Rodney

A few years ago Robert posted an example of texturing of a patch where opposite sides show different materials, textures, etc. I'm not sure if we every found out his approach but for a little while I thought I had it figured out and did some exploration of my own. Here's a very basic example that colors opposing sides of a patch red and blue. The dangling splines are there to provide some curvature on a single patch which would otherwise be straight/linear.

Please don't try that out on your original project files.... I cannot be responsible for errors that may cause! Sleep well Tore!

Jeff, If you are having problems getting a link to show put an x in front of the URL and it should post. Ah success! Sorry about that. I have no idea why the forum is processing some URLs (primarily youtube videos) incorrectly. Nicely done. I was watching that bird in the background wondering about whether it might be the mantis's demise. Do you have plans to texture the mantis? A little roughness and specularity alone might serve well in that capacity.

That's a direction AE certainly needs to go. Looks like after the beta period the price will be $99. So it looks like just over a week to play before having to plunk down some cash. The part where they state, "No actual 3D objects required." gets my attention. There looks to be some serious tracking of 2D objects going on. It roughly looks like they are using some form of flow map. At a guess though I'd say, look for the same basic functionality to work its way into AE.... er... Adobe Animate. Not that these features are set to be included but the AA release is suppose to be out in February. I'm hoping that release has some features targeting traditional animation.

Duly noted. Not that this is the solution but... have you tried a Right Click on Chor in PWS and selecting Shrink Length? I haven't used that feature much so don't know the extent of what is being shrunk. It -appears- to shrink the Chor to the length of the longest Action. (Which appears to be your stated problem) Perhaps that feature could be expanded to grant some additional options.

I understand and sympathize. It appears to me that your best option (at present) would be to sign up for the trial. That 14 days should be more than adequate to create/modify a model. And the trial will get you fully functioning v18 to work your magic on the model. BUT... (my take) if your project has value... $79 is a worthy investment in that project. Added: As for why you don't see any PM option, I don't believe the PM option appears on the first day of login to the forum. I'll have to check on that but the PM feature is designed to be used by folks that frequent the forum often.

Edit: I think I can reproduce the 'bug'. Still investigating but it appears to be mostly a refresh bug. As I click through various objects the playrange appears to correct itself. This might suggest a setting that is persisting in memory/cache as that old setting is nowhere else within the Project to be found. Tore, It may be helpful to start from a default (empty) project. The example you use should operate the same and will remove all other variables from the problem. Then if anything is altered from that default we can isolate that element from the problem. At present I'm not seeing consistent results. Here's basically what I'm seeing: If I reload a project (with A:M still open) the settings don't appear to update to last saved changes. If I shut down A:M, launch A:M and load the project the updated changes appear. That may not always be the case but that is what I'm seeing thus far. An alternate way to test might be to have two instances of A:M open simultaneously and then use both of those to open the Project.

This we should be able to do. Only initially. We can change the play range to anything we want. That is then our active 'scene'. It'd be nice to see some more examples of various approaches here because lots of folks (including me) will learn a ton. I've downloaded your previous project file and will investigate that (given your description and instructions).

No, in many cases we want those actions to continue past the 'active' chor... as in your last example which should work. The Chor length is just showing that portion of the Chor that is active. We could then make copies of that Chor that had different 'active' frames from the full length of all keyframes. I note that in your last post you seem to be requesting the opposite of your earlier post. This underlines that it need to be the users decision on what the lengths of any animated objects are. We might be running into an odd bug here that sometimes works/sometimes doesn't. I did a quick test (moving a camera) and that movement does extend out past the Chor. To make sure it works for you too save your Project under a new filename. I'm not sure why but in once instance the movement outside of active Chor region didn't get stored. Bottom line: extending actions beyond the active chor should work. Added: As a workaround in A:M (if you can't get an action to project outside the active Chor region) consider using the Post Extrapolation setting. The options there are Reset, Hold, Repeat, Ping Pong, Accumulate and Linear. Linear would get you the equivalent of what you have as a screenshot BUT extending the spline beyond the active chor region should also work. I do note that the active chor region and the inactive region are almost the same color which makes it really hard to tell where the active area is at times. I often have to look at the channel region in order to see the end of the active chor as it's colors are more easily discerned. For ease of reading within the channel post extrapolations will appear as dotted lines so that we can easily see what has been automated.

I'd report what you are experiencing. Reporting now should make sure the problem doesn't appear in v19 when it is released. There does appear to be a refresh issue with displayed Chor length specifically in Spline mode. I'm not seeing the same thing in the keyframe/dopesheet mode.

Great to see folks from long long ago returning to the world of A:M. Unfortunately, Hash Inc doesn't have CDs in stock any more. For inquires you can contact them at support@hash.com and you can get that as the official word. A whole lot has changed since the v11 timeframe that makes it well worth subscribing... and with v19 just around the corner that subscription gets you that (and all the releases back to v13) also. So, for what it's worth I heartily recommend the $79 subscription.

It looks like Don and Gary will easily hit their current $300K stretch goal. What does that mean? For all backers pledging $5 or more there is additional free stuff (digital copies of the Dragon's lair comic books, more color animation). The $250K stretch brought with it some more animation footage and new models sheets. For those into original art they are having regular drawings for original sketches by Don too. (posting a comment/like on Facebook required for entry). To date there have been a few Christmas themed sketches and a Star Wars sketch featuring Dirk and Daphne gifted off. For those keeping track, I see from the team photos/listing that Lavalle is signed on as the team's technical guru. Congrats to you Lavalle!

It's pretty common practice for Alpha releases not to be public. That Steffen, or whomever, decided to grab an issue from v18 to resolve in v19 is an extra benefit... a little confusion easily resolved (I took a wild guess at what might have happened to the report) Yes, it would be optimal if the reporter could get a note that the issue has been addressed/fixed in a release yet to be made public but the nature of Apha releases is such that fixes could easily go away as other things change. In the heat of moving a new release toward the public some documentation and notification is sure to get missed. So what to do about it? I'd say we should do exactly what Nemyax (and you) did... ask a question related to the issue. New splash screens are the norm with each major release. Along with the beginning of the new year a mascot contest is usually launched so it's a good bet we'll be seeing that soon. Get your characters ready! I recall reading the report but will defer to others more knowledgeable. Aside: I get excited when I see the little updates (like reordering CPs) because they lay groundwork for the future.

Perhaps it's been moved to the v19 track, to which none of us have access. When in doubt you can always resubmit.

Thanks!

It great to see you Paul. If you are still making the rounds to Springfield drop me a note and I'll plan to make some trips there to visit with you.

Fun stuff!

Two top halves consecutively? NIce! Congratulations!

Woo hoo! Congratulations! Well deserved praise.

Thanks for the responses. That provides some excellent insight into the choices made. I know of the video essay you refer to. I always enjoy those from Tony Zhou (and many others too!) The minimal movement in Chan's camera work is important because of his overabundance of movement expressed in his action. If the camera moved, we'd miss parts of that action. I do note that even when Chan says he doesn't move the camera we see movement in his camera. He mainly means the camera itself is locked down (to prevent an excess of hand-held movement. He still uses zooms and pans to great effect, progressing the action, foreshadowing and revealing thing we didn't see clearly before. Ex: That ladder over there in the background as they enter the scene is just a useless prop... oh wait.... no it isn't... Chan is using it as a weapon. Ha! Look at him go! (Chan knows his stuff) The locked down camera becomes even more important when dealing with multiple actors interacting with Chan. The camera can't follow everyone, everywhere so it stays (primarily focused on Chan) although wide enough so that we can anticipate and eventually see the most action. An aside from this; the video in question covers how American directors/cinematographers tend to cut on a hit/contact. This contact is an area of interest to me that is still in refinement and I haven't formulated an approach. Just when I think I've got it down, (for instance, always showing the contact frame(s), I find myself reversing that approach (leaving out those frames). The story/sequence/shot will dictate and therefore doesn't have to be an all-or-nothing approach. But that doesn't stop me from trying to find an optimal way to approach it. In the case of your boy and bear dancing there isn't much overlapping action in there dance. As such a locked down camera doesn't carry with it as much importance. The importance story point is that this boy and bear are dancing. Not that I'd expect you to do this but a fun exercise would be to take shots from the boy and bear dance and crop each to emphasis specific actions; esp. feet moving, turning/twisting, pan with them as they glide across the stage, etc. And HEY! I just noted that your boy has similar car shoes to that guy in detbear's latest lego parody. Hmmm... now there's a mystery to be solved. What is it with bears' friend's and their rollerskates that look like cars...

I wish id thought to use the multiple models on a path wizard last time i had to put candles on a cake!

The thing that draws me to this from several angles is 'simplicity'. You've got just what is needed to relate the story. That's why I think I'm so drawn toward cartooning and caricaturing... those simple relationships that don't try to fully capture are representative. I also like your camera angles and setup that bring focus to the areas of interest. These two latest wireframes are good examples of that where the team of four are center staged in the first and the prop of specific interest bathed in light in the second. I suppose it does also help to start out with very simple (overly simplified?) characters. In that way it's easy to transition from them to their specific storytelling situations. You've also added nice bits of detail for subsequent viewing which is important for storytelling longevity. It creates 'real' worlds that 'real' characters can 'live' in.

Ha! Great stuff KevinWilliam! I hope that gets out to where folks can see and appreciate it. More please!

I love it when questions like these get asked and answered. We continually discover new stuff. Both methods work great and can be used quite well. I'd say using the text editor for really complex paths and Chor/Modeling Mode for everything else. Once upon a time I had hoped to use paths to create a modular/modifiable building-city set but set that project aside as being too complex for my limited patience. Most of the modifications would be driven by pose sliders. Of course the beauty of instanced models (on a path or otherwise) is that they can easily be modified in the original, via an Action or Muscle Mode. Added: bowling pin tree

Nice. I like. It's good to finally see everything in context. My first impression is of the obvious amount of detail you put into each shot. Regarding this I'm talking about performance factors such as the boy entering, turning on the light, going back to close the door... all this works well because you took time to do it right. My thought for that is 'wow. that's a lot of work!' Good on you! The sound seemed to sync just fine for me. If it slips in sync it's probably in the dance sequence of which see below for some camera movement suggestions. I don't think my suggestions would be for this short as much as considerations for future work so keep that in mind as your read the following: Camera Movement Some shots would definitely benefit from a moving camera even if the camera moves or zooms or pans ever so slightly. This would break up some of what seems to be monotony (a monotone pace). Consider that change is important in animation so any frame that is exactly the same as another should have a purpose for repetition (i.e. to emphasize something). A moving camera can make two shots that are otherwise exactly the same different because of the perspective of the shot. Transitions and Story Through Lines I'm not sure quite what to suggest here so I'll try to figure it out while typing. Some of my examples would change story elements so again I'm not suggesting they be incorporated as much as considered for future work. My thought regarding transitions is that it's difficult to see what is happening from scene to scene (specifically from walkway at bottom of stairs to opening of bedroom door to dancing with bear). The final transition at the very end works because I was looking for an answer to what was going on and it supplied that. Nicely done! Here's what my mind thinks it needs to see; some change of pace on the part of the boy who has just returned (from school?) and is anticipating having a great time with his friend. As such dropping off some props at the base of the stairs as he enters and turns on the lights would suggest what he's departing from in anticipation of what is to come. Moving up the stairs a bit more rapidly would suggest he's motivated toward or looking forward to something. Then as he opens the door perhaps a closeup on his face that smiles broadly and wham... we are into the dancing session. The only time we really get the sense of his emotion is at the very end where he's falling asleep and much of that we get through the bear's subtle facial reaction. I'll have to watch the video a couple more times to see how much fast vs slow pacing you've already got. Regarding the Through Line it echos what I've just said with regard to transitions. The boy's interest in getting to his room, the first shot of the bear, the main attraction and the conclusion. You hit the throughline well from at the end but there is little anticipation for it at the beginning. Going from memory alone it seemed to me the boy was not particularly excited to get to his room. The greatest jolt is the change from 'ordinary pace of life' to dancing on the stage. Although I was anticipating seeing that scene (as I'd seen your earlier work on them in the forum) my immediate reaction is 'what just happened there'? It's like a shot of the sequence is missing. If none of the shots were to be altered I'd say adding a short shot of the boy reaching for the bear (who is not moving) would be enough to bridge the two shots (entering the room and dancing with bear). The good news is that we do get the answer to that question at the end of the tale. It's just not foreshadowed/anticipated in the earlier shots. Alternatively, just showing the bear on the bed as we get a look into his room would help. My favorite part is that last shot with the boy going to sleep with the bear. Very nice. It does seem to me that a voiceover of 'goodnight' from the parent is missing with or without a verbal response from the boy. He's waving as if responding to such at the end. Hope that all makes sense. You've put a lot of work into this one and it shows.