[AM 2008 rig]

Hi Mark, thank you for rerigging Robby. One thing I wasn't able to do without the installer was to place the foot null correctly,like it is now.

One little thing, the thumb rotater doesn't seem to curl on Z axis. I really like your finger setup with the ability of rotating fingers on Zaxis,

and curl with the rotator.

I like the face rig; I guess it would be possible to use that setup to control decals the way Xtaz experienced in another thread?

 

Michel

[2_04_04]

Looks good Toby! I like Capt Bill's pose on one knee. Like Ken, I would see some hold before he kneels to break the action a bit.

Maybe, stay still one second, just moving his head, looking at Trot, then down and further away as he kneels. The kneeling itself

works very good. The way they move there heads is a little distracting, I think they need to show more intention, and anticipation.

Very nice start.

 

Michel

[„Chicory and Coffee“]

I hope your movie last long, I would like to see much more!

 

Michel

[1_01_01]

Getting better! I'm finding it hard to read TWs reaction at frame 400.....being scared or scaring? And the wing flaps still seem abit "half hearted".

 

Edit: I managed to snag an image from one of the videos. The wings go much higher.

Actually I do find it hard to read too; that's where inbetweening ingenering gets tough

The posing is nice, but it's not the reaction I would have tought Tinman would have.

The script doesn't read like such an intense reaction either.

I join a clip of the ending just to show the flight with more amplitude.

I like it better, right now the wings go almost vertical. It would look better with some motion blur.1_01_01f.mov

 

Michel

[1_01_01]

A little more progress. Added a couple seconds after the first crow.

1_01_01c.mov

 

Michel

[fk and ik]

Look for those switches. Hand lock and IK are different types of IK.

 

Michel

[Wannabe Pirates Speak Up]

They look great! Both the face rig possbilities and the characters.

I don't like much doing lipsync, this is going to be of great help.

I look forward to see more!

 

Michel

[fk and ik]

What rig are you using? Most of the time you have an on-off switch in the pose window.

 

Michel

[2_05_04]

Really good Ken!

 

I always like your camera choices, they look very professionnal.

Pessim's behaviour animation fits the script and soundtrack very well.

Everything in his acting suits his miserable personality.

If I would have a small crit, Tinman could be a little less linear, more mechanical,

we don't usually want that, but a somewhat less flowing more robotic look

would fit our hero. Just a tought, it's coming out great!

 

Michel

[Constraints,constraints]

Hi, I have been playing a little with constraints and 2008 rig lately. Mark is doing invaluable work with his rig.

Automatic keyframing in A:M with on-off pose switches makes it much easier.

I plan other tests for the other characters.

constraints_test2.mov

 

Michel

[Trots hat]

I prefer with the collar. What would really give her some maturity is longer arms.

 

Michel

[AM 2008 rig]

Hi Mark,

 

First, I hope that I didn't make a mistake posting a model, I should have asked you before.

I got overly enthousiastic when I found that I could install your rig with fairly usable results.

I tought it could revive interest in what you are doing.

I have animated on TWO and SO with the Squetch rig you and David created,

and I have said it many times before, it is awesome. So much that I have much

less interest working with TSM or 2001rig, they work well but the Pentium2 worked well and I won't buy one.

I would think many people have tried to install the Squetch rig, but only a few reached completion.

I am interested in rigging and I understand constraining and relationships, I could build something

like 2001rig from scratch, but nothing close to the Squetch rig or the rig you are building now.

I suspect many people assumed that it was another superb rig that they couldn't easily install,

so I would think that is why you didn't get as much feedback as you have expected.

Saying that, I am absolutely not blaming anybody for the Squetch rig being hard to install, it is such a nice rig done freely.

The fact is that there isn't any easy-to-install rig right now making use of the not so new FKIK switches(all switches actually) implemented

in the program; I come back to that because for me it makes a rig so much more versatile.

I think your work is very very important, and I have much respect for your talent and dedication.

I for one sure hope you keep developing this promising modern rig.

 

Michel

[1_01_01]

Yes Mark, the second crow was too far on the path already,

when the camera cut, I must have messed it up a bit when moving

frames. All crows(5 more coming later in the scene) fly on the same path,

I will add some variation to that.

Thank you,

 

Michel

[1_01_01]

Ok, I inserted 2 seconds of suspicion after the first crow's passage,

I think it would maybe need 1 more second of hold, and maybe 1 more second

with the next camera when he goes back to oil his joints. The crow's wings

are faster too.1_01_01f.mov

 

Michel

[02_01_02]

Hi Sebastian, nice work!

I really like facial animation on Bill when he lights his pipe, the puffing

looks great. I also like that you have given attention to eye movement,

witch is the main objective of the audience(way more important than lipsync).

One thing maybe, after Ork speaks(the short OrK's animation works well, by the way),

slow Bill's turn towards Trot has great effect, but when he turns back it gets a little slow

and more linear. Lively done so far!

 

Michel

[1_01_01]

Thanks Holmes, good reference. I should always search for reference first.

I will increase the pace and make it more irregular.

 

Michel

[AM 2008 rig]

Wow! Just checkin out this thread for the 1st time... (it does not show in my 'View new Posts'...hmmm) LOT of fantastic work going on here. SO- if I were to 'summarize' for my own benefit...this 2008 update to the original 2001 rig would be a drag-n-drop, scale-n-place, attach-n-weight animation RIG with advanced finger/hand control and facial bones already in place for AM/Track????

 

Check me if I'm wrong... it's looking FANTASTIC!

 

I am also amazed such a good rig can be installed just like that. I just rigged a model today with version AMv13_2008_Rig4.

It has advanced finger/hand control but no facial bones, and most of all, you have FKIK absolutely seamless switches.

I've attached the model if anybody wants to play around with the new rig. It was installed exactly the same way you would have done it

with 2001rig.AMv13_2008_Rig4gtest.mdl

 

Thank you Mark, it is FANTASTIC!

 

Michel

[A couple questions]

I spent some more time rigging the fingers. Everything is working like the Thom model.

So this new rig is actually faster than TSMrig, once you have placed the geometry bones,

well.. you're done, and ready to animate with a very versatile rig . I join a clip with some finger moves

and a walk cycle. It's bad animation, it's just to show the rig is easily installed on another character.

It's a very basic character, but I don't see why it wouldn' work on any character.

rig_test2.mov

 

Michel

[A couple questions]

Thank you. I did a very quick test on a simple model,

just doing the same thing I would do with AM2001rig,

scaling geometry bones very fast, and auto assign cp's.

In the clip attached, I tried IK switches, left arms go from FK to IK

every 12 frames, a different pattern with left leg.

Those switches alone makes your rig much more fun to use than TSMrig.

I still don't why we can have those seemless transitions now,

and we could not do it a couple years, and TSMrig can't do it.

rig_test.mov

Great work Mark!

 

Michel

[1_01_01]

Holmes, I already made a fly action, I will give it more amplitude and speed;

right now it cycles in one second, I need to shorten that.

If you set "Stride Length" you don't need to worry about "shortening" it...

 

Thanks Martin,I didn't know you could do that with a character flying.

I scaled the action already, but I will experiment that with the flock of crows coming later.

Pretty much the same clip with more noticeable wing movements.1_01_01b.mov

 

Michel

[A couple questions]

Maybe I missed the information, does 2008 rig install as simply as 2001,

just by scaling geometry bones?

 

And, I tried to find out what in the rig gives you that great FKIK seemless switch?

How do you implemant that? I use that all the time with the Squetch rig, it makes

animation so much easier.

 

Michel

[1_01_01]

Ken, I like your idea, but again not enough time to insert the hold

that it would need.

 

Holmes, I already made a fly action, I will give it more amplitude and speed;

right now it cycles in one second, I need to shorten that.

 

Thank you!

 

Michel

[1_01_01]

Thank you for your comments Myron.

I agree with you on the spacing, I stretched it a couple seconds already.

I too think you should let the audience settle down and size the character,

I am not doing the camera, I do inbetweens in an already blocked scene.

Maybe the character will be already introduced in tne movie intro.

And you're not stepping on anyone's toes, your comments are useful

and welcome.

 

Michel

[1_01_01]

Here's a little progress.

1_01_01c.mov

 

Michel

[1_01_01]

I started working in betweens for the first scene. Blocking is nice and clean(nice job Mike),

but I wonder if I could add a couple seconds at the beginning, everything is going pretty fast

right at the start, He reads, puts his book on the chair arm, picks the funnel on his head,

and starts oiling his elbow in the first 3 seconds of the first scene. I think it's good to let

the character still(reading) for a second or 2 to let the viewer grab the scene. Keeping

the same blocking, just streatching a little.

If not possible, no big deal.

 

Michel