Gerry

A:M Forum RULES!

Yarrrr! The theme of the NY Times Crossword today was "Talk like a Pirate Day". I got it right away, mateys!

By ink stroke I assume you mean Toon Line render. It's not a plugin, it's a render option you'll see when you render to file. Under Options, click Toon Render to "On" and you can access different options, like thickness of line, whether to make the line black, a color, or a percentage of the object color, whether to render just lines or lines and color, shading options(partial, full shading, flat color), etc. etc. There's lots of settings to look at and play with. You might want to look at either help files or the manual if you've got it. I can see from the manga style you're going for why you're wondering about texturing, and you're right, for this style you don't need to knock yourself out with texture maps! But like I said, under Surface settings you can set specularity and falloff, stuff like that that will give your "flat colors" more roundness and depth if you want. I think there's also a "manga style" option for eyebrows,( at least there used to be) where the eyebrows lay on top of the bangs. If you look through the image galleries there's tons of manga style images for inspiration, and maybe you can direct questions to the guys who do that style, or at least ask how different effects are achieved specifically for manga. EDIT: Hm I see there IS an InkStroke plugin! I'm completely unfamiliar with that!

Well scupper me timbers and hand me that belayin' pin, Cap'n! Have at ye!

You can also create materials, which is a good middle option between solid color and texture maps. The great advantage to texture maps is that you can create a much more realistic appearance by creating textures for as much of your model as you feel capable of doing. the drawback to materials is that they tend to look mechanical and repetitive, especially if you rush it or don't know quite what you're doing and settle for a material that's "just okay". Also take some time to learn about all the settings under "Surface". Adding a little roughness and tweaking its settings can do wonders. But if you take your time and create texture maps you'll see a real difference in the finished piece. And the sense of accomplishment alone is worth it!

Welcome to the Forum!

I didn't know that either! But in a pinch you can also edit renders together in QuickTime Pro. It's like twenty-nine bucks.

Ooh, that's a good one! I'll have to try the shift-k thing tomorrow, I was unfamiliar with that.

On this topic, I was creating a walk cycle today for the first time in v15d and I was unable to move the stride length indicator. It appeared I could scale it, but I couldn't move it into position at frame 0. Has it been changed in recent versions?

Nice model, but her face seems a little large for the size of her head. Just a first impression.

I got a shock with my image contest entry when I viewed it on my Mac at home. In creating it on my office PC I got the lighting kind of "in shadow" while keeping it lit enough to see details. On the Mac it was lit like daylight and the moodiness was completely gone. I immediately delved into Yves' tutorial on the subject and realized I was in over my head. It becomes more of an issue though, because I've been commissioned to create a music video that, while it's strictly a vanity project and may well never see the light of day, I want to use it as a learning process to better understand gamma, color gamut, creating for the HD format, and in addition, if it is ever shown, it will be in Asia. I'm trying to learn about HD requirements for the tech aspects of that part of the world but I freely admit I don't know where to start.

When are you gonna do the one on making an aircraft carrier like Stian's?

Heh, heh. There's lots more where that came from!

I can't complain, that was a tough slate of entries! I'm not sure I even voted for myself! But I really like seeing this guy move, and I'm feeling more and more comfortable with the rigging process. I used TSM and 3Dartz's cog joints, and though some joints need more refining I'm pretty happy with how he's working. I recently posted some storyboards I did for a trailer for these characters, though Croaker doesn't figure into the trailer. But I may start working on developing the models needed for it. You can see the storyboards here. http://www.mooneyart.com/bugbots/storyboards.html

Here's another with a few refinements to the lighting, camera and timing. For some reason, light doesn't appear to be hitting the ground plane. Croaker_leap05.mov

Here's a quick test of my rigging and animating. Still some work to do on the joints but I've found a good comfort level with tweaking, testing and tweaking, which i was always nervous about before. I'm most grateful for Caroline's Gala rigging thread and the stability of v 15d. Croaker_leap_test01.mov

I know these guys are kidding. When I saw this entry I knew the whole circuit board was modeled because you're a maniac with the bevels and the lighting and the hoohah! Your aircraft carrier is one of my faves and I remember in the WIP where you had beveled every ladder and railing. It all pays off in spades! Beautiful work!

Bill, this really looks great.

Nice, Eric! I believe I voted for this one. The careful attention to lighting and atmosphere is what makes this almost photographic. All very effective.

Edgy is highly overrated. I think you're making a smart decision.

And remember to turn on "Draw Particles/Hair" under Tools>Options>Rendering.

It might render a bit faster if you set it to render flat color vs. shading, but there are a number of settings for how it handles shading etc., unless you're using materials or other settings that normally kick up the render, but for what you're doing it's not a whole lot different.

Hi Bighop- Very nice work! I did a similar animation showing how a deck is built, and I found that toon rendering has a much cleaner or more diagram-like look for this kind of thing. It's on my website at http://www.mooneyart.com/three_d/movies/deck.mov. Keep posting as you progress through this.

Yeah, maybe decal the ground instead of that material. It's a bit too saturated. Try to get the colors more subtle in general. They're all a little too rich. Farmers, farms and the stuff on them are usually more faded and weathered.

My background is also as a cartoonist, and having a background in drawing is a huge plus. Also, if you have any experience at all in other 3D packages, the learning curve becomes a lot flatter because you're familiar with the 3D modeling paradigm. I started working in A:M in '99 and it was a couple of years I think before I became aware of the community, which is an enormous asset. Other pluses are the constant development, numerous updates during the year, and the new features that get incorporated. I'm often amazed at the seemingly newbie questions posed by people who I take for accomplished professionals here on the forum. We're all learning new stuff all the time and that's what gives the learning experience so much vitality and makes it fun. When I run into a problem on a project, even when I'm on deadline, I can post a query here and get good advice and information, often within an hour or two. It really is fantastic. Gerry