Simon Edmondson

Paul. I did something along those lines a few years back. The effect was actually quite easy to achieve using animated maps to control the bump/ displacement, reflection and transparency for the ripples. Later project used cookie cutter decals to get rain drops. A combination of the two might get the effect you want ? regards simon

Dancy. Thank you very much for your feedback, much appreciated.There is some lag in places but not all the while. Have tended to set the poses and then offset the forearms and hands by moving the keys in the timeline. The forearm is usually one behind the bicep and the hand one behind that. I shall try a larger variation next week. Haven't done any finger or face work on this pass as I wanted to try and get the basics down first. Trying a different way of doing it ( for me anyway ). Set all the poses first, and put them all on hold to check the timing, then came back and tried the inbetweens and prevent foot slippage. Had to change the routine and timing in place to keep the overall pace working and the movements acceptable, I was worried it was too fast in places, and too slow in others. Going to take an animation break until next, week while working on the set models, lighting and camera setups. Hope to approach it then with a fresher view and the constructive criticisms you and others have kindly offered. regards simon

Complete version of the first animation pass. working on sets, lighting and camera this week before resuming animation. Think the quality of movement changes over the duration ? So will try to redress that when revising later. First and last scenes still to be done. Any critical feedback, very welcome. simon vga conversion from DV render Ska Lake.mov

Still much to go ( such as getting the mattress to bend ) but, this is the last part of the first pass animation ( if that makes sense ?). Next week will be concentrating on models, sets, lighting and camera, before returning to the animation. So, any critical feedback very welcome... Simon Take Seven.mov

Gerald Thank you very much for the encouragement. Its taking a lot longer than anticipated, and there is still a lot to go. regards simon

Robert Thank you for your reply and help. I've gone back and introduced some lag in the movements by off setting the frames as you suggest. I had done that quite extensively earlier in the sequence but have been a bit preoccupoed with the text editing this week so overlooked it in this part. regards simon

Tore Thank you. I'm hoping to get the first animation pass done this weekend, then a break from animating, while I get the sets, lighting and camera done, before finalising the animation with the detail parts. Thanks to Robert's tutorial, I've learnt how to correct the bone heirachy problem but, its taken several attempts to do so. regards simon

Had a lot of "fun" trying to correct a bone heirachy glitch fpr the last few days. Got it sorted today and used the chance to reviseB. Hope to get the first pass finished by the end of the weekend. Critical feedback very welcome simonTake SixC.mov

A while back a friend and I were in conversation about using lasers to record sound. The initial idea was to use them to record drums or percussive instruments. The light would project up inside the drum and be reflected back off a prepared surface, picked up and processed. It would have the advantage that, because the only moving part was the drum surface, it would not "blow out' the ribbon used in a standard Mic. There would be all sorts of other advantages in terms of data processing possibilities as well. We went on to develop the idea further so that it might be used on guitars to pick up the light reflected off the strings and, by varying the light position on the body of the instrument, you could develop a much broader tonal spectrum than the standard positions of 'normal' guitars. We looked at trying it out, and he had someone who was 'interested' but we never took it further than that really. Other than looking at possible kit to use. The devil is in the detail... ! simon

Robert Thank you very much for the earlier tutorial. It was very helpful. It took me a couple of attempts to achieve it but got there in the end. I was getting lost in all the info in the project file so saved out the faulty chor as a text file and edited that instead. Saved the keys as an action file and will apply that in the original chor. This was a brief test to see if it worked. His foot dips at the end but thats something that needed correction before.Ska Lake correction.mov Its been an arduous process and I had to go and work some of it off by painting the garden shed with wood preservative at one point but, rewarding to have got it in the end. regards simon

Robert Thank you for your help and very much for your earlier Tutorial. I was working in V17 but will try to correct in V18. Hope to post the result later. regards simon

Mark. Robert did inded kindly make a tutorial about it, under the title AM text editing. I am working through it now. A little daunting with all the info but will get it done. THANK YOU, robert. regards simon

Mark Thank you, It may be a possibility. Starting to recall one of Robert's tutorials to that effect I shall look it up. Its been a rather intensive few months with much going on, I tried to find the original question but was unable to do so. regards simon

A few months back I asked a question about accidental changes of bones heirachy in the chor. The problem is that, it is sometimes possible to change the heirachy by accidentally dragging the bone in the PWS. If you spot it before going too far you can revert but, if not, you get the problem illustrated here. The heel has become part of the knee heirachy. My recollection is that, the only way to overcome that, was to delete the bone, then go back in and reset the keys at the appropriate points ? Have been working away on the dance sequence and saving iterations as I go . Only have 10-15 seconds to go ( out of 90 ) so a bit reluctant to go back and redo all 80 seconds worth of one bone, but will do if necessary. Is there a way to restore the heirachy, other than tthe method mentioned above? regards simon

Revised in the light of Robert and Tore's suggestions. Bert ( the Bear ) is supposed to be sliding his foot forward after the turnaround. Charlie's heel slide, is a 'happy accident' simon Take SixB.mov

Tore Congratulations. Well deserved to.

Robert. Thank you for your feedback, I shall address that this afternoon. regards simon

Having spent days trying to avoid the feet slipping, was actually trying for a heel slide in this one. Instead, it looks like he almost has an accident, and quite like that, as he is on his way to bed. Only another 15 seconds to go before starting on the sets, lighting and camerawork. Critical feedback welcome. simon VGA conversion from DV file Take SixB .mov

Sean I was just cleaning up the mail when I found this. Its the Hash response to the question. regards simon >>>>>>>>>> Hello, You can run Animation Master on both OS's on one machine. Most of the time you just need to copy the 'master0.lic' file form the first install folder to the 2nd. With VMachines sometimes you will need to run the steps below so we can update the 2nd license. http://www.hash.com/faq/index.php?action=artikel&cat=13&id=17&artlang=en >>>>>>>>

Sean Thats way above my tech grade but glad you've found the solution. I'll have to try to remember it when I eventualy get my MBP to dual boot with AM in place. Are you running it with Bootcamp or, similar to Mark, with Parallels ? I was given the MBP ( !!!) a couple of weeks ago by an old friend and it came with W7 as a dual boot. Haven't installed AM on it yet as having other 'fun' with Logic Express, but thats a story for another time. regards simon

Sean I asked about this a few weeks ago, and was told that if you copy your licence number from the Mac side, into the windows installation, then it should work. But, given the level of my tech knowledge and memory someone else will need to confirm that. regards simon

Rodney. Thank you for your reply and encouragement. It was initially to be a test of the models to be used for the project under development for some time ( "Charlie's Birthday" ). A friend recorded the music for me and the intention had been to use it for a stop frame sequence using clothes pegs but, in the end it seemed more appropriate for this. The scenario for this is that the young man ( 10-11 ) is on his way to bed. He lives with his grandparents and is quite lonely. The character is based partly on my nephew ( who lived with his parents and has an older brother so very 'partly' ) who used to take his teddy bear with him when he went Kart racing all around the country and even when he became a proffessional driver racing in Italy. The camera moves were just to stop it being too static, which was something learnt from a previous project involving a figure playing "air guitar" on his broom. The design for his bedroom is done but the model imcomplete, likewise the house its taking place in. Hoping to complete that after the first real pass at the dancing. On the air guitar project it was mainly straight ahead animation. Tried a different approach this time by working out the poses throughout first, putting them on hold to make sure the timing was there, then releasing the holds and adjusting the positions and f curves to try to avoid problems. Hope to get that done by the end of next week, resume on the set models, then go back to add the details on the figures, eye movements, facial gestures, fingers and so on. Should add that it is running way over 'budget' on time, I thought it would take a week to set up the moves, it took three, and this phase is taking a lot of time too, only getting through about 4-5 seconds every two days and there is still a lot to be added to that. Still, lots being learned, especially with the curves. regards simon

Jeff Thank you for your reply and observations. I had tried to off set the arm keys to make them less stiff. Need to do that further. Here is today's bit. Lighting and camera still to be set. Any critical feedback re movement very welcome. regards simonTake Five.mov

Take Four Had to take a week off when I awoke at 5:00, dreaming of setting keyframes in the PWS and correcting foot slides with the f curves, Back in the fray now., this is the past two days worth. No facial animation or finger movements yet, lighting still to be set properly. Tried to incorporate Robert's suggestions re jumps in this and future sections. Any critical feedback regarding movement appreciated. simon Take Four.mov

John I'm far from expert in these matters but, did you constrain the bubbles to a path? If not it sounds as though you may have the function curves that govern the motion, moving it around. The way to check that would be to click on the graph option in the PWS. They can be adjusted if needed. If I understand the requirement , what you are after is bubbles arising from the diver ? A possible way to achieve that might be to model the bubbles as a group, constrain them to a path, scale them as they travel along the path and get the actiuon to repeat using interpolation method.. If you constrain the path to the diver with a translate constraint you should be able to move the diver around with the paths and the bubbles arising as the diver moves ? If not, I'm sure someone more knowledgeable than me will help. regards simon