Simon Edmondson

Robert I don't think so ( ? ), I had reached the point were you have to check CP assignment and weighting, before mirroring it to the other side. I was just about to start on the weighting when the problem was noticed. Tried to reinstall the rig using the plug in but to no avail. regards simon

I got V17 today and, while a render was going through, took the opportunity use it to revisit the rig installation and CP weighting on a figure. Have used the rig and installation guide before with relative ease however, this time, the fan bones don't seem to have installed correctly. Has anyone else had this problem and, if so, how did you fix it? This is a screen shot with the bones in extreme positions but, as you can see, the fan bones have not moved with the regular geometry. regards simon OSX, V17.

Mark Thank you for that I will look at it closely tomorrow. regards simon

A classic approach to that would be to constrain all the objects you want to rotate to a Null and then rotate the Null in front of the stationary camera. The camera then doesn't have to move/rotate around. If going for the camera moving around the scene/object/person you might lathe a cylinder and then use the top or bottom ring created from that as the camera's path. Then constrain the Camera to Aim At the guy or the Null you want in camera. Rodney Thank you for your help. I did try to lathe a circle and use that as a path but, when I tried to select it as the target for the path constraint in the chor it seemed to freeze the program for some reason. So, I used it as a guideline and hand keyed the camera position, moving it to the relevant points on the circle instead. Hadn't thought of using a null to constrain , orient and aim at but certainly will next time. regards simon

Robert Thank you for your feedback. I was going to composite the sky in later, as I'm trying to learn how to do that as part of this project. S9.mov In the meantime, this was likely to be the camera move in the next shot. He's sitting on a rock and the clouds will be composited ( when I work out what to do with them ! ). I was hoping to have the figure centrally placed and to maintain it as the camera moved around. Placed a Null at the centre of the figure and aimed the camera at that. Made a circular path around the figure, and constrained the camera to that path. With the above result. Is there a way to maintain size and relative position of the figure in the frame other than keying it every 12 frames or so ? regards simon

Mark Thank you for your feedback. Tried different settings. Prefer this to the sandstone but perhaps a bit pale ? regards simon

Rodney Thank you for your feedback. I was trying for rain, but may have been influenced by the weather here at the moment ! I wondered if the sandstone was too big a stylistic jump from the earlier scenes. Still working on the setting for the next scene. Hope to post that later this week. Still plugging away. regards simon Ps Did you try the Radio series on the history of Sound ? Its very good, for me anyway.

This may yet be scene 8 but unsure yet. Any feedback welcome. simon 640x480 conversion from 1080 HD S8.mov

Having grown up with Thomas the Tank Engine and seen the first series, narrated by Ringo Star, I was astonished by the quality Stian achieves. Rather daunting for the likes of me ! simon

Happy Birthday Robert Thank you once again for all your help. Much appreciated. simon

Higher res, toon render, version of S7. The rain shows in this one. Any feedback welcome. simon Why_Scene_Seven.mov

A higher res frame that shows the rain. And a glitch I've just noticed. Drat ! simon

Robert Thank you for your suggestion earlier. Its leading up to a thunderstorm but, thats a bit further down the line yet. Best move over to theWIP thread now I think. regards simon

Following Robert's and Gerry's suggestions for the clouds. Non toon render, opaque clouds. low res test. Any feedback welcome simon Rainclouds_02.mov

Gerry Thank you for your reply. I do like this one, especially with the clouds on the ground with the rough surface. The problem is that it is in a completely different style to the rest of the short its intended for. I might have to use it elsewhere though ! The decals on the clouds are only a series of tonal 'noises' done in photoshop to make it look like diagonal shading .. Ill go back and change the settings on the decals, and post a test later on. Regards simon

Going to revise the weighting next, after building the scene for the next shot, in the meantime, here is a test for the current shot, after learning about cookie cut decals. I preferred the look with non toon settings but that would be too big a jump in this short. Maybe next time. Any feedback welcome. simon Toonclouds.mov

Robert Thank you for your suggestion. I will try that later. I like the semi transparency because you get the overlays which give a more 'cloudlike' appearance from less but, it can get a bit confusing too. Heres the test that was going through before I got your reply. regards simon Rainclouds.mov

Mark I thought I had replied but, if you send me an E mail on PFG@tesco.net, I will send on any info I get. regards simon

Gerald Thank you for your feedback. Its all stuff to chew over. 64 bit does seem to be the way to go for rendering, especially with the very simple things I do. Having got used to overnight renders they may be better quality in the same time with 64 bit.... regards simon

This is the first attempt at using the technique. Its going where I wanted it but needs a lot more work. Thank you to everyone for their help. regards simon Rainclouds.mov

It's one of those things where splines are opposite of polygons. I've used your PRJ to make an AMReport on this since it made such a clear example of the problem. Robert Thank you.Its rare for me to be able to help ! ( smile ) simon

Robert Thank you very much indeed for that. I had thought more geometry was the way to go, showing inexperience. Simple is best. Champion. Thank you. regards simon

Robert Thank you for your feedback. If I do go down this route, I would probably be using it to render out while I got on with other things, so the render time improvements are the main interest. I wouldn't be trying to run AM on both platforms of the same machine, probably get a year licence for the Imac at the same time. Still al up in the air really. regards simon

Mark Thank you for your feedback My preferences would be to stick with the Mac, after years of PC problems, they have been far more reliable. My younger brother has OSX,W7 and Ubuntu running on a PC laptop, likewise a good friend who is a Mac fanatic, apparently it works up to 10.68 at least ? regards simon

Mike Thank you for your feedback. You may gather from my other posts that I'm not very tech oriented, I was under the impression that 64 bit rendered a lot faster than 32 bit? That would be my main interest although the other things would chip in as my experience and abilities improve. regards simon