Simon Edmondson

Got a little distracted before adjusting the timing of the knight and thought it best to do a "straight" pole vault. No facial animation yet. Or sound. This is it. Will try to adjust the knight this week. Simon Pole_Vault.mov Pole_Vault.prj

Rodney Thank you very much for the encouragement. I've been working on the storyboard for another project today, but hope to rework the timing on the knight over the weekend, taking account of Mark's and your suggestions. Its taken about 20 hours so far, including the gallop cycle and adapting the models. Glad I went for simple though ! regards simon

Rodney and Mark Thank you both for your feedback and suggestions. Much appreciated. I forgot to post the project files so will do so with this post. The run was animated from a Muybridge clip using this file. Its a conversion from a gif animation. There are only 16 frames of movement. It was a bit awkward to read at times. Muybridge_race_horse_animated.mov I agree about the forward speed of the horse being a bit slow. I tried to use a step length but evidently miscalculated the correct size. The Knight was constrained to the horse and the lance to the knights right Forearm, so the up and down of the lance came from the Horses movement I tried to keep it level but didn't want to set too many keys ( an old failing ). Once the box was reached were the lance 'lands' the constraints were released and the lance animated separately. It was difficult to gauge the right speed as all the reference clips seem to be in slow motion. I had thought that it might be a bit fast (?) and was thinking of slowing it down a bit, which might make him less prone to overtake the horse. The knight was then animated to the movement of the lance, trying to keep the hands in contact . Its not a criticism but the rig didn't seem to behave as those on other characters, the foot controllers for example, seemed to affect the position of the body too ( ?) but that may be lack of familiarity on my part. The landing block was just done using muscle mode in the chor. Lighting is something I enjoy watching on TV and at the cinema but it is not an area I know much about in current work. The past 6-12 months have mainly focused on animation for me and lighting, materials and modelling were to be developed more extensively this year. Trying to keep each thing simple to make the most progress. regards Simon Sports_Day2.prj

It isn't finished yet, no sound and various things need adjusting, but this was an idea towards the polevault. The Knight and the horse are off the DVD extras. There was a curious anomaly in the animating in that, the knight kept moving for several frames after the last keys were set ? Not had that happens before... Any critical feedback welcome. simonKnight.mov

I'm thinking about having a bash at this but, if anyone else feels like it ? Please do. simon Pole_Vault_The_Swing_in_Slow.mov

Mark Thank you. It didn't quite go as intended initially. The weight of the sheep were going to bend the bar and that would twang, causing them to launch up and the figure to go down ( Wile E Coyote style ) as the bar reverberated. Couldn't get that to work in the time available. It was fun to do. Couldn't use your excellent light setup though, apologies for that. regards simon

Rodney I had tried it as a zoom because the idea was not to reveal the sheep until the very last bit when they jump off, but couldn't get that to work so went for the jump cut instead. Kind of you to say I appear organised, wish it felt that way at this end though. Didn't have time to edit the curves at all which might have made it better. Regards simon PS Will try to have another go at a different game in the next few days.

A quick bash at a heavy llift. Simon AM_Lift.mov Forgot to add the project file. Lifting.prj

Don't know if this may be of interest to anyone ? I was surprised to see that, his feet actually come off the ground during the lift ! Snatch_Lift.mov

Take care Gene. I wish you a full recovery.

Rodney I look forward to seeing it. I've been a bit busy with other things too but will return to it soon. regards simon

Mighty impressive work there Nancy.

Rodney Thank you very much for your continued help. Much appreciated. I will follow up those references tomorrow. I watched a Chuck Jones ( always my favourite WB Director ) DVD were they explained about his use of blurred frames in general rather than specific details.. I tried some variations today. I think your earlier suggestions regarding layers will be tomorrow's task. Regards simon RunningD.mov RunningE.mov

Rodney Thank you for your helpful reply. I will give it a go with the rendering as stills then use as layers, after the current test goes through, that was the technique I used first, or a variation thereof. The one going through now has three sets of legs with feet. Each leg set is doing the same actions but with the feet targets aligned slightly differently. I tried offsetting the action cycle but the extremes and speed of the cycle hindered the 'read'. So I constrained the additional targets to the originals . Will post the result later, its going to take some time to go through. regards simon

Two pairs of legs, 12 feet on one path, path moved along track. 64 passes, motion blur set to 60% Think at least one extra pair of legs needed. RunningC.mov

I wish Gene a full and speedy recovery. A role model to follow your dream. Get well soon.

Todays test. Same chor, rendered with blur, and without blur, with alpha channels and those applied as cookie cutter decals. The blur is too soft I think ? Going to try the other suggested methods tomorrow. |Thanks to everyone for their help. simon Running.mov

Bobby Thank you for your help. Thats an effective idea. regards simon

Nancy and Rodney Thank you both for your help. Have been working away at it today with varying success. Still working on the feet at this point. This is the most recent ( of about 8 )variations. Going a bit stir crazy so will be keen to try Sports Day at the weekend. regards simon Runner_001.mov

Rodney Pardon me, I missed your post, when posting. Thank you very much for the info, I shall head there straight away. regards simon

I post this for amusement. Still testing the ideas others put forward and some hanging over from yesterday. This was the result 10 mins ago. RunnerB75.mov When played it looks as though it is going backwards ( clockwise ) ? Actually, its animated anti clockwise... simon

Dan Thank you for your suggestion I tried a similar idea but, compositing layers. A separate model, allied with Nancy's suggestion might be a avenue to explore... regards simon

Nancy Thank you very much for your helpful reply. I tried multiple legs, but on separate renders composited together. Back to the drawing board. regards simon

Robert Thank you very much for your help. I will look at them tomorrow as sleep beckons. regards simon

Robert Thank you for you reply. I may have done it, albeit with a fair bit of refinement needed ? This is it with 75% Blur on the render, Runner.mov and this is it with 15% blur Runner15.mov I'll do some more tests tomorrow and see what happens. My present thinking is to animate the path along the track as the figure moves, so the feet stay under him as he travels the distance. Will try to refine this tomorrow before attempting the distance. regards simon