Rodney

Thanks in advance for this effort Mark. Having a premade pose such as you describe would make using BVH motion much more accessible right out the gate.

That worked out quite well Steve. It reads 'zombie' to me.

Mark, I really need to learn to video capture this stuff. It figures, I can't reproduce what I saw. It was most likely user error or a fluke. I wasn't going to mention it but thought Chris's description pointed to the same thing. I won't speculate further. If I see it happen again I'll capture it and post it here.

Doh. I just went back and read the rest of the posts. I see Chris (mouseman) mentions the same thing about the hips. That's a great start to 'It's a Pitch' too Chris!

That was what I thought was the most ideal pose out of my first animation with Robby. As it was a simple run through without a specific objective I didn't think the rest was worth posting. I'll see what I can do. Hey... if there is a chance that animating with his rig will keep Mark happy I'll just have to animate more often! I'm finding Thom is a real joy to 'animate' with. Mark, There is a difference between animating the Nulls in Robby and Thom. I was going to post more about it but the right words didn't come to me to explain it. With Thom the hips can be rotated without activating the Rotation Manipulator. That doesn't seem to be the case with Robby. Probably something I'm missing on my end. Haven't played again (yet!) today.

...and the new Thom is really a treat to work with too.

Heh heh. I like Robby. He's a fun guy. The rig was (thus far) very easy to figure out. Very intuitive. Thats a winner Mark.

This is an old topic (circa 2004) that forum member Aman Trivedi popped back up into view. Lee Anderson has been away from the computer and 3D for quite awhile now. He's out spreading the good word as a missionary. What does this mean for us? Its unlikely we'll see the model as a download anytime soon. Sorry. I understand that miracles do happen in missionary work. So don't give up hope!

You ain't a kiddin'. I tried to (somewhat) reverse engineer your setup to demonstrate in a video. I didn't care for the results so... didn't post it. I've attached the MOV file for grins and giggles. Hopefully its not entirely worthless. I added an Aim At constraint to aim the camera at Shaggy but I didn't toggle off compensate. So the camera only so so follows Shaggy. Ah well. Back to the drawin' board. CameraKeyframeHold.mov

Hey J.W.! Click Here for the results of a search using the words 'UV Editor' here in the forum. You will find similar results searching on 'Texturing' and 'Decaling'. That should help get you started. After reviewing and exploring give us your feedback. That's how we all learn.

Talk about your squetchable character! One word came to mind while viewing your latest animation: 'soft'. I don't often equate that word with CG characters (or their arms). Looks like success to me. If it matters... the second word I thought of was 'pudgy'.

Robert, If you crack open the Timeline (View / Timeline) and select the Camera you should see John's keyframes. In order to keep the Camera from moving you will most likely have to change the Intrerpolation to [Hold].

The simplest answer is... don't. The most popular methods of camera movement are: 1. Set up multiple cameras and render the sequences out separately. Then assemble the sequences together. The principle here is that not everything needs to be shot through the same camera. 2. Move the same camera to each new position you need it to be in. In short, animate it. This works for tracking and panning and moving shots. 3. Use a combination of the first two methods. Combine shots created by multiple/animated cameras. The driving factor appears to be organization. Ask yourself how you would best like to organize your Project. If its a small group of sequences with limited changes you can do it all in one camera. If its a large group of sequences edit them together outside the camera. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Additional Info you didn't request but you're getting anyway. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lets assume you have a 300 frame sequence with three camera changes. Behind the scenes this is what will happen regardless of the method you use. - Camera renders sequence 1 - Camera renders sequence 2 - Camera renders sequence 3 All sequence are combined Assuming each sequence is allotted 1 second you could set up A:M to render them all out in the correct sequence. In this case lets use three cameras. - Camera A renders out sequence 1: Frames 00:00:01 through 00:01:00. - Camera B renders out sequence 2: Frames 00:01:01 through 00:02:00. - Camera C renders out sequence 2: Frames 00:02:01 through 00:03:00. Use A:M or other program to assemble the sequences together. You can set up a single camera (Camera A) to render all three sequences as well. You'll need to know a little about the Timeline and Interpolation to make it work as you will be animating the camera's location. It's not difficult to do (See JohnL3D's post below). The most important thing here I think is to get your sequences rendered. Once rendered you can do all kinds of things with them. Using A:M's Non Linear Editor capabilities you can work in transitions, cut to different sequences, reverse sequences, add special effects... you can edit those sequences as you feel the need. Say on Robert. There is much to be learned about filmmaking!

Thank you! I've been meaning to post that information for quite a while. It should be noted that these Preview Images are not confined to Models. You can with minor exceptions use the same or similar methods in preview images for Actions, Materials and Projects, Tutorials etc. Basically, anything that can be added to a Library.

There are two preferred ways to do this. Both are very easy to implement. Method 1 - Create (Right Click and generate your Library Icon) Right Click in your Modeling window Choose [Create Icon] Save your model This method has the advantage of being very fast. Note: If you don't like your Icon, reposition the Model and generate a new icon. If still not satisfied try Method 2 to get exactly the Preview image you want. Method 2 - Assign (Add an Image via File Information Properities) Open your Models File Properties Open File Info Click on the Preview Image or Right Click and select [Assign Preview Image]. Browse to the location of an Image Select the Image Save your model This method has the advantage of being more precise. You can place anything you want in the image. Technical Note: The Preview Image is embedded in the file. If you fail to save your Model the Preview Image will be discarded. See attached images for menus used in the process.

There is a tutorial on installing Libraries but there isn't any installer for the Extra DVD. If there is/was I'm confident you can find the installer on the DVD very easily. Look for a text file in the root directory of the DVD. It will outline how you can use the DVD. (My DVD drive is out of order so I can't check right now)

Unless something has changed there is no installation. The DVD is a collection of files and resources that you directly access.

Wow. Just wow. I think they are great. How can I not think those are some of the coolest characters to come along in a very long time. This also explains what you've been up to these days! (The contest entry with Thor being a supreme clue) Very interesting story ideas/character traits.

...and maybe a zombie jumping through the middle of the scene on a jet ski! Press on. Press On. Looking good thus far!

I've been making this suggestion a lot lately and I definitely think it'll help your scene. Add a colored Image Based Lighting (IBL) image in your Chor properties. If its too bright for your purposes you can turn the Exposure value down or darken the colors of the image. This would add a little light to all those things that have disappeared into the darkness. Just enough to see them. Augment that with other lights to highlight what you want the viewer to see and get the theatrical look you are after as necessary. Robert suggested 'Bluer light will help suggest night' and I agree. An image with primarily blue color should suffice for IBL. It may be that your render is just dark (Gamma settings?) but having everything that dark defeats the purpose of having all those objects in the scene. Here is where to add an IBL image to a Chor:

I believe most people will tell you 'Don't add your Lights to the Model'. While it certainly works its never been popular to add Lights to models. People prefer to add them in an Action. I've found adding lights in an Action is much more versatile. For instance, you don't have to continually go into/out of Bones Mode to move your models. As you are in an Action just grab 'em and go. With Lights in Actions you can easily revert back to the lightless model too just by removing the Action or using the Model alone. Having said that I'm still a fan of Lights in Models where it serves the purpose. To get them added: Right Click in the Modeling Window New Light - Go into Bones Mode (Lights are considered bones for our purposes), grab your light and place it as needed. - Go back into Modeling Mode If a light is never going to move and will be of a constant intensity/color it should work well in the Model. You can animate the settings over time in an Action/Choreography of course. There may be other limits to its use that suggest you should apply them in an Action. I've forgotten those. Try both methods out on a simple model and see what works best for you.

David/Caroline, There is no doubt you've seen the effects of Bias adjustment up close and personal and know the effects it'll have on moving meshes. Point taken and accepted. It'll take me a few more years to actually experience your perspective but I'll get there. The whole Alpha, Gamma and Magnitude thing has historically had me confused. Early on I never used it for anything. Others on the animaster mailing list scared me away from it. Then I saw experienced modelers use it very effectively (in static models). The point I'd like to make, because some will read all of this as adjusting Bias is bad for everything, is that as long as the model isn't likely to be animated its safe to tweak away. At the low end of production where some error is acceptable more Bias adjustments will be acceptable in animation as well. I have to gain considerably more experience in setting up meshes for animation to be able to even begin to comment about that aspect. I'm glad you can speak to it intelligently.

Not entirely sure why I'm posting this here. It does have something to do with Bias tweaking... but not animated Biases. I started tweaking and this environmental thingy was the result. The cool blue stream was surely my subconsciousness trying to balance the ridiculousness of today's politics. Will November never come? If you look in the lower right window you'll see no grid was injured in the process of tweaking these Biases. All tweaks were made in an Action and the original model remains unharmed. My Biases may be tweaked but they try to be fair and impartial. Hair material and patch images/decals were placed on the grid as bipartisonally as possible. To all you nonbelievers in Bias adjustment... accept your fate... become one with the Bias!

David, I'm looking at your movie and for the life of me I can't think of how that movement is a bad thing. If you move the CPs you want the splines to keep their shape... right? Aren't the movements more natural if/when the Bias don't automatically adjust? I'm missing something simple so bear with me. I've only looked at the movie. I'll look at the project file.

Sure enough. The websubscription is $79. See what happens when I blink? Did I just imagine that $49 thing? Ah well... I guess timing is everything. Even at $79 Animation:Master is the best 3D animation program for the price. As far as the community files, Hash Inc hosts projects, files, actions etc. on their FTP site. I can't remember the size of the Extra DVD (over 5Gigabytes?) but that can be had for $30 from their online store. Another couple hundred megabytes of data from the first Extra CD can still be found online: http://www.hash.com/amtutes/X_Vol001/Menu/...cifiFantasy.htm (It should go without saying that these files won't be very useful without Animation:Master)