Simon Edmondson

You'll need to check that the IK leg switch is not being overridden by a key in the regualr chor action. Robert Thank you for your reply. I'm not at all sure where I might look for that but will do so tomorrow. This is what the effect is like. The central figure is the original chor animation. The blue figure is a 2008 rig with the rig setup the same way, with the exported action dropped on top. The right hand red figure is another instance of the Ray figure, but with the exported action dropped on top of rather than animated in the chor. regards simon Dance4.mov

Mark Thank you for your reply. I shall try that. Something else I noticed after posting it was that, if you drop the action onto another figure in the chor ( using the same 2008 rig ) it seems to lose all the IK foot keys, so it ends up pogoing up and down while doing Beat boy arm moves. Amusing but not what I was after. I shall try a different figure. regards simon

Robert Thank you for your reply. Here is the embedded project, only the sound is missing. The action scrolls but doesn't play, the chor still plays.. regards simon Dance_02.prj

In the distant past I vaguely recall that it was possible to save an animation in a chor and edit it as an action file before reapplying in a chor ? But can't remember how to do it, can anyone kindly point me in the right direction? Baking actions seems to add a key on every frame, is there a way to just save the keys already set without adding further in the baking process ? I'm trying to do a dance sequence and, rather than redo it all, would like to use it as an action so I can get several figures doing the steps at the same time. regards simon Edit I found how to do it, clicking in PWS and selecting,EXPORT as Action. ( nothing like overlooking the obvious ! ). However, when I then import it as an action. in V17, the keys are still there and the animation will scroll through but, it won't play when using the controls at the bottom. Has anyone else had this problem ?

Excellent work Sebastian. You may get a lot of reaction to it ? regards simon

Robert Thank you for looking. It was done in V17. The reason the camera doesn't show up may be because it is deactivated (?) I had turned it off when animating and just deleted the model and sound file for this chor. The markers do seem to be behaving themselves today but, tomorrow may be different. I think it may be a Mac glitch with the position of the arrows in the views as they all seem to line up slightly to the right of the lines in the views here ? regards simon PS Just wondered, do ou use imperial or metric measurements in your work ? The units show up here and they are in cm rather than inches.

Here is the chor with no models. I'm working with the original now and the Markers do appear then disappear quite often. Ska.cho As I was getting into bed last night, the thought occured ( ?) that, it might be possible to put a number of grounds into the chor on a temporary basis, with a regular grid spacing , and animate against those as perpendicular back drops in the different view windows. Then, when ready, deactivate them and render the scene ? regards simon

Mark They seem to reappear if I select rotate on a bone ? But that could just be incidental ? I'll post the chor tomorrow. Rodney I hadn't thought of using a model ( the thought of one with curvy cells appeals ) but I just set up the ground plane with a 20cm for floor reference but the side and front view remains awkward. Perhaps a reversion to a rotoscope like Muybridge used ? regards simon

Rodney Thank you for your reply and help. I've started another, longer, version but, in the meantime here is the camera view, rather than the front view. regards simon Dance3.mov

Robert Thank you for your reply. I shall do that tomorrow after some much needed sleep. regards simon

I started to use markers in the chors a while back. The work has improved since ! However, sometimes they appear and sometimes they don't? For example, have just setup some in a top view and entered the place values for them. The arrows are there on the window frame, but the lines don't appear in the window. In the front view meanwhile, those lines do show. Is this a known glitch ? regards simon 0SX V17g

Nancy When you did your Ida and Lothario dance ( pardon me if I mis remember their names ). Did you use IK or FK for the figures or was it a combination of both? I'm not at all familiar with changing between modes and tend to stick to one or the other. regards simon

Nancy and Sebastian Thank you very much for your replies and help. I will give it a go. Exaggeration is not a strength of mine but you can only find out how far by going too far... Will start tomorrow. Nancy. If you want to use the footage please do. The bit I posted earlier was only the part at the end. I looked at that, though not close enough, and it was mainly the explanation at the beginning that was used because of the different timing. This was the full piece. It was you that gave me the link to clip convertor so, I'm obliged to you for that. Theres a section in Napoleon Dynamite were the John Hayder (?) character does a dance routine. That would be a great reference piece, but I don't think it would be me doing it ! regards simon Easy_Break_Dancing_Moves.mov

Dan I went to look at the two chapters but the view was static, with the narrative voice continuing? Pardon my question but, is that a fault at my end ? I do like the shot of the figure standing at the window with the rain coming down. regards simon Dan apologies. I just read the first entry in the thread. I misunderstood. My mistake.

First pass at this weeks brief. Don't like the first hop so about to change that. Needs fingers and face work yet. Any feedback welcome. simon Dance.mov It wasn't roto'd ( as the timing was different ) but, these were the reference moves. Dance_reference.mov Pass Two Hand and face moves added. Still to work on hop one. Dance_2.mov

Very impressive work Tore. I'm a great fan of Black and white film anyway but your work has much more than that going for it. Terrific. Theres a Kafka book called "Amerika" ( I think ?. ) and the cityscape and views would fit well with that narrative too. regards simon

I tried to view your video but it flagged the message "This video is unavailable ' regards simon

This weeks brief. A first pass at it, Still getting used to editing the curves. Any feedback welcome simon Standing_Swing.mov

Another oldie. This was a news years card. Done on the day. No sound. Warning, contains bad joke. simon New_Year.mov

Nancy and Gerry. Thank you.It was supposed to have sound and be synchronised to the first two bars of drum intro. Ill have another bash at it next weekend. Its good to get away from the computer and do something analog once a week. regards simon

http://theatrium.org.uk/shorts/ This was posted on a Facebook group for film makers in East Anglia. May be of interest to others ? It prompted me to find this. This is a VGA conversion of a 1080HD original. It was the subject of a different thread but fits in with the briefs theme here, and is telling me to get on with the next brief. simon Boo.mov

Stop frame is another world altogether ! This afternoon's first test with an ex sheet. Worked out the frames in FC express. Then messed it up in the shooting... Hey ho. Pegs_Test.mov

Tore Thank you very much for your reply and the info. I shall follow it up later this afternoon. My initial training was in painting and my temperament preferences were for the more improvisational type of work. After 20 odd years of that, the more precise timing and organisational skills required for animation don't come very readily. Getting there slowly though. regards simon

Rodney Thank you for your reply and information. In trying to find out how to use Excel, the idea is to prepare for a bigger project were I thought it might be a good way to keep track of the project as it develops and changes as well as use it for an Ex sheet. A bit like doing the briefs ( which I hope to resume next week ) its finding out the things I need to know before getting lost at sea. The intended project ( Charlie's Birthday ) is a combination of CG and stop frame and I need to develop a file system that allows me to keep track of all the things included in each scene, cg and stop frame. When I discussed the problem with family members, they thought that Excel might be a way to do that If it can be set up correctly. Might you know of another, more appropriate method ? I have next to no knowledge of spreadsheets or their use, it was anticipating future problems from past experience that suggested this route. I've produced storyboards and will start to make them more extensive. From reading about traditional methods it seemed like an EX sheet might be the way to go for planning each scene in detail. Production is likely to be frequently interrupted so a detailed plan should help on return ? Its not the way I normally do things but, if I want to get it done, its not only the animating and model making skills that need to improve but the management and organisational ones too. regards simon

Tore Thank you for your reply and the link to the stop watch. I've not used the method a lot but, from reading about it, the stop frame animators sometimes use a stopwatch to time their movements before transferring them to the ex sheet. They do the action 10 times, with the watch running, then divide the total to get the average time. Convert that to frames and use that as the starting reference. If you see footage of Nick Park walking around at Aardman when directing, he's always got a stopwatch around his neck or in his hand. regards simon