Rodney

The Loon models have been posted: Populating Loonville topic in TWO forum area Note: Loon models are v13 only.

Love the hair! Does a hippogyraf have wings? I don't think so. I keep having a recurring image of this guy flying pop into my head. Where would I get that strange idea from? The dragons from the early animatic perhaps? Doesn't matter. He's an impressive creature.

I like your drawings. Very different (which is a good thing) They'll make really interesting models. I think you have a winner on your hand if you can just get them properly translated into 3D. Rodney

You'll have a bit more luck getting commentary with this in the Work In Progress forum. I'll sure you'll see it move there. You are off to a good start. Can you tell us more about this 'Humm' character of yours and what he'll be doing? Rodney

Further distilled and (more or less) in order of appearance I'm proud to present to you... a few of the citizens of Loonville (They all turned out for the call for extras when they heard TWO was in town): (Playing Loons) (Working Loons) (Talking Loons) (Arguing Loons) (Baloon carrying Loons) (Belly Bouncing Loons) (Bowling Loons) (Rack o' Loons) (Frozen in time Loons) (Running Loons) (Attacking Loons!) (Large Arm Loon) (Sea of Loons) *a crowd... not their lake rennovation project! (Vine holding Loons) (Cowboy Lasso throwing Loons) (Leaping Loons) (Strange noise making Loons) (More Bouncing Loons) (Lustily Cheering Loons) (Bouncing up and down while lustily cheering Loons) (Professional Dragging Loons) (More bouncing and cheering Loons) (Assembled Loons) (Gasping Loons) (Lowering of the eyes in honor to their King Loons) (Two attendant Loons) (Chanting reverently Loons) (Stopping of that infernal racket Loons) (Vigorously 'woo'ing' Loons) (Reacting, Wailing and moaning wretchedly Loons) (Supportive Loons) (Assembled yet suddenly fallen silent Loons) (Crowd o' Loons) (Easily impressed Loons that have a penchant for muttering) (More gasping Loons) (Cowering, frightened Loons) (The big pump team of Loons)(hose connectoring Loons)(Pumping Loons) (Wails in anguish Loon) (Facinated Loons) (Platform Loons) (Loon with a thorn for our heroes!) (More cheering Loons) (Muttering Loons) (Popping Loon#1 of many) (Flee for your Lives! Loons) (Screaming Loons) (More Screaming Loons) (Poor unlucky fellow who gets popped by Woot Loon) (Pile of deflated Loonskins Loons) (Lamenting Loons) The neat thing about this is that most of these Loons can be entirely different. Some repetition will make the scenes play out better as the viewer will be able to recognize some of the Loons. The opportunity to have a heck of a lot of Loons is pretty apparent though. ...and this doesn't even begin to show any of the individual Loons that have yet to be scouted! Their performance and onscreen presence might even be cause to modify the script. At the least we can give the directors some great designs and characters from which to choose. *Added: Is it tacky to name these Loons names that describe what they do... like "Dances with Wolves". "Picks nose with Hammer" is the Loon of was thinking of at the time.

I'll post the Loon models today. Here is an extract of the script above. The idea is to locate and supply resources for the scenes in question. In the official TWO topic "Loonville" we can add in the design sketches, models, links to props and whatever references we can find.

Jay, You are correct in thinking we should head to the source. 'Tin Woodman of Oz' gives the entire picture of the history of the Loons and Loonville as far as I can see. Its quite possible that later books (after Baum) visited the Loons again. Authenticity aside (which I agree we should be careful with) a lot is open to the imagination. My entire focus withink TWO is on the Loons right now (for both the movie and the game) so I'll see what I can dig up. The convenient thing about the Loons as depicted in TWO is that we don't really get a thorough glimpse at them. That leaves a lot of Loonville and the surrounding forest open to interpretation. Rodney For reference, here is the sequence launching into our heroes into Loonville via the TWO script:

I believe that is in the old text; 'Yet Another Book of Loons'. Or was it 'Loons for Dummies'? I forget. Nope. It was 'The Big Book of Loon', Chapter 17, Paragraph 39: "And a BullLoonDog shall lead them."

Thanks Jay! As I've seen your work in TAoA:M that's an opportunity I highly recommend. We are about to begin our journey to Loonville everyone. My goal is to post the Loon models w/ links to inspirational sketches, animatics and related resources TODAY! Join our 'Adventure to Loonville'. Traveling together is a whole lot more fun than wandering the roads of Oz alone.

I haven't taken the time to see how much work it would take (or the real benefits to be derived from) creating a v13 model stripper utility to produce a v12 model from the v13 format. The way I would approach it would be to strip v13 specific information from the file leaving only v12 data. Hardly a solution or workaround either. As the important data is sure to get stripped I'm not sure its worth the effort in programming to anyone with more interest/insight than me. As I haven't even looked at the differences yet I cannot even begin to say what the process would take. See above for my emphasis on where I think most users from v8.5 to v12 would get the most out of the opportunity; working with others to design Loons and props for their activities. Everyone can be involved but how you are involved will vary. Rodney

Go Ross! I realize the style of your penguins is with long beaks but he kind of looks like a kiwi bird. The color is unmistakable though. Make sure you think a little bit about how he'll walk as short stubby feet are quite hard to animate. You may want to give him at least little legs. Keep it up!

Most definitely! Hope to get the posts put together late tonight to get this party started. Hope everyone has been sketching their ideas! My test of 3D Painter just happened to be on a Loon and I loved it. (Both the Loon and 3D Painter... not necessarily in that order)

I love it too! Just wish I would have thought of that myself. As it is its one of those very happy mistakes. Thanks for identifying it Teresa!

Thanks for the interest guys and Teresa! We'll be releasing the models soon. If you have access to SVN and v13 you can already grab them and start working. Meanwhile... I've officially gone Loony. I've been thinking a lot about the Loons and a few of the ideas just won't go away. I'll be sharing some of those ideas here in the forum. Ultimately its the Art/Animation Directors choice where the story goes. This first input concerns just who might have put up that sign at the crossroads. The first thing that really planted itself into my mind is that this probably wouldn't be only one sign. SOMEONE really don't want you to go visit the Loons. So the concept of multiple signs presented itself. I spoke with Robert Holmein about it but no decision was made. One thing for sure... multiple signs would convey the Loony nature of what is about to happen. It gets worse... loony even. Who placed those signs? Talking to Teresa via Skype it suddenly became clear who *might* have placed the signs. We know it could have been the Winkies... or other citizen of Oz. But there is one group of people that want you to stay away more than any other... thats right... the LOONS! Getting Loonier... What then would the Loons write upon their multiple signs? Loony saying and warnings.... right! Our heroes haven't even got to Loonville and already things are getting strange. If you see where could be going... it does. This group of signs (modeled in A:M and composited in CorelDraw) demonstrate the proof of concept for the Loon's warning at the Crossroads. This should probably be added to Robert Holmein's topic related to the scene. The signs form a Loony Poem (of sorts) that convey the message to our heroes that they should go away. Luckly enough our adventurers curiosity gets the best of them and we get to visit Loonville after all. The multiple signs created by the Loons does add another possible story element to the Loons... one of color and creativity. If the Loon's painted those signs as they paint the tattoos on their bodies we've just discovered a little bit more about the Loon's. Perhaps they are an warrior artist colony??? Sounds Loony too me. At any rate. Here are a few signs (the first verse actually) from the Loon's Sign Poem. The poem in its Loony entirety might go something like this: - Keep out! Stay out of Loonville! - HereThere is no place to be - Beware! Run away! Be elsewhere! - Leave! Throw away the key! - Go Away! Don't go! Loonville! - Best you up and Leave! - Don't like your kind in Loonville! - Final chance to leave! - Turn around! Do not Pass! U Turn! - Wouldn't go that way if you were me - Run away! Get away from Loonville! - "Loonville Population 3". A small sign (unnoticed by everyone might even read) - No Tresspassing! signed King BaLoon *3 a reference to how many Loons *currently* live in Loonville. Hoping to do something about that.

Documentation and learning with Animation:Master in Spanish. http://cole3d.net Es mui gigante! (Link courtesty of Shazam3D in Useful Links)

While waiting for the Spanish translators to arrive.... I've got: "Howdy Friends!" "Installing via the A:M CD with Windows XP here..." maybe... "Need some help but I can't speak English"??? Am I close?

Try the Page Up and Page Down keys on your keyboard. They toggle the realtime resolution in A:M. It doesn't effect your model... just the way you view it. Lower resolution can help you animate faster etc. Rodney

Thanks! Teresa Nord is involved in this project too. She taking charge of forum posting and general management of the Loons.* Its almost time to start populating Loonville! *As time allows. I know she'll be busy in school soon.

There is so much world for him to explore. Hope in time you'll tell a few of his tales.

You don't have to have v13 to contribute to TWO. Having v13 will just let you dig a lot deeper into the production. Due to differences in file format I suggest teaming up with someone with v13. "Well... whats the fun in that?" To me its obvious. You can help refine your Loons, make suggestions, create props and develop things for those Loons to be doing. Consider how they work... and play... and react to strangers! There's an old saying, "If there is a hand in the scene it needs to be doing something". Work with some else and give the citizens of Loonville something to do. Obviously some ideas and elements won't fit into TWO. But fun and practice has its own reward. If the Loon Intro scene calls for a tall skinny Loon my fat lumpy one probably won't make the cut. But FatLumpyLoon might be perfect for the shot of the Loon Mob encircling our heroes. Ultimately its the Art/Animation directors call on which direction each Loon will go. If they like a concept or need a particular Loony activity I'm sure they'll let us know. So... v11 Users will have to turn their weaknesses to strengths in this one. If there is adequate interest I'm sure we even can locate the town's elusive v12 Loon. (Sorry to get longwinded... stuff like this gets me excited!) Rodney

Lazz, As your image shows there is more than one interpretation of Wolvie's ear flaps. When I first saw yours I thought of Arthur Adams. As for me I'm partial to the John Byrne style. That doesn't really matter all that much though. Just keep modeling him! Edit: I think what's different isn't so much the size but that there is a squared off effect to them as some artists draw him. I'll post some pics (but just to illustrate what I'm talking about. Do your own thing). Both of the attached drawn by John Byrne. The front view one w/ orange and brown costume.

(Pinning this in the New Users Forum to keep it in view of those who might not otherwise see it) Interested in participating in a feature length movie? Now 'Tin Woodman of Oz' opens the door on that opportunity to everyone. Given one of three basic Loon characters you'll be able to tailor, tweak and ultimately create a brand new Loon to call your own. There will be three distinct phases in this project. You are welcome to participate in one, some or all of them. Modeling. The easy part has already been accomplished. Three basic Loon types have been modeled. Now all you need to do is modify, resize and reshape your Loon. Decaling. Loons all have interesting Loony tattoos to identify them to each other. Here you get the chance to make your Loon stand out in the crowd. Animating. Robert Holmein has storyboarded and roughed out the Loon sequences. If you've watched the storyboard you already know whats going to happen next. As an animator... you make it happen. If you think you are up to this Loony Challenge don't miss this opportunity! (A link to the Loonville topic will be posted here as soon as it becomes available.) Note: Modeling (Modifying) will be the initial focus.

Jin, As great as Cloth can be for you I'd leave it to the last. I'm sure you could master it earlier but would hate to see it slow you down. I'd suggest pressing ahead with other things and start some Cloth experiments on the side. As you find time... do other tests with different settings. Work some more... experiment and eve try to break things more. Keep focused on the work while you enjoy your experimentation. If you do that I'm convinced you'll soon find Cloth to be a 'no brainer'. It'll all be instict to you.

That's a great one!

You know... I'm a little shocked that this is the first time we've seen anyone attempt to recreate Wolverine in 3D. Seeing your image is definitely one of those 'Now why didn't *I* think of that??' moments. Wolverine's ear flaps are hard to do in 2D so getting them right in 3D is no small task I'm sure. Did the game character have some that were more pronounced? I guess it doesn't really matter all that much. I remember seeing him drawn that way before. The most important thing is that you are modeling Wolverine!!! Go Lazz!