Simon Edmondson

A much better model than I could make so, take any comments I make with a pinch of salt, I would suggest that you soften the highlights and perhaps round the edges a little more. At the moment the planes are a bit angular and the highlights a bit too sharp. The missing section on the main bar looks a little too jagged, its not quite the shape teeth would make, and chocolate tends to fracture in larger lines (???) To follow Roberts suggestion, could you perhaps put a cup of coffee there to add a different colour into the picture and make the overall composition less stark? Do Hershey use a different colour wrapper at all, if so, could you use that to set up a contrast with the chocolate and any other prop you might introduce ? regards simon

Happy Birthday all.

Mark Thank you. I had a HD version with better lighting but, I've lost the files. I may get around to it over christmas though... regards simon This was the second part ( I found it today ) Stuck_shoulder.mov

Not part of Stormy but, found these while looking for parts of stormy Pre stormy clip. You may notice a Gum.movsimilarity in the figures. I meant to do it HD but the files got lost in the transfer over to using Macs I think. This one was done in an afternoon on the relevant day. New_Year.mov Back to stormy.

Thanks to all for their birthday greetings. I had an enjoyable day making armatures and getting excited about the possibilities... simon

Nancy Laziness is not a word I would associate with you ! I've been putting them together this evening and will try to complete them in the week. I'll get some photos done and post them off topic. Enjoy your weekend. simon

Thank you Nancy. simon ps If you are still interested in having a go at stop frame (?) I think I may have stumbled upon a way of making the armatures cheaply and more controlable than the method I outlined a few weeks back.

I blush at the messages but thank you David, Robert and Mark. I had forgotten all about Casey Jones, they used to show it in the mornings during the school holidays over here when I was about 8. I can still remember the theme song, ( along with "Champion the wonder horse" and "Circus Boy"... ) simon

Rodney Thank you very much. simon

Robert Thank you for your reply. I will look at both options. regards simon

Working away on the smart skin. I thought it might be a good idea to smooth out the model as well. In te past I've used the porcelain material but, found something called "smooth" hxt the other day. Would this be an appropriate way to go and, if so, are there instructions on useage ? regards simon

Mark Thank you once again. I had it right but, then made an adjustment without saving first. . Wah !!! I'll have another go tomorrow. Storyboard relief is calling tonight. regards simon

Rodney. Thank you. I'm doing that now. cheers simon

Gerald Thank you for your reply and the information. Much appreciated. regards simon

Mark Thank you. I'll be very glad if thats the case. I'll find out this afternoon. Thank you for your help. regards simon Ps Mark I'm using the 2008 rig. You mention assigning cps to the twist geometry ? Do you do that manually or use the auto assign function ? regards simon

Mark Thank you very much for your reply. I was wondering if that was what I might have to do and was slightly fearful of having to reinstall the rig ( for the 4-5th time ) as a consequence. I best make sure I learn on this project because the one I want to do is more complex still. Back to the splines it is... regards simon

Plugging away steadily I'm trying to get to grips with smartskin. watched Roberts excellent video and making progress. A quick question though, Do I have to make a new SS for every joint as a separate relationship or, can they all be done in one reltionship ? eg, making an initial SS for right forearm can I make an SS for the wrist in the same window/relationship or does it have to be a new SS/relationship ? regards simon

Kat Thank you for your reply and the information. I wish you well with your project. Its looking good so far. regards simon

[While working on the hair problem ( test render later ) I thought it might be a good idea to solve the distortion in the wrist (?) This is the problem And this is the cp assignments in wire form and shaded form At first all the cps were assigned to the hand geometry bone, the distortion was even more marked. So I tried assigning the first ring to the fan bone ( 2008 rig ) which improved it but still distorted, as you can see. Is this a smartskin or weighting problem and, does anyone have a suggestin as to how I might correct it ? regards simon

In my trawling yesterday. I found this, it does echo a lot of what has been said here too.... simon >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 10.5. Industry Tip: Animation Project Management Project management concepts are not limited to the dry, dull, world of corporate business. You can apply them to any size animation project to help you meet your deadline goals. Tim Kelly, lead visual effects instructor at the Art Institute of Las Vegas, offers his advice in this area: Remember to constantly review your sketches, scripts, storyboards, and any other pre-production materials during production. Nothing is worse than finding out at the last minute that you missed a detail, causing you to have to go in and redo your work. If you're thinking of skipping preproduction planning, reconsider. Time spent up front can save you time on the back end. Start scheduling early, and continually check and update your schedule before and during your working sessions. Usually, your client will want a schedule before you start working, and you will be held to it. Be realistic with your schedule, but at the same time keep yourself under reasonable pressure to get the job done. Pad your time estimations, keeping Murphy's Law in mind. Build extra time into your schedule for revisions, glitches, bugs, errors, crashes, and so on. It is not unrealistic to add an extra 20 percent into your time estimations for unforeseen complications. As for items to include in your schedule, don't limit yourself to rendering. You'll probably want to include the time necessary for conceptual artwork, scripts, storyboards, animatics, modeling, texturing, rigging, character animation, lip sync, lighting, test renders, revisions, file management, system upgrades, backups, client correspondence, editing, color correction, video transfer, and so on. Keep your files organized. Create a single master folder for a project. Consider keeping your daily work sessions in a subfolder with a name and date on it. Within that folder, consider creating additional subfolders for scene files, reference, and so on. Consider building a project-specific texture library, in which each character, set, or prop has its own subfolder. Consider creating a separate folder for renders, with subfolders for each shot or element. Pick a naming convention at the beginning of a project and stick with it. If a texture is named house_wall_v01.tif at the beginning, you should follow the same naming convention at the end. Including a version number, v01, helps to differentiate between multiple copies of the same file. Whenever you make significant changes to anything in your project, save a new file and name it to reflect the change. Back up your project on multiple, physically separate mediums. For instance, you can make a copy of your project directory on a second system drive, and then make an additional copy on a DVD or external hard drive. If a project is particularly critical, consider storing your DVDs in a physically safe location, such as a fireproof safe. Whatever backup method you choose, never rely on a single backup. When a project is wrapped, create several master backups of all the project materials. It is not unusual to reuse parts of one project on a second project. Although such backups may seem a bit paranoid and time consuming, consider how much time you will be putting in on the project.

Kat Pardon my intrusion, I'm not in a position to offer animation advice but, what kind of toon setting were you using for the figures and the renders ? regards simon

Mark, Gerry, Steve and Mark Thank you for your helpful responses. Its starting to get a bit daunting as I begin to realise the full extent of what might be involved. Still, nothing ventured , nothing gained, as the old saying goes. In truth, working by myself for so long I've picked up a lot of bad habits without realising it and they are mainly what have to be overcome. Your help will go a long way towards that. Thank you. simon

Mark Thank you for your reply. Initially it was only going to be me making it but, I'm hoping to get some other people involved too so I really need to make sure my bad practices are eased. I'm glad its not just me that has problems with saving multiple versions of models ! I'm hoping to get it fully scripted and story boarded by the new year and thats when the real difficulties will start I'm sure. regards simon

Steve Thank you for your message. I shall try that later. regards simon

Responding to suggestions on improving the characters, I've spent some time trying to get hair to work. Here is a test of that work.Hair_Test.mov At first glance it seemed OK but, when I stepped through it, there are seven frames where the back of the head is penetrated by the hair as the figure moves back. Collision detection was on in the settings, is there a way of preventing the problem. It was rendered in V15j on a PC under Windows XP. regards simon