heyvern
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Posts posted by heyvern
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I did these two samples using the same text mesh from the Font wizard. It would work with the AI wizard as well.
After extruding the text I just "curved" it using the distortion grid in the modeling window. Just move and rotate the points of the distortion grid to make the extruded letters or "glyphs" line up with the shape.
One set was assigned to a boolean cutter bone on one side of the cylinder object. The other just stuck on the other side.
In:
Out:
Project file:
-vern
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Depending on how "deep" they need to be "cut" or how far out or "3D" they need to be a bump map could work. If you need more distortion, try using a "displacement map" decal. Displacement is sort of like a bump map but it distorts the actual mesh.... uh... not really but it does show as 3D in preview at higher preview settings (hit page up key) and it shows in render. Displacement I believe is a "polygon" modifier so it looks pretty good even on low density meshes. The "older" displacement method required a higher density mesh.
Here's another trick for using booleans if you want to experiment:
In the Obelisk model, use the AI wizard to create your "text" or "glyphs". Bring in the art work for those shapes and extrude them. Now assign those glyphs to a bone that is a boolean cutter. Lay them over the shape to cut into. If the object is "roundish" or an odd shape you can adjust those glyphs to fit the shape better. This of course is cut "in" to the shape. If you want to cut them out around the glyphs, having the glyphs "stick out" you would need to use the AI import to create a "reverse mold" of the glyphs. Not as hard as it sounds. Of course you would need access to Adobe Illustrator or a similar application that can create the AI files needed.
-vern
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I have a cousin who did the same thing. He went from construction to nursing and is now an RN. He is at least 10 years younger than me though but still he made us all proud. He tells the most disgusting stories at family reunions. I have to cover my ears and go "Blah blah blah! Can't hear you!".
-vern
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Holy Cow! I'm 45! Are we allowed to do that? Go back to school? Good grief.
Thanks for the inspiration dude! It makes me feel young again!
-vern
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I would suggest starting smaller. Start with the tutorials or a very simple project. If you use a complex prebuilt project or model that you aren't familiar with there is no way to figure out what might be causing the trouble. That project you are using is pretty complex as I remember. It was on the first AM Extras CD as I recall. A project included from the image contests. I don't think it was intended for animating if that is the case.
If you are set on using this scene then you should delete each object (models, lights, etc) in the chor one at a time and render each time until you figure out which model or object might be causing the trouble. Sometimes it could be a "funky" image decal, or a really "slow" material. It could be some issue with constraints in a model rig. I had that recently with a circularity constraint "user error" that wouldn't allow me to render. It could be due to a whole bunch of raytraced shadows choking the computers resources. It might be due to rendering a MOVIE instead of an image sequence. "Movie" or AVI format rendering may require more computer resources. It might even be a codec or compression issue in your optional settings for the movie format.
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I had a severe case of "creative block" a while back. I am pretty sure I know what caused it. I wasn't doing anything "creative"... not just creative but deadline motivated creative. It's that kind of thing that can really get you going. I had a really boring uncreative job that sucked all the energy out of me. It was icky yucky and not creative at all and I was doing it for weeks non stop. It involved a lot of coding and technical stuff (which I like too). I find when my brain is working on the left side the right side goes to sleep and I have to hit it with a big stick to wake it up.
This recent AM project recharged my batteries. The key I think is to try and keep that kind of thing at least "on simmer" as much as possible to keep the creative juices flowing. Like a pilot light. I think my pilot light had gone out. Then the gas built up and I lit a match and exploded.
-vern
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Okay, here's my plan. I will sign up and look over what is there and see what I can do to help out in the FX area. The "short" but really tricky spots. I can make a list of areas that might need some fancy FX. If I start now I should have time to review as much of the story line as I can and then in my spare time do "experiments" just like I did with "Change Your Pants" to come up some cool techniques that can be applied more efficiently to the "final" product. Instead of experimenting on the actual projects. I would love to have SO really really showcase some of the cool features of A:M. Obviously we don't want them to "stand out" too much but you know what I mean.
I think I'm better at short, intense, small chunks of dedicated work then long term tasks. I may change my mind of course later.
Does that sound like a good idea? I don't want to get too burned out. I can't afford to get burned out right now. I have a lot of projects going on and some new animation jobs for clients, plus a possible long term job, but I would hate to see something at the end of SO and think to myself "Holy cow that would have been easy to do this way and look really cool!"
The Yoop transformation scene, when she zaps the main characters... I would have LOVED to have gotten my hands on just that one scene. I did some very early "morphing" tests on my own with the Thom model that could have been pushed further. My thought is even if you have to create "special versions" of each model or modify them for a particular scene or even do compositing of renders it's worth it for the final result as long as everything "blends" seamlessly. But you can't expect someone to do that who has 50 bazillion other things to worry about.
p.s. There was a HUGE rendering mistake I made in my recent project. I had to cut to a different angle to hide a change in camera angle and position that was suppose to be one continuous shot. Worked like a charm and actually improved the final scene. That's another trick that could be used for FX shots as well... I'm sure you already know this... I'm new to all this I guess.
-vern
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So far, the SO files take up about 3 Gigabytes, but you should save space for another 1 or 2 Gigabytes as new work is added.
This has to be done in one shot? Or can it be done over days or even weeks? I can't tie up my internet to download 3 gigs during working hours. Could I do this in increments at night in small chunks? I also use my computer to upload big files for clients and would need to stop any other downloads or uploads to do so.
There doesn't seem to be an "FX" category for participation. What category might this type of thing fall into? Animating? What I'm suggesting is if one person, like me, whose only job was to do one single effect that was technically tricky or maybe beyond the scope of expertise for an animator whose time is better spent animating, scenes like that could be pulled up a notch or two and it might not be such a burden. Someone would step in at the point when the rest of the animation was approved and then "fill in" those few seconds of animation that are needed. Maybe an FX category already exists? Like the wonderful water/river scene in TWO. I would assume that there was someone specifically in charge of that effect.
-vern
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In regards to volunteering. I would like to help but in a very "limited" and "specific" manor if that is possible. Something that won't burn me out too much.
What I would like to offer help with is Physics and Cloth. Specifically with difficult or unusal "FX" areas that might fall within a scene or shot. For instance an example of this from TWO would be the apron stealing scene. After having worked with cloth and physics I think I could have added some technical expertise to that specific part... obviously back then I couldn't offer that but now I could.
I remember that there was one single scene in The Incredibles where Mr. Incredible puts his hand through a tear in his uniform. In the special features this was called out as a big gigantic thing to pull off and needed special attention. that's the kind of thing I would like to offer. Instead of working on an entire scene I could do one technical aspect of it after the animation has been finished.
Signing up for SVN and "downloading the project" and all that jaz in the first post here, what is involved as far as computer resources/space? Would it take up huge amounts of hard drive space? If I worked on one small aspect of a scene that could involve complex physics and/or cloth would I be required to download the entire scene project? Or could I just work on those specific objects and save out "actions" as I did with my own recent project? I don't have super high speed cable internet. I have modest dsl. It's fast enough for me but huge uploads are a killer. If I can minimize the size of the uploads, limit them to actions or specific models. For example. Physics would not need to be applied to the models for rendering. Just the actions produced by the physics. Same for cloth. It would be best if these things were done "last". Meaning after all modeling and meshes were "final".
For instance one trick I learned was to save out "empty" chors that only contained the models and actions needed. For instance I saved out just 4 of the falling panels and struts from one chor of my stage crash that I had to modify. I deleted those models from one chor and replaced them by importing another. The chor was HUGE but the smaller version was tiny.
I had trouble with SVN a long time ago with TWO but I could give it another shot. I am concerned about computer resources since I use my PC now for a lot more than AM. I use it for other production work and I can't risk messing up the system too much. Like I said... I'm concerned about taking on too much and not being able to complete it but would very much like to share my experiences with cloth and physics that I learned on my last project. I could even give specific steps and details of the best way to accomplish a task.
If there are scenes that could use some cool cloth or physics interaction to make them stand out or at least... not stand out in the wrong way... I would like to give it a shot.
Instead of just talking the talk I've decided to in some small way try and put my money where my mouth is.
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I just watched the whole thing on Youtube yesterday. It's in 11 parts. I assume this is the completed movie but I couldn't say for sure. Just do a search on youtube for Tin Woodman of Oz.
-vern
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Here's the final results of the dynamic/streaks combo:
http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?act=a...st&id=41819
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Yes, there is some sort of conflict with a dynamic constraint and streaks/sprite emitters. The real time display was inaccurate which caused me to make incorrect decisions
. I got around all this by getting the dynamic constraint right first, simulating springs, removing the constraint THEN turning on particles, got the particles right and BINGO success.My next option was to try using a Newton "chain" somehow for the cable but... ick... wasn't looking forward to that. Alls well that ends well. The effect was very short but very... "effective". It reminds me of all those fx guys who spend days or weeks doing one shot that lasts a few seconds.
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Ha! Weird.
Here's the scoop. For some reason turning on "Draw particles and hair" causes the dynamic constraint to go twice as fast. Seriously. It speeds it up. If I turn off draw particles hair in the render settings suddenly the whole thing goes zippity doo. What the heck? Are the streaks actually exerting some "force" on the dynamic constraint? I don't think so because the chain goes real slow... like through molasses. When the particles are turned on it follows the same motion but in half the frames... very odd.
-vern
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I'm so confused. I created a dynamic chain for an electrical cable. I have a streak emitter attached to the end that shoots out sparks. I did this in s separate choreography and project. Exported the chor and imported that chor into another chor in a different project.
I didn't change anything after importing. Everything is the same in the dynamic settings. Now the dynamic chain swings really really slow. At least 50% slower than the original. In the original I had timed the streak sparks for certain points as the wire is swinging. Now they don't line up. I'm curious what might cause this. Does the dynamic constraint rely on the "speed" of the playback? The final project file is quite "loaded" and so real time playback is slower than the original. I did the whole thing with simulating the springs... uh... crud. I could just bake the action in the original chor and save it out. Then the key frames will be the same and won't change on import... hmm...
Still though a valid question as to why this might happen.
-vern
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To use a path from a model with the MMop pluging you need a group. Select a spline in the model and make it a group. Click the "show more properties" dohicky for the model in the chor. Right click on the path group in that models chor shortcut and select the mmop plugin.
On another topic, a path constraint from a model works with actions and action objects. If you create an action you can use a path constraint on a bone to a separate spline in the same model or another model as an action object. I too wish that model paths could be accessed as path constraints the same as in an action. I don't understand why it can't be.
-vern
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I'm such an idiot. So silly... so silly silly stupid stupid. Here I am working with the Thom character and the OLD 2001 rig and all this time there is Thom available with this rig...
. Well, I still have a small bit of animation to do with Thom so I could switch to the new version. As was indicated in the first post "old actions" are not compatible with this rig right? -vern
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The balance and balance rigid poses should always be set to 0. They're more trouble than they are worth.
In many ways I agree... however there is one thing I love about those poses... they make "moving holds" so easy to do. Shift the hip bone just a tiny bit and you get a whole bunch of subtle movement. Otherwise you have to move/rotate a bunch of bones. It can save a lot of time when you're in a hurry. I usually just turn them up a tiny bit. Just enough to get that subtle movement.
-vern
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Here's the result of all your help Robcat! Couldn't have done it without you. This is the latest update in the Change Your Pants topic.
http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?s=&am...st&p=292518
-vern
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Yes, third action worked... uh... sort of.
I had a problem getting the "balance" poses to "reactivate". What happened was all the bones would get keyed on the new action. Some of those bones were "locking" the feet IK bones. Moving the foot target wouldn't work. The legs would be "stiff". I had to delete a bunch of bones ENTIRELY from the third action to get that working, but I never could get the balance pose constraints to work in the third action. This probably has to do with "hold last frame". That caused problems. I turned that off on the second action but if I turned it off on the FIRST action the whole thing went kablooey, the model jumped to the default model position and it was too much of a pain to get it lined up again. I think the 2001 rig has seen better days. I should have thought to check if there was a new version of Thom with an upto date rig that had better IK switching. Or maybe I could have stuck in some nulls and new constraints "on top" of the existing rig to add more control.
I only had a very short bit to animate after the IK switch at the end of action2 so I went with what I had. It turned out great. Very funny reaction as thom goes over backwards and stands up. All in all a very satisfying result. Thanks for the help. Will be posting the results in "Change Your Pants" thread later after a render. I have to do some more physics simulation because I didn't set it long enough on the first go so I had to continue it to fill the time range. Bouncing stuff suddenly "froze" in mid air
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Robcat,
Another stupid question. I got the transition from action1 to action2 working great. I want to switch back. Any way to do that with the existing actions or should I just create a third one? Here's the problem, I turned the foot IK back on in action2 but now the foot targets don't work because I suppose all the leg bones are keyed now. I did something wrong I'm sure.
-vern
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Robcat,
I noticed in your video that you had that bone rotation display issue for a moment. Could you click on the top project folder in the PWS and check the plugin properties for Newton? I would like to know if your issue is related to the same thing I figured out. Check to see if "use extended materials" is turned on.
-vern
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Robcat you mad genius thank you thank you thank you.
I have a few critical "IK transitions" for Thom in a couple of scenes that have been kicking my in the arse. Those points in time would benefit from IK switching... but I spent more time fiddling with it than animation so I just left everything the same and did it the "hard" way. So I'm at the point where he falls down and has to get back up. That is proving very difficult using IK on the feet. The falling down is especially painful due to the "balance" and "balance rigid" poses set. One of the other problems I had is when the bones get all dicombobulated I have no choice but to revert the project because I have no idea how or where to fix those bone rotations.
I finally finally finally get it. I get I get it I get it. It just works. The "key" is the "keys" (please DO NOT forgive my pun, it was intentional). When and where and how many channels, the filter buttons etc and how the chor actions are "active" or overlap etc are all very important. Once I got the process it just works like a charm. You think at first it's complex or difficult but in reality it's quite simple if you "do it right".
It's like setting up a new computer... and it just won't work... until you realize that everything must be plugged in... to a socket... that actually has electricity coming out of it (this happened to me. Took an hour to figure it out).
Thanks again dude!
-vern
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I've tried everything and I just can't figure it out. Is there anyway to turn IK off for that rig without messing up all the other key frames? I tried adding a second chor action. This worked but then I can't key the bones. Is there a way to key all the bones at the point the second chor starts? I'm very desperate for a solution. Time critical.
-vern
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Then, of course, they added a couple more features .... so I'm behind the curve again.
I'm so far behind the curve...
There are features that have gone all the way around and are trying get past to go around the curve again.
I can't see that curve anymore due to all the sub surface scattering blocking my view.
It might as well be an infinitely straight line I can never reach the end of.
I fell into a pool of liquid someone left in front of me and I don't know how to stop the simulation.
I have to use a Newton Physics high velocity object setting just to keep up.
I thought image based lighting had to do with black lights and funky posters.
I'm occluded by all the ambiance.
.. uh... did I take that metaphor too far you think?
-vern
engraving text into an object
in New Users
Posted
Here's a sample using displacement.
I created the displacement map using AM. I used the font wizard to create the text. Made it white with a single neutral gray patch behind the text. Put it in a chor with an orthogonal camera (no perspective) I added a blur post effect to the camera to soften the edges slightly for the displacement (probably too much in this case).
After rendering that I imported it as a decal for the cylinder object. Set the decal image to displacement 100%. Worked quite nice for a few minutes work.
(if you make the text black it will cut into the surface. The text must have neutral gray around it. Gray will not displace.)
project file
text_carving_displace.zip
-vern