Rodney

Does the running figure look male or female ? Also ambiguous. At first I thought male. Then I thought perhaps female. Then I thought male. I could walk down the reasons for each of these triggers but... not sure that matters. The softness of the character certainly suggests femaie. I lean toward thinking this is a young male or athletic female who isn't into girly appearances as there aren't too many specific things that suggest female. A simple one to suggest female would be to add a pony tail. Does it look like its wearing a shirt or vest ? Definely doesn't suggest vest to me. It looks to be a fairly tight shirt and very likely a specific runners brand (of which I know not what the brand might be) because of the distinctive imprint on the shoulders/arms. Does the run look OK or is it odd in places? I agree that some additional display of weight (or countering of the same) could enhance the run. It's quite a good run actually. The only thing I can suggest here is to think of the squash down upon each landing of a foot and the stretch as that leg lifts and releases. I'll add something that probably doesn't need to be said. At about frame 90 just after the character blinks it would be ideal to have the character smile as recognition of who is there waiting to be hugged settles in. Anticipation is such an important aspect that this is also where I'd consider playing with the weight of the run. In other words, if the runner was running at a steady pace now they might speed up... launching slightly higher... in an effort to get there just a little bit faster. Then you'd get a sense of steadily running in (as if this is a routine run), speeding up upon recognition of a loved one and slowing down in anticipation of the embrace (suggesting he/she doesn't want to injure their loved one by slamming into them with the full force they are capable of at their faster pace). The sense I get is that this is someone who runs regularly and just happens to be returning at this moment in time. There should be a sense of change... surprise... pleasure... recognition that happiness is just a few more steps away. Keep on keeping on Simon. I really like what I'm seeing here.

I was scratching my head a bit there too until I put on my racing cap. I think he means 'tires'. That's a great looking ride Maniac. Added: Ken! That thread decal works quite well with displacement. Very nice.

Continuing a trend in software where companies are trying to introduce their products to the lower teir... Also, if some reports are to be believed, an increasing shortage of experienced fx artists suggests when folks are hired they need to already know the basics of software used in production. There also continuing competition at all levels in fx as well as innovations that tend to make older software obsolete.at a faster pace. https://www.thefoundry.co.uk/products/non-commercial/mari-non-commercial/ Features: https://www.thefoundry.co.uk/products/mari/features/ Some data related to differences between commercial and noncommercial releases:: The commercial license of Mari starts at £1,233. I have not experimented with Mari and can only speculate at a workflow that would blend well with A:M. I would guess the most direct route would be to set up near-duplicates in A:M and Mari with an OBJ file in Mari as the base for texturing that would then be used in A:M. The most intriguing possibility would be that of using a UV-less workflow to paint the object in Mari (ala PTEX).

For those with an aptitude for writing import/export plugins I recently saw this source code related to creating FBX plugins via glTF: https://github.com/cyrillef/FBX-glTF A pertinent part: This is from Cyrille Fauvel who should know a thing or two about the FBX format because he's worked for Autodesk since 1993. He maintains the blog 'Around the Corner' and a blog post from just over a year ago goes into some detail about how he arrived at the source while researching a WebGL project. LINK The GL Transmission Format (glTF) is a runtime asset delivery format for GL APIs: WebGL, OpenGL ES, and OpenGL. glTF bridges the gap between 3D content creation tools and modern GL applications by providing an efficient, extensible, interoperable format for the transmission and loading of 3D content. For more about glTF see info on their github site: LINK

I saw this software mentioned recently and haven't investigated it very deeply but sense that it may be well worth considering... Edit: For a number of reasons, Shotcut is getting my recommendation. So, go get it! And yes, it can convert to .MOV format (as well as just about any other format including animated GIF) Shotcut is a free, open source, cross-platform video editor for Windows, Mac and Linux. Major features include support for a wide range of formats; no import required meaning native timeline editing; Blackmagic Design support for input and preview monitoring; and resolution support to 4k. Basic Features Support for the latest audio and video formats thanks to FFMPEG Supports popular image formats such as BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, SVG, TGA, TIFF as well as image sequences No import required - native timeline editing Frame-accurate seeking for many formats Multi-format timeline: mix and match resolutions and frame rates within a project Screen capture including background capture to capture a Shotcut session Webcam capture Audio capture Support for 4K resolutions Network stream playback (HTTP, HLS, RTMP, RTSP, MMS, UDP) Frei0r video generator plugins (e.g. color bars and plasma) Audio Features Audio scopes: loudness, peak meter, waveform, spectrum analyzer Volume control Audio filters: Balance, Bass & Treble, Band Pass, Compressor, Copy Channel, Delay, Downmix, Expander, Gain, High Pass, Limiter, Low Pass, Normlize: One Pass, Normalize: Two Pass, Notch, Pan, Reverb, Swap Channels Audio mixing across all tracks Fade in and out audio and fade video from and to black with easy-to-use fader controls on timeline Cross-fade audio and video dissolve transitions easily by overlapping shots on the same track of the timeline JACK transport sync Cross Platform & Codec Independent Cross platform support: available on Windows, Linux and MacOS Codec independent so does not rely on system codecs Can run as a portable app from external drive UI translations: Catalan, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Polish, Portugese, Russian, Slovak, Spanish Batch encoding with job control Encode/transcode to a variety of formats and codecs thanks to FFmpeg (or libav as-built) Stream (encode to IP) files and any capture source Video quality measurement (PSNR and SSIM) Display and Monitoring External monitoring via Blackmagic Decklink card on NTSC monitor External monitoring on an extra system display/monitor UI themes/skins: native-OS look and custom dark and light Control video zoom in the player: fit viewable area (default), 50%, original (100%), and 200% Flexible UI through dock-able panels Detailed media properties panel Recent files panel with search Thumbnail and waveform caching between sessions Hardware Support Blackmagic Design SDI and HDMI for input and preview monitoring Leap Motion for jog/shuttle control Webcam capture Audio capture to system audio card Capture (record) SDI, HDMI, webcam (V4L2), JACK audio, PulseAudio, IP stream, X11 screen, and Windows DirectShow devices Multi-core parallel image processing (when not using GPU and frame-dropping is disabled) DeckLink SDI keyer output OpenGL GPU-based image processing with 16-bit floating point linear per color component The Link: https://shotcut.org/ Disclaimer: Some of the interface is not intially intuitive. For example it took me a little while to figure out how to import an image sequence. This option can be found in the Properties panel. Also, Shotcut is yet another application (like A:M) where Right Clicking is your friend.

Definitely keep those elements of fine art flowing into your work. That's what makes your work so rich and deep. After typing the following (vvv down there vvv) I looked again at your work and marvel in the strengths of your approach. You not only illustrate the story point in question but hint at the depth of character and how they live in a larger world... one we want to explore. And you don't stop at one level of illustrating this narrative but layer in and echo the theme. And here is where I see some opportunity too... directly relating to clarity. What if that mouse had his/her own page directly proceeding this page? What if that pilot and plane had a page proceeding that one? We can only sample this single page from an imaginary book so we will never know beyond what we see on this page. There are many of aspects of your current work that are intriguing to me and it'd take a lot of words to explore those. I'm mainly concentrating on your words to frame my response so please forgive where that seems to state the obvious. You say: While awesome in its own way, I think the current 3rd Thursday approach that limits you to a single illustrated page can be more than a little deceptive. The interesting thing being that while your illustration does have to stand on it's own the page doesn't quite take into account what is to be revealed when the next page is turned nor what has come before. Many aspects of the current (isolated) illustration can gain additional clarity relative to those. In the 3rd Thursday entries that aspect still needs to be accounted for. Whether revealed or not (and I assume they never will be) there are no other pages of this story. Those pages exist only in an imaginary world where this page is taken from a real book. This is an important thing to consider because, in a way, you have to consider what will happen next and what has led the story to this point. It's that richness of missing detail that we can't see in the current narrative that is by its very nature interpretive, illusive, abstract and subjective. We simply don't know. That information doesn't exist. So we in the audience MUST create the rest of the story. We have no choice. This leads us to the element of clarity in what is placed before us. The artist, writer, illustrator, whoever only has so many lines to connect to tell their story. Children's books are fascinating to me because they, perhaps more than any other medium, marry words and imagery together where they are often more than just complementary, they are often indistinguishable. So in similar fashion to what we (attempt to) illustrate in words we layer in additional detail to point the audience to key points of our narrative and to further clarify our story. This is why I love animation so much. Keyframes. Golden poses. Breakdowns. Inbetweens. Silhouette. Staging. Ease in. Ease out. Primary and Secondary Actions. Clarity... and the ever elusive Solid Drawing*. Everything is important and works together to deliver the performance but all the while recognizing that not all things are held constantly in focus. The animator has an advantage in Illustration because what they know can strengthen the work, especially in a single page illustration where many disparate things must work together and (in story-time) share their narrative purpose. . *While Solid Drawing principally speaks to skill and draftsmanship and recreating real worlds in imaginary spaces it goes well beyond that. The concept of 'drawing' is not well understood in this or any other context until one considers well the word itself and it's pulling power of influence. Forms and shapes. Flows and forces. Thicknesses and thinness. The illumination (illustration) of things otherwise forever lost in the darkness...

Ah! I didn't catch that part. I was thinking you just made it up. As I was. As I was. That's funny (okay... and maybe a bit sad) about your husband collecting fortunes. I will guess that by now he (and you too) have racked up some serious good luck. And best news of alll... I can now honestly say I know someone that collects those things. hehe.

Well said. It seems each time I open A:M I find something that puts a spotlight on why I enjoy using it so much. And there are so many little things that are just out of reach of my understanding. So much more to explore and put into production. My primary deficiency is trying to chart my own way (recreate the wheel?) where others have already walked the path. I chalk some of that to my desire to learn and experience things for myself but much of it is just me being stubborn. There is a lot of great software out there but A:M is the best of the bunch.

Nice! I've toyed with overpaintings of 3D proxies but you've very obviously mastered it. And as always with these pieces you pull me in to where I want to discover more of the story. Added (because you know I cannot resist making at least one suggestion): The one change I might make would be in the wording of the fortune cookie phrase. Personally, I'd drop that last word 'do' so that it read, "The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot." An alternative would be to change 'great' to 'greatest' so it read, "The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot." although I lean toward the former I'd have to ponder upon that. That reads more like a short phrase cracked open from a cookie. Aside: I always tell folks who are with me right before cracking open my fortune cookie that I always... always... get the same fortune... every time. Then I open it cautiously and wince painfully saying, "Not again!." Then I reveal that my fortune is... yet again... 'Whatever you do, don't look behind you." If following my own advice I might have to drop that second 'you'. The intent is several-fold in that it's a stale old joke with my family that I continuously try to refine but also a suggestion to look to the future and not the past. Of course folks are free to interpret the prediction as meaning that some dastardly villain is standing at that very moment right behind me.

This is a growing trend and one we are likely to see a lot more of in the future. Of interest are two primary things: Raw production material for inspiration and study (and as starting point for other production) Looking behind the screen into how a production is planned and produced, studying the assets used and gaining insight into approaches used. A means of increasing value and return of revenue* Many of the assets used in a production will never been seen again and (rather sadly) will often be lost forever (especially in a digital world). Sharing of these assets can be a means to keep the originals intact as well as to maintain interest (current and historical) as well as inspire derivative works. In the past, much of the production assets used in production were seen to be of little use. Even Disney threw massive amounts of production drawings, cels and production related documentation into the trash bins. Those deemed more valuable made their way into the Disney Reference Library and a few that didn't quite make the cut made their way into other hands as gifts or sold for a few dollars at Disney Land. The vast majority of preliminary work was either maintained by the original artist and/or discarded. Much of the focus of the Craft site is on 2D animation and that seems more than appropriate given that the big studios have largely pushed 2D to the side. But whether in 2D or 3D, assets used in production have value. While it currently is a very niche market, this market for creativity is increasing and one could well imagine an entire production being presented in full form both in production assets and in final (presentation) form. While the latter is of considerable entertainment value it is the former that represents the value put into production. It is also a value that continues to be tossed into the trash by those that don't see the inherent and continuing value of those resources. Here in the A:M Forum some effort has been made to host production assets shared by A:M Users. The A:M Exchange area of the forum contains models of considerable value. The vast majority of assets as well as production history from 'Tin Woodman of Oz' is also available for downloading. The forum itself is a great place to share insights and resources as we make daily progress in our productions. For those of you likely to complete short films, commercials and interstitials consider well the value of those digital assets and sites such as 'Craft' that might be willing to host them. These resources might not generate a lot of revenue but then again who knows what the future may hold. Here's the site in question: https://itsoncraft.com/ Access to the site and general sources is subscription based but production assets are also sold. Note that this site does plan to distribute and sell 3D models. As of now they have it tagged as 'coming soon'. For those that have productions that have made their way into distribution, now might be a good time to get in on the ground floor. With every direct purchase content creators get 50% of the cut. The terms of service listed mostly apply to subscribers of the site and creators (licensors) should query the site for specific terms. To protect the content distributed on the site the TOS specifically states: There is also this (from the site's area 'for content producers': Added: As an extra consideration, the itsoncraft site allows the short film or trailer of the production to be posted, so this can be a means of increasing exposure when combined with the release of a few raw assets from the production. One of the site's creators is Frederik Villumsen who (amongst other things) is behind Team Generous. *It is interesting to consider the word 'revenue' in this context because it literally implies putting the production... the actual production resources... back in front of an audience in order to extract more value.

Definitely. While I'd imagine a path of least resistance might follow that of merging with other aspects of Disney (mobile divisions etc.) I can't help but wonder what options the folks at Avalanche have with regard to just starting over from scratch. In many ways Avalanche set the standard that got Disney to where they are today and while field is vastly different from back in those days I'd like to think they could do it again. I know there are a lot of moving parts and the most important of those are the human element. Other companies should be chomping at the bit to snatch up some of these talented folks but... I hate to see the great team they formed broken up. Still, either as a unified team, as smaller groups or even as individuals, 300 people of this level of experience and skill is a force to be reckoned with. I have no doubt that they can alter the landscape of computer graphics again. Return to your roots, rise to the challenge placed before you and change the world... again.

Wow. The underlying plot-line (for Disney) is that licensing is (still) where the money is.

I saw a mention of this JPEG standard and thought it of interest because it proposes to address some issues with the current standard. Specifically, the XT flavor seeks to address issues of higher bit compression, HDRI imaging and... the alpha channel. JPEG with Alpha... that's been needed for a very long time now... and using alpha channel with both lossy and lossless processing would be a welcome addition to the format. For more info: https://jpeg.org/jpegxt/ For some open source software that reads and writes the format: https://jpeg.org/jpegxt/software.html On the downside: The JPEG standard itself has some limitations of usage due to patents.

There is an unresolved issue with posting of (certain video) links in the forum. From what I can tell the code that formats video links parses the URL but doesn't format it correctly. The workaround is to proceed the link by another character such as the letter 'x'. So... just proceed your URL with the letter x. I often add this letter to a posted (invisible) URL but in your case you removed that link from your post so there is nothing there for me to repair.

Hi Gerry, it's great to see you! I'm not satisified with my test but I went with a rotating set of decalled cylinders... I'm leaning more toward a static plane of hills with animated deals rolling over them (ala shadows moving across hills from clouds). That seems to be more in line with your example movie. For that an animated project map might work wonders. Actually rolling the hills almost makes them not seems like hills. An underlying and important aspect of this is to consider the timeframe the calendar represents. For instance, what is the timeframe under consideration that is flying by. I say this because even if the year(s) are not seen, the calendar layout will likely reveal this information. In the attached I selectd 1996 and left that on the decal mainly as an aid to tracking. I assume the year would be removed in final rendering to grant a larger appeal. Figuring out what date is actually represented would be for the truly devoted to decipher. If I run another test I think it might be of a projection mapped grid with bumpy hills. The projected image would be animated to give an additional time-flies-by effect. timeflies.mov

I got a headache. lol Bring it on. More please.

True that! I suppose close on the heels of that is 'finishing' something... anything. I'm not a very good finisher yet although I've noted that some folks certainly have that knack. 'Finishing' being a relative term more like 'abandoning' at a specific stage of maturity.

All are welcome and encouraged to contribute their approaches, best practices... recipes for success... to this topic. May the best days of productivity be ahead of you. I recently moved a bunch of files from my main harddrive to an external drive and it has me thinking about why I had set up that directory in the first place. I want to share my thoughts related to this because I'm trying to learn (mostly from my mistakes) and to move forward to the next stage (whatever that may be). Some time ago I made a change in the way I organized files on my harddrive (as I tend to be a very disorganized person and need structure). A critical change for me was to create a directory on my Desktop named 'AMtv'. I often use another directory construct named 'Renderfolder' or 'RF' if I'm feeling lazy but more on that later. I wanted to structure the directory almost like a diary... dailies... a running collection of each days production related activities (related to A:M in some way... as almost everything is)... regardless of how frivolous or trivial they might be. I think this is the fourth time I've moved this directory off of my desktop and it feels nice to have a new empty directory to begin the process all over again. Out with the old. In with the new. Time marches on. Etc. *But I can go back and revisit those old 'classics' if necessary. And that's kind of the whole premise of AMtv (on my desktop) in that it is my equivalent of actually watching TV, and my primary source of entertainments but in a participatory way; I interact with things in/on AMtv. Into it goes the goings on of this forum... cool projects posted (great stuff!)... tips and tricks (hey I never knew that!)... and occasionally I even plop some of my own 'shows' (mostly banners and such rendered or otherwise) but also related tests inspired by other things on the screen; all the various things that help fulfill the creative urge in me I guess what I'm saying is that creating that AMtv directory dramatically increased my productivity and helps me work through a ton of useful distractions along the way. And every time I change the channel (by moving the contents of AMtv to another location), I feel I'm preparing to set the next stage. What approaches do you take to organizing and publishing your work? How has that approach impacted your enjoyment of the process, your creativity and productivity?

This seems to be more of an acknowledgement that their efforts to move into more mature markets hasn't worked so their focus is now on children's entertainment. This relates to why Dreamworks targeted the purchase Awesomeness TV and the young teenager and preteen market it represents. This places them more into the market than Disney as Disney slants toward a slightly more mature market these days (although trying to be all-ages). This is even more true with the recent addition of Marvel and Star Wars franchises. Dreamworks was struggling to compete in this arena. Most of Dreamworks efforts to hit that same all-ages market fell very short of being profitable (especially in terms of short term profits) and its those short term profits they seek to be able to build their empire. This is underscored by other players getting into the game and making that same mature field online difficult as well. I think we'll see the occasional foray into the more mature arena (ala Shrek, Kung Fu Panda and the Dragons franchises) but although enjoyed by the masses those are very franchises that are increasingly showing their age. As such even the Netflix reincarnations/continuations of those stories skews toward a slightly younger audience. This use of specifically targeted words might be included more in answer to and to please shareholders (or the suitors that were seeking to purchase Dreamworks) than to suggest actual content produced by Dreamworks but from the time of 'Home' onward decisions being made do appear to target young children and pre-teen audiences consistently. These decisions (such as choosing the age of a protagonist in a film) are made very intentionally so they are certainly targeting that younger age and the parents whose purchasing power pays their way.

Linking external images into the forum often (and almost inevitably) results in those image links breaking. Where possible I'd recommend uploading the images to the forum. The allotted upload quotas for forum members should be more than adequate for the attachments. And that way the linked imagery will be retained. I've taken to saving externally linked images any time I see them in the forum so that I have a copy to replace the originals when they eventually turn up missing. The problem with that approach is that I very likely won't be able to locate that image months or years later. That is an impressive composite Marcos!

Elm, You should be familiar with the concept of MUFOOF (although you can be forgiven for not recognizing that name ) because you used something similar to get the surface/skin of your characters in your recent short (the one about phoning in orders for food).

I recently saw the rumor but it apparently is a done deal... http://deadline.com/2016/04/jeffrey-katzenberg-reaction-dreamworks-animation-sale-comcast-1201746411/

Awesome. Now THAT would be truly awesome. A:M is ideally suited for quick turnarounds like these.

Nice! Love that MUFOOF style. (I'm needing to use that for some blurs and stretches on cartoony movement)

Jamie, It is so good to see you here and I'm thankful that you have made the effort to reach out and more importantly to continue the work of your mother. I think she'd be very pleased to know that her characters and stories are still moving forward. 'Just a Wooden Sword' may have life outside of the realm of 3D animation and that is evidenced by Kat's work with dolls... her books... recordings... there is a much larger world to which those characters and stories belong. Short of hiring an agent and having them pursue some form of licensing I'm not sure what to suggest with regard to Kat's characters and stories. If continuing to refine the work she was doing here in the forum is an avenue of interest to you it's an easy thing to assign Kat's special topic to you. There are several who helped model characters for Kat's tale that currently don't frequent the forum. I'd like to think they might find their way back and help you pick up the torch. I (personally) try to keep most of my efforts in the public arena and encourage others to do the same but understand that might not be the ideal way forward for you. I wish you all the best in your endeavors. Just know that, as I know your mother understood, you don't have to go it alone. P.S. At some point I'll likely move these posts to another location. Perhaps as a topic in the 'Just a Wooden Sword' forum. If it seems to have disappeared look for it there!