Simon Edmondson

Here is the link to download: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1009127...artoon_head.zip Marcos Thank you very much indeed for that and, apologies for miss typing your name in the earlier post. regards simon

Marco Thank you for posting this. If I'm not being rude, would it be possible to post it to the forum as well, so I can download and watch it many times? regards simon

Tore I was very impressed indeed by your work and hope you received the deserved success with your festival admissions ? Being the contrary person I am, the prospect of using cg to get a non cg look is definitely one that appeals to me. Your choice of subject material is unusual too. Haven't seen many adaptations of Franz Kafka's work before ! regards simon

Rodney Thank you for your help and comprehensive reply. The render is going through now so I'll follow up your suggestion tomorrow morning. Trying to get more productive ( in my old age ), the render is going through in V17 and the next scene is being tested in V15. If only the sound recording would go as well ( sigh ). still thats for another thing anyway.. Thank you. regards simon

First take on Scene 15. The splash when he hits the river will possibly be done by hand but not sure yet. This is a VGA render but the composition is HD ratio so not all of the goat is visible. Any feedback welcome. simonWhy_S15.mov

Rich Thank you for your reply. The goat is going to look over the edge and watch him land, road runner style, in the river below. Going to work out how to get the splash tomorrow. regards simon

Thank you. The final scenes await ! This is the last take on S14 before moving on to S15 tomorrow. Itried to get a moving hold at the relevant point but it is very difficult to get it to last long enough for the face change to read, without losing the timing on the tree bend. Any feedback welcome. regards simon Why_S14.mov

Rodney Thank you for your reply. I agree about the last frame. It wasn't intended to be that way, he was supposed to fall all the way through. I mis set the frames in the render option. I've just done the facial changes and a render test is going through now. Will try to post before sleep calls. I think the timing is OK on the tree bend but not sure the facial changes read in the time available, about 12 frames. I tried editing the f curves but messed up his position on the tree as a result so that part of my learning curve may await the next short instead. Thank you for your help. regards simon

Robert Thank you for your reply. I followed your suggestion and looked at the magnitude values and both the in and out were set to 100% on both the horizontal and vertical splines so I had a look at the cp weightings instead and got the following result. Thank you for your help. regards simon

Rodney Thank you for your reply and particularly for the video. There is much to digest there and I will try this afternoon. Is the method you describe above analogous with the system drawn animators use when they put tick marks on the exposure sheet ? I've not used it myself bu have read about it a bit and seen it demonstrated. regards simon

Robert Thank you for this reply and the one above it. Before I get onto curve editing, could I ask what you mean by the values on the splines, are you referring to the gamma values ? ( thats not something I've ever known about or understood really ). When I was modelling the trees I just extruded the different spline rings, then scaled them in the x/z axis and did not set any gamma values, leastways thats rthe memory but it was a few months ago so could be mistaken, regards simon

Rodney. Thank you again for your help. I set this up before starting on the domestics. Is that what you mean ? regards simon Why_S14_640.mov

Rodney Thank you for the file and your help. I only got it this morning and will watch it slightly later ( domestic duties intervene first ). I did a test render overnight which followed up Mark's suggestion of a more central, closer camera position. This is a VGA conversion from 720 HD render. regards simon Why_S14_640.mov

I've reached the point were I need to learn how to use the function curves to edit the ease in and out after the keys have been set. This is something avoided for a long time but, have to learn some time. I have a figure hitting a tree top and that then bends down with the weight and force of impact. It bends over to the point were its going to snap back and launch him upwards. I'm reasonably happy with the keys but would like to adjust the curves so that there is a chance for the facial expressions to read. There are five bones on the tree. If I open up the graph editor which are the axis that I need to edit, x, y, or Z and what is it that needs to be adjusted ? If the curve going through the key is steep in and rounded out, does that mean its fast in and slow out I appreciate this may be a 'piece of string' type question but, these are the curves before editing ? Any help gratefully received. Thank you. regards simon

Mark Thank you for your reply. I tried not to place the camera slap bang in the middle because I wanted to make it a bit more dynamic. I'll try it to see what happens. The timing on the tree bend is, as yet, unadjusted. That will be the next port of call I think, then the facial expressions. Its only 5 seconds long so may save the goat's tail movement for the next shot? regards simon Ps the camera is set to 15mm focal length, which is fairly wide angle !

Mark Thank you for your reply and continuing help. Much appreciated. Still haven't done the facial work but, heres take two on the staging and timing. revised tree bend, camera angle and head movements, timing on the goat. regards simon Why_S14_640.mov

Rodney Thank you for your reply and continuing help. I was thinking of doing just that and have the face almost fill the frame, but couldn't get the angle right and didn't want to zoom or move the camera because the goat would be lost then.. I've tried another variation this morning but am going to revise that further this afternoon. Will try to post that this evening. regards simon

Still working on the camera angle, and animation. No facial gestures or finger movements as yet. Thanks to Mark for his work with the goat. Any feedback welcome. regards simon Ps This is a VGA conversion from a HD720 render. Why_S14_640.mov

Mark Thank you very much for your help. Much appreciated. I'm working on S14 today, about to start on the goat after blocking in the figures movements, so very timely. Thank you. regards simon

Rodney Thank you for your help. I'm starting to blush at this point... regards simon

Mark Thank you kindly for your work on my behalf, much appreciated. I did adjust the bones on the one I tweaked, but only because they seemed to be misaligned on the extra's model, with different heights and z axis alignments side to side ? As the models used testify, I don't have a lot of experience modelling and intend to start developing that a bit more when I get started on the project with the car chase in ( Charlie's Birthday ). I'm trying to refine the animation and timing skills with this and the next few shorts. Thank you for your help. regards simon

Not really part of this thread but, this is what goes on at the weekends. Part of a test towards a car chase sequence, using stop frame. Any feedback welcome. Work on the goat resumes tomorrow. Off to do some research today. simon Car_test_002.mov

Rodney Thank you for your reply and your help. As you've noticed, I'm not a very good modeller, lack of practice really. Aside from work on the head, the main effort on my part, was to add a central spline around the body so that it would have a left and right side.. The goat only has to look up and down in the next scene for 'Why' but I was thinking of using it in the short after that, so will revise it following your suggestions. Thank you. regards simon

Trying to get a walk for the goat but the learning curve is steep as I've never done a quadruped before. If anyone else would like to play with the goat model, please feel free. Its a modified version of the one on the extra's CD. No maps, eyes, mouth, nostrils, nose and centreline added. Bone names changed. regards simon Goat_03.mdl

S12 with the storm in the background. Any feedback welcome ? The full render will be composited with the clouds in the background. This is a test render to see how it reads. simon Clouds_S12.mov