Simon Edmondson

Vance my suggestions would be to try to animate the surface textures and maps to introduce more variety within the objects and rings. Any Nasa sequences of Saturn that I've seen (effectively stop frame sequences ) highlight the stormy nature of the planets atmosphere. In particular the red spot that is a giant storm that seems to drive the motion of the gases circulating around the core.. It would not only add variety to the sequence but act as a contrast to the more stable surface of Titan which, I seem to remember, is thought to be a frozen surface ? regards simon

Nancy Thank you for the link to the tissue animation, mighty impressive work. Thanks too for the heads up regarding Colossal. I was previously unaware of it. regards simon

Happy Birthday Steffen. Thank you for all your work on our behalf. Regards simon

I did convert it using the clip convertor you told me about a few weeks back. I could send it if you'd like but it is 15.6 Mb so may not get through the mail? regards simon

I just saw this on facebook (you must also be a colossal subscriber/fb friend?)- absolutely beautiful and amazing Nancy I live in a very rural area, my village has 120 houses. My partner told me that her high school in Chicago had 4.000 students, that's the size of the town I used to live next to. I use Facebook to keep in touch with friends around the region that otherwise I wouldn't see for weeks on end. I don't post much on it, usually just follow up others links. That one was posted by a friend who runs the Animation MA course at Norwich. The two dance ones were posted by a friend from Liverpool. Its a quiet life here at the pulsating metropolis... regards simon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqWig2WARb0 XqWig2WARb0 This is the ad [vimeo]78254514[/vimeo] http://vimeo.com/78254514 This is the making of Both are worth a look ?

Nancy They are terrific. If you still have the stories it would be a fab project. I understand your reservations re other peoples revisions. I wrote some live action and animated scripts a while back for part of a scheme and the requested changes contradicted what they originally asked for.. Hey ho. On an slightly related subject. did you have a look at any of that guy's other dance video's on Youtube ? His other things are just as fluid and joyful. regards simon

Nancy I hadn't seen your paper figures before . They are FAB. Have you animated them. I ask because, it might be like a job but, they would make an excellent TV idea possibly involving picture books ? regards simon

Rodney Thank you once again for your help. I redid it, adding a higher knee lift and raising the first a bit. The part I like now, is where he doubles over and clenches up in frustration, after the first kick. I think I'll try a few more with the sack as, from what I've read, its a standard test they give to beginners. Might be fun to play with... regards simon Bag3.mov

Rodney Thank you once again for your reply and help. I had thought about the bag falling over and an actor friend thought it suggested the bag was too light so, in the light of your and her observations I reworked the end this morning. Initially he was going to hurt his foot and hop up and down afterwards but thought it was time to avoid him falling over so tried this instead. Haven't addressed the bag coming out of his arms yet, some more 'exciting' roto work to do first but, the idea was that he was trying to hoist it up so as to get a better grip but the mass shifted in transition. Will get onto that later. regards simon Bag.mov

This weeks brief. Not sure how to polish it so any feedback very welcome. regards simon Bag.mov

This? From this thread.... ... Robert Thank you once again. Oh dear, its looking like the dance routine may not await the new year... regards simon

Robert Thank you for your reply. Pardon my tardiness of response . I'm afraid I missed it when caught up in other stuff. I shall try it today. In the meantime, I just saw the tips on Startup in V17g and there was reference to a feature called "Action Ease"? I had a quick look and couldn't see it anywhere. Do you know whereabouts it may be so I canhave a look at it ? regards simon Ps Just tried it and it seems to work well. Thank you very much for that.

Decided that to do the full dance sequence would take too much time now and there are other things I need to learn first so, this is the current state of it and the whole will be revisited after christmas.Some work on the curves and hands/fingers but non on the face. Back to the briefs... simon Solo_Dance.mov

Paul Pardon me if I speak out of turn here but, if you are using 17g, and haven't turned it off yet (?) , AM does automatically back up your files. I haven't tried it yet because I've used Time machine on the Mac ( which I'm guessing is a bit like Tortoise ? ). Anyway, when I installed 17g for first time I was surprised to find that it was backing up the files and turned it off. Then made first mistake, turned them back on. regards simon

Is it possible to copy the key frames from one character in a chor and post them onto another using the same rig. If so what is the proceedure ? Have tried selecting all of character A's keys in the PWS and pasting on B's but it beeps to suggest not possible ? regards simon

Nancy Thank you for your reply. Glad you like the Nicholas brothers clip. I just sit astounded every time I watch it. If you animated it accurately people would question the speed at which the figures moved and, " how could they get up from the floor in that way..."? Rodney had suggested elsewhere that offsetting the cycle would be a good idea and I will do that, If its pursued further. The idea is to have the dancers cycle as each character takes a solo. H'mmmmmmm regards simon

Nancy Thank you for your reply and help. Pardon my delayed response, domestic life. Here is the latest version before any editing of curves and no face or finger work. The rig used is the 2008, still getting used to it, there are many controls as yet untouched let alone explored. The intention was to stay simple and, this dance piece is getting away from that. The music was for use with the clothes pegs. Dance_VGA.mov The splits may look fast and difficult but this was the reference, a jawdropping routine by the Nicholas brothers. There is a part were one does a 720 degree spin in 12 frames ( at least it looks that way ). If I could animate that routine I'd be in heaven !!! Nicholas_Brothers_in_Stormy_Weather.mov regards simon

You mean like these? That's some mighty impressive work Roger. Outstanding.

Or, when you complete the Phillies model, put them on opposite sides of the street to each other . Now that would be some set. Congratulations on your very impressive work. Great Job. High Regards simon

Someone more knowledgable than I may contradict this but, I think the answer to your two questions is that both are possible. If you select all the keys in the time line ( bones and user properties ) for the pose you want to duplicate, copy them ( ctrl C, or Cmd C ), move the scroll line to were you want the pose to go, then paste them ( ctrl V or Cmd V ), it should duplicate the pose in the new position. Regarding the pose values. If you open up the relevant relationship window ( in the PWS, under relationships on the model ) it will open up the values set and you can adjust them there to your new requirements. A note of caution first. Save your model as a different iteration, before you make any changes. eg Model 001, Save it again as Model 002, make the changes on it and see if they work. That way you have the safe backup of the original if your changes don't do what you wanted ? regards simon

Rodney Thank you for your reply. I must admit I'm playing really. Started to follow the B Boy reference and have got a bit carried away.I'll post the next stage in the Blockheads thread in the WIP section. I used to love dancing away but, a friend once described it as being "like someone having an epileptic fit while looking for a coin on the floor". Possibly an accurate visual description. Have started to add other moves and was beginning to wonder about the methods you suggested. I might aspire to Mat's level of skill and professionalism but have a way to go yet. On a trivial note. I've always wanted to be in a band called The Kryptkicker Five. This is possibly the nearest to that ! regards simon

Robert Thank you for your kind offer. I thought I'd sidestep ( pardon the pun ) it for a bit by using models that work and revert to Winona next month. This was the result. The Kryptkicker Five stepping out of their zimmer frames. Hoping to get it done next week. regards simon Kryptkickers.mov

Robert Thank you again. I have tried to follow all the options but, suspect I'm not seeing straight today as its been a bit exasperating with other factors. Will try again tomorrow with fresher eyes. regards simon

For the blue figure, in the chor, view the pose sliders (alt+4), look under legs/Right IK leg & left IK leg, should be set ON. I suspect your blue model was not saved with IK legs =ON, or somehow it was set = off (maybe in chor, shortcut to model/ chor action/user properties) Your action that you exported from the chor does not change the IK legs settings, so I assume the red guys have Legs IK already = ON Nancy Thank you for your help and reply. I have looked at the blue figures rig properties and checked that the same aspects are set correctly. The problem seems to persist. I will continue to check other aspects of the rig. regards simon