CRToonMike
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Posts posted by CRToonMike
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Forgot that when you preview a post, any attatched files goes to the twilight zone. The latest animation of Tauri, featuring the special hand jerk motion is attatched. I had wanted her hand to smoothly arc down and come to a rest. But got this retro disco secret hand signal...
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Been a bit busy today, went to get a re-fi on the lovely condo the spousal unit and I own and still had time to play with A:M.
First off, on another thread, a recipe was given on how to do that gradient edge fall-off thing. I tried it and it works really well.
Here's a pix w/o the gradientedge:
In this one, the gradient material is applied, but dopey me forgot to reset the amibient setting on the other materials. The concept of what ever doesn't get changed in previous materials will get changed if the last material in the "stacking order" has a change in that category is awesome and very powerful -- and something I was waiting for...anyway here's the same pose/figure with the gradient edge material working:
I really like the effect it gives. It softens up the outline a bit and gets rid of that darker shadow on the "light" side of the head. One thing that now gave me grief is how shiny the skin material is. I added a Cell Turb material, set the kind to webbing and on the two attributes made one a slightly darker shade of green for the color and a brighter yellow for the specular color. I also tweaked with the specular size and amount on each attribute. Added just a bit (2%/10%) for the two roughness settings on one of the attributes. I am really pleased with the outcome:
And here's a shot from the knees up:
All the lights are the defaults when you create a new chor. That's gonna be one thing I'll be working on this weekend.
Had an odd (for me, anyways) problem with the shoulder "skin bones." (See the sonofpat Shoulder skin bone tutorial on the ARM for this one). I got the right side working pretty well, and then did the left side. I noticed that while I was setting the orient-like constraints for the right side, the moment after I finished the constraint (set the enforcement value and which bone to orient like...) the bone would move and I had to move it back. I realized that I didn't use the compensate mode when I did the right side, so I used it on the left side bones. I exited the relationship and then in Bones mode on the model, moved the skin bones on the left side around. I spent close to 3 hours moving this, moving that, going into the chor, render a pix, etc...etc..and the freaking left side just wouldn't work!
Then after a little break, I realized that maybe I need to edit the relationship for these skin bones. In the User Properties, i have this relationship set to on or off. Edited the relationship and Noticed that the left and right side shoulder skin bones were not the same. The right side is correct, but the left is exactly like they were when I set the constraints.
Spent the next ten minutes aligning the bones and did a render. Problem solved. Kinda wish there was a "re-set to bones mode position" option in relationships.
Anyway flush with this success (I have never been able to work on A:M this long, or was able to do so much until the Mac OS X version Thanks Randy!), I tried to do a simple animation of Tauri raising her arm, as if indicating the height of something she's describing. Scrubbing though the timeline seemed to be okay, but for some reason Tauri moves like she's channelling some Disco Diva from the 80's... which is not what I had in mind.
I'm using the Hash 2001 rig that's been modified with the skin bones between the shoulder and bicep bones on the left and right side. I added eyelid bones and targets for the eyeball bones to track. What I've noticed is that the elbow bone is real touchy. It seems to drift all over the place and whenever I so much as touch the darn thing, the arm it belongs to goes all spastic on me. Same thing for the Hand target. I have arms IK turned on. Would it be better to turn it off and brute-force the movement? Or is there something about the arm IK setting I'm missing?
any help, comments, crit, winning lottery numbers happily accepted. Thanks in advance.
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Heck, John, whateveryacallem, they are really neat and like Shaunf said, they ooze character. And the fact that they look so "un3d" (i.e. not possesing that too-sharp-shiny appearance) really shows what one can do with his/her abilities with a faboo soft like A:M.
thanks for sharing the developement of these great characters and world that you're creating!
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Zach:
The eyelids are separate meshes. I used 2 half-spheres for them (learned that trick from the program formerly known as RayDream studio, back in the days when I was slumming in the 3D world
) Then added bones where the center of the eyeball (not lid) is out to the edge of the lid. Wrapped up this by making a relationship, set to percentage, and pivoted the bone along the x-axis. Now I can make a blink or squinty eyes by a slider in the pose window. Here's the latest animation. Worked some more on the shoulder fan bones and did that thing with the eyelids. It's a mere 2 seconds long. Quicktime, sorenson compression. This was done mostly to get a better feel of the hash 2001 rig with my additions. I'm a bit stumped on how to make the shoulder look better, but it's a good start, imho.
But don't be shy, let me know whatchu think.
Thanks.
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Hey John:
According to Webster's 3rd international dictionary:
Grylli: a comic representation of animals or of animal and human forms in Greco-Roman glyptic art esp. in intaglios.
According to John Adkins Richardson, in his Complete Book of Cartooning, pg. 41, "...[this figure] is nothing but a bodiless head with legs and arms sprouting directly from the chin and cheeks. Such figures are of very ancient origin and even have a name. They are grylli (gryllos for singular) and while there are more complicated and monstrous varieties passing under the same rubric, this version [refers to an illustration] is the most typical. During the 1960s underground cartoonist Rich Griffin invented a particularly disquieting version of the gryllos, a dsembodied eyeball on legs..."
So it refers to a type of cartoon figure, imho. And the fact that they seem to be so common-place (the idea of a head with legs sprouting from the chin and arms from the ear/cheeks) I think that there may be some kinda archtypical influence at work...
Oh, and I really like the orc-Kapsules. Keep up the fun stuff!
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I had assigned the lip ring CPs to the bones (the upper lip CPs were assigned to the head bone and the lower lip CPs were assigned to the jaw) and then I added the new ring inbetween existing lip spine rings. When I went to the bones, the new CPs were automatically assigned (I guess) to the correct bones. I think it's because I added a new spline inbetween CPs that were assigned to the same bone that A:M automagically deduced that the new spline belonged to the bones that their 'neighbors' belonged to.
I haven't done anything to change the fall-off capsules (not quite sure what they are, as they aren't covered in the AOAM tute book and I haven't found it in the A:M tech reference ( a great book, btw, but the index is somewhat lacking) and after a disasterous experiment with weighting the CPs -- it mucked up everything and I had to reassign everything -- I'm a bit hesitant to venture forth and experiment with stuff I just can't find docs on. In this respect, I'm kind of like a "tweener" -- beyond a newbie but not close to being a "mentor." So far the only bone/constraint tute that I've been able to understand is from Pattason. Maybe one day I'll comprehend the RAF tute on rigging.
But I am having fun, though, and that's a good thing
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After having a night to sleep on it, I decided to just take the advice and make do with the splinage I have in the model already. I went to the tute by Patason Brooks on rigging a shoulder w/o smartskin and weights (via the arm:constraints section). I printed out the tute and followed it as best as I could.
Really happy with the results:
(first experiment with multi-pass rendering)
and the wire frame:
Exact same pose as the previous example, but with the shoulder rigging in place. I can see where I would need to adjust it (where the shoulder 'ring' is close to the outer chest splines and the lower bicep splines), but that's in the realm of tweekage. Ken's suggestion about moving the splines further apart and observation of where the bend's occuring was a major help. And John's scrooge-approch to splines is just great sense. I am glad that I just decided to plow on with the existing model as they had suggested instead of making a more spline heavy version.There's still some adjustments to make, have to make the upper arm longer, make the elbow work better and add finger bones to the hand. Then it's off to work on the hips and legs
I added another spline ring in the lips, so they would be more rounded and make for a better "pouty" look. I was all set to go and assign the new CPs to the bones and was I ever surprised that the all the new CPs were assigned to the corrrect bones! The CPs in the upper lip was assigned to the head bones and the lower lips CPs were asssigned to the Jaw bone. What a great thing and it shows, to me, that Hash's programmers are on top of their game!
thanks one and all for all the stuff I've been given and I'm hoping that by the end of the day I'll have some more stills and maybe an animation.
Oh, and a special thanks to Patason for his shoulder rigging tute!
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Thanks for the feedback John and Ken, this afternoon I've worked on the model and adding more splines and still have a previous version (the one pictured here) and I think that I'll work on boning them both, as a learning curve exercise. I think that you're both right, but sometimes doing something the 'wrong' way can be a valuble learning experience. Besides, doing the work on adding splines taught me how to "move" 5 pt patches around.
Now I'm off to the ARM to check out those Fan bone tutes I recall seeing there...
Thanks again for the advice and crit y'all!
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I don't know... seems like he'd be just as likely to say "ya want some fries with that" as "do you want me to check your oil"
Nice toon-y head. I really like it. Can't wait to see what comes of him...
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Thanks for the words, Vern and John! Actually, Vern, the top that Tauri's wearing was made from hubcaps from a time-traveling Cadilac (and that's a long story) and is a treasured heirloom handed down for a number of generations. Besides, Tauri's just not an 'off-the-rack' kinda gal.
Having quite a time boning the models. I'm kinda realizing that there's a distinct balance between low-splineange and high-resolution. Case in point, Tauri's shoulder. I realize that one could use fan-bones (and I almost got my mind around that concept of late) but I don't think that's the real issue here. I think I need another spline ring (or two or three) in her shoulder so the fanbones will have something to work with.
Here's a rendered pose, the arms are in the "Arms IK on" setting from the Poses window. I'm using the Hash 2001 skeleton that's on the CD with some alterations (removing the ring finger bones and sizing/positioning of bones)
and the wire frame:
pretty odd looking shoulder, eh? Should point out that the eyelids and lashes are boned to a bone that only rotates, can get a blink out of it via a relationship and such. The eyeballs have an 'aim at' constraint to individual left and right nulls who have a "translate to" constraint to a single null that can then be moved around.
In any case, I moved the arm and shoulder bones around a bit and came up with this:
rendered:
and wireframe:
A little bit better, but still the shoulder is kinda stretched in a not good way.
The whole upshot of this long and graphic post is that I think that Tauri needs more splineage in her shoulder and I just want to see if I'm thinking this through okay.
here's two screen caps of a shaded wireframe:
So in the detail picture, there's a 5-point pentagonal shaped patch on the back (left) side that I'm thinking would be a good place to intersect with a spline ring that would go around the shoulder. And then I could do something with the other 5-pt patch next to it (it's shaped like a square with a CP in the center of the top spline). After doing that it would be relatively easy to give more a shape to the shoulder itself and giving a bit more definition to the trapizeous (spelling) on the back.
Am I on the right track with this shoulder thing? I'm trying real hard to make every spline count and establishing a balance betwix too much and not enough is tough to do.
Thanks in advance for all advice, crits and comments!
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It's funny how inspiration can take you where you didn't think you were going. Case in point, John's thread on his Kapsule characters. I found them to be very cute and creatively stimulating. I have this pair of grape characters that I thought about redoing, so I did.
Only thing is that in the redoing, I created totally new characters and I'm kinda surprised at the results.
These characters are "bitties" (there was this elderly african-american woman who would stop by the pet store I used to manage every easter for her "bitties" -- baby chicks. The name stuck with me and I'm delighted to be able to use it) and they are kinda elfin, sorta fairy-like people.
I kinda have a story line that came to me while listening to Robyn Hitchcock's Catherdal Song.
Anyway, the first character is Kenth:
here's the wireframe:
Here's Tauri:
here's the wireframe:
and finally there's a flyaround as an attachement to this message.
Been working on these since Thurday and finished 'em up earlier today. Interesting in any and all comments.
thanks
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Getting better Ken! The ol' guy's taking shape and looking really good. Kinda miss the purple-ish skin tone, though. Raising the arm and emphasing the ribcage as a secondary set o' pecs did the trick for these eyes!
Looking forward to continued developement.
Good job!
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My main problem with this figure is that the second set of arms just kinda looks tacked on. Other than that I like it.
FWIW: Dave Cockrum ( a comicbook artist) did a few issues of John Carter of mars way back in the late '70s -- he drew the second set of arms with a smaller set of pectorals and then had the stomach muscles below it. The torso was about an extra head taller ( so in a 8 head figure, the torso is about 3 heads tall for a 4 armed guy the torso would be 4 heads and the figure would be 9 heads tall). The extra pecs would give the secondary set of arms some extra strength for lifting and such. The second set of arms would need to have some kind of clavicle-shoulderbone "harness" that the armbones would fit into and be able to get some leverage so the arms would be useful. In cases like this, I've found that creating a skeleton that fits the character (drawing on paper with pencil) and then doing some stick-figure poses with the character helps with refining the structure of the bones for it. Then once you have that done, a sketch of the character is lots easier.
I tried looking for some art to post and couldn't find any. sorry.
With all that being said, your model looks good. Thanks for sharing!
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Loved it! Really appreciated the Spinal Tap reference!
The acting was good and it really held my interest. Good, very good job! Thanks for sharing!
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Great Characters, John! As mentioned, they are getting personalities and the look of the enviroment is really charming. I really like the material for them and the renders you've posted.
Thanks for sharing them, they have inspired me to revamp some toons I've been drawing for most of my life. What I kinda find interesting is the number of artists who doodle these Grylii characters (Grylii is the name for a image where the head and body are either "melded" or one and the same... like the M&M characters, etc). It must be one of those archetype thingies.
now if only there was a version of skycast for the mac...
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ideas
in (2003-2004)
I use "what if" and free-association, myself.
For instance, I have two characters and I thought "what if they were hired to get rid of a single pest in a large building." Knowing that they are kinda bunglers, hilarity should ensue.
but I had a problem: I don't have a microphone or any easy way to get custom sound into my computer.
But I do have several sound fx CDs that have I could use. So my characters couldn't speak. How to get around that...I thought of places that talking/conversation wouldn't be welcomed. I thought of monks who have taken a vow of silence and all who enter the monastary would have to conform with that vow.
More generally, all "good" stories need to have some kind of conflict and the characters should have some stake in this conflict. This conflict should evolve to some form of resolution. For a great example of this look at the classic Star Trek episode, "City on the Edge of Forever" ; the one where Kirk and Spock follow McCoy to the past and o' tomcat Jim Kirk falls in love with a social worker who must die in order for history to continue the way that ensures the US gets involved in WWII and the Nazis get defeated.
In my story, the two end up destroying the monastary, the monks refuse to pay them and the two release the captured pest and leave before the monks can tar & feather them (so to speak). They board their ship, take off and in the back storage area of the ship is the pest and he says the only dialogue in the whole thing: "payback will be sweet."
If you can't think of a conflict, do what the pros do -- steal ideas from the past: Classic Fairy tales can be used (public domain, y'know) and then given a spin. Imagine Snow White where Prince Charming and Snow White's roles are reversed... and then put the whole situation in a Science Fiction setting. Or the Bard's "Romeo and Juliet" updated and with music and dance (West Side Story) or keep the script the same but update the settings to an urban one (Romeo + Juliet). Or take "Tempest" and put it into a Sci-fi setting and you'll get "Forbidden Planet."
What you could do the next time you watch a sitcom or drama or movie on TV, is to have a notebook by your side and write down what the conflict is, what the characters want and the stages the conflict goes though and how is it resolved. Pay attention to the characters you find yourself caring about. Explain why you care about him/her/them. Doesn't have to be a 'good' or 'bad' guy/gal. There was a show named "The Pretender" from a few years back that had a character named "Miss Parker." in the earlier episodes she was a total b***h, but she had a sense of humor and style and became one of my favorite characters in the series.
It sometimes helps to have a pretty complete bio and list of likes and dislikes for characters. What would Raiders be without the classic line from Indy: "Snakes, why it have to be snakes."
-- ykwim?
Hope this helps,
mike rhodes
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That would be, for moi, a short featuring a character of mine called "Spacey Casey"
I have an anitronic (spelling?) up at:
http://www.crtoons.com/tdworx/spacey_proj/case_anim.html
It's a flash thingie, so have the plug-in working as it will begin playing as soon as enough of it streams down.
Ferget what the Credits say, I'm doing this in A:M (too lazy to re-do the thing) as the program I mentioned just doens't have much, really, in the way of character animation tools. It's a scooter, and A:M is a fully loaded Hummer (so to speak).
I'm doing the learning right now and hope to begin to animate it later this year, I hope.
later,
mike r.
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Now are you going to do the rest of this 2-album set? (ducks and runs for cover)
LOL - Well... now that you mention it... I am considering a section towards the end. It'll need a bit of pruning and maybe even some advanced editing but....er... I'll keep ya posted.
Would that be the one song that has the refrain "The chances of anything coming from mars is a 1000 to one?" (or something like that, it's been years since I listened to it --way back in the daze of vinyl). The possibilities for this song is kinda good, imho.
BTW, is this album on CD? Alla sudden I want to listen to it and the first 2 albums by the Allan Parsons Project (the Raven and I Robot, iirc) -- Orginally I bought all three at the same time and they are linked in my mind. Suddenly the thought of doing a video for "Mr. Tarr and Professor Tether" (I think that's the title
) sounds really fun...mike r.
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Awesome! the lip synch and the acting of the narrator is just first-class!
Now are you going to do the rest of this 2-album set? (ducks and runs for cover)
This should be a great addition to a demo reel for sure!
mike r.
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One thing to keep in mind with clothes is that wrinkles is a good thing. I would have the splines kinda follow the contours and mimic the way cloth is sewed together.
The face is good, could be better if there was some sharper contrasts, like with the eyes and the smooth blending from them to the cheek.
Very good start so far, though.
mike r.
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Here's my idea for the pizza box -- they're all promotional give-aways. Guy opens the box and there's a pizza-printed frisebee(sp) in it with a coupon for a free pizza.
This eliminates the need for the guy to check all the boxes, He could still bite into one and then realize they're made of rubber. Then he could fling a pizza-frisbee at the seagull, misses and the frisbee boomerrangs back at him and knocks him out.
How does that work?
mike r.
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Thanks for the tute John!
I'll try it when ZBrush releases the Mac 2.0 version.
mike r.
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Thanks, Larry!
Think I'll just have to whip out the card and do some of that online orderin'!
I think that the v11 T.M. will be useable for 10.5, and a better resource than the AOA:M book...
mike rhodes
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Want to order the TechManual, but noticed that it's for v.11 and I'm still in 10.5 land (mac OS Classic and the Mac OS X beta) and have no clue to when v.11 will be out for the Mac.
My question is that will it be worth it to just get the Tech Manual? How different is 10.5 from 11? I still have the manual from v.8 and it's basically okay, but it's begining to show its age and the "Art of Animation Master" is good to begin with, but you can only do the same tutorials so many times. I think the Tech Reference is the book I wish came with my A:M upgrade
appreciate any comments, opinions or even another one of Vern's Bathroom Ruminations (joking!)
tia
mike rhodes
new gun from game!
in Work In Progress / Sweatbox
Posted
I get to an Angelfire sign-up type page. Couldn't see the gun.
sorry.