itsjustme

There are cheaper options...you might look into Cinelerra. Cinelerra is free, can do feature film resolution video, has six tracks of audio (if I remember correctly), can handle OpenEXR images, it can composite and can use a network to render transitions, effects, etc. It is Linux only, which is a non-starter for some people, but, there are Live CD's that have Cinelerra on them, like Dynebolic and I've seen this VMware version. You could also dual boot Linux and Windows or Linux and OSX...or you could have a dedicated Linux computer. What format a TV station accepts varies depending on their gear. The station I work at accepts BetaSP, DVPro and one inch (very rare now). We occasionally get some local spots on DVD and regular DV, but that's unusual...in the case of regular DV, it's hit or miss whether we can get it to transfer well. The vast majority of the spots we get are sent digitally using services like DG/Fastchannel, VYVX or Pathfire (which was bought by DG/Fastchannel recently). Local businesses generally get a media buyer and they use those services. Hope that helps.

I don't think it will be a problem...might take some experimenting to find out though. In my mind, modeling isn't finished until the character is rigged. I would finish modeling him and just make adjustments as needed while rigging. For more complicated joints, a lower density of splines is almost always better...you get a lot of stuff for "free" when the patches are moved if the spline layout is good.

I meant the top spline that was defining the hips...after re-reading my post, I see I wasn't clear. The way it was, the mid-section would look strange while bending. Moving that spline wouldn't affect the arms being able to reach the thighs, but it would reduce the vertical size of the hip area. As for the five point patch...it will just take some re-routing of splines.

From the look of his head, I was expecting a shorter character with a heavier looking lower torso. That's what was in my mind, at least. From a modeling standpoint...I would take out one of the chest splines and lower the hips (they end in the mid-section now). It looks like you hit the high points on spline placement, from what I can tell, Dhar. Nice job so far!

Top notch! That's as good as anything I've ever seen, Lee.

Nice, Stian! You're making me feel lazy...you're churning out great bunches of stuff. The only critique I have is that the car could be dirtied up a bit....great job.

Yes, all versions will work with v13 or later. The v12 and v13 are identical, except the v13 installation won't open in earlier versions. The v11.1 versions don't have the FK/IK seamless switching, because that didn't get put in until late in the v12 cycle (otherwise, they are the same). If you have v13s or later, I would recommend using the Posable installations that Mark will be posting shortly. They make the process a lot easier. At this time, there are only Posable installations for the biped rigs. Hope that helps, Mike.

Here's the next update to the biped rigs (these updates aren't necessary in the Quad rigs). The bicep flexing is improved and limited now and there are added geometry bones for a short-sleeved shirt. There is a new Pose, "Animation_Controls/Arm_Controls/sleeves_roll_like_biceps" which will roll the sleeve geometry bones like the biceps using a percentage slider. The sleeve geometry bones will work with limb bowing and general squetching...in extreme squashes you might have the arm go through the sleeve though, since there isn't any squetching built into the sleeves. I have included versions of Squetchy Sam that have some make-shift sleeves so that it will be easier to see what the new stuff does. This release has the InstallRig plugin included in the installation ZIPs. If anyone finds a problem or something I missed, let me know and I'll fix it as fast as I can. Mark posted the Posable installations here. If you are using v11.1, you'll need the DLL files located here, there are instructions for installing them inside the ZIP file. There is more information and add-ons on the Wiki. ---------------------------------- EDIT ---------------------------------- I forgot to thank Rusty Williamson for suggesting these updates and Mark Skodacek for double-checking everything...so, I'll tack that on here. Thanks guys! Sorry for the unintended omission. ---------------------------------- EDIT ---------------------------------- The next update is located here, the files from this post were deleted.

Just as an FYI, Squetchy Sam has the latest version of the Squetch Rig installed. The latest is in this post, at the moment.

Inspiring, as usual, Stian! Makes me think about how much I need to improve.

I liked the show...that's a very nice model. My memory may be hazy, but it seems pretty accurate to me. Very nice job so far!

I thought I'd post a "heads-up" for anyone that is about to rig a character. I'll be posting another rig update on Saturday, if no problems are found with the proposed versions. If someone needs the update sooner, I can send them a link if they PM me. This update improves the bicep flexing and adds some stuff for short shirt sleeves, it is a biped-only update.

The installation method...the Posable installation uses Poses to position the bones, then you export the Action you used to position the bones. The Action export only works 100% on v13s or later. Hope that helps, Jeff.

There is a four and five finger version of the Posable rig...it makes installation a lot easier. Mark made a tutorial that is a little out of date, but not by much...it's located starting here. Hope that helps.

It's easy in the Posable version of the rig...you can use that in any version after 13s, John. Hopefully, that's the one you're using...but if you're not, take a look at it.

I don't know what will be included in the program installations, that's up to Hash. The plugin is presently included in the Posable installation ZIP. I posted both versions of the plugin in this post. I'll make a point to include the plugin in future versions of the rig. I was hesitant to include it before this because of the chance that the plugin would get updated, so I posted links.

To make it easier to rig, I think eight splines for each eye socket and twelve for the mouth would be the ideal. Any number could be rigged, but, those numbers would give you the easiest weighting. Very nice job so far, Dhar!

What does this pertain to? The arm flexing? What expression? Where did you correct it? I don't want to reinstall the rig on this model again: can you post the fix (what changes, where) so I can modify the rig I have installed? Thanks, Rusty In this part of my post: I was referring to that explanation...the Expressions in the rig haven't been changed. I had left out part of it when I initially posted it.

It looks like it's down at the moment...here's what I have. It is also in the Posable installation Zip file. Hope that helps. OSX_InstallRig.hxt.zip Windows_InstallRig.zip

I'm not sure, Chris...if I can look at the model, I'm sure I can track it down. You can PM me to give me a location to download it if you'd like.

The way the flexing is being done, Chris? I'll give you a quick rundown. The biceps are divided into four (four bones), each bone "translates to" and "aims at" nulls (with "scale-to-reach" on and an Expression on them to preserve volume, "X=1/Sqr(..|Z)" and "Y=1/Sqr(..|Z)" ) along the length of the bicep. Those nulls are children of separate bones that "orient like" the bicep at different percentages when using the limb bowing (which moves the nulls at different percentages of the rotation of the bicep) creating the bowing. There are some bicep "muscle" bones that scale according to how much the arm is bent (using the "bicep_flexor" bones), which have nulls as children that the "scaler" bones "scale-to-reach". Then, the parent bones of the squetch nulls "scale like" the "scaler" bones...which moves the squetch nulls, flexing the biceps. I have attached a couple of quick clips to illustrate. I hope that is helpful. The last time I counted it was around 800 bones...I think it's higher than that now though (and I'm pretty sure there are going to be more added). There's quite a bit going on in there. I think Mark's suggestion is the way to go at the moment, Rusty. I do have to improve that though...I've been meaning to improve the bicep flexing as well. I'll see if I can tackle both of them in the next couple of days. The questions are good ones, Rusty. Asking questions, especially good ones, is a good thing. --------------------------- EDIT --------------------------- When I initially posted this, I had an error in the Expression...you would think I would get it right after the number of times I've used it. I corrected it...so, there shouldn't be any mistakes in there now. Hopefully, I didn't mess anyone up. bicep_setup_example1_Sorenson3.mov bicep_setup_example2_Sorenson3.mov

That post was before I posted the latest Squetchy Sam, as Mark mentioned. The upcoming improvements are geared toward making the face rig installation easier (there may be other areas that will benefit). What I'm trying to do is eliminate the need to dig into the Poses to set things up by making everything a percentage slider...it will add a couple of cool options similar to the animatable blink location. I'm pretty happy with what I've got so far, but it needs some more hammering done to it.

Here's the latest update. In this release, the spine for both the biped and quadruped versions now have an FK option and the quadruped versions have an FK option for the neck. The new Poses are "Animation_Controls/TORSO/unhide_FK_spine_controls" on both the biped and quadruped versions and "Animation_Controls/HEAD/NECK/unhide_FK_neck_controls" and "Animation_Controls/HEAD/NECK/hide_neck_base_control" on the quadrupeds. A simple example of the updated spine setup is in this post, in case anyone wants to check it out. Thanks to Mack Chappelle for putting together some rigging tutorials that made me think differently. Definitely visit Mack's site, he's got a very ambitious tutorial section he's putting together. Thanks to Mark Skodacek for all of his advice and help, thanks to Mark Strohbehn for stress testing the updates and thanks to Nancy Gormezano for asking for the modifications to the Hippogyraf that led to these updates. If you are using v11.1, you'll need the DLL files located here, there are instructions for installing them inside the ZIP file. You will need the InstallRig plugin for all versions. For the MirrorBones versions, you'll need the MirrorBone plugin. There is more information and add-ons on the Wiki. ------------------------------------ EDIT ------------------------------------ The next update to the biped versions are here, the next Quad versions are here. v12_spine_example_09_01_2007.zip

Gads, what changed in this upcoming release? r The spine on both the bipeds and quadrupeds will now have an FK option and the neck on the quadrupeds will also have an FK option. There are other updates that are presently being worked on to improve the installation, but those are going to be in the next update...I wanted to get the updates to the spine out so that everyone is on the same page from the development end. If you have access to the Hippogyraf, the updates are installed in him.

I was unclear on that instruction, sorry about that, Rusty. What I should have said was, "return the Poses to the default position using Squetchy Sam as a guide". I'll make that change on the next release...which should be by sometime early tomorrow. Thanks for spending so much time on this, Rusty!