heyvern

I am just guessing... See the little boxes at the bottome? You are keying muscle movement but it looks like the key bias button is not checked (the one right next to the key muscle button). Like I said I am just guessing here. Vernon "!" Zehr

It looks great. I especially like the reflections and glossy feel... However, yes, way to dark... if you look hard you can see the potential.. someone just needs to turn on a "light saber" so we don't stub our toes... I wonder if Darth ever stepped on his helmet going to the bathroom at night? Man! That would hurt if it was face up... p.s. Funny thought... I just got the DVD set of Star Wars and noticed that George has gone in and updated certain voices and faces to reflect the new episodes... Could you imagine how p.o'd you would be if you were the guy who played the emperor in Empire Strikes Back only to find you have been replaced... can you keep that on your resume? I know that Boba Fett only had a couple of lines, but still... I bet that voice actor picked up some chicks.. "yeah baby, I was in Star Wars." Now what is he going to do? Vernon "May the Schwartz be with you" Zehr

Yes, I have two now actually... It only works for iBooks though... I think. I think the Powerbooks require a different connector. The one I have has mini DV to VGA... I think... I forget if the iBook is mini DV... why can't they all use the same damn thing already! Vernon "!" Zehr

This is just me, and is probably more of an opinion kind of preference kind of thing.. I got the punch line, but I would like to see a tighter "straight on" close up of her at the end... almost a cross disolve of her face to the painting. For instance, in the close up of the character, she would be wide eyed in shock and awe, and then her expression would change to match the painting... cut to wide shot of her in front of the painting... or something like that. Like I said I got the punch line but it would be really powerfull to see it "punched" more. She is moving so much that you don't really get a good look at her. As a matter of fact... I reloaded the movie to make sure I was correct about the punch line. I like it. p.s. That's how I look when spending too much time in the stereo forum. Vernon "!" Zehr

Will previous owners get a free upgrade? (wink wink nudge nudge). I love your cog system, but desperately need to shrug. I agree, the back of the left, good, front of the right, good. Would like to see the movement from the back as well as the front. Vernon "!" Zehr

Great job so far. Yes I think porcelain would help smoothing him out, but actually he looks pretty darn good. Hard to tell untill you use him in a chor with a different lighting setup. The only spots that look like trouble to me are the forehead and cheek areas. Good heroe... ... excuse me... I have to go get my potatoe out of the microwave... Sorry, I couldn't resist... Vernon "!" Zehr

Can't say that I am very happy with renderosity... I have 3 images done with AM in my gallery... Only one shows up. The other two don't display. I haven't posted there in ages, maybe that is why... Anyway, it is so much easier to post here or on my own website. Quit frankly I see renderosity as a "Poser Soft Porn Depot". Lots of ads for fishnet stockings and lingerie. Vernon "Vicky? Where can I meet her?" Zehr

Don, No need to provide coffee. I will bring my 64oz WAWA mug with fixin's to share if you think that will be enough. It is a whole pot of coffee. Vernon "!" Zehr

I just thought of something... You could have told the client that he needs to wear a "cup" to protect him from the "bad guys". I've often wondered if super heros are vulnerable in that "area". They tend not to wear much protection, and you never see the villains take a cheap shot. They will, however, tie them to a machine that will laser them into a million pieces. I like this. Turned out very well indeed! Vernon "Not wearing a cup" Zehr

He looks like... Like if Doctor Suess created Homer Simpson.... I like him very much. Vernon "!" Zehr

Quite frankly, I think these tests should put to rest anyones arguments regarding AM's status as "Pro" software. These samples are as good if not better than other samples I've seen from other apps that are supposedly "high end". (...$299... holy cow!) Of course they take a long time to render... that is a given with any application trying to produce these results. Very exciting stuff! I get the shivers... Some day, some day... we will see something animated in AM with this kind of detail... unless someone already has? p.s. I get the shivers when I see a large cup of WAWA coffee. Just wanted to put it in perspective... forgive the pun. Vernon "!" Zehr

That is funny Rodney! I saw the picture and thought she looks a little like you actually. Has anyone mentioned you look a little like Matt Damon? Say hi to Ben for me... p.s. Just a little. Don't let it go to your head. Just an observation... I don't really like Matt Damon other than as a good actor... I don't have any posters or anything... that incident at his house was just a silly missunderstanding... Vernon "!" Zehr

That is really cool! Neato! I like how the circuits have a different kind of "shinyness" and sort of "pop" out kind of sort of... ...if you follow me... I know it is hard sometimes. As I looked at it... I was thinking it would be cool to have the circuits go further up the legs and arms and be even more pronounced. Forgive me if this was already covered. You are busy I am sure... a tutorial would take some effort... when you get a chance... Vernon "!" Zehr

Good grief! I started this thread in the hopes of helping others learn something... Now I am learning more than I thought I knew all along! Thanks for that plugin link Julian! That is fantastic! Sure saves a ton of time. I love this place... Vernon "!" Zehr

GREAT OOGLY MOOGLY! I think I finally understand now! Premultiplied against black... I understand it now! Photoshop was the monkey wrench. I always just made an "ASS" out of "U" and "ME" that Photoshop was capable of producing premultiplied images. I never gave it a thought that it was... "different" than any other kind of compositing. Premultiplied against black... is... well... uh... I understand it now! I won't try to explain it... No wonder I was so confused! MY GOODNESS! I feel like a total idiot now! I am so ashamed... I owe an apology to Hash about this as well... oh I am a silly man.... I was rendering out using alpha in AM.... in most cases I batch processed via photoshop! That is why I kept losing the premultiplied aspect of the Targa format!!!!!! Maybe I have been wrong in other areas.... maybe there really IS a Loc Nes monster... maybe fairies really do exist! That shiny ball I saw in the sky at night could have been aliens, not a meteor... Maybe... Santa Claus... is REAL! My belief system has been turned on its head... Thanks Yves! p.s. For better or worse Yves, for some reason I never doubt a single word you say. I don't know what it is about you, but I never have any doubts that you are correct. I may not understand everything you say, but I believe you. Your posts seem to lead eventually to some new discovery. I will change those colors! Vernon "I do believe in ghosts... I do I do!" Zehr

I like the second costume... The "stripe" in the middle works for me, but I think it should continue down into the groin area. The way it stops just above the hips bothers me, but I like the area below the chest... ... Needs more boobs and chocolate sauce too... He reminds me just a little, of the Tick.. man I loved the Tick... Vernon "Not in the face!" Zehr

Could someone post a link to the thread for this system? Also, could you use this on a character who already has facial poses? I would love to use this with Happy Bear. I am going to have TONS of lip synch and facial animation to do. Vernon "?" Zehr

Thanks for the early comments... Never even thought about ghosting, Yves. I don't see any ghosting on any of my computers, including my PC. The background color at the end is blue actually. Very very blue. You may need to calibrate. On my Mac it appears just slightly leaning towards teal. On my PC it looks like a dark blue. there is some "ghosting" of sorts on the no_fringies.mov. Where the magenta overlaps the blue at the edges it gets darker. On the other one it should appear as a white fringe. Can others confirm this? Maybe I am losing my color sense. Yes Paul, a close up would help. I was thinking of putting together a web page for this so I could have that part as an image. As for how this happens... yes, it happens using the magic wand tool, using a key color in AM, all of these. I find though that there seems to be this very basic misunderstanding of how the image and the alpha work together. I have been using PS since version 1 when we didn't have layers, only alpha channels, for compositing. I caught on to this concept ages ago. Not sure Mr. Bigboote (I forget who you really are! Sorry!) if we are talking about the same thing. If you use a 50% grey background you would just end up with a 50% grey fringe. My understanding of pre-multiplied from some research indicates you need some of the image to "overlap" the alpha. I have seen examples of pre-multiplied alpha produced by other 3-D applications that actually "extend" the image past the edges of the transparency.... but that is another story entirely. Vernon "!" Zehr

I just put these two clips together. I am trying to come up with a simple demonstration of Photoshop like image with an alpha channel and why people get those "fringies" and don't know or understand why. Let me know if this is getting the idea across at all... ...uh.. they were done in AM of course, with layers... except the titles... Fringies! AAAHHHHGGGG! YeeHaaa! No fringies! I plan to expand this into a larger, more in depth explanation. Vernon "!" Zehr

Since my current project is in 11 for the hair, and I am still nervous about OSX v11.1 at this point, I will be burning all my Happy Bear stuff to CD and bringing it along. So I will need a computer there to show it off. I don't have much more than what I've shown in the WIP forum but at least I can bring along the actual project files and show some tricks with photoshop and AM I discovered recently, like decaling the sides of a model and flattening and rendering to paint the rest of the textures for seamless liger stripes! Nothing ground breaking I am sure but it seems cool to me. I just couldn't get the dagnab stripes to line up on the legs! I am especially proud of the Happy Bear intro I did in AM, using layers, targas created in photoshop and a flock of butterflies (It is in the HB thread but I have not posted the new one with the butterflies). I may start using AM more than AE and premier now for this stuff. So much easier to keyframe. I will bring along copies of my scripts I wrote for some of the episodes. I just wrote a new one about Larry's lunch in the break room and an unexpected visit from Mrs. Heather Feather the school teacher chicken....hee hee... ...crap!... coffee out my nose... Vernon "hee hee..." Zehr

Hee hee... Great idea! I was going to animate a really good game of Ker-Plunk I played last year.... just not the same thing though is it? Forget about Poser... been there... done that... I've said this before, you won't get usable Poser figures into AM. It is like Apollo 13 when they needed to convert those air filters... you might be able to do it with the right tools but all that duct tape just looks awful. Realistic models.... hmm... the next AM update is going to have a bunch of pretty realistic humans on it. They are rigged and everything! Another option would be to use some of the characters on the current disk. When I first started using AM I used Tarzan and Jane in horrible scientific gene modification experiments... ... I learned a lot playing with those files... Consider using Poser to create rotoscope images for tracing in AM. That is the best use for it in my opinion. Vernon "!" Zehr

Dec 11...hmm.... Dec 11.... I need to check my biorythms to be sure it is okay to leave the house that day but it looks good to me..... Wow! That is actually pretty soon isn't it? Vernon "what time is it?" Zehr

Don't know what you think of this idea... If you like what you have with the volumetric light but want a harder shadow behind the pipes you could use another light that only casts shadows and put it in the light list for the urinals. Constrain this light to the volumetric light and you can "fake" the shadows on the pipes... not really sure this would work actually... would the light from the volumetric blow out the shadows from the second light? You might be able to make the shadows darker on the second light to compensate. Just an idea.... ...dagnabbit... now I have to pee.... Vernon "!" Zehr

Sorry Mr. Bigboote, AI wizard only does flat shapes. He needs one that is curved on both the y and x axes. On that same note, Eric2575, you may want to try using the distortion thingy after using the AI wizard to bend the shape. Or use distortion on a flat shape you created. You will need extra splinage in there, "cross wise" if you follow. I find the distortion thingy does a pretty good job at keeping the shape of stuff. I haven't used it for something this subtle before. Keep us informed! Vernon "!" Zehr

Depending on how the completed model will look you may want to try using a boolean cutter for the hole. Create a shape for the hole, assign it to a bone and set the bone to be a boolean cutter. You may need to parent that bone to another bone or something like that to prevent other pieces of the model getting "cut". Can't remember the exact steps, I haven't used booleans in a while. This would allow you to make a smooth shape with a perfectly cut hole. Vernon "Hot air boolean" Zehr