yardie
-
Posts
139 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Posts posted by yardie
-
-
Thanks for the in-depth. I'll print this one and add it to the book.
What book. Hey I hope your not make yourself money from my tips because I sure have loads more and I would like my share for doing most of the hard work
-
mtpeak2: Thanks for the comeback. I've opened up a new .prj with nothing but a test set of lips. I'll try again from scratch.
Ken: I had not even got around to making the poses go in the chor., I had built them and checked their motion in the Action Window. Then saved, closed out, and only now am coming back to pick up the project.
After 5 years of using AM I have found that when some task you perform in AM does not work the way you want it to, then it is best to start again from scratch. We all have tendency to cling to or 1st attempts when we are new to anything. The problem is with the computer having to do many millions of calculations when you set up a pose. If something small should go wrong that you do not notice then the chances are you project will not work so well the next time you run AM.
My tips for making poses are to
1) work with just the one model in a blank project.
2) After making the pose and save the model and test the pose.
3) Shutdown Animation Master.
4) Reopen Animation master and reopen the model and try out the pose.
The pose should work and can be tried in the chory or with other models in an action.
5) If you then want to save the model in a project, then crack open the models properties and makes sure the option to have the model embedded in the Project is on.
6)Watch what you have copied onto you clipboard. If copying and pasting take a longtime then save the task at the 1st instance.
7) Once you restart AM flip copying and pasting should work fast.
8) Finaly if you do not have a super fast and stable pc Save and Shutdown AM frequently when performing tasks that take up a lot of CPU power. Don't wait for things to go wrong.
I have used this rule consistently with AM for the last 2 years and I have been amazed to find stuff I thought did not work doing it's stuff.
Because you CPu has to make many millions of calculations Having other objects in the open project might interfere with the computations.
Try and keep to working with just one file at a time and then build your project up.
You will also find that if you scrap tasks that are not working out early you will get faster @ creating and completing tasks.
The logic behind this thinking is that your not spending many hours fault finding . You just doing what you want to do.
-
I copied the head of "Fat Guy" onto an re-rigged body. The old rig wouldn't work with the v13's Rig. I re-rigged the body, and it works, however the face is another problem. Using basic face bones and groupings for the face, but the face distorts when I added an action from the library.
So I copied and pasted with bones from the first model, but as you can see the face is a bit messed up. Even when I create new bones, and attach them, the face distorts when I apply an action.
Is there too many bones? Not enough?
You luck Guy. I had the same problem and it's caused by you possible copying smart skin from one model to the other.
Hopefully this link should help solve your problem. I am still on AM version 12 BTW . I am not sure there was smart skin when the Fat guy was made. The might be relationship poses stored in the bones that you copied and pasted with Cp's. the is also a very good tutorial in the Relationship Forum on setting up what might appear to be invisible poses in a model. Any way this link should help give you an insight on transferring and copying model parts. http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showt...hl=stolen+bones
Also check out the video tutorial on Relationships cause it will come in handy with your model
-
I'm wanting to pay for a highly detailed photorealistic President George W. Bush head, to be constructed based on the following mesh:
[attachmentid=23116]
The above mesh is a work-in-progress by another artist I'm working with - it's "spline-heavy" and therefore should have adequate geometry to do a fine model. Additionally, I can provide (IF NEEDED) a 3DS prop for use as a reference from a 3D scan of this presidential statue:
http://www.francescaskitchen.com/fkstore/p...lastcat75.ihtml
If some geometry adjustments are necessary, then USE YOUR BEST JUDGEMENT - just keep the NECK RING THE SAME, so it can be re-attached to the body of my model.
I can also supply gum/teeth/tongue from another model, if it saves work and makes sense.
Further, the following will be required:
1. Use A:M hair for eyebrows, eyelashes, and head hair.
2. Model major facial wrinkles that work with mouth opening in a anatomically correct way and are (within reason) pose slider-able
3. In conjunction with the above, basic mouth and eyelid open/close should be done
4. Besides #3, capture the following trademark expressions as poses: the squint, the jaw jutting, and the smirk
5. Complete phoneme modeling for use with A:M dictionary should be done
6. Fine texturing, preferably using 3D Painter, but a good job using just the UV Editor and regular A:M Decaling would suffice too.
7. Eye target tracking.
Keep in mind that our use of this model will not be kind or respectful to the man - ponder this, and if you have a problem with it, then kindly do not submit a bid. OTHERWISE, IF INTERESTED AND QUITE TALENTED, PLEASE EMAIL ME: Karl@KarlTMiller.com WITH YOUR PRICE AND ESTIMATED SCHEDULE.
Thanks!
I don't see any mesh
-
A quickie. Dopesheets and FACE make animating a breeze.
Here is my example of using the lip poses with the constants enforcement set very low. I made 2 short clips from two different views. The remakes are quite innocent she does love Richard but uses his nickname
Does the model you use have the squetch rig installed or are you using the dope sheet?
I start with a dope sheet.
What have lip poses got to do with squetch rig?. What is the squetch rig?I really don't know please tell. But I don't think I miss stuff out when I explain.
But if you need me to show you how I got lips sync because what I said before did not make sense then ask.
Jeetman they were making cartons with lips sync well before I was born. I have learnt in life to that it is not the tools that make your work look good but the way you use them. I stick to old versions of AM for as long as I can so I can learn the tools as best as I can.
having a new version every time one comes out mean I have more toys to play with but less time to makes any finished work.
-
A quickie. Dopesheets and FACE make animating a breeze.
Here is my example of using the lip poses with the constants enforcement set very low. I made 2 short clips from two different views. The remakes are quite innocent she does love Richard but uses his nickname
-
My advice is scrap the whole action. Start again but this time split the action. You are making a mistake that most new people like me make all the time. That is you have set up your 1st pose with the 2 characters and and made other poses as time flows. The 1st bit of the action is ok. But when the woman puts her hand back and holds the man the action looks slow and it does not make sense to have her look shocked and then go back to sleep. Some thing has to be added in your clip to give the reason she appears calm. You can also improve it by using some darkened lighting to express the overall the mood. I used to wonder why when watching a film being made they took so many shots from different angles. Then I noticed when I watched films that used stand in stuntmen. The other fun thing about film making is the editing @ the end were you can do allsorts of things to give your move some life.
-
A quickie. Dopesheets and FACE make animating a breeze.
Remember you asked me to be the lip sync man. Well I have noticed the one big problem with the use of the phoneme. You don't always have the shape of the lips when saying a word. The mouth can make any shape when saying a word.
Letting the software changes the lip shape for ever vowel on consonant. Yet people don't use very few changes.
The word " Hello" would be made up of AI then L and W. The human lips hardly change as only the tongue is used to make the L.
As the action is not centered on the lips all the time I guess you can get away with using AI followed by W to make the lip shapes for the word Hello.
To summary's: the software generates to many consonant shapes causing the lip movement to appear to fast and mechanical. I guess one way out of this is to have the consonant's pose enforcement reduced. Only the secondary facial movement need to be worked on to make the character appear to be the one saying the word.
see the example I sent
notice the lip shape.
-
Right! And there are some interesting blogs on the subject of timing and music in animation too.
And here is a nice Ken Harris interview by Richard Williams on Timing for Animation:
http://www.packthecat.com/PersistenceOfVis...sInterview.html
Thanks Rodney. It looks like you have pointed me in the right direction
[attachmentid=23218]
-
"Helper and Solver Tools" is a term that sounds intriguing. It's a bit too vague though to narrow in on anything specific. If you find the time perhaps you could share your thoughts on that.
Explore that aspect, especially with relation to what you are trying to accomplish here with Newton Dynamics, and I think everyone will benefit.
Rodney
"Helper and Solver Tools" are the terms used in 3ds Max to label the tools that act like some of the plug ins and constraint systems used in AM. bones are used to in Max but they call there null objects, "dummies".
It's possible to get a free trail download of 3ds Max 8 and 9 that you can use for 30 days.
-
Does answering the same question ten or twelve times count as noise?
Only if the answer isn't been transported
It does make a difference from whom an answer is coming but yet telling truth could reside in all.
Niels
If only all the philosophy you guys are pumping out could be digital converted to do something useful.
Maybe I should go back to programing and set up the forum so people have got the choice of getting notification to answers that are useful. The Internet is loaded with chat rooms and forums dedicated to people playing out drama. When I get tired of the drama I come to this kind of forum and the programming ones to exercise my mind and learn new things. I all so know what it is like to have successfully accomplished something complex in with CG software. One is very keen to show of there results. But when it comes to describing the steps taken to achieve the results most people don't have a clue and will waffle as if everyone listening is on the same page as them. Then one becomes real lazy and will not continue to develop the creation further until someone points out how much it sucks on it's own. @ this point some people come back with anger. Try going for a week without a bath and see how you react when you are reminded by someone you don't know.
The same sadly is true for most of the west world. Most people do some kind of job for a living but explaining the step required to complete a task can be a very painful process.
Most Employers often complain they can't find good workers or workers that will stay in the company. I my experience I have found most of these employers have communication problems when it comes to explaining the job. And to me the biggest cause problems in the world right now is human communication. Overloaded with information and spoiled with possessions the human mind has become lazy and is incapable of solving simple problems and if left along to long the simple problems become major
-
I don't know Yardie, that animation makes me think you understand it pretty well.
I know I haven't been able to get Newton Dynamics to do that.
What are you trying to simulate beyond that?
Also, I don't follow you on the thought of cutting render time.
I can see where animation time might be saved though.
I guess I'm not really sure where the benefit of Newton Dynamics can be gained in your example.
What is (or would be) simulated in the example?
Well Rod is you get a chance download thorm Sim_prj. When you 1st run simulation it generates all the key frames required for the animation. Then if you select all the cp's of the action in the time line-
1) Right click and from the pop up menus choose Curve then Post-Extrapolation Method
2) then Repeat or Ping Pong the action is repeated indefinitely without any new cp's being Generated.
If you go to simple walk cycle you know it can be pretty hard to keep the feet from slipping if you don't set the stride length properly. And if you constraint your character to a path you can use the ease channel to get the cycle you fit the length of the choreography. The walk cycle can be a bit jerky on it's own but if you add a repeat curve it smooths it out some what.
If you don't animate regular cause you don't get the results you want it could be because you are not aware of the AM "helper and solver tools"
I figured out how to use the reaper and ping pong functions ( or curves) from the Fire and Smoke Tutorial in the Manuel.
One of the hardest things for me to animate was having a character hold and play a guitar or violin.
I had been trying such a feat from the 1st time I got AM. Then I solved the problem when I found the Aim at and Aim like two constraints work beautifully when set up properly.
setting up constraints can be a real pain if the order of the set up is not right.
Example: if I need to have a camera aim at an object while the camera is constraint to a path then I make sure the camera is constraint to the path 1st before I apply the Aim at constraint.
When I 1st tried use constraints I was not sure what I was doing and I would often give up and go back to manually doing things and then giving up( LOL).
I used to work as a CNC machine operator and I learnt that spending some time with setting up the machines made made them run smoothly and correct. If the set up was not right then one would have a lot of rework and blame the machine or someone else.
Just like Scottie from Star Trek I found my self on many occasions telling the boss, " need more time, if we rush this job the drills will over heat and cut every thing to the wrong size". The were times that I or the boss would scream @ each other but when the job was done and out of the way we were still friends and very often laugh at our past arguments. Why laugh? simple because most Angry people are just simply funny.
-
Sorry if I added to the "noise", Yardie...I was answering a question. In my opinion, it was harmless. I have also found that I have learned things from random mentions that people have made, so not everything off-topic is useless. Does answering the same question ten or twelve times count as noise? I've done that with a lot of my posts...I should probably curb that, huh?
My anger was not personal but I am glad you saw my point we all make noise we are not aware of.
-
After trying out other GC software I became aware it was possible to get very realistic and smooth motion by using the motion modifiers provided. When I went back to AM I found AM had similar types of plugin or constraints that aid with Animation. Without these aids the example gif animation I made in AM would have been impossible to make. After looking @ the thorn Sim_prj by Steffen Gross I realized it was possible to cut down Render time significantly using this plugging. The problem with most new people to animation including myself is we tend to do things the hard way for a long time and find it hard to change. Most people fear the maths that is sometimes involved or they give up if some thing does not appear to give them the right results.
I have found it rewarding @ to push myself when I try something new that does not work.
My rule is if it does not work the 1st and 2nd time then delete the whole thing, reboot your system and start again. If your tired then go to sleep and try again the very next day. It is far easy to get things right if you don't know how to do things the wrong way.
So if anyone out there can speak German then I would be grateful if the could translate any information on setting up the plugin for the Newton Dynamics projects. I am still on AM v12.
The Thorn project also uses Simo Cloth in combination with the Newton Dynamics. That is why I am puzzled as to how to get the set up project to simulate like the example.
-
Yardie,
You are in no danger of doing Hash Inc's work for them.
I'm sure they appreciate everything you can do to help explore A:M Features.
Thiscall sound like criticism but it's not. We are all A:M Users together.
Consider the following though:
Steffen Gross builds plugins for A:M for free in his own time. He's created a lot of plugins.
Hash Inc didn't ask Steffen to do it. He enjoys doing it.
Newton Dynamics is released (for free) to the A:M Community.
Well My question is quite simple. how did he set up the simulation for his throm sample. I could swear about a year ago there was more information on setting up his projects because I had a go with a sample that worked. I had to reinstall AM a number of times in between and left the Newton Dynamic alone for a while. I am sure I saw some of his instruction in German but the site is not there any more or the information removed.
If he has the any useful documentation in Germany then that should be no problem I would rather get the documentation in his mother language than English. Finding someone to translate it in to English should be no problem for me. I am also sure there are German users of AM that might be of help.
I agree with everything you say about helping the community I also believe recycling stuff to because I care a lot for the planet we live in. To care sometimes means sacrifice and working just that bit harder to figure stuff out.
It's true to say that I can have a very foul temper if I feel I am being short changed or bluffed. But in General I am a very easy going person that likes to communicate. When I barriers to communication like emotional anger rear there head i try and keep to logic thinking and not carried away with the drama
-
IIRC, yardie was the one who thought Newton was badly documented. After you exclude the language barrier thing, I thought it was quite well documented and I had little trouble figuring anything out about it. I think I write well, but if I had to reproduce my own work in Spanish, it would turn out a bit like the Newton documentation: correct, but a bit irritating to native Spanish speakers.
Making a visual tutorial using wink does not require a lot of written explanation. All people have to do is follow your cursor movements. I made 2 short tutorials on "Squash" and "Expression" with wink. The other good reason for making good notes is it helps you to remember. There is just so much to remember with AM that I spend more time making notes on how to get over or achieve certain things with it. My visual note are easy to follow than written notes. The only problem with writing a book is I have only kept to version 10.5 and 12. Taking the time to know how everything works means leaving the upgrades alone. The v13 is not compatible with older versions so I guess right now I want to know what the demand is. Other wise I could be wasting my time. And AM might not like me doing there work for them but one has got to make a living were one can.
-
....I foolishly bought the AM Technical Reference 2 years ago only to find all the pictures were in black and white yet it made many references to color. I too would love to write a manual or tutorial that shows you step by step how to make a face or using constraints and a promise that if you did not get the required results you would get your money back....
Why didn't you send it back for a refund, if you weren't happy with it? There is a 30-day money back garauntee on my online store.
The book was described as "226 pages black & white". How can you imply that you thought that it would be in color?
Your comments are offensive, libelous, and ungrateful (since that entire project was done to answer a desire in the community for a printed version of the tech reference...and was made available at an extremely low price).
If YOU ever come out with a book for A:M, then you might appreciate the amount of work is involved. But until then, I think my opinion of you will be that you are an ass....
I might be an ass but I dont make threats and get hot headed when I am critsized.
-
Nemo me impune lacessit.
Mater tua criceta fuit, et pater tuo redoluit bacarum sambucus.
Thanks for making it a party everyone!
well the party has began somewhere else see for your self what happens when software engineers push themselves to get a result without waffle. For around $2450 you can get software that has lasers hardware attached to your computer that can scan small and complex objects like aerosol cans or mobile phone and reproduce the results as a 3d model in your computer. The software also recreates all the material and fine detail of the object. Most new people to 3d graphics I guess would go for the new software and laugh at the slow trail and error methods. I love making models and animation but I have come to believe if you want to successful then you have to use what ever software that you can get your hands on to do the job. Having said that I rate AM above other CG software. The only problem is the with AM is the pages of repetitive information in it help files. They are many times when I look up a word and the explanation does not really relate to what I want to know.
-
I found this..."for example"="e.g." (exempli Gratia), "that is"="i.e." (id est). I always wondered where they came from...sometimes the Internet is cool. I just threw in the "i.e." because it was also mentioned on the link.
The BPM and FPS attracted me to this topic. But you guys sadden me when you leave the topic and start to act like Latin students. It only takes one person to distract from the topic and you all follow.
Most of the people that bought the soft ware would like to get the most out of it. I like most people spend hours trying to figure the relevance of most topics on this forum. If people don't know the answer to a problem they should say so or say nothing.
The whole forum should be cleared of relevant information. a good 95% of the forums are littered with garbage or information people could pass privately. Information on aspects of the software are the reasons people come to the forum. I have personally learnt a lot from Animation Master v10.5 and v12. I was going to add to the debate on sound but I found it pointless as it would not follow on from the nonsense before hand.
And some of you guys that make video tutorial need to listen to you stuff cause most of it is repetitive and just plane boring . Either you repeat one explanation so many times and omit other explanations and speak too fast. tack note
-
Wow. Wow. Wow... and Wow!
If you have'nt seen (or recently revisited) Matt Bradbury's Animation:Master Features wiki you must go there now!
A:M Features by Matt Bradbury
Matt has been systematically working his way through A:M and putting the information about A:M's features in his wiki for all to enjoy. Beautifully presentated with great information.
Thanks to Matt for all his hard work on this fine resource.
I am I the only one that does not see what the fuss over Matt. The information he is putting is already in the AM help files and in the manual. I foolishly bought the AM Technical Reference 2 years ago only to find all the pictures were in black and white yet it made many references to color. I too would love to write a manual or tutorial that shows you step by step how to make a face or using constraints and a promise that if you did not get the required results you would get your money back. But I guess that would not be allowed as you would have thousands of people that could real make stuff work with AM. I have taken the time to work out a lot of things in AM that help to get smooth animation and models without using tons of computer power.
-
I just got to tell you that if you try something complicated in AM and it does not work out then the answer is far easier than you think. Have you tried applying the decals using the cylindrical Method. I found with a simple patten it works. If your having such difficulty try the simple approach first. A lot can be achieved if you take your time and read up on the documation. Most of the documation on flattening is for the face. The few example that have used flattening on clothing have used simple pattens and they could have achieved the same results with applying the decal, cylindrically
-
You seem to be well along in your modeling but you might find something useful here;
http://www3.sympatico.ca/rodger.reynolds/a...e/auto_tute.htm
My only suggestion is if you're really serious about splining realistically smooth automotive surfaces, try setting your default material specular size and intensity to 50. You'll see every wave, crease and dimple. Happy tweaking.
hey roger your tutorial is just what I have been looking for. It is very clear and well written I now can't resist having a crack at it.
-
Thanks Robcat and Stuart for the quick replys. I will give both your methods a try
Oh dear looks like your on Am V13. sorry but your model wount open in my Am V12
-
Could you post a screenshot of the problem? That might help us diagnose it...
Here are the screenshots. I hope there are self explanatory.
As you can see trying to make the splines fit only causing distortion
Fire Light flicker
in TWO Effects
Posted
I am making some short video tutorials that I hope to upload to youtube. I need some help with the AM "Expressions". It has been a while since I did C and C++ but I still have an understanding of the logic used. In particular I would like help in making an object bounce in one direction then after a set time or distance for the object to bounce in another direction. I am familiar with the GeTIme(), Sin(), Cos(), Abs(), and Exp() Functions to make a bounce with decay. I have tried using the IF function to change direction with no luck.
I tired to make an expression for a Yo Yo sting so the string object can be seen to roll up and down but I gave up as my maths is a bit rusty. The idea of the video tutorials is that I never have to worry about remembering and expression every time I need to make on. My bounce tutorial should be on the tube by the end of this week. It will probably be posted as a video response to one of Johns tutorial.