cory

I live in Winston Salem NC, but I just moved here from Ga, and my in laws live in Marietta. If y'all get together let me know, I may can get back down that way for a day or two. Cory

Curtis, Very nice! 44.1 will be ample for me. I thank you immensly for the help. I'll rip one off the HAsh in th emorning. Cory

Curtis, Sorry I have not posted a reply sooner, I've been kinda snowed under. I'm downloadding the files now, and I'll post again tonight. I'm sure they will sound great! Now, I gotta go to bed.....zzz...zzzz. Cory

Curtis, If you would, just the audio track. You can then send me a wave file using something like YouSendIt, I'll attach it to the animation in Premiere, and add the credits there. I'd like to get it to them ASAP. If anthing, I'll upload a version with sound to A:M FIlms. Cory

Thanks Rodney and Rhett. Maybe Curtis could have a look and see if he wants to adjust his soundtrack to this one....Please?.... Cory

I think this will be the final render on this creature. I added some footage of the creature getting up from the ground, then on to the usual snapping etc. I also adjusted the lights to be more dramatic http://home.alltel.net/collinsfamily04/mea...final_small.mov Cory

WHAT!? Too OLD!!!? Come on man!!! Your stuff looks really good. Yes your reel needs editing and some of the animation can be a little more polished but your work is VERY impressive. Why not try and go for that "Big Studio" gig or maybe even a games studio? I see potential in you. The worst they could say to you is "No Thanks". You got nothing to loose from where I see it! If you don't want to move because you like to stay close to family and friends then why not try a smaller/medium size outfit near where you live? Could be worth a looking into. Just my 2 cents. -Dimos P.S. Did you rig everything yourself from scratch or did you use something like TSM? Dimos, Thanks. Yeah, I've got a big family and we just had to relocate for my job recently. I don't think starting animators make what I would need to make. ESpecially if I had to move to the west coast. There is a studio here in Winston Salem NC. I'll polish up my reel and send it to them and see what they say. I think they use another software package that shall remain nameless. ( that I don't own ) Well, I rigged some parts myself, and I plucked other parts from the 2001 rig. Why re-invent the wheel, you know? I have started to use relationships quite a bit as well. I really like those. Cory from the website: "Despiser" is the tightly scripted tale of a washed-up, out-of-work artist ... making an unexpected visit to purgatory ... Yikes!!! - Sounds realllyyyyy scary - Is this a true story? (except for the washed up part) Love your demo reel - and yes parts can be edited Nancy, It is not true, except for the washed up part. Cory

Thanks, I liked the ant, it seems pretty obvious it was my first A:M creation. Stretching my wings as it were. I'll keep you posted. Cory

Are you working on TWO? that might be what you are looking for? I just signed on. Maybe I could learn a thing or two, and help out at the same time. Cory Aloha, Thanks, I don't think I even have the older files to change. Oh well, seems popular demand to cut those anyhow. Maybe I can get some part time work from it. That's all I am looking for. Cory

Well, yep there it is. Since we are really drifting OT here I'll just end it by saying: it's a good movie for what it is,even though A:M wasn't used in it, and we have two more scripts written and one in pre-production that will use A:M extensively. PS-You don't have to track too hard, here it is- http://www.eaglefilms.com/despiser/DespiserWebsite.htm Cory

Rodney, Don't get me wrong here, I'm no Cinemaphotographer. But if you do watch the movie, you will see the other guy, Phil Cook, is a vastly talented filmaker. I may have picked a few tips from him, we have done a few projects together. I just handled the creature design, modelling and animation. (Seems to be my specialty) Cory

Thanks Rodney, but I'm not worthy of that comparison If you want to see me in the movies, next time you are in Blockbuster or Hollywood Video, see if they have a copy of a movie called "Despiser". If they do, rent it, and watch the "making of" featurette. Then you'll see me in the movies It's not a bad movie, it just had a terribly low budget. This was my first semi pro work, we made it about five or six years ago. Okay, okay, my work was pretty bad, but it was done before I discovered A:M with a software package that was very hard to do character animation with. But some areas shine, I'm still proud of it, and it did get releasesd internationally. Cory

Brainmuffin, Thanks, but you don't need to do all of that. I'm not really looking for a job per se. I just want a little work, maybe on some independent production, or something like that. I'm really a little too old to be starting out at Pixar or the like. Although paying work would be appreciated I want something to show potential production outfits. Maybe drum up some freelance work. I dunno Thnks, Cory

Thanks, I just stepped thru the cape animation again and I don't see where it passes thru his body. Even though this was done with 8.5's cloth wizard, it does seem to do what it was supposed to do. It looks as if *maybe* the very last cp "hangs" slightly on the mesh as it passes by, but other than that I don't see where it passes thru. I thought the motion of the character shows a lot. It's a pretty complex move to animate. Cory

Thanks Everyone, What specifically would you cut, and what order changes? Should I include some shots of my creature sculptures? They look pretty nice too imho. Or would anyone really care? Cory

Here's what I have done so far.... [attachmentid=17404] Cory

I hesitate to post this in Showcase, these clips are mostly execises and wips, but since I probably will not revisit most of them I'll consider them finished. These were done with versions 8.5 all the way thru ver 12. All models are mine with the exception of one clip that contains the Mt Hash model in the background, and of course, Thom and the Knight's helmet and sword. And oh yeah, those are my kids in the rotoscope shot. http://home.alltel.net/collinsfamily04/AMDemoSmallSound.mov Cory

I've experimented many long hours on this subject. The alternating gait is great for walking but even hexapods have a different running cycle (it's not the one I used either, but...). I have actions for those as well. Once you reach a certain speed the legs are moving so fast it looks ridiculous. If you want the bug to move faster, naturally you would increase the stride length. The stride length on this particular beast is limited by the physiology of his legs. There was no way to make the stride longer without having legs pass thru each other. Now I could have made some fancy maneuvering to adjst the legs to make them work, but it would look even more "busier" than the shorter stride length. In the end it has to "look" good (to me anyway). The creature's size also was a factor. This guy is much larger than a roach. I've seen video footage of even alligators abandoning the lizard walk and going straight to a bounding motion when attacking. Have you ever seen a guard dog attack? He goes from standing still to full out bounding in a matter of a coupla hops, I mean quick. I've never seen an animal go from standing, to jogging, to running, to bounding like that when they are on the aggressive. It's always PHHHTT, BOOM!, lickety split. That's what I was shooting for here. I am working on a prone to standing action to insert at the beginning, and then some feet sliding trying to get traction motion , which will act like a little bit of anticipation. Like I said in the first post, I just wanted to see if I could make this thing look like an attack. I hammered out the bounding action, animated the leap and stab in the chor, rendered, and liked what I saw, so I thought I would share. I added a coupla cameras to get different perspectives. A couple hours work. I might polish it up some more. I dunno. WOW! Now that was cool! What kinda weird Michael Jackson moonwalking taunt was Thom doing there? Artistic license. I thought I did warn you in the sub header If I saw that coming at me I probably emit another type of fluid...

Awww...he can take it! He's tough! You should some of the falls he's taken on my computer The next shot would be a bloodied Thom flipping the bug over head then impaling it with a giant sword he had hidden in his waistband, and then triumphantly shaking his fists in the air while straddling the defeated beast. I just ran out of time..

Here is a little test to see if I could animate my bug attacking someone.... Thom seemed to be a good test subject. http://home.alltel.net/collinsfamily04/attackcomp.mov Cory

Curtis, I really like the camera falling and static. I agree about the flashlight, I think it would look better with the light rendered. I actually thought of that earlier but I kinda wanted to show off the bug more. It looks like you are having fun with it I finally got my laptop running again so I am starting back to work on it. Right now I have the bug in a laying position then he gets up and continues to what we already have. I may try the camera shake and fall next, and then pass it on to you for the final sound. I think I want to emphasize the model and animation capabilities of A:M so I may just keep a steady camera and light source for the shot. Don't get me wrong, I really like where your going with it, and if I were planning the shot for a dramatic movie I would certainly use all the tricks you've put in. I also would like to add your name to the end credit for sound and inspiration if that's okay. I should have something to look at very soon. Cory

So you don't need animators, riggers, etc. anymore? Cory

Curtis, Yeah, sounds good. Let me get this laptop going again so I can catch up. Thanks, Cory

Well, it'd be alright except you spelled my name wrong I have some ideas but I'm afraid we may be running out of time. I don't know when siggraph is, but if my goal is to get it to Hash to show there, as has been suggested, I suspect I'd better keep it simple. Like I said earlier, I'm dead in the water without my laptop working I hope to get that resolved by the weekend though. When is Siggraph? June or July? Cory

Please don't hesitate. Give it try with nle, I'm having some slight hardware problems at the moment. Knocking the camera over would be great! Just for the record, this whole little clip was just a mesh stretching exercise to start with. I just said "let me try this...see what it loks like moving " I liked the motion, so I added alittle more dramatic camera angle. It's kinda blossomed from there. When I actually get a day off from work, I'll experiment some with the camera and tail. edit: I'd actually like the camera to run away from the bug, and have the bug run after, then knock it down ending with static and snow... thanks Cory