heyvern

Yeah, this is a toughy. Personally I have done it both ways. I used the dopesheet technique for a project from last year a group from the list put together (still in progress?). Fractured Film Project It is the very first part with Thom and that bear guy from the CD. For me in that situation it worked great and it seemed to go pretty quickly (time was an issue). I was able to rough it in and then tweak it. I really liked using the dopesheet, especially when I could just type in the dialogue to get the first rough keyframes for all of the words. The tricky part that was actually kind of fun was coming up with wierd alternate words to match the dialogue. But as you have already found the best technique is the one that works for you. Vernon "Sheet! You dope!" Zehr

Blobbies! Blobbies! Blobbies.... Dagnabbit! For my tomato image on the mechanical image contest, I hand placed all of the doggone water droplets... Dagnabbit! Great oogly moogly! Blobbies! I kept thinking there might be an easier way.... Oh! Almost forgot! Great image by the way. Vernon "Blobbies!" Zehr

...32 BIT targa... not but targa... There is no such thing as a 32 but targa... For reflections on the can you could use an environment map using the rotoscope images, or as you said, put a panel in front of the can that stays aligned with the camera using the same images. Good luck fine sir! Vernon "!" Zehr

Hey! Great! So glad you liked my image. I was trying to think of what to replace the can with and there was my character Bob, with his arms out like some kind of action figure... I was wondering about the problems with alpha on a rotoscope so I did a "real" test in AM just to make sure I am not insane.....I HEARD THAT! I would still recommend using an alpha (it does work!) on the rotos only because you can blur the edges to match the image. Using a key color the edges are aliased, hard, and don't match the scene. In the attached image you can see that the edges of the hands are blurred slightly to match the slight out of focusness of the whole image. You wouldn't get that using a key color. If you need help figuring out how to save an alpha let us know here. For some reason people seem to have problems with this. When saving the file out of Photoshop or any other application that supports alpha just make sure the alpha is black for invisible white for opaque, and save as a 32 but TARGA Vernon "I have real work now!" Zehr

Dagnabbit! Where were you 2 years ago! I would have paid hard cash for that drum set!!! I couldn't even find "poly" models of a drum set. Very nicely done! Metal flake works for me! Vernon "VERY different drummer" Zehr

Me again! the idea intrigued me so.... This is just a quick little gif that shows the concept I was talking about in my previous post.

Dagnabbit! Just had another idea! This is a ton of more work but it would be cool to try sometime... Have 2 rotoscopes! One for the background and one for the hands or anything in front of the can. You would have to mask out only the rotoscope with the hands. As a matter of fact this would be no extra work since you are doing that already! It would be a hit on memory with AM since you would have 2 sets of animated rotoscopes of course. Keep a set of totally untouched frames for the background rotoscope (behind the can) create a mask on the second set of rotoscopes for the for the hands in front of the can. This would allow you a little more flexibility. Have 2 camera rotoscopes, one set behind one set in front. Another bonus this would add is that you could have a hand "stand in" model to cast shadows on the can, since this model would be covered by the rotoscope it should work pretty well. If you use the clone tool to paint over a little of what is behind the can on the first rotoscope images this would cover any slight mistakes in compositing. Like I said, this might be a real pain in the arse. Vernon "I keep forgetting my sig!" Zehr

Hmm... Have you tried the dof blur using a camera rotoscope instead of the cookie cutter model method? You know you can have the rotoscope ON TOP in the camera view, the alpha on the image would act the same as a cookie cutter. Whatever is "masked" in the image will be transparent in the rotoscope. I think using a camera rotoscope the dof would not effect the image. This also might make animating the can to the image easier since you would not have to worry about any other models in the chor. The image is locked to the camera. I beleive the camera rotoscope in a choreography was intended for this purpose. Just an idea.

Thanks Jim! You inspire us all to achieve greatness! I said you INSPIRE us to achieve greatness. Whether we reach it depends on how tall we are. Thanks for the great tips and tutorials. It will be a while before I am tall enough but I will keep plugging away.

Yes! That is why I, Vern is here to help with any Photoshop advice! When you get closer to needing more Photoshop help you know I will be keeping an eye on this thread. In the meantime check out these fantastic head texturing tutorials by Jim Talbot! http://www.lowrestv.com/arm/search4.asp?tutid=471 Tutorial ID number 471 on the ARM. this link takes you right to it on the ARM. Vernon "!" Zehr

Did I scare everyone with that last post? I did didn't I? I was afraid of that. That always happens. reveal your true feelings and out comes the pepper spray..... I did it again didn't I? Jim, We never see very much of your characters animated. I know you mentoned this yourself. Have you ever considered "teaming up" with someone? Not me of course..well... I would certainly not make it any worse...I heard that! (my fan club) Your characters are by far the most expressive profesional things I have seen done in ANY medium/software. It would be fantastic to see them come to life. Even if they were just for a short, 1 minute? 30 sec? Anyway, keep up the good work. You inspire...uh... jealousy, envy, voodoo dolls, inferiority, bed wetting.... Vernon "!" Zehr

Holy depletion of the ozone and global warming Batman! (Robin is a tree hugger now) I wish I knew more about the cloth in AM to help you. I do know that it can be done. I really wanted to comment on the great compositing you did...is it composited? it looks like live action video with the cape added... or is it all CG? Either way it is impressive. You may want to play with the stiffness of the cape. Since this will be a CG cape so it can act (the cape should get an acting credit!) make it really exagerated. So if the stiffness is lower it should flow more and fan out. Also I have heard that some people make the cloth less stiff then they increase (decrease?) the FPS on the final render to change the nature of the fabric. It looks "jittery" I can't tell if that is a low frame rate, bad alignment with the video or what. Is that the sometimes "jittery" effect you get with cloth when it won't stop moving? Another tip! Put the links to the movie files in your posts! Sometimes people won't scoll through another web page to find the link... yes I did, but I had to scroll past it twice till I saw it. Good luck. Congrats on BOTH of your recent successes. Vernon "Could've been Batman" Zehr

John, there seem to be very small faces inside this strange life form. As I look closer they seem to be very fami...... ! Hey! Isn't that a photo of that guy on the forums? You know that guy with the stuff who does the things using the whatsit? He looks like that I think...hard to see... Whoever it is he looks extremely attractive and very talented. His aura is so pure and powerful it eminates even from this low quality photograph.... I am sure that whoever it is he will be extremely flattered when he sees this ...uh...tribute. Vernon "I wish my head was that small!" Zehr

Hey! I voted for him in the mechanical image contest! I thought he should have won or at least placed! That was a beautiful image. I was unwilling to drop out though so.... Will the animation be rendered at that final setting? Look forward to seeing more. Love the acting. I can almost hear the music.....hear it?.....there it goes again.......none of you hear this?! Vernon "Voices in my head" Zehr

Darklimit, No specularity. Caterpillars, like this one seems to be based on, are very soft, velvety, dry. There are some different species that have that ..moist... appearence of course. It may have to do with it being a future moth or butterfly. This one looks like it might become a type of swallowtail. There might be some specularity (always makes me think of "hilarity) on the "hard" surfaces like the tiny head at the tip or on the "sticky" feet (I have that problem too). Shaun! This thing is gorgeous! I need to revisit my monarch caterpillar project! I did it ages ago before wieghted bones came along!! I used fan bones and was not happy with the results. Should have used smart skin but I think I had about twice as many "segments" as yours does. Have you thought about how it will "walk"? that was one of my problems. Coming up with a way to have each set of feet "stick" to the ground while the others moved and the body sort of ripples. Probably some sort of constraint system that you turn on and off maybe? That would really interest me. Vernon "Sticky Feet" Zehr

I love you.... ..uh...in a manly apprecitative way of course. I don't need any more restraining orders. Vernon "Real Man" Zehr

I hate to break this to you Jim but... Well, I think you may have a problem. You seem to be obsessed with.... Bowties! There seems to be a tremendous amount of bowties in your work. Once you acknowledge the problem that is the first step to healing. There are many 12 step programs for obsessions like this. Also lots of drugs will help...trust me. They can't hurt anyway. On a serious note (yes! I can be serious!) Would it be possible to see some screen grabs of your lighting set up? Maybe one overhead and one from the side? Lighting is one of the things I struggle with the most. It can make or break the look of even the BEST projects. Thanks much! p.s. I like bowties too. We can go to meetings together. Vernon "Very serious" Zehr

The gig is up already Mr. D. It is the same image. Okay? You understand right? You understand that the 2 images are i-d-e-n-t-i c-a-l in every aspect? Unless you have another story? I am willing to listen. I have the patience of Job. Tell us about this program you used. p.s. You said "we" previously? Can you explain? Is this a team project? I am not angry. Just curious. Vern Z.

I have to say I am a bit confused Mike D. Are you Shi Kai Wang in disguise? the image you posted and the image attributed to Shi Kai Wang are absolutely identical in every aspect. Even in line variations. It is not traced at all. It is the same image with the artists name removed. Are you him? Just curious. We will keep your secret identity quiet of course. It could also be that there is some confusion on which image you are refering to. Your original render for this post, is that what your refering to as "not tracing"? Just want to be clear. I like to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. But I also don't like to be fooled too much either. Vernon "Naive trusting fool" Zehr

uh....mmm....huh... Is it... Janet Jackson? Hilary Clinton.... It looks a little like... Steve Sappington...but that's a stretch..... Bruce Campbell? p.s. If he doesn't win then all that work... wasted. I recgnized him right away. Vernon "President of Vernville" Zehr

Yes! those are flipped normals! I use the patch select tool. It will select 5 point patches in one click as long as they are legal patches (created with the 5pt patch button). So I click on the patch (with view normals turned on) and hit the "F" key (shortcut to flip normals). Turning off show backfacing patches is also a big help. The flipped normals "dissapear" when you "look" straight at them. Easier to find than with view normals in my opinion. I had a model with tons of flipped normals. That is when I learned the keyboard shortcuts let me tell you sonny bob yesiree! Vernon "Flipped my normals" Zehr

Be very careful! That is why she got the restraining order.... ..I was just looking...I didn't actually touch them. p.s. You know I don't think God used AM when he designed us. If he had we would have much simpler ears AND our legs and shoulders would connect differently as well... I wonder if he did any maquettes first..... Oh well... Vernon "?" Zehr

Yikes! I've seen that before I think. The doctor gave me some penicilin and cleared it right up! Creepy stuff dude! I like it! Vernon "I swear, it's not contagious!" Zehr

I guess poking pins into that doll of you when you use AM isn't working..... Kidding, kidding! I have a question about how you create these characters: Do you start from sketches and use rotoscopes? Or do you just model from your head? (I tried this but I keep hitting the hide key with my nose) p.s. I'm stealing that bump map as diffuse map idea! I never heard of that before! Very cool. Vernon "?" Zehr

Okay, Bill's post was correct, I was trying to go simplistic with the explanation. You should end up with a completely flattened image (no layers! None!) with ONE alpha channel that represents the transparency (black areas) and opacity (white areas). Remember the only layer showing should be called background in italic in the layer pallette in Photoshop. Keep a layered photoshop file saved with all of the layers intact (psd) just duplicate the document in photoshop and flatten that second document. Then when you save it, save it as a TGA for use in AM. Or, if you have only one alpha channel in your layered photoshop document you can do a "save as" in photoshop. Select the Targa as your file format. Layers are for Photoshop only and applications that can read Photoshop layered files. Although you can save with layers as TIF, I wouldn't recomend it. It just gets confusing. As for the smooth models....that is a tough one. It takes patience and experience to create smooth meshes. Be careful with using bias. As you said this can sometimes make things worse. There is a material on the AM disk called porcelain that smooths out rough meshes. Keep the patch count as low as possible to avoid "wrinkly" meshes. As you get more proficient with AM you will find that modifying the bias of cps can help. Vernon Zehr