cribbidaj
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Posts posted by cribbidaj
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Thanks for all the help and ideas . . . lots to ponder!
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Another method is to make your cloud with particles, decal the cloud sequence onto the face and then composite the face over the cloud. It is more complex. This was a test for chromadepth back when it looked like it would be a feature.
That's beautiful - however, it still looks like a face appearing within a cloud (of swirling dust or fire in this case), as an apparition. I'm wanting to get the face to be comprised of the cloud substance. Particles may still hold the answer, but it seems like what I want to do requires manipulation of control points and splines within an action. I want the facial 'skin' to be bumpy and billowy, AND flowing.
It seems I will probably end up doing this point by point - I started this thread to see if anyone knew how to quickly manipulate my initial "bubble-wrap" model into a curved model typing numbers into the properties.
Thanks for the ideas.
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Try what ever the Apple equivalent of right click/ save target as...
Yeah, in Firefox the right-click just opens an options for download the link as an html file. In Safari, I'm able to right-click download linked file, but it downloads the model as a text file. I think I'm aware of your concept though, but I eventually want to have the cloud "texture" rolling and billowing through the face, which I think would look better with attached splines, though it may work with seperate spheres. Hard to tell til I get into it.
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Are you sure you aren't making it harder than it needs to be, why not just arrange balls to make your cloud, do you really need the flat? Commenting on character design is difficult because it is hard to know what you vision is.
Clicking on the link to download your model opens a new tab in my Firefox browser instead of a download dialog box. I'm using Mac OSX - is there a preference I have set wrong?
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I'm am trying to create a cloud that resembles a cartoonish human face. I've attached a model with a sort of 'bubble-wrap' look and would like to know if there is a way to quickly give a nice a rounded shape to the whole model to which I can then manipulate points to define facial characteristics.
I'm open to all suggestions, included starting from scratch with another approach to accomplish the same thing.
Thanks.
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This is a really lame question but I can't find the list of Mac A:M shortcuts anywhere. Could someone please let me know where they are?
here's a site that has a printable list:
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I've gotten a taste of the difference now. After a lot of dragging of my feet, I finally got around to putting Windows XP on my Mac (via BootCamp).
There's a definite difference... and this is using the exact same hardware.
I'm still going to spend most of my time in OS X (even with A:M), but I'll probably go over to the Windows partition for heavy animating. I still feel like I'm a pilgrim in an unholy land whenever I start up in Windows. :-)
Thanks for sharing this info, Largento. I've been contemplating returning to the Mac platform for a while and have not made the leap for the reason that you describe. I am interested in your Windows experience as it develops and hope as multi-threading on the Mac continues it helps solve some of the issues you and other's have described.
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Oh, man - I live in Nashville but hadn't checked this forum in time to see this invitation. My loss. Hope it was a good meeting and that the opportunity arises again.
-Chris
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Will -
I sent you an email a few days ago regarding this, and have sent two previous emails over the course of the last month. I'm sure this is only one of the many items on your agenda, so this is not a complaint, only a concern that my emails are not getting through the pipeline. When you can, send me the correct film submission info at either citykids3@aol.com or christop.walters@comcast.net.
Thanks,
Chris
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I've tried this link several times. After entering my film information and checking the agreement checkbox, each time I click on the "SUBMIT" button I'm directed to the same page with the version number and image thumbnail fields blank. Entering and rechecking all the corrected information yields the same results. Any ideas?
-Chris
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[With CP weighting, I'll need to do the geometry bones (since they actually have CPs attached to them), but can I (should I) do the smartskinning with the control bones?]
I only do smartskinning on the geometry bones, not control bones. I am far from being the expert on this, but I don't think smartskinning works on bones to which cps are not directly attached.
As far as the hip/leg connection situation, I know exactly what you're running into, especially when creating sitting poses. I'm sure someone more knowledgeable than me could recommend intermediate bones (fan bones) to alleviate the problem, but I just solve it the best I can with smartskinning.
There is a good tutorial on rigging troublesome joints in Computer Arts Magazine:
http://www.computerarts.co.uk/tutorials/3d..._complex_joints
Cheers!
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Very cool! - great, smooth looking model and a humorous 'Kirk' pose.
Smartskinning is another aspect of A:M which seems daunting but is relatively straightforward once you understand the process. I'll mention a few tips which I learned (am still learning) along the way. I apologize if I mention things you already have a handle on or seem obvious.
1) learn and experiment with CP weighting before and during smartskinning
2) make sure all Left Side cps and Left Side bones are exact mirrors of their Right Side counterparts (that is, if you want a symmetrically aligned model - your Captain model looks pretty much symmetrical). If anything differs from one side to the other, time-saving tasks such as 'mirror all smartskin' will not work on the mis-aligned bones.
3)When naming bones, follow exact naming conventions from 1 side to the next - Right Calf & Left Calf, not R calf and Lt calf. I know this seems obvious, but an idiot like me can make this kind of mistake very easily.
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Largento -
I've spent the last few months making headway into creating my own rigs using tutorials from a variety of sources.
First of all, rigging is a daunting task and there are plenty of people more qualified than I am to give you advice. However, I have had some success getting simple but effective results using tutorials from this link:
http://demented3d.com/tutorial/toontutoria...ging/basic.html
Somehow, these basic rigging tutorials clicked with me and I've been able to use and modify them for my needs pretty quickly.
-Chris
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Largento,
Thank you for your trouble. This information is exactly what I was looking for. I wouldn't even know how to request a benchmark test.
I'm a little confused about the "jumpiness" you mention while in bones mode - what do you mean by "tumbling"? Is this an 'action' you've created that produces choppy movement while you're scrolling through the timeline in shaded/wireframe?
The render times you mention seem extremely reasonable at that resolution - much better than I expected.
Were I to buy a ModBook, I would opt for the highest model with 2 Gig RAM for sure. I do understand you feeling confined on the MacBook's monitor, but it seems like for my needs as a 'road' computer it might work, even with the compromises it demands.
Thanks again. You've been a great help.
-Chris
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Thanks for checking into it, Largento - I'll look forward to the results you find using A:M on your MacBook.
There is really no way to contact Axiotron directly as an individual, but I spoke with a rep at MacSales and he says there are no immediate plans to mod the MacBook Pro as yet (of course, I'm sure they're waiting to see what kind of demand this initial phase creates). The 3 configurations of the ModBook as it stands don't even start shipping til end of April. The MacSales guy claims that these are geared toward the graphic artist market, but I couldn't get a definitive idea of 3D graphics on these machines from him. He only said that the tablet monitor Axiotron is using is 'optimized' for the graphic artist. I'm sure this just has to do with levels of pressure sensitivity of the screen/pen combination.
I'm not naive enough to believe it to be a killer choice for working in A:M on the Mac, but I appreciate your offer to test it out to give me a rough idea of how it may perform.
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Have you considered a Cintiq?
I own a Cintiq 15" - incredible tablet/monitor! Hard to power up on the go, though.
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Okay - call me crazy, but I've been wanting Apple to develop a Tablet Mac for at least 5 years, and I know from blogs that I've got company. The cover story in the latest Macworld Magazine is the new ModBook, a MacBook 13'' modified by Axiotron and sold by MacSales. There are three configurations, and the top of the line is comparable in price to a MacBook Pro 15''. I'm well aware of the differences in the 'Book' vs. the 'Book Pro', and justifying the cost is pretty absurd, but I can't seem to shake this desire for the tablet. At this point, there seems to be no offering of a 'Pro' tablet in sight.
My main question, dismissing the obvious speed of the separate graphics card on the 'Pro' compared to the built-in graphics card of the 'Book', is: Will A:M vs.13s run adequately on a MacBook 13'' 2.0 Ghz 2 Gig RAM?
Thoughts?
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As a follow up - creating a new "scale" pose provided the best solution in this case. Though scaling the root bone while holding the 'control' key did indeed scale both the bones and the cps together (info which is new to me - thank you), the 'relationships' that I created before behaved oddly.
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Three excellent suggestions - thanks, guys.
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I have a model of a swing that I've already done some rigging and poses with which is much too large for the other elements in my choreography. I know I can just scale it in every choreography to match, but I'd like to know if there is a way to rescale it in the modeling window so that the bones (and their smartskinning and poses) still match up with their respective cps.
-Chris
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Thanks, Daniel - I'll give it a go and let you know how I do.
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As one of the few people I know in my business (music) that use Windows, the risk I take of alienating all two of my Windows user friends (one being my wife) may just be worth the switch back to Apple. Don't tell her I wrote this.
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Well I use both my Mac and PC with AM and I prefer to use it on the PC since it is invariable faster and I have machines that are comparable in performance.
My main gripe on the Mac platform is that the real-time playback is definately slower especially in bones mode. I also find when actually boning a character on OSX is slow even with an X1600 GPU which isn't really a slouch.
I think that this problem is more to do with OSX than AM though. I have been told by Ken Baer that Hash are working to improve the bones mode and real-time playback speeds - I look forward to this.
AM is definately much better for character animation than Cinema or Lightwave and I have used them both too
As a long time Mac user who switched to PC after the release of OSX, I have been contemplating buying a MacBook Pro to replace my Acer Tablet PC but am surprised to find mixed reviews on Mac/A:M performance. The issues you describe above concern me - for a platform that across the board is hailed by graphic artists as THE platform, the Mac's slow response in bones mode and rendering in A:M seems like it would be frustrating - to the point that I can't see shelling out $3k for a machine only to be pulling my hair out while rigging. What is the best solution? I need a portable machine to work on when I'm not at my desktop - my tablet was adequate for a while, but is nowhere near the performance of my tower, and besides, it's losing a lot of it's functionality and needs to be replaced. Any suggestions? I do appreciate the pluses of each platform, and I'd like to take advantage of being able to access both with Apple's new Intel processors, but my experience with Windows XP has been stellar, much better than my Mac enthusiast friends give it credit for.
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Daniel -
Thanks for the link to the tutorial. I was able to render to EXR files and 'right-click' to access the 'make new composite' option once. Now every time I render to EXR ar Targa when I right click on the file in the PWS I get a 'apply new post effect' in place of 'make new composite'. If I choose that option I receive a dialog box saying something about 'v.11' incompatability'. I'm confused.
The tutorial itself is a bit confusing to me as well - I have yet to understand which options of which image files to choose to create a composite. Yet another example of A:M's flexibility giving me too many options for my feeble mind to comprehend. I truly need a 'paint-by-numbers' approach to this process. I'm in that state where I am so close to getting satisfactory results, but am falling short due to a process I don't understand.
curving a flat surface
in Work In Progress / Sweatbox
Posted
I found the great rolling cloud effect 'entity' has created for T.W.O. and downloaded his 'best clouds project' from those forums. I've dragged the emitter from his project onto my face model and have played with the settings a bit, but my face model is transparent in the choreography when the emitter does it's thing, though I've looked at the transparency settings of my model and the materials and can't find an explanation for this. I'm hoping he or someone else can offer advice on how to use his emitter to stay relatively in one place, evoke the facial strucure of the model, and roll slowly.
Thanks.