fae_alba

I've re-rigged Papa Bear (again) with the Saucy Rig. So far I'm loving the ease of the rig. But I've run into the same challenge that I have before, with the big guys big belly. When I rotate the leg up, I want it to obviously not penetrate the stomach. I've messed with CP weights, with smartskin, and a combination of both, but it never really is as smooth as I want it to be. Below are some screen grabs of the upper leg forward and backward rotation and where the challenge is. Any suggestions?

I challenge anyone to take a look at any "best of A:M's list", like the one on Fuchar's signature, and not believe that A:M is perfectly capably of producing detailed artwork, animatable or no.

that was it. Add this to the "Lessons Learned" category. Pay Attention to the fricking video! Thanks!

That poor fan looks like it has seen better days!

Us versus Them, Apple versus Microsoft, A:M versus ....well the "M" word! When will the world be at peace and we all play together? To respond would most certainly either start a software war or bring the trolls out in force. Better to simply produce quality work, let everybody ooo and ahh over it, then say "by the way, it was done in A:M".

Mirror plug in settings

Is your pelvis at "0" on the "X" axis (both ends)? Well it wasn't. After some coaxing I got the pelvis at 0 and re-ran the mirror bone. Now the pelvis does not duplicate, but I get a second set of left leg bones over the right leg bones.

Join the club with rigging! I've learned a lot just by doing, re-doing, and many many "lessons learned"!

I've been working on installing the rig on Papa Bear for a while now, and have gotten to the point of running the mirror plug in. I've got an issue that I wonder if anyone else has run into: Run I run mirror bones for the legs, by selecting the pelvis etc. it not only mirrors the leg bones as it should, but it also makes a copy of the pelvis bone and a second set of right leg bones.

Disney's ability to cross-pollinate between their movies and the parks is simply amazing. Just from the little bit of Tomorrow Land shown on the trailer I caught all kinds of references to that section of the Magic Kingdom. No doubt the merchandising machine has already kicked into high gear in Orlando.

I can't tell you how many times I've done the same thing, usually while rigging. I'd find myself going down a rabbit hole trying to get a joint right, and finding myself moving cp's around, spline rings, you name it, only to realize I'd have to do it all over again on the opposite side. Then comes the face palm moment, when I realize that if I simple started over, mesh the joint right, and re-cfa, I'd be good. As you say, lesson learned, it's just for me, I have to re-learn it over and over and over .....

"Better artists"?!? Have you noticed what is being passed off for 'toons on the cable channels lately? Wouldn't call many of those talented; they look like they were drawn by elementary school kids.

Might just re-rig Papa Bear with it; give me something to do while sitting in airports waiting for connecting flights. Thanks!

Digital doodling..the A:M way.

You all may have figured out by now that I am a rather big lover of Disney art, particularly of an earlier vintage. One of my passions is trolling certain auction sites for various pieces of Disneyana. Usually I find props from recent movies, or signage from the Disney parks. But just last week I managed to score some original artwork from a Disney animated short. Sadly, the actual short it was used in is unknown, so as in all things, I had to take it on faith. BUT, it does look the part. It's this look that I have always wanted to reproduce with the Papa Bear shorts that I am working on, which hopefully, I'll actually be able to get back to soon! Anyways, for your viewing pleasure, here is the artwork.

I've had a few conversations like that...now i know what's going on!

Will, This is something I've been trying to get going with Papa Bear for a while now. Rodney and I have had plenty of conversations on different approaches. I like the idea of a "virtual studio" that not only creates its own properties, but fosters the creation of properties of those artists associated with the studio. It's a concept that I hope to revisit after the holidays. I've begun work on the first title "Gone Fishin'" already, and have several other scripts that I have been mulling over for years now. It all boils down to time for me; I've been logging between 80 and 100 hours of work per week since August, so not much time for story telling. At any rate what you describe is exactly what I've been trying to get off the ground for a while now.

pricey propositions. Marketing alone can be a budget buster. While all that is possible, you would be kissing your $79 a year subscription rate goodbye. How much are you willing to pay for all of these goodies? There's a reason the other animation products cost so much in the beginning, because software development is expensive.

"Not available for use during the user’s normal working hours" What the devil does that mean? Who determines "normal". Hell, I put in 101 hours of normal hours last week! If I get a hot minute at 1pm does that mean the guys in top hats and badges are gonna come knockin?

sleep is one thing that always eludes me when I'm on the road. I'm usually pretty dragged out by the end of the week. Hopefully I can get some work done on Papa Bear's first short, that's the goal at least.

The project I've been on for work has had me totally swamped (as Rodney can attest to) for the past year. Every two weeks I'm flying across country to the client site and living out of a hotel room for 5 days. Very disruptive to getting anything done. Each trip, I hole up in my hotel room and wish I could get some work done on A:M. But not wanting to lug two laptops around in the airports leaves me without A:M (sigh). Well, just a few minutes ago, as I sat through another conference call and was gearing up for another trip, I bit the bullet and bought another copy of A:M, and loaded it on my work laptop. Now, assuming I have the energy, I can work on A:M at night. No more excuses!

i have lost of ideas! But, And I Mean But: We still have one in the offing that I have been trying to complete; Namely "Rear Window". Before any other projects, I'd like this one put to bed (or in the can). I had asked , here for some help in creating some additional clips to tie the story together, but got only one response. Perhaps you'd be interested in helping with this as a warm up?

again go with simplicity. Use fluids for the first piece of the fluid leaving the spigot, then at the right moment, a camera cut changing angle, and switch it to cloth. Remember to always "KISS" the problem!

Excellent answer Robert! Too many times we try to use the spiffiest solution just because we can, failing to realize that all that really matters is how it looks in on screen in the final cut. Read an article once that when the producers at Pixar (can't remember which movie) wanted a water splash effect, he decided to just go out to a pool, film it, then place that into the clip.

I had time estimates on processes I've been writing for work....kind of got smacked down when the powers that be heard them. "Get them down to 1 hour!" was what I heard. What's your solution to trimming the seconds?