Paul Forwood

Very useful info! Sorenson3 seems to be very popular at the moment but I have a terrible time trying to view it online. My web link is via my old P2 with Win98 and some Quicktime codecs just lock up the pc SWF and DIVX are no problem though.

Thank you, guys. More later ...

Ha Ha! Nice one, John. Can't wait for the gig!

Oh, by the way, he really works well as an avatar too. How many frames have you packed into your animated avatar? Very cool.

I think you'll find that the painting is actually a detail from a painting called 'The death of Marat" by David Xtaz, you have brought this character so far in a short time. He is has alot of personality and energy. Your progress with lighting and palette has been a joy to watch. That last render is a stunner! Well done.

I was messing about with my rigging a couple of weeks ago and ended up getting sidetracked with this thing. I'm posting this early test for a laugh. Rip it to shreds at will. I know about the fingers not actually looking like they are doing thier job. Looks more like shrimp legs. It has evolved a bit since this and has had a little adventure but needs more work before rendering. I have a few ideas where he would be quite handy

Excellent! You obviously have a good feel for this. I like your simple yet effective use of the lighting also.

Colin, a great choise of subject and a superb start to your model. I am so going to enjoy watching this progress. Any chance of a wireframe?

Wednesday 17th? Why, that's today, John! Sorry, can't make it tonight but just keep playing and I'll make it at some point. 'Break a leg', as they say. Regarding the BA:M! gathering, I am up for that. Has anyone thought about venues closer to home as we all seem to be south of London? Not that he Chocolate Factory wasn't a good venue, it was, but it just seemed unnessesary to treck into town and out again. Sorry about not updating the BAM site yet. I haven't been able to give it my attention for a while but will update in the next few days. Looking forward to another productive and fun BA:M session!

Hi, Dearmad. I have just been catching up on your progress with this project and I must say the I think that your work is beautiful and sensitive! I think that you have chosen your style carefully to be sympathetic to your subject matter and I love everything about it. I need to go back and finish watching the clips that you have on your site but I just wanted to congratulate you on your determination and ability to hold fast to your vision. Keep up the good work. I look forward to seeing this in the Christmas TV schedules in a couple of years.

Well done, Zach! Great to see someone from here getting some big exposure. Good luck with the finals.

Hi, Ken. I love the stuff that you have been turning out recently! Regarding the hair, have you tried using a greyscale image for hair length where you set length to '0' where you are trying to use your alpha channel? I think Black=no hair

Colin, your work is just so outstanding! I love all of the examples on your website too. Awesome, incredible and pretty darn prolific. Well done. Does Cooper realise what a star he is becoming?

Thanks for the pointer, Mike. Yes, I have been following Vern's progress with hair and he is right about multipass. as you can see below, but specular colour, size and intensity also has a dramatic effect on the results. I'll do some test renders to demonstrate later. This is self explanator:

Really, really coool! I'm watching.

1) Right click in the model window 2) Select: New/Pose/On/Off ( a new, empty pose is created for you.) 3)Double click on the Pose Name on the left of the timeline and rename your pose to something meaningful. 'My Base Constraints', would do, or 'My Rig), or something like that. 4) Right click on a bone, chose New Constraint, Select your constraint, assign it and set it's properties. Continue assigning constraints in this pose window until all of your base constraints are setup. You have now setup your model with a set of constraints which are stored in a pose. Poses are embedded within the model file. Remember, when animating in an Action or Choreograpy to turn your constraints ON to have any effect.

Yes. That has improved things.

Wow! That's amazing for a first model and first animation in A:M. You must have been using some other software up until now, I would guess. Nice job. I realise that this is a test and you'll be making changes but for me either the background needs to be flatter, (tone down some of the highlights ) or your character need to gain some. At the moment I feel they are two different worlds. Really good rffort there though, Luckbat!

Hi, John. I didn't know what you meant so I checked on Google. Coooool, I think. What do you think?

Hi, Middlekid. I have only just found this thread and I have enjoyed flicking through the past six months of your progress on this project. Your descriptions of the environments and the images that you have posted are already very moody so I look forward with anticipation to seeing them with textures applied. I agree with Smudge on that last cavern-like render. I instantly thought of magnified mites. Keep at it and please post more when you get the chance. May I just congratulate you and you wife on your recent marriage. May you have a long and happy life together. All the best. Paul Forwood

Hi, Daniel I'm not exactly sure what Nimlepix was refering to but perhaps he means details like the back of the chair aligning with the shadow in the fireplace. That is something that can trouble the eye and wreck the overall effect. I haven't read the whole of this thread but just comparing the various renders shows that you are making very good progress. Thanks for posting.

Matchstick men can be all you need for some storeyboards, especially if you are going to be animating matchstick models. These sketches were just to help me find the look of the character. Well there's lots wrong. (The nose is too sguare, he is too thin, the hair has way too much specular intensity, ( at least I think that's what is causing the overly bright and hard look ), hair also needs to be thicker at the base and needs grooming. There is some bad splining in the face which will cause unsightly creasing in some poses. The skin and garments need textures to be made and applied. It needs rigging too.) That's just the wizard. There was also meant to be an apprentice, a cat, a toad, an owl and a set filled with strange scientific instruments. On top of that there was the lighting, which is so important, and with which I am a complete novice. The biggest mistake that I made was not planning the character first. If you sketch out your character on paper first you then have a reference and a rotoscope to work from. You could say, I over stretched. But I don't mind it was fun and it won't be wasted.

My, you have been busy, haven't you. I think that all of those shorts are brilliant and they show an ability to grasp a concept quickly and translate that idea into expressive motion. Impressive. Four hours each, eh? I need to come up with a character that I could put through the paces first but I would like to try this sometime. Well done, Robcat!

My appologies. I jumped in before I had finished reading your post. I'm a ba-a-a-a-ad boy!

Oh, c'mon. He said it wasn't finished. This is a work in progress. If it were finished I would agree with you on the slow climb up the mountain but that leaves room for all kinds of magic stuff, titles or whatever Shaun has in mind. I'm not keen on the framing of the Balrog in the close-up though. Like I said, I look forward to seeing an update.