NancyGormezano

from the wiki: Quebec City's Old Town (Vieux-Québec) is the only North American fortified city north of Mexico whose walls still exist, Nice building Yves. I too liked the grade at the base Happy 400th Quebec-iversary

Definitely humorous. He's kind of a mad scientist that ended up becoming his own project. And working on a limited budget that's what he came up with, but he'll be mail ordering parts for an upgrade. Sounds terrific - funny funny funny FUNNNEEEE story - I hope you're "serious" - love the character

Very, very interesting look - I look forward to viewing the story. And now I might know why your art work reminds me of Scandanavian furniture. My curiousity is really peaked.

I don't know why your chest controller is small - but it looks like you have IK arms on (rather than FK arms default). So the arms shouldn't move.

1) I noticed with your new rig that (in a new action) - if I set switch setup = off that some right arm bones show up (along with z_switches) - but for the right arm only - either none should be set ? or left arm bones should be set as well? (see image) 2) I notice if I create my own version of Sam such that the default switch setup=off and Steves hand controls are on - that in a new action the Steves hand controls get initialized as OFF (ignoring my default) 3) I notice that even tho the default switch for Spine fk_iK_iksquecth blah blah etc = 1 (under torso) , it is initialized set to 0 in a new action

No no... it would be way more hysterically funny stereotypically wise if there was an fascist nazi descendant rascist intolerant insensitive german pig caricature in the story - left over from the really fun days of european colonization, invasion and WWII. Now that would really be funny.

Hi again thefreshestever First, I forgot to say that I found your characters very well modeled, and look forward to seeing what you are going to do with the story/setting. I love Africa. I love the African people. I've been to Africa 4 times. And I'm also a birder - so the vulture (which is excellent) also jumped out at me. I love the landscape. I really hesitated to write what I did - because I too feel that a lot of things are taken too seriously. Since you are sort of new to the forum - you don't know that I can be really off the wall (and also unintentionally offend people). And I can be very outrageous at times (ok, a lot or most of the time), and some people won't like it. I find I have to tone myself down when posting or I might be banned for life. To maybe put it into perspective: I have found that it's usually ok to make fun of ourselves - or to poke fun at our own tribe, religion, country, family, mother. But if someone who we don't know from outside that tribe, country, religion, family makes fun, people quite often take offense. They could find it prejudiced, bigoted - even if that wasn't the intent, or feeling behind the work. It's up to you to decide if you want to take the chance. I am probably of a different generation than you (ok...I am an old person). The male character looks very much like a character resembling those from a "black face" minstrel show (very offensive to older african americans today if done by white folk) - or civil war slave depictions...or the illustrations in little black sambo - a childrens book. Or resembling a monkey ...I believe my older african american friends might take offense at your male character. But I really don't know. I think you have a great idea in showing it to your friends and asking their opinion - because their opinion would be more valid than my guessing. I would be curious to know what their parents thought of it as well. I truly hope I am wrong. I am a firm believer in comedy - It's much more preferable than taking one's self seriously. Nancy

I had an icky feeling you were going to say that. I thought 0 meant don't scale to reach IK control (original state) and 100 on the dial meant scale to reach the IK control 100%. I thought it was a continuous dial. And setting it back to 0 means go back to original state. Seems to me you have multiple states being defined by the dial instead of the one: % scale to reach. The 0 setting on the dial has 2 meanings- current scale to reach is off (0%) and maintain current scale at whatever it is. The meaning of 0 setting depends on what order things get moved, changed. To have to toggle the zero position seems a bit strange to get back to original state. I won't noodle this any more. I done. I recognize it's not always a perfect world.

No. I expected it to UN squetch (unstretch) when I set the scale back to =0,0,0 (original value). I expected the leg to go back to its original unextended length. I will try to say it hopefully in other ways: It squetches (stretches) fine to the IK control when you turn it on (scale=0,0,100). If you move the IK controller, and then turn the scale back to 0 - it does not UNSQUETCH (un stretch) back to original length (does not behave as it does in initial state). It stays at the extended length but doesn't extend further if the IK controller is moved further away. The problem is getting it back to it's original state ie unextended length (when first start the action) and having the scale switch off, after having moved the IK control, and stretched the leg. Please try it for yourself. Following my steps in the previous post. Let me know how you intended it to work. It is not obvious.

seriously, i have no idea... any suggestions? i don´t even know if the outfit of the girl fits to the half-naked guy, tribe-wise... the idea for that only came to me when asked myself: what kind of nature-shot can i do without having to populate it that much with grass and trees ... and the answer was africa... This is potentially touchy. The caricature nature of the characters might be a bit too stereotypic looking in an unflattering way. It also depends on your audience (is this for a class? private project ?). It also depends on your story. If you are not of african descent - you may end up offending those who are. It depends on whether you want to be sensitive to that. The physical exaggerated depiction of the man's face is probably the more potentially offensive. I am not of African descent. So my opinion is one of an outsider. The landscape reminds me of East Africa - particularly the savannah type areas - rift valley of Kenya, Tanzania. or even southern Africa areas of Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, South Africa. The loin cloth outfit of the guy could be from the bushmen (!kung or San bushmen) of southern africa (but without the neck rings) - the woman's headdress could be from western africa - but her top & skirt is not familiar to me as to where to suggest where it comes from. The San or !Kung bushmen women today typically cover up more (I believe). But I don't know what they really wear "when not being photographed". I find the masai (or maasai) tribe particularly interesting looking - they are found in Kenya in areas that look like your landscape. But they wear different, colorful outfits and probably would mean too much change for your characters. (do a google on masai and then look at images). The masai women would wear neck rings made of colorful beads. If this project is mainly for you as a learning experience - then don't worry about it. If it is to be shown to a class (of mixed cultures) or published elsewhere - you may want to research a bit more on how you want to caricature the people. This is only my opinion.

you probably don't have to go 16 pass - 5 passes would be good enough - maybe even less - try it. Will cut down on render times. I'm curious as to which tribe/region of Africa that you are trying to portray?

In the chor select the path, then change the mode to MODELING mode (f5) - the yellow thom icon - (NOT muscle mode - arm flexing icon) Add cps and modify path. This changes the path model. No need to put more cps in than necessary. In a similar way - instead of using animate mode on/off go to frame where the monster model is not hitting terrain correctly, select the path - change mode to modeling mode and reposition path cps, (add cps, subtract cps if required), and then: Remember to change mode back to director (or skeletal)

What that sounds like is the "baking" causing that. When something is turned on and off repeatedly, that is what happens. We had the same thing happen with the "Blink" Pose. For the "Blink", we have it where it never really goes to "0"...it goes to ".01". We can't do that with the scale-to-reach Poses though, they have to be turned off in FK. So, that's something that the animator will just have to be aware of, Nancy. It is not the repeated turning on/off that is a problem - it appears there isn't a way to turn the leg squetch off totally once it's been turned on. The leg or arm maintains the extended length with A:M ver 15b, SAM ver b. Here's how it happens for me: in an action move ik foot to beyond normal - an exaggerated amount turn scale to reach rotate to 0,0,100 - leg squetches like expected and reaches ik foot move ik foot turn scale to reach rotate to 0,0,0 leg does not unsquetch move ik foot leg is still the extended length but doesn't scale to reach the ik foot (arms work same way) How do you turn it off and get the leg back to normal size and behavior ?

I believe it is maintaining the scale even tho the scale rotate value = 0,0,0 It does not seem to reset back to zero - it works the same in 14c and 15b I do notice if I move the left ik foot control back close to normal position, them type in 0,0,100 for the scale switch rotate value, the leg resets, then I type in 0,0,0 for the scale and it seems back to normal. try it. move the ik foot control far out - keep ratcheting the scale switch back and forth in the window, note how it never resets back to normal.

I think Vern might get some pointers to help solve his little neighbor "problem" next door. Or perhaps he might hire you as a consultant. Hysterically funny. Are you an old person? Only old people are that twisted. One crit: the title might be a give-away. Enjoyed it immensely anyway of course. And stay away from my cat. He has no sense of humor.

Manipulator on all the time? - if you mean when you select it - that would be nice - (note the arm manipulator just shows the z rotation) I also notice that the scale to reach gets in a funny state (both for arm and legs) - where it stops responding - for example in the image it shows rotation is set to 0 - yet it is still scaling to reach - even when I manually put in values for z rotation

yes I did download new version - testing in 15b

That can be easily done. I vote for that as well (assuming you're talking about the current bones prefixed with interface - could be z_interface_). I notice that the ARM scale to reach switches are limited to rotation only about the z axis, whereas the LEG scale to reach are able to rotate on all axis. Should they be limited to only the z as well? It does not appear that rotating about the other axis'es do anything useful. Except maybe screw something up as I seemed to get the left leg in a funny state that didn't clear up by zeroing values when I didn't realize that it was the z axis rotation that was required. Also might be nice if the Face Interface folder was moved to the topish of animation folder under the switch setup on/off (before hand gizmo?). But not a big deal.

That's an easy rule - I like it. However the leg scale bone switches also seem to translate - so it was confusing when translating them didn't do anything. As for turning switches on/off - of course I know that I can change the default to be off for myself. I was suggesting that perhaps the default for everyone should be off. Just like the face interface default is off. (and of course some will feel differently) I would assume most people animate with the face interface off (at least I do) and turn it on only when needing to animate the face. It's a lot of visual clutter. So similarly, I would think most people would want to turn the switches off to reduce visual clutter as they are animating the body. And when they want to change modes they would want the switch pose in the PWS to be readily accessible. Putting the switch setup folder at the top of the animation control folder - or even getting rid of that folder and just having the switch on/off pose at the top of the animation folder would make it more obvious, accessible - currently it's at the bottom. These are simple cosmetic interface changes that IMO could help reduce clutter and confusion and help facilitate a more fluid experience. I know I kept inadvertently grabbing the wrong switches/bones while trying to animate with the switches on. If the naming gets changed so that the switches appear at the end of the list in the channel data - as David suggested, helps the experience enormously as well. And turning the switches on and off would be easy, if the switch pose for switching on the switches appears at the top of the animation folder. Please don't take these tiny observations as negative criticism. You guys have done amazing work. I am noticing that the IK/FK switching stuff seems to work beautifully smooth among other things. Loving the options for arm, shoulder steadying as well. Love the stomach and chest controls - lots of goooood gooood stuff.

It's been a long time since I've looked at the 2001. It's not that the rig has problems really. It's a great place to start. It's an easy rig to learn. I personally did not like all the balance and steady options in the 2001 rig - so I turned them all off. For my own characters I made a modified 2001 (long time ago) and didn't implement balance, steady stuff as I found it it interfered with animating. When I look at your project, I notice that your bone skeleton for buggy appears correct - from a quick glance - but your relationships appear to be referencing the wrong bones. For example where you might have a bone labeled leftarmbone in the skeleton, the relationship is referencing leftarmbone2. I'm not sure how that happened - but you may have to go thru all the relationship folders and change the names to be correct or way more likely redo the constraints with in the relationships. It might be easier to start over with a clean project with only the boned buggy boy. No relationships. Then drag (use to be able to do that - haven't tried it lately) the relationships from an already setup thom? But don't listen to me - it's been a long time. That part of my brain has atrophied. But I'm wanting to reawaken it as I don't like not being able to install a rig like I use to quite easily. For now, we're being spoiled by the Squetch rig. So far the squetch rig appears complicated to install (I haven't tried). It has many more options, way more flexiblity and has wonderful advanced features for animating. It also is in a state of change.

I gathered that was what they were supposed to do - but it wasn't happening - I was doing a lot of on/off stuff and eventually when I first noticed them (under the foot) - they didn't seem to affect the scaling of the legs in any way - at any time - in any position. I will see again today if it it was just that I got things into a funny state - I will also re-review the videos. Scratch that - I just tried the leg scale switches again - and they require rotating instead of translating in order for them to affect the legs - makes more sense now - perhaps you should prohibit their translation ? as they work differently then the other switches ? Or maybe the other switches should be manipulated with rotation ? for consistency? (not sure if its worth the bother) I think renaming the switches is an excellent idea so that they fall at the end of the list - perhaps adding a simple prefix such as "x_" ?. Maybe even other types of channel data that is due to other mode switching should also be prefixed in some way to be out of the stream of those bones, nulls used primarily for animating ? I had found the switch control on/off yesterday, which is how I noticed alll those new channels - I would suggest that the default could be off eventually - since turning them off (from the default on) creates lots of channels - if one wants to use the switches - which is a very, very inventive idea - then one would be willing to work with all the channels. And if they are at the end - it would not be as difficult to wade thru the list. And I LOVE the IK squetch position (2%?) for the spine - TERRIFIC. And I agree - one doesn't have to use every knife - and its great to have choices. It's an amazing amount of great work youse guys. Thanks for your efforts.

interesting changes - love the big foot and the torso spine squetching choice (among other things) I have not been able to figure out what the leg & right leg scale to reach switches do? Are they supposed to be showing? I must say it takes a bit of getting use to with all those switches creating channel data. My guess is that simple minded people such as myself could decide before hand which way one wants to animate (torso/spine 1,2,3,4%, switch setup on/off) in order to avoid having that brain muddling long list of channels created. Very Nice work.

Perhaps you changed the size of your cps or made them the same color as your background? Go to Tools/Customize/appearance/control points EDIT: I see ken beat me to it.

I haven't looked at the 2001 rig (in a long time) - but I'll guess that you didn't either set up the ik leg constraints or turn them on, or set them up improperly ?

Thanks Ken. I am at the stage where each model requires me to re-think how best to approach it, and I'm hoping it might become more instinctive for me, if I gain insight into your speed methodology. So I will dig a little more for detail, and try to leave some blood (for the next round). As I said before, it seems as if you don't need to even think about how you approach a new model. When you say you get the basic shape of one side/profile of the face, What is your preferred way of working ?: 1) Which splines do you usually lay down first for a basic shape. For example: Do you prefer to create a rough half shape like a half egg, or cylinder that you mold into shape and then cut holes ? Or do you start with the center profile spline, and add features or do something else ? 2) In what order do you prefer to create the features: eg nose, eyes, mouth ? or ?? 3) What is your technique for checking with cfa ? IE, Do you save model first ?, and a) do cfa, undo the cfa, & then make changes to half the face, or b)do you make mirrored changes, then copy paste half into a new model? or c) ?? Thanks again ...(I know there's more blood in there... )