ZachBG

Victor, Just that last post and the screenshot has opened up whole new worlds. Thanks a lot. Zach

Damn! Randy! We want this for the Mac! (Seriously!)

...Jaw drops...faints...swoons... Wow, just wow. That was just frippin' incredible. I won't ask you to share your "technique," since I suspect it has something to do with working on feature films for a living, but I and I'm sure many others would LOVE to get more details on the "mish-mash" rig that was able to create such fluid, expressive, and living motion. I was especially stunned by the gorgeous squash and stretch. That's been my Alpha and Omega (am I mixing metaphors, or pureeing them?) in terms of CGI and I've never figured out how to make it happen. It just adds so much to the life of a character. Seriously... wow. Zach

Actually, Justin, I believe as long as you start it by midnight on Wednesday, it's OK.

Rodney, that's super cool! Care to share a tutorial? Zach

Oh, I remember what else I was going to say. Rodney, you're not a jerk. However, the contest actually is strictly about character animation; in the words of the showdown rules, "Hey if you've got time for GI, go for it. Texturing? Great. It won't improve your animation though, so spend time on what matters." Oh, of course, rereading your post, you weren't talking about eye candy. You were talking about story. Whoops. Well, the point is that when people vote, they're voting--or at least I am--on the technical elements of the animation. This week was really tough competition, actually. There were only two (out of six) that clearly weren't getting my vote. (One of them was mine, which is why you won't see my entry in the Hash Forums this week...) Zach

Nice! Still love the look down. I'm curious as to the method you use. Clearly most of the pole climb was a simple repeat. Was that an action that you dropped in, or just you just cut & paste keys? And what sort of rig does your character have? Zach

Wow!

Nice work! I really like the shivering hands. My only comment is the last pose. He feels like he needs a little more ease as his hips settle... right now, it just seems like a snap to a stop. Zach

Cloth simulation is a real tough one. I'd venture to say you might even get better results if you hand animate it--especially given the quality of your run cycle. (That's a compliment, lest I'm unclear.) That said, knowing the patch count and layout of the cloth would help a lot. I've found that the cloth simulation works much better for slow actions (say someone with a cape walking rather than running). There are simply fewer opportunities for the cloth to be caught "behind" a set of solid objects. Zach

He looks pretty good. Do you have an animations of him yet?

Nice. I was about to ask which pre-fab homes company--my parents do a lot of work with one here in Maryland, U.S.A.--then I noticed you're in Australia. Talk about a commute! Zach

Shaun, you continue to inspire and amaze me... not to mention make me horrendously envious. How you can manage all that with a new baby in the house... Only minor quibble--can you upload your teaser trailer in "Fast Start for Internet" format, so it can start up before it's done downloading? Zach

Just for everyone's info: I'm on a Mac, so if we use darktree I won't be helping with the rendering. Doesn't bother me, just FYI. Also, maybe we should start a yahoo group or something (though I hate YG, I haven't researched alternatives). I'm loving the back & forth, but I wonder if the rest of the Hash forums are sick of us. And more importantly, I wonder if Gregg would want me posting pre-animations for the rest o' the world to see. Gregg, whatcha think? Zach

Oooh, ketchup squeeze bottles! That will create a great bit... that'll be a separate object, right? I can't think of anything else. If something comes up while animating, I'll make a proxy prop and let you know. Speaking of proxies, would it be possible to get a lo-res mockup of the set? Just walls and tables would be fine. Call me Zach. No one calls be ZachBG except my mother. I mean... Zach

Hmmm. I think so, though it's tough to say based on the flythrough. My guess is that if Monterey Jack can fit in there, we should be OK with the rest. Plus, we could always have them intersecting the small tables, as long as we watch the camera angles...? Zach

Guys, No comment except that this is really fun to watch. Keep it coming, it's inspirational! Zach

Ooo, shiny! Can't wait to start animating. Zach

Neil has a background now... though NOT a suit and tie... I tossed in Vernon Zehr's LEM model, which he was kindly enough to lend me. (He told me he got it at a NASA yard sale. Personally, I think he stole it from the Smithsonian.) Haven't nurnified him yet, and his suit will look more "lived-in" when bump maps are added. C & C welcome of course, just don't tell him his suit isn't hooked up to his oxygen tank yet. Zach

Damn, that's a lot of patches. Good result, though. The face mesh is just beautiful, too. I think your ISP is blocking direct image links; at least that image didn't show up in my browser, so for anyone else like me, copy and paste this URL for the wireframe: http://genocell.freewebpage.org/smilewire.jpg Zach

I missed this thread the first time around and just looked back at the beginning. Holy s--t. Parlo, your skills and style are awe-inspiring. That's all I'm going to say, 'cuz I'm too depressed to ever touch A:M again. Just kidding--practice, practice, practice! Zach

Improvements?!?!? As I always say on these types of threads, "I want her phone number!" Seriously, that's some really impressive work, especially in v8.0. How the hell did you do the hair? Wireframe, please!

I think we need a new forum: "Greg Rostami's Cool Tips." I assume this also applies when using non-multipass? Or is the a-buffer renderer already good enough at antialiasing? Zach

I think Zack is absolutely right (gosh, that's a sentence that should be said more often) about the blinking, especially since, as far as I can tell from looking at the other entries on digitalrendering's forum, you're one of the only participants whose character actually has eyes. Why not use 'em? And completely OT: Grubber, I love the evolution of your avatar! I remember when it (like mine) was just a stock drawing... then it was 3D... then it had a baseball cap... and now...! Zach

I like the veins under the eye... was that done with texturing or modeling? It looks like you might have some spline layout issues which are causing creasing (or that may be what you're after). In particular the three-point patch at the side of the nostril worries me. Still, very good for a first head. Zach