higginsdj

Oh the struggle, the struggle...... Here is a new version of the opening shot for critique... (These Sorenson codec's have got nothing on H.264 - shame I only have access to use H.264 on my iMac.....)

Re-doing the flying action after viewing reference files has been 'interesting'. The wing action appears to be more a butterfly swimming action. So now I have several actions created for Fly, fly fast, enter glide, glide and exit glide. I'll need more for slowing to a hover, landing and takeoff. I have a render going on of the opening chor but my Office PC is somewhat lower spec to my iMac so it's taking 2.5 times as long...... I should have something up soon(ish). I think I caught the 'animate the air' but I'll let you guys be the judge. By the way this thread is just a 'blog' of my efforts to get my first short done so feel free to add comments and advice at any time Cheers

Yes - everything

Perhaps I'm missing the point here but there is no means for animating the air so I have no choice but to animate the bird. I do see the point about animating the bird as it should react to the air/passage through the air. (I should also point out that I'm more interested in a stylised form rather than 'accurate' form though soem level of accuracy is necessary) Thanks for the links I'll investigate further when I get home from work. Cheers

Thanks guys. The amount I can pan is restricted by the size of the background art. I might have to either zoom in to allow the pan or extend the art off to the right on the opening shot... PS - I'm following the storyboards supplied at this stage without having to do too much thinking

Ahhhhh - Front Projection maps. A challenge but with the aid of a bit of a cheat (and a bug report to AMReports) , a workaround plus another learning experience putting me in good stead for the next few scenes and another Scene is under my belt. This is just a minor update. Yet to decide whether I will both revisiting the animation or move to completion then go back and tweak. Since it is going to be a short short - I might do the latter - just to make sure I actually finish something..... Opinion and comments welcome. http://www.david-higgins.com/Animation/pro...itcher01-04.mov (1.2mb H.264 QT .mov) Cheers

Wow - very nice ship. I have been wanting to model something like this for years and just never got around to it. The version I have in mind is a fantasy skyship (a cross between Monty Python and a Warhammer Fantasy model I saw) Can you produce a bigger 'grey' render with splines so I can use it for a wallpaper

Everything except the animation is delivered though the music is from TWO. Its temporary until I work out how to get the delivered music into iMovie without having to put it in an iTunes library first. Cheers

I'm a PC man and the iMac is my first venture in the Apple world and I must say I am impressed with the Apple. Render times seem fien - but I do not render that much - 99% of my renders have been shaded renders for animation work and comparisons with large renders from yeasr gone by would be pointless My personal and biased opinion is go with the iMac as it gives you a Windows option to fall back on (with the now free boot camp and lots of other stuff is free as well) Cheers

Well being a bit of a hack, having little imagination but a love of animating I decided to take some shortcuts and purchased Satyajits Aesops fable kit. So this thread will outlien what I have been able to achieve. I started today with the Crow and the Pitcher. I'm using a new 24" iMac Intel 2.4ghz Core Duo 2 with 3gb RAM and AM v14c for OSX 10.5.1, iMove '08 for the NLE. (iMove came free with the iMac) Took a bit of time to get the hang of the old TSM2 rig (couldn't find the constraint swithc for a while - boy that was really annoying) but got my act together and knocked out the first 3 storyboards worth of animation. Well everything except the animation is supplied so all I had to do was to build a bird fly action and put the elements in the scene, play the movement of the actor in the scene move the camera and the lights then render it out. So here is Scene01 to 03. http://www.david-higgins.com/Animation/pro...itcher01-03.mov (1mb H.264 QT .mov) Comments and critiques most welcome. Hey, I know it's not great - but I'm animating a story..... Cheers

Who resurrected Eggprops. Last time I spoke to William he said it was defunct!

Cool - next pay I'll drop $50 on you. Being rather lazy I think I'll find this a relaxing way of completing my first animation I'm just not terribly creative - but I'm working on it Cheers

Hi Satyajit, Are the voice tracks on your Aesops Fable kit in English or other? I find the kit very tempting Cheers

Does anyone have the download location for TSM2? I have found my licence key but can't find the installer. Cheers

Was there a TSM2 for the Mac? I have the Windows version but now that I've 'switched'...... Cheers

My 2 cents worth..... There is no feeling of weight in the crash, ie it may as well have been a balsa wood model. With the nose down flight the speed through the air would have been much higher. If you wanted it as slow as you have it then the aircraft need to come in, maybe skip the ground, nose up a little, stall then land. If it had in landed that lightly at proper speed (one engine was still going) it would have skidded over the grass for 100's of meters. If it was to end as abruptly as you have it then it will have hit hard, heavy AND the nose would have dug in. ie where is the wing tip flex, If it does stop abruptly then the tail will spin around or the craft will crumple or break open. Re the limitations of the real footage - just drop the aircraft into the left hand field first then have it bounce through past the tractor. Cheers

The manipulatr is the icon to the left of the one with the box - the one with 2 yellow end points and a green point in the middle joned by a line. Cheers

The v13 purchase (assuming it is the TWO CD) will get you to v14c. You'll be able to keep these versions forever. v15 onward is a new subscription mechanism. The $50US version will allow you to use v15 and anything else released in the 12 month period after you activate it. After that 12 months it will cease to function. If you want to continue using it you need to then purchase a new 12 month subscription OR you can purchase the CD version for $299 and keep the software forever but be only entitled to updates for a year (not sure if this one is acitvated or calendar year like the pre v15 versions). (At least I think this is now how the subscription process will work - we are all new to it.) Cheers

Yes, it looks like you have both peaked splines as well as curves slines joined on the curve. The latter is a no-no. This can happen when you tack new splines onto the end of existing splines. They don't always attach to the correct spline. Turn on your manipulator tool to see the actual direction the spline travels. Cheers

In theory. When in doubt contact the staff at hash.com. Cheers

Now you've got the hang of it Cheers

Better, but you have Peaked or discontinuous splines running down the side of his cheek and the spline next to it (centre of cheek) needs to continue down and not jump off to the left. Similarly the cheek spline that curves around his mouth should continue down and run that horizontal spline across the face (yes you will end up with another 5 pointer, with a little planning you can get it small, flat and out of the way. Cheers

Hooks are the end of splines that end in the edge of another spline WITHOUT the use of a Control Point. Check out page 128 of TaoAM. Cheers

You appear to be an ex polygonner by the looks of the spline work. You need to use continuous splines. Anythign that dead ends in a multiple sline join will crease. Try something like the attached. Remember hooks and the occassional 5 point patch are your lifesaver when it comes to good, smooth organic modelling. Try to keep the patch count down and only add spliens where you NEED to. Cheers

Have all the older versions been shifted over to the web activation scheme? The only version that needs activation is v15 that I am aware of. You should still be able to download the older versions pre-activation from here: http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showforum=2 Version 14c was the last version 14 available. Cheers