zandoriastudios

I use fan bones, not to control a bending joint (weighting is best), but to spread the twist away from a joint like the shoulder or hip. I use smartskin to sculpt the mesh at the extremes, where blending isn't enough.

There are situations where I have had to go in and build a modified version of something rigged in TSM, without access to the original.... You can go in and unhide those geometry bones, turn off the TSM constraints, and still go in and build fan bones, do smartskins, etc... The best way (IMHO) to smartskins, is to work in an action testing the movement, and switch back and forth between a smartskins relationship--since this isn't intuitive from just saying it, there is a detailed tutorial on my YouTube channel that is worth checking-out... Since you are rigging from scratch, definately build your fan bones and do the smartskins before you run the rigger.

Watched it last night--great job, William!

Congratulations!

Thanks everybody! Looking forward to seeing what I can make in A:M in the next 44 years ( now that I've got the hang on it...)

I think Turbosquid takes a 50% commission!!!

Great job!

It was a model that I made and later donated to the community as part of some "extras" CD...I don't know where you can download the rest of that stuff, but here is the Balrog: Balrog.zip

I think that Balrog is on the "extras", so if you download it you will be able to look at how the fire/smoke particles are done

great example Nancy!

The bus transition does not have to be at the speed of an actual bus. It can be a 2 second 'wipe' that breaks-up the scenes (that is why I suggested just a layer object). That way the entire focus is on the character animation

Rodney, Mark is right--the set needs to remain as he's done it.... Everyone else, get your characters out, and think about THAT! We aren't animating the bus or the set--make something interesting happen!

Great set Mark! Lets keep it as is. We can do ANYTHING ELSE in our scene, that is a lot of freedom! Even if it's just some characters waiting on the bench, it will be interesting. I think I will have my hippo, taking the bus to another day of shooting (Tar of Zandoria) like he's just going to work. Like that cartoon with the Sheepdog and Coyote... Suggestion for the bus: Have an Animation:Master ad on the side!

The simplicity of the simple set, static camera, appeals to me. The bus layer makes a good 'wipe' transition between scenes--it could even have different advertisements printed on it, if that appealed to anyone.

What if a bench was a bus stop, like Forrest Gump? A bus (layer object) could block the view as it pulls up and leaves, creating the transition. Then the animator just creates whatever business would be funny or interesting in between stops.

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I think this is a great idea. How about we keep the camera tracking with the actor? That would create that feeling of continuity, even as the rooms and actors change.

Hi Walter! Hopefully there are more of us still around out here, and I can get something organized

I'm missing what now seem like the 'good old days'--what we need is an east coast "HashBash"!!! It seems like CG animation has been through its starry-eyed heyday (where everyone thought that they could start the next Pixar in their kitchen), and now is in a period that is a little more sober.... This isn't just our program, I sense it in the CGTalk arena too.

Are there any other Animation:Master users in the Chattanooga Tennessee (and surrounding) area? Would you like to meet-up? I would love to host a usergroup meeting at Zandoria Studios, if there is anyone out there!

it's just a text file, changing the extension to .lib (formatted as your other libraries)

You can use an image for the illumination, instead of global color--so just use an image that defines the direction of the light.

A grayscale map to break-up the specularity and/or reflectivity can be a good idea

Happy Birthday!

yep, maybe a little too low...good call. Hard to get the t-pose right, since that isn't how I draw him...