robcat2075

Will the lighting be brighter on my shot? Right now it's so dark I can't see anything unless I turn on the wireframe.

I suppose the basic goal is -move weight over the toes while he's crouching -keep the weight over the toes while he's jumping and landing -move the weight back towards the heels as he recovers You've pretty much got that going. His feet are very long so it may not look right to shift him so far forward from his standing position, but I'd experiment to see how close you could get so he'd really be pushing up from where his toes are contacting the floor. You may already be at the happy medium. (His toes are still wandering below the ground.) Here's my quick attempt at getting his weight further forward over the toes during the pushing and landing poses. This is just the key poses and I dont' feel i have it quite right. jumpingBlockedD.prj It would probably be helpful to shoot someone from the side doing this jump-in-place to really see when the hips and body are moved forward and back. That would be a good thing for you to do to investigate this further.

I like that one, trying to figure out where up is.

I like the up and down motion better. I thing you've got the slow in and out at the top going well. Yes, he does look like he's leaning backwards during his jump. He's probably in the air a bit too long and that's what gives it the moon-gravity look, but overall this is much improved.

Here's basically the whole performance. I'm not proud of the fist pump, I might find something less to do. Still need to do the actual lip motions and some facial expression and overall polishing. NoMatter_600.mov

There's probably a similar dead end spline on the other side of the hand? I'd just continue them to meet in a CP in the middle. You won't be able to use a hook as a side of the 5-ponters that are already there. However...first trick to try to make a five pointer... select all 5 points, then hit the period key twice.

How do the other programs pick a new rotation center that is not the 0,0,0 and is not something else selected?

That's the way it works. It rotates around whatever is currently selected and that's the model bone if nothing else is selected. If you are working on some far-flung part of the model you could temporarily move the model bone out there (don't use the translate manipulator). Just remember to move it back to 0,0,0 when you are done.

A video you might find very illuminating at this point is my "Keyframing basics", which you can find in the screencam tuts link in my signature.

So that's actual A:M hair on that guy, right? That's a pretty good 'do.

the rulers are turned on with the... you'll never guess... "Show Rulers" button! It's at the top and looks like a ruler. the background grid is turned in Options>Action>Display Grid There's one like that for chors in Options>Choreography too. You can also turn them on and off with SHIFT-3 And you make markers by clicking on a ruler.

More comments... jumpCommentsB.mov

I didn't know that one either!

thats where the problem is. i don't know where the right place is suppose to be. Did you watch the tut on counter animating? that shows exactly how to line the toe up with a marker so it isn't moving. In general, for a character with such long feet, you should pose him at the start so that his body isn't right over his heels, but somewhere between the heels and the toes. If he's going to jump straight up and he's pushing off with his toes he'll really have to have his weight over the toes, but with his feet so long that wont' look right. You'll have to cheat it a bit. Is that what you mean by "the right place"?

I like the "depth of field" look.

What about move-it-to-the-right-place is not doable?

Those toes are definitely not staying in place. Here's a tut on counter animating Also notice that you're up and down aren't the same length of time any more. The up trip in the air needs to be the same as the down trip in the air. Also note that the rig doesn't simulate anything about proper body motion for you. It's up to you to put everything where it needs to be at the right time. If something is not in the right place at the right time, move it so it is.

Control the rig, don't let the rig control you. Sometimes you have to work around the rig to get the pose you need. This example shows how to raise the heel on a rig that doesn't have an independent heel bone. CounterAnimatingAFootAndToe_250.mov

Presuming you made all your changes on one side you just do a CFA again.

Yup, I should have studied that more closely. The good news is that was the part I was most dreading trying to animate... and now I dont' have to! You may get a finished shot yet.

that is much improved! Comments: JobeJumpComments_300.mov and the marked animations in the comment video: JasonJumpMarked.mov RCHJumpMarked.mov

No, I dont' think that was mentioned. You mean he's not on camera then? That would dramatically simplify things.

You will be appalled at the state of this but I've got the core concept working now and i think I can get it finished. WeSail.mov

One quick rule. You jump by pushing your body away from the earth with your legs and hopefully get enough momentum built up to keep going after your legs can't reach the ground any more. The fastest the body will move will be the last instant that the legs can reach the ground to push. After that, there's no push and gravity immediately begins to slow you down. If the body moves faster up after leaving the ground than it ever moved during the push... something is wrong. It can't do that. Damn near impossible, except for birds and flying saucers.

Looks promising!