fae_alba

I'm not talking about throwing down a path...I'm thinking more along a dope sheet approach. Now that would be a nice way to animate. If you could plop down a null of some sorts and use it as a goal seak for the character. Goals then have the script applied and a timing. Very similar how many game engines work with AI. Exactly! If you could, while writing the script, put down timing markers (even just keywords) that can be read in (perhaps via an expression) tie it to a character and you have, at the very least, a beginning point for blocking out the animation.

this is along the lines of the issue. The pic below is after a copy-flip-attach.

Well, it seems to work in a chor. The eyeball model I imported had a series of bones on it that were out of position, fixed that. In the chor if I rotate the position bone the material moves as it should. But in the modeling window after importing the eyeball model, and positioning it, I had to adjust the material as well. eyetest.mov

Since I am having trouble with decals and v18 on my laptop, and I am working on a new cartoon-ish fish model, I decided to create his eyes with the eyeball material. I had an eyeball model with the material already applied that I imported into the fish model, but of course i needed to move the eyeball and rotate it a bit so it would fit the model. What I discovered is that the material also needed to be translated and rotated as well. My question is when I animate the eye, what is the best way to get the material to move along with it?

It's cool. I'm following you. Full automation of animation using text and such (or if it can be demonstrated... something even better than that). That be the idea.. Straight from script to storyboard to animatic....

I'm not talking about throwing down a path...I'm thinking more along a dope sheet approach.

Something I've been batting around in the dusty corners of my brain: Be able to apply a "script" that describes the actions of a character (enter stage left, walk quickly to point "A", turn towards camera, sneak to point "B", etc. Sort of like instructing an actor on how, when, where to hit their marks.

Paul I wasn't really trying to trash talk the Scots, I was being flippant. I love Scotland and the people therein. My two two most enjoyable holidays ever were in Scotland and I'm probably going back in September to try again to see the northern lights. The Hulk doing Highland games would fit nicely in this theme, and would certainly present a challenge to other peoples characters. Notably my own ! regards simon Ah friend no worries! I have thick skin (have to wearing the kilt and, well, um ya know) Just funnin!

hey! Not's not trash talk us Scots and our dress code! Besides, the sport of choice is, or course, Haggis Hurling! I actually had, at one point in time, animated an a:m hulk character with a kilt, doing a military press, not with a weights, but beer kegs. Worked out well, and that was some nine years ago.

Eureka! Decals are the issue. I was able to remove the decals from the Papa Bear Model, resaved (under a new name) closed A:M, restarted and loaded the model. Worked pefectly in shaded mode, I'll be happy to test the patch if you need me too.

Update! Decided to see if there was something in particular with Papa Bear, so I fired up V18, Opened the library and imported a few models. Opened Eddie in shaded mode, works great. Opened the Giraffe and A:M crashes. Open the Knight, all good. Open KeeKat, and crash. I need to figure this out. Should a report be made, if so how do I get my log on enabled??

Mark, first, then I need to figure out why I can't open him in v18. I haven't finished the cp weighting on the shoulders, started low and am working my way up. Also the issue with actions and chors not jibing with the model view is a puzzler. I noticed it a few days ago and can't ascertain why the shirt is misbehaving and why he floats when placed in the action and chor windows.

Changing the settings to OpenGL from OpenGL3 was the first thing I tried. A:M doesn't crash when it first opens. It doesn't crash when I first open a model (default is wireframe mode). But the second I switch to shaded or shaded/wireframe it dies. If I open a new chor, switch to shaded all is well. Seems to only be existing models that have an issue. As a test I created a new simple model in wireframe then switched to shaded and things were honky dorey. Could someone take this model below and see if they have issues in v18?? PappaBear2008RigFinal_WithShirtV6.mdl

There are better ways (IMHO). A third party app (A:M Track 2) is a facial motion capture app for A:M. Using that, while playing the dialogue would most likely give a better result.

It would be nice to have an image like this for A:M settings. Would make so much easier to navigate the myriad amount of parameters to achieve the effect desired. Having a reference like that would be a huge help. It sort of was the Sully fur that I had had in mind when I started in with fur for Papa Bear. Don't think any of us have the kind of muscle that Pixar has to actually render it though. Although, wouldn't be a cool feather(fur/material) in A:M's hat to create the same fur effect with a substantial savings in render in time. I'd blog about that 'till the cows came home!

I noticed this with 17g and simply reverted to v16. Yesterday I jumped on the V18 bandwagon, hoping it was a transient issue, but found it aint. It seems that my laptop, which happens to be my only workstation since I am a road warrior, has an Intel HD graphics card with OpenGL (here is a sys check) Video Card Vendor: Intel Renderer: Intel® HD Graphics OpenGL Version: 2.1.0 - Build 8.15.10.2104 GLU Version: 1.2.2.0 Microsoft Corporation Current pixel format: 6 Card name: Intel® HD Graphics Manufacturer: Intel Corporation Chip type: Intel® HD Graphics (Core i3) DAC type: Internal Front what I've seen on the intel forums this version of the chip type (Code i3) doesn't support OpenGL above 2.1. Any ideas, or am I stuck on version 16?

Hey welcome to and A:M and the forums. I will add to Rodneys and Roberts statement that the best way to learn is to dive in and do. Come up with something you want to create (start simple!) and start splining. When you get stuck (you will, and no worries) simply chime in on the forums and ask. Most likely within hours you will have a bevy of answers, solutions, guides, and possibly a video tut to help you along your way. A:M is a great app. I've been using it for well over nine years and an still learning.

Roger, I've thought the same. I'm a firm believer of at the very least, knowing the process, pitfalls, etc of a task before delegating it to someone else. I don't think it is selling out when ultimately farming some of that work out to other, more capable individuals. To me, it simply would free me up to do other task.

I have them turned on...

As a break to clear my head before finishing up some outstanding projects, I decided to experiment with hair on Pappa Bear. I'm not entirely sold on the benefits of the hair material, nor whether or not I will finally use it on this character. But, that being said, I wanted to give it a fighting chance. without hair with hair one issue is trying to get the hair from penetrating his shirt. I've removed as much of the mesh as possible, but there still is work to be done. I'm sure I could simply not include the hair material to groups where the shirt is if necessary. The other is the hair is just not convincing as a bears' fur. I've seen others create fur that looks nearly spot on, but so far the results elude me.

If I would have known you were in the area I might have driven to Springfield and bought you lunch. Heck, I might have even been there on one of my visits as that is where my Mom lives. Rodney, never you worry mate, I will be in Springfield several times a month for at least the next 6 months. I am on an active contract with a client in Springfield. I will be back tentatively the night of Jan 6th through perhaps the ninth. Can't do much at lunch though, I live in conference rooms non-stop, but it would be nice to finally meet a fellow hasher!

that is a nice comic book-ey effect.

Will in my book the "story reel" and the animatic suit the same purpose. It is the timing that I had a lot of trouble with. The animatic would have gone a long way to at least get a since of the timing before actually jumping into the animation. Might just take you up on your offer there mate, and vice versa. Rich, not really disappointed, much. One of the things that really derailed the timeline was a job change, which puts me on the road quite a bit. Lugging multiple laptops through airports is not my idea of fun so while I was basking in the sun in Springfield Il, I wasn't able to work on the short. So time lost there. I did learn a lot, as I said, and the project is not dead, though I may revisit the script and flesh out the story line a bit more. Or not. I've got a lot of projects floating around in my noggin. One of the must do's right now is finishing the community project, then I have a short that I really will want to pull a team together, since it will be an intense animation project to do. But for the next few days, I'm going to experiment, play with A:M (I've been playing with hair on my Pappa Bear character), then get the community project locked down.

The daunting thing about CG is the number of things you have to have "done" before you can "start" "Getting your ducks in a row" is the mantra of the day. Every time I attempt a short makes me appreciate what the Pixars and Dreamworks fellas pull off. Really, the mundane tasks of modeling, rigging, texturing is what makes the end result successful. Without that foundation, nothing is going to come off with the quality I aspire (or expire!) to.

Yes! You mean this Christmas thing is a regular occurrence?!?! Oh Happy Days! Lessons Learned from this project can be summarized like so: 1) always run a project like, well, a project. Set up requirements, expectations, timelines and the steps needed to get to completion. 2) a completed script is needed 3) story boards are needed 4) animatics are needed 5) well rigged models are needed (may seem like a silly requirement but I tried using a model I had only partially rigged, and it was a nightmare 6) honestly, even though we like to think we can do it all by ourselves, that simply is not so. Help is needed. I always hope/plan/expect that anything I do is "broadcast" ready. That is an awful high standard, but I am a perfectionist, and that often gets a lot of projects sent to the scrapheap around here because they don't measure up for me. Another lesson, perhaps the harshest one learnt so far: I am not an artist. While I can do basic animation, I cannot breath the life into a character the way I'd like to. I can come up with the stories, write the scripts, produce/pay for the production; but the work that makes the folks watching go "wow", is beyond me I fear. So for Pappa Bear Studios to do what I want it to do, I need talent, can't do it by myself. I need a plan!