heyvern

I just noted something, and this is not a crit just an observation. The head has a kind of "Chucky meets the Terminator" look to it. I can see it now: "Chucky: 2030" p.s. I heard the original Chucky movie's rejected title was: "Charles, the very mean doll!" I love that animation! Great movement and weight shifting. Vernon "I made that up" Zehr

I am not concerned by the lack of contrast as I am sure, since this is a testing phase of a new technique, this will be worked out. I love this style and I may "steal" it for my Incompetent Secret Agent short. As I was doing the animatics I love the illustrative feel but felt compelled to do "traditional 3-D" because, well, I am using 3-D software! As you said using this style takes a lot of pressure off of being "realistic" and also gives you enormous latitude in designing the backgrounds! Man! You could put in incredibly designed background mattes at any level of "realism" and not have to worry about anything except the coloring of the foreground elements to match the color scheme since those can be composited. On the motion blur aspect...hmm.... I would lean towards actual motion blur myself but that is just a personal preference. I think that would look great but an actual animation test would be the real test. Plus it might be hard to composite later if you go that way. As for losing "perspective" from lack of detail, I think animated motion would give the eye enough clues you wouldn't see any problems. Just guessing though. Great look! Thanks for the inspiration! Vernon "!" Zehr

Video game boss???? It reminds me of an old boss I use to really have.... Thanks for the nightmares... and I thought the night terrors were finally over. Vernon "AHHHHHHGGGGG" Zehr

I would just like to clarify a small point so there is no confusion: First off I am not jealous of the "hair ball" created this weekend. I came to terms many years ago with my lack of hair and it is no longer an issue with me... at all... not a problem whatsoever... nada... no probs. The fact that my lack of hair is even mentioned, by anyone but myself, is irrelevant to any type of important discussions regarding A:M, and is only an attempt by excessivly "hairy" people to keep us hair challenged individuals "in their place". As for missing my presentation when you left early John... no worries, I didn't really have one... I just showed the animatic of my Incompetent Secret Agent project which is available online here: Incompetent Secret Agent Animatic I did show earlier, the only thing I used AM for in months... a door that opens and closes. Took 36 hours to render. I wanted to know why it took so long: Apparently having 3 or 4 raytraced lights with volumetrics will really extend the render time... good to know for future reference. Earlier in the afternoon I also discussed the fact that the theory of black holes is incorrect! Things can escape from a black hole... I did... somehow I managed to escape for a short time on saturday, although I was horribly frightened by that bright ball of light in the sky. Rich made me give a try at making the "hairy ball" work properly even after I insisted that "I don't know anything about hair!". Apparently my skills with trial and error are still very powerful. Not having a number pad slowed us down somewhat. Once again I am not sensitive about my hair and no one should mention it anymore because I am not sensitive about it so there is no need to call attention to it. That's not why I wear a hat. Vernon "baldy, clean-head, cue ball" Zehr

Faye Wray passed away recently. Kind of spooky. Vernon "where am I?" Zehr

I never did comment on the overall project. This is brilliant. It is one of those short simple concepts that practically "pre-exists" like the laws of physics. It is such a great idea that it seems to have created itself through you. Like the "idea particles" that stick in peoples heads in Terry Pratchett's "Disk World" books. There is no fat in the story. Vernon "Sorry! I'm gushing again" Zehr

Yes! Yes! You don't need the "10" at all on the second knob. The best joke is funnier I think when you don't have a big pointer aimed at it. From the first shot you see him push it up to 9. From here you might not see right away that it goes to 11. The close up shot shows him push it up to 11 clearly. Great gag! I love it! You actually get 2 movie references in this gag for the price of one: Spinal Tap and Back to the Future.

These are great! I love the "back story" too! I suppose tauri is wearing the silver bra outfit because it is so hard to find off-the-rack clothes that really fit her shape... ...and that's what happens when you trim your eyebrows too much... I always wondered.... You see what I am doing... I am letting my thoughts wander....ahh yes... can't tell you that one...too personal. Look forward to more! Vernon "I never shaved my eyebrows" Zehr

Yahoo! (If I use "Yahoo!" in this context am I infringing on any copyrights?) That is just too brilliant. You have to stop now, you are going to hurt yourself. Like the guy in Stephen Kings "Firestarter", he got nose bleeds when he "thought" real hard. You really should have Thom getting himself "stitched". What is shaggy doing in there anyway? Does he represent the overworked/underpaid illegal immigrant sweatshop workers? Or is he a representation of the illegal child labor used in the third world garment industry? This animation has so many levels... Vernon "Next on 60 Minutes" Zehr

Yes you are very right! There IS a very strong resemblance to Michael Moore. Vernon "!" Zehr

Oh man! This is brillaint! What a great concept! And the lip synch should be pretty simple since you only have... uh... what... like 2 or 3 mouth positions? Let's see... open... closed... open wider... I really like the vertical slits for the eyebrows! It took a second or two to see the purpose of those. Can't wait to see more! Nice props and sets. Vernon "I really need some badges" Zehr

Wow! I find this whole topic absolutely fascinating! I read the whole darn thing! I had no idea there was this "connection". Can you enlighten me though, is this a widely accepted interpretation or is it a theoretical interpretation? To be honest I have never heard of these connections of Greek mythology and old testement characters. Of course being raised a Mennonite if I had I would have been cast out... or I would have had to baby sit in the nursery during the sermon as a punishment. That whole idea of Herakles ousting Noah is cool as heck... okay I think it is cool. Maybe cool isn't the best word. I did ask my father, the minister, about Nimrod. There isn't much in the bible about him, just a few references... of course I haven't read the whole thing... waiting for Mel to do some more movies. I am going to look into this some more. Thanks so much for posting it. Not only are the images fantastic but the content is very intriguing as well! I guess buying the book might be the first step. Vernon "Blaspheming former Mennonite" Zehr

Wow! Oh, sorry. Martin already said that... You know it is interesting, all this time when people called me a "Nimrod" I always thought it was an insult. Apparently they were complimenting me on my Herculean physique! Learn something new everyday. Vernon "blasphemer" Zehr

Woohoo! Thanks for the tutorial and the materials!!!! I can't wait to play with these... if I ever get a chance to use AM again that is. So much WORK, so many deadlines... I think the reason I had so much trouble in the past with the toon render was the fact I had no good material references. You rule dude! Vernon "Ack! Another deadline!" Zehr

Hmm... This would be for playing air hockey in the dark correct? Vernon "!" Zehr

Beautiful and artistic use of the toon render! I Don't know how you do it. I find it interesting that in this future world she lives in you can get cybernetic limb replacements but LASIK eye surgery is still just out of reach. Or the "Anime Superhero" health plan doesn't cover it... Or maybe it is just a little "too scary": "You want to shoot a WHAT at my eyeballs!?" All joking aside it is a wonderful image. Vernon "Cybernetic Hair!" Zehr

This is beautiful! And I am not saying this just because you were one of the first people to submit an image for the ARM header either! (it is one of my favorites though). I just can not believe all the detail in the streets! Holy Cow! That would have made me go batty. Can't wait to see more. I would love to see those cars smoke their tires at a red light. I can see it in my head, along with lots of other things I won't mention... ...how did that get in here? Vernon "batty already" Zehr

Nice image. Do you actually have a "glow" on the materials or is that just a yellowish light? It looks like you have a post effect "bloom" set which would accentuate the highlights (whatever color they are). If you look very closely you can see there is also a blueish "glow" on the opposite side of the ear as well. The bloom is expanding those subtle highlights as well. Do you have a color set for the specular highlights? That would also make it appear yellow in those areas. I am just guessing. p.s. I tried to go to one of those "councils" but they wouldn't let me in. I think the exact words were "not for all the cheese in the world". Vernon "EEEEK! A mouse!" Zehr

Also keep in mind how wrinkly and bumpy a crows foot is. That will hide a lot of patch problems. Unless you plan some super closeups of just the foot most likely no one will see many of the things you as the artist will see when you are zoomed in 1600%. p.s. I have to keep telling myself this constantly while modeling..... "It's a toaster prop in the background of one 3 second scene! No one is going to see the pop-out crumb tray!" Vernon "Lost my hair to perfectionism!" Zehr

Great image! As for the hair specular highlights... I think it may be the fact that until recently 3D characters didn't have to worry about having real hair. Most likely they are just using the wrong shampoo and conditioner combination. I Suggest he should try a hot oil treatment to give it more body and luster... Please forgive me. I have been working to hard lately. Seriously though, would density have any effect? If you have thin hair (as I do) the only specular highlights I get are from my scalp showing through. Very impressive so far. Vernon "The bald guy" Zehr

Me again! I have this really really old image I did in a.. uh... another 3D application that hasn't even been installed on my machine for many years. I only post it here because of the similarities in concept and if possible for inspiration... great minds think alike! WARNING! I AM ASHAMED! THIS IMAGE WAS NOT DONE WITH AM! PLEASE DO NOT APPRECIATE IT! http://www.lowrestv.com/lowres/portfolio/images/smoke.jpg I plan to redo it in AM at some point because it is still one of my favorite peices and I know that I could make it even better with AM, my favorite 3D application. I still have all of the texture maps, but the original 3D files have long since died an untimely death in several hard drive crashes. This is the only remaining evidence. Vernon "I love ONLY AM" Zehr Vernon "AM is my religion now!" Zehr

I am going to be a pain in the arse here.... The papers edge facing us, the viewers, seems to be floating. I know this could happen but it looks odd. Maybe if you "bent" parts of it to touch the bar surface, or something to break up that perfectly straight floating edge shadow. The edge over the end of the bar as well would make some contact with the bar surface. It is these little details that cause perfectionist, anal retentives, like myself, to sit up all night worrying, unable to sleep because the paper doesn't touch the bar! Can't he see it? What is wrong with the world? I am getting old and will die soon! I have done nothing constructive in my life! I have no purpose... ...Sorry, those are the other things that keep my up at night as well. As for the syringe... it looks fine to me, although I wouldn't leave mine out like that. It looks fairly clean and I am sure some other addict would steal it for sure... Have I said too much? Vernon "Not sleeping tonight!" Zehr

You know what I am dieing to see? Some very subtle deformations of the paper poster. Whenever I do paper stuff like that I always put in enough splines so I can put in very slight surface changes. And also a slight bump map might be nice. It really adds to the realism. It just breaks up the "perfectness" of the image. I love where you are going with the lighting. Nice mood. Vernon Zehr

WooHoo! No more cookie cutter eyelashes and decaled eyebrows! I was wondering if anyone would attempt "real" hair on the lashes. This is really exciting. Now to see if they really work, you need to set up a dust/particle emitter aimed at her face. Have her blink a few times to see if the lashes will prevent the dust from getting into her eyes... Have I gone to far on the realism with that? Vernon "YeeHaa!" Zehr

Okay here goes nothing! The one in the middle has been accused of "polinating" with the one on the right. The one on the left is asking who this "weed" is and did it really make "the plant with one stem" with it. The one in the middle is flustered and trying to come up with an excuse for its attempt at "hybridization" and why it has sweet smelling nectar and someone elses pollen on its shirt. Meanwhile the one on the right is furious because the one in the middle promised to leave it's current flower bed and start a new crop in the suburbs. This will most likely lead to legal procedings, "root trimming" and seedling support payments. Such a sad tale. Vernon "Grandfather was a farmer" Zehr