Simon Edmondson

Have been trying to achieve a running style like that of the roadrunner in the WB shorts with very mixed results. Thought of another way to try in the meantime and wondered if anyone could kindly offer help on a couple of points ? Initially I set up an action for each foot then tried to put that on a path in a chor but that didn't seem to work, so tried to set it up using a path, but paths don't seem to be an option in actions ? Then tried to set it up in the chor but two questions, How do you get it to loop ( post extrapolation ? ) and can you then move it along using the track by moving the path ? regards simon Road_Runner.prj

Great work Serg

Jack The battle of the sexes continues. I like the impact at receipt of serve. regards simon

Rodney Thank you for your feed back. I'm trying to work out how to get the legs to cast shadows but leave the multiple feet doing a roadrunner. Think I may have got it but, if successful, will try to post it later. regards simon Sort of got the shadows only bit but it will need further work. This one withe full complement of feet. Shadow_Legs.mov And this is one with only half that amount. Reduced_Track_Legs.mov Personally I prefer at one ? Did try one with the track but it kept getting in the way of the running and then wouldn't render in the same way. In the interests of foolishness here it is. Shadow_Track_Legs.mov I shall sleep on the problem and tackle it afresh ( vain hope )

This afternoon's tests for the sprint race The ones called Feet were done by changing the speed of the cycle over the same time frame of movement. Feet_001.mov Feet_004.mov The ones called Offset were done by retaining the cycle length but off setting it within the time line. Offset_001.mov Offset_Legs_004.mov Any feedback welcome simon

Mark Excellent work. One minor quibble, you tell me I give my characters a hard time !!! regards Simon

Gerald The images remind of the light paintings Picasso did with the photographer Roland Penrose. This is just a guess but, could you use a small intense volumetric light, rendered with Motion blur against an alpha background, then composite that against the render of the model in action. A variation of that might work for the character moving by changing the extent of the blur and varying the light on that render, composited with the original ? Pardon me if this is inappropriate. regards simon

Rodney I think you covered everything ! I look forward to seeing what other people do and try to get one of the bloxz to respond. regards simon

I look forward to seeing it Mark. However you chose to post it. I'll see if I can respond next weekend, trying get roadrunner legs during the week. ! regards Simon

Well, that's just silly! I believe there is something about shadows-only in my "Post in Progress" in the tutorials section Robert Thank you. I've got a print out somewhere but can't find it at the moment... Here is an update. It will need a bit of refinement but I think it should work for what I want. Curiously, the track didn't render this time and I got the white. It was all done in a chor using layers. regards simon Sprint_test.mov

This is a test for the next sprinter. Can anyone please, kindly remind me how to do a shadows only render ? simon Sprint_test.mov

May I suggest: A fisherman, in a boat, on rough waters, in the rain. Catches something he can't land but would like to land him ? The weather, The sea, the reflections and colours and transparencies the dynamic (?) forces involved, ... Back to my simplicity. regards simon

In this case you could just shorten your chor action length to 47 (your project had it going to 150ish), change the hold last frame to off, and set transition to next action ON. You can leave the method to replace. None of the actions now need to be added, nor blended since they now do not overlap. see first project. Also you did not need to create 4 different pirouette actions - you could have only 1 action and just change the cycle length to 12 or 6 or 4 or 3 and change your repeat to whatever you'd like. In the 2nd project I did that, and I also changed the ordering of the actions (by dragging in the PWS) so that the pirouette action A came after the chor action. I did not change the length of the chor action. Nor did I change the blend method. Cute idea. And of course, I am tempted to out-pirouette you (manana, no time now). Nancy Thank you for your helpfull reply. Thats what I'll be doing next time. I best get on with the games/sport next. regards simon

Rodney Thank you very much. I will try to do that before going to bed tonight. regards simon Edited in the light of Rodney's help. Ballet__Bunny.prj This is the mov file with added movements to the action files. Pirouette_B.mov

Mark. I look forward to seeing your entrant to the open games. I promised I'd try to get something done over the weekend. This is the first draft. It was almost done when a foot controller null realligned itself to an ear controller in the chor. I was so pleased. Something good came of it though as I realised there was a better way to do it. Will now go away and try that. regards simonPirouette.mov Seemed like a good idea to use actions rather than try to do it keyframe every step ( ? ) so made some pirouettes on 12,9,6, and 3 frame cycles with the intention of applying them in the chor and overlaying movement on top. However, the actions don't seem to be working as planned. Is something missing, other than between my ears ? V17g OSX Ballet__Bunny.prj

Thank You Jack. I've had a lot of much needed help from the folk here on the forum. regards simon

Robert Thank you once again for your help. I'm a bit puzzled by the mid stride slowdown. Its a six frame stride, each stride being three metres in length and there are three keys for the body null, frames 1,3, 6 and two for the hip rotation on frames 1, 6, Might it be a case of the curves needing editing ? I'll have a look later today. regards Simon

Have reworked the first version of the sprint in the light of earlier feedback, and lessons learnt since. Haven't finalised the bit at the end yet, which will be a premature celebration. On a trivial note, his time for the 100 metres is 8 seconds and 14 frames ( about 8:56 ) @ 25 fps. Which might make Eusain Bolt seem slow ! That wasn't intend, it was a side effect of the method used. Would that it was that quick to do... simonSprintB001.mov

I'll see if I can start something simple this weekend. It will be a welcome break from sprinting. regards simon

Rodney The original idea was just a convenient way to think of it for me. The chance of opening it out to include all sorts of activities would be very welcome. It could be a way for people at all skill levels to participate as and when they have the time.. If they are developing a character for another project then putting that character/model through one of the activities might be a good way of testing the rig and setup of the model and clarifying how that character might move and react ? How official or formal it is I don't know, I think that might be up to others and how big it might grow. I guess the next few days and weeks might tell ? regards simon

Pardon my delay. Happy Birthday Marcos.

Rodney I don't know how it is in the USA but here there is a long tradition of the Village Fete with all sorts of games and sports. Perhaps that could be the occasion ? Paul's suggestion regarding Haggis Hurling might be one, Nancy's chocolate cake splatter another. As you suggest perhaps its a case of people making their choice and doing that, making the project set available to others and letting them use their own character in that set? I'd be happy to work that way although others with more sophisticated models than mine may be less so, perhaps use a 'standard' rig, such as the 2008 ? regards simon

I'm not putting this forward as a piece of finished work but, if anyone else would like to have a go at it with one of their own characters? It would be fun to see the results. Regards Simon Project file Bunny_jump.prj Chor test of bunny doing the high jump Bunny.mov Aside from TAoAM I've not used Bunny before. It was fun to think of what might happen.

Paul I wasn't really trying to trash talk the Scots, I was being flippant. I love Scotland and the people therein. My two two most enjoyable holidays ever were in Scotland and I'm probably going back in September to try again to see the northern lights. The Hulk doing Highland games would fit nicely in this theme, and would certainly present a challenge to other peoples characters. Notably my own ! regards simon

Thought I'd have a A quick bash at responding while waiting for someone to turn up this morning.Still needing work. simonBunny.mov