather frustrating that Audacity cannot do that. Edit: Try this one, MUCH BETTER: http://qiao.github.io/euphony/#200 (I was playing the theme song to 'Indiana Jones' earlier via drag and drop into the browser window)

It's been awhile since I posted on the Lightworks video editor and I'd like to remedy that. If you are a PC user and do not have a dedicated video editor you owe it to yourself to check Lightworks out. If you are a Mac user... they do have a Mac release but I can't tell you what the status currently is... I haven't been following that closely. Similarly the Linux release is still in early stage of release at this point. On the PC front v11.1.1 has been released as well as v11.5 Beta. There has been impressive advancement with regard to some of the early issues and Lightworks is easily at the stage where I can recommend it. A few notes: If you wish to use .MOV files make sure you install the 32 bit version. Similarly to A:M and other programs that have released in 64bit the issue there is that Apple has not supported the format in 64bit but it can be accessed via 32bit. I believe you can install both 32bit and 64bit Lightworks but you must install them in different directories. I recall one question (I believe it was from Robert) about Lightworks not having a 24fps setting (that issue was resolved several releases ago). Perhaps most importantly the installation/validation process has been greatly improved and issues experienced before are a thing of the past. The educational version is $30 for one year and includes all the bells and whistles of the Pro version ($60 for 1 year). The free version lacks the majority of professional codecs (the ones that the folks at Lightworks have to pay to use in their program). Note that I do not think the comparison chart between versions (Free, Edu, Pro) at this download page is up to date (although it very well might be): At any rate, if you need a really solid video editor check it out: Lightworks

Made me laugh. Especially at the end. Nicely done! If you are already up and running like this you are well on your way to very good things. I don't know if you are looking for any specific type of feedback. If you are, just suggest a point of interest and and I'll be glad to explore and elaborate. As you asked for feedback I want to satisfy your request. Keep in mind that this is only opinion... take or leave as you see fit. A few things off the top of my head: - Nice music and sound effects. Very impressive actually. It all worked very well with the animation. Very good sync as well. - Entertaining. With every viewing I enjoyed the skit better and notice new details. - A few very nice poses in there. Can I recall a few from memory? Yeah... I think I can. The barber... as he motions to his seat. ... the guy getting his hair cut as he sits and then reacts. Those are the two that spring to mind easily. - Nice variety of props! You set the stage/environment well. On the 'room for improvement' side: (things you no doubt know already) Color. The wide variety of different colors were a bit distracting (making it hard to focus on any one thing) Certainly not a show stopper and I assume this was intentional. Lighting. If you were to light this short really well... it'd be all the more impressive. I don't know your experience with lighting so I won't delve too deeply here. Texturing. There wasn't much texturing to be seen. Obviously these were not a focus for this skit but boy am I looking forward to when you master them! when you do will be a serious force to be reckoned with! Very well done. From someone who is just learning the ropes what can be said except.... color me impressed! More please!!!

It's cool. I'm following you. Full automation of animation using text and such (or if it can be demonstrated... something even better than that).

Don't let Robert off the hook so easily. That one is too easy. Think bigger!

There is an error on screen in the first image you posted (in your second post). It says something about saving a copy of the image. If you are trying to save over the top of the same image that may be what that means. But I think you should perhaps off check that option to see if it activates the option for Alpha Channels. I note that the Alpha Channel option is greyed out and of course no alpha channel is what you are getting. Here's the image for reference:

Yes indeed. The primary stumbling block I had at first was forgetting to name the target group of Control Points. Steffen says the default target is named 'Target'... 'Target Group"... something like that. But seriously.... we should be creating Named Groups for everything that is important anyway. Another thing I think this will be highly used for is simply aligning parts of models without concern for connecting them. Especially in the case of static models this may be the way to go rather than work toward unibody shapes. Exceptions are everywhere of course which must be considered but in the low rez world I live in that alone will cover many a gap or gaff in 3D space.

I don't know about other folks but I've been using the heck out of the new Snap to Control Point feature. I was using it before to match up splines and CPs but today I used it in a Pose to assist with precision placement at 0%, 50% and 100%. My project here was to create a modular monster whose belly can match to 'small', 'medium' and 'large' sizes as well as (manually through the pose slider) other settings. If you'll pardon the cheap graphics from this POC... I'd say it worked rather well. I meant to render a wireframe to show the three target zones for the modular monster's waists. Edit: Mov replaced with shaded wireframe render. (the three ovals being the three target sizes for monsters' waists) A:M has gained a substaintial improvement in precision modeling through this addition in v18. SnapToCP.mov

Awesome. And for those that aren't into animation perhaps they'd be just as interested in modeling props for the events. If nothing else we can collect models and have them at the ready in the A:M Exchange.

Here's a really quick tip (inspired by an excerpt from the book 'Professional Storyboarding' by Sergio Paez and Anson Jew) Change in size The underlying thought being that objects that do not change size on a 2D screen are static, unmoving and suggest the scene has little or no depth. Changing shapes is a fundamental of animation. When analyzing animation that appeals to you pick a shape on the screen and follow it... (a nose, a mouth, a hand... pick something. Anything!) How does it change position? How does it change shape? How does it suggest motion and depth in a scene? If change of shapes is so important in animation what does that say about an animated scene with very little change in shapes? How can this knowledge help in laying out and directing a scene? How can this knowledge to leveraged with regard to purposefully not changing shapes? The second part of the excerpt has to do with moving things relative to the camera. For instance, an object moving toward the camera or one receding away will suggest the scene has depth. Which is a considerable advantage when all you really have to present to the audience is a 2D screen. Source: bestanimationbooks.com

I like the way you think. The testing of rigs is a very good use for the activity. I'd say that a rig that cannot perform and hold up under many diverse actions/activities would then be classified as more of a specialized rig. As a follow up to my last post I don't think adding this to TaoA:M is in order. I was just casing that rabbit to where it went. The idea is open enough that TaoA:M (or any new ToaA:M) could easily point to this Sporting Event as a reference for further practice and exploration It can be hard to gauge interest around here as we ebb and flow a lot in that area. The important thing would be to have the event available and if folks wish to join in they will.

You may be too much like me Elm. I try to make sense of things that aren't meant to make sense. If I read Sebastian correctly his goal was/is to present a commentary about our tendency toward excess. In such a world as ours a product like "Punch Babies in the Face" surely must exist. And something of an irony... now, courtesy of Sebastian... it does exist.

I need to step out of the decision making part of this and just let this play out. My thought is to just set aside the space for folks to play. While I do understand the desire to declare a specific event I'd say that would be up to the originator of the first attempt. In other words, if Paul wants to start a Hagis Hurling then he'd simply post a topic named 'Haggis Hurling' in the Sports Day forum and this would be his signal that others were welcome to join the competition. As not all interests and talents are distributed equally others might not wish to hurl haggis and might wait for another opportunity or even start their own event. I do like the idea of using a standard rig because "reusability is the foundation of A:M" but... that does severely restrict the playing field. As this type of collaborative project doesn't require such standardization and other the community embarks on surely will I'd say open the game to all rigs. For my part, I see this as an ongoing competition that keeps on going even though the players themselves change. If you are looking for a hook to justify its existence we could simply add the sporting event (titled as seen fit) as an extended part of the exercises in ToaA:M. Immediately after the Posing exercise would be a perfect fit. I've been itching to run through ToaA:M again so that we can enhance it so that is why I'd like to shoehorn Sports Day into it. If you want to see Sports Day go all official getting it added to the new and improved TaoA:M might be the ticket. I said I needed to step away from this but TaoA:M is near and dear to my heart so I'll continue a little... If you look at Exercise 4: 'Move' It this is a setup for an event such as this in that it captures a snapshot of a particular action at a pivotal moment that captures the essence of the event. It's no mistake that the next exercise, Exercise 5: 'It's a Pitch' is pulled from a sporting event. Exercise 6: "The Door's Stuck" then presents a challenge for the character (and the animator) to overcome. FWIW, this Sporting Day event seems ideal for someone who has at least made it to (and not necessarily passed) Exercise 6. By your response I'm going to guess you are craving a more controlled event where folks play at the same (general) game. I'm certainly not opposed to that but I'm more interested in everyone just joining in and playing. Some folks enjoy the competition with others while others compete against themselves. Ultimately as long as we are animating we will have held a great event. Now as to honors, prizes and such my thought here is to have this be an ongoing event and the winners of any event would be identified monthly. Someone could be the keeper of the trophies and pass them on to the winners. They give it to their character and render out an image with them presenting it. In any month were no games were played there wouldn't be a winner. (Note that this whole idea of winning, prizes, accolades, etc. is also a part of TaoA:M... see page 12 in the manual) What sayest thou? Is this going too far afield of your original idea? Edit: Two added thoughts: 1) For no reason I can quite grasp some disdain anything related to TaoA:M and therefore might not participate if it where officially a part of the manual. At a guess I'd say they feel they've advanced beyond the manual. 2) The target audience is assumed to be 'everyone' but it might not (probably can't) engage everyone equally.

Happy Birthday Marcos! Couldn't happen to a nicer fellow. Hope you have a great one.

Simon, I've got an alternate camera shot of your BunnyJump rendering now. Here's the project file: (I didn't change rabbit at all except to move his Eye Target so he's looking at Camera at the height of his jump) Hmmm.... that moving camera bit didn't turn out as great as I thought it would. Bunny_jump__HighCam_.prj bunnyjumpcameramod.mov