PaulX

Great innovative work! I love the minimalist style and could see this doing very well in any animation festival...

I have the same problem and it's simply the computer running out of resources. Number one son taking pity on Dad dropped off a better one with a faster processor, 3D card, etc and testing it with an old version of AM I have on CD, found that things move with the mouse with no delay no matter how much stuff I load into a choreography. My problem now is that the web subscription v15 was downloaded to the resource-stretched computer...

OK - we are talking about two different things here. You can import your home video as a camera rotoscope and it will appear as the background - but the camera angle of the live footage may be different from that of the virtual camera in the A:M choreography. The other way to put live action and animated footage together, as in Roger Rabbit, is called 'compositing'. To do this you make your animated footage in AM with the background set to a colour that can then be 'keyed out' in video ediiting software. You could use Premier Pro with the "Wax' compositing plug-in for example. The advantage is you can get a near exact match between camera angles, lighting, etc

Hello NightOwlCA - do you want to import a sequence - for example live action video - to use as an animation rotoscope? That being the video appears in the action window and so can be used as a guide when animating a character?

Sooooo sorry if my architect skills aren't up to par with yours PaulX. The case being that this is for a game and is based off of a level in the game. What's wrong, your imagination broke? Jeez. I was wondering about things like lighting, textures, character design, that sorta feedback. Not weather my model blends well together. Sorry Ilidrake, offence was not intended. Good luck to you.

I can't really make sense of the pictures Ilidrake, I imagine you are seeking to create a medieval setting? My suggestion would be to work from reference photos of actual castles making sure to choose ones that are of the period in which you want to set your story. All too often set designers betray their lack of research or worse, cultural centricity with sets that are a mish mash of unrelated architectural styles or simply a disneyesk personal fantasy of what for example a castle would look like. All that is missing is a sign promoting a free glass of Coke with every taco.

OK - looks as though that worked. Again thanks for the tips.

Thanks Caroline and Rodney, the video is .mov - I'll try your suggestions and see what happens.

Any tips on importing a video rotoscope into the action window? Only the first frame appears and I can't seem to find any explanations on how to set the properties - length, crop, range - in the technical manual.

Wow! You don't say which rig you are using, etc but that looks like a 'rip it out and start again' and if the 2001 rig, paying attention to following the TOA instructions scrupulously. If things get out of place then strange happenings occur as appears to be the case with your model.

Spot on the same, I opened a brand spanking new 2001 skeleton downloaded this afternoon, opened it, new action and turned on IK arms and bang, the right arm did exactly the same as yours and I mean exactly. So that would mean the problem is embedded in the rig. OK and thanks MJL, looks like we are finally getting to the real source of the problem.

Found that if I open the 2001 skeleton, create an action and switch on IK arm set up, the right arm jumps, so it is in the rig/relationship folder that the problem resides. Downloading it again. But, and this is where things get even more interesting, I opened all projects and models on my HD and found that other things are messed up, for example a model from one project has the rendered image of part of another decaled onto it. The two have never ever been opened at the same time. Obviously something is messing around with files and folders and I remember receiving a report about a new worm (?) virus targeting games and that last week during a thorough virus scan the software did find a worm. Unfortunately I didn't note its identity so unsure whether it's the same as the one reported but according to the report there are already 500 different versions of this virus circulating in cyberspace. Maybe the software peoples could say whether a virus designed to target 3D games could damage software such as A:M?

How about simply downloading 'Gimpshop' (it's free) and drawing your net pattern black on white paper, scan it and then use Gimp's 'color to alpha' to get rid of the white?

I really appreciate the offer mtpeak2 but don't want to waste your time so I'll change the relationship folder and see what happens. Hopefully it will work this time and I can get on with finishing this short...

Sorry but don't know what is meant by 'geometry' as opposed to 'model' but whatever - it's not important. I just thought someone may have encountered the same problem and had a quick fix. I'll rip it out again and see what happens. Is there a reason you can't attach the actual model to a post in this thread, Paul? If we could open the model in A:M, it would be very helpful in finding the problem. No reason other than I'm not happy with it either. I re-rigged the model and near the same problem, it does look like an IK arm set up problem as this time the lower right arm flips to random positions when I turn IK on and off without touching anything else. It's near three in the morning so no further attempts tonight but am now thinking of creating a rig from scratch, this one has worked fine but I have found that while the set ups make it easier to pose a model, the complexity of it all gets in the way when animating. For example I animated a character marching and wanted to 'break' the knee joint when the forward leg snaps out straight but the rig wouldn't allow that to happen and being in no way an expert I preferred not to play around with all the balance this and IK that controls. All I want to do is put the bits where I want them on each key frame, have the ability to stretch or squash the model, lip synch and facial expressions and that's it.

Sorry but don't know what is meant by 'geometry' as opposed to 'model' but whatever - it's not important. I just thought someone may have encountered the same problem and had a quick fix. I'll rip it out again and see what happens.

Thanks all... I'm using V15c. Tried switching off balance poses but did not appear to make a difference. The arms flip with IK on or off but the problem is much worse when set to ON (see attached pic) Roll handles... pretty sure I checked those but will have another look - actually straight up

Before choosing between jumping off a nearby cliff or dusting off the old light-box having ripped the rig out of this model three times and still having the same problem - I thought I'd put this to the forum. The character is rigged with the 2001 skeleton. As soon as I move the arms downwards they flip and/or disappear. It's most likely a constraint problem (?) but after much trial and error and comparing arm bone by arm bone to models with the same rig and that work, I admit defeat. Any ideas? Attached is a top view in which can be seen that the right forearm has boldly gone where no forearm has ever been (eh - no rude comments please lads) and the left has flipped back onto its bicep. Also after rigging the model, I find it's off axis. In the picture it's to its left but on previous re-rigging attempts it was to its right. Never worked out why.

Much the same comment here - the body and especially the hips/legs need tweaking as does the face. Otherwise it's a good start, look forward to seeing the final result.

The reference drawings are wrong that's for sure. Maybe you could join a life drawing club and other than being an excellent way to develop skills, very often the models don't mind if you take a few photos. The way to get around distortion is to take the picture from a distance and zoom in. This flattens the image.

Welcome - I'd say it's like learning anything - take the long short cut. Start at the beginning and don't rush ahead.

I don't think more detail would make a better picture, so far looks great by the way, but if I may and as an old mural and trompe l'oeil artist, what I would do if I had the know how in all these electronic things, is to change the composition somewhat and also work the colours a little more if possible? Colours fade as they recede and so your distant trees and grass should be much lighter. I would also drop down the hill to expand the sky across the top and that would also get rid of that strong diagonal between sky from hill which stops the viewer's eye dead in its tracks as it wanders across the picture.

Ladies... please!

Love the airship - great!

Thanks all - it is a big project to undertake alone but may as well make a start and see what happens. Robcat, that is a good comment and writing the script it did occur to me that the grandpa could take the viewer out of the story. I can't drop the grandpa's part because it is an essential juxtaposition to the boy but will have to balance the two carefully. So much work, but I believe no amount of fine animation and stunning visuals can make up for a crap script and so it's well worth spending however long to get it right.