T-Dogg
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Posts posted by T-Dogg
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Now you've got it Charles!!!
If memory serves me, in Physics class they taught us that Speed = Distance/Time. So to change the speed, you've gotta either change the distance or the time.
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Thanks for answering my question Charles! I figured something had to be done to avoid having two identical keyframes in the walk cycle.
I guess I was on the right track when I tried to answer your question earlier, since robcat pretty much says the same thing in his video... more time or bigger steps. Of course, he explains it a lot better than I did!
The only other options I can think of are to scale Thom up or scale the path down.
I tried using ease, but like you, I got pretty messed up results. I prefer to leave my stride length turned on for walk cycles anyway.
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Charlie,
I'm no expert, but I tried to repeat the project you described. I do have a few suggestions.
First off, 3 seconds is an awfully short amount of time to walk around a figure 8. Watch Thom go around the path without adding the walk cycle and you'll see exactly how fast he needs to be moving to get from beginning to end in 3 seconds. Maybe my figure 8 was larger than yours, but there was just no way he could "amble" around it in 3 seconds.
Secondly, the Resolute Walk seems to have a pretty short stride length for our favorite featureless yellow guy. If you study the action, you'll see that Thom never even fully extends his legs. I think you might need a different walk cycle with a greater stride length. That would let him go further with fewer steps.
That's just my 2 cents... before taxes even.
I don't mean to hijack your thread, Charles, but there is something that has always confused me about walk cycles, as well. I've read that the first and last keyframe should be identical. However, some animation lessons then go on to say that you should set a key at the next-to-last frame and then delete the last one. I don't think this was mentioned in TAoA:M though, so I was wondering if A:M handles things in some way that avoids having 2 identical keyframes in the walk cycle. From my own limited experience, it seems like when I animate a walk cycle and leave the first and last keyframe the same, that I do indeed get a very slight pause when the animation cycle repeats. I've been starting at 0 and ending at 24. Is it best to end at 25, but set a key at 24 and then delete the keyframe on 25? (I use frames elapsed instead of that SMPTE. It's easier for me to understand.)
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It's pretty much the same as every other model I've seen you do... AMAZING!!! You are one seriously talented modeller, Stian.
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Truly beautiful work by the folks working on TWO!
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It's been nearly a month, but I finally have another update to show. This time around I've been working on the rear end. I added the rear grill. I am going to add a transparency map to as son as I get around to painting one. I filled in that area in the fins. I must have been looking at one of the later photos when I colored it red. I believe it was originally black. I also added the Jet Pipe and the parachutes. The poarachutes aren't very detailed, I know. The hardest part of all of this was creating the trim around the jet pipe. It wasn't hard to model. It just took me a while to figure out how to get the sweeper plugin to do what I wanted it to.
I also did some tweaking of my grouping and surfacing. Instead of having the entire model with a black surface, I decided to go back to the default white color and then split the body into parts (body, doors, hood, trunk, etc.) and color each surface individually. If nothing else, it makes for easier selecting.
This beast already has 5626 patches, and I've still got so much left to do! I still need to fix the front end, add wheel wells, and do the entire interior.
Anywho, here's the pics. I hope y'all will like them.
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I bought the yeti CD about a year ago, and mine was the same as yours. It actually comes with v12 on the CD, but you can download all the v13 updates from the hash website and they will work with your CD. The newest version, which is 14, will not. You can get version 13.0t HERE
It should have come with the book The Art of Animation Master. I think you might be able to find a pdf version of it somewhere on these forums.
Oh yeah, WELCOME TO THE FORUM!
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TWO needs a better poster. It's a bit tame compared to the others and is more about the process of making the movie than the movie itself.
Yeah, what he said!!!
Seems like it's more of a poster for A:M than it is for TWO. It was definitely not the best way to pitch the movie, and that's what this contest was all about. Does that poster really make you want to see the movie? In my opinion it doesn't. I am not trying to offend anyone, but that's my 2 cents.
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David, you rock!
Not just for making this thing, but also for always being so helpful.
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OMG... an old black and white TV with rabbit ears??? HE REALLY IS IN HELL!
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Wow looks great!!! If this has't already been posted you can get more reference pics here - http://www.1966batmobile.com/
I have spent a lot of time on that site.
T-Dogg,I'm glad that you have not abandoned this WIP. It is coming out really cool!!! To just let it go would be such a shame. All A:M users who have thought of and worked on challenging projects can relate to the huge commitments involved. I hope you stay inspired and can someday finish this.
George
Thanks, George.
I am trying my best not to completely abandon it. I was a total newbie to spline modelling when I started this project. I've improved a lot since then, but I am still not very good. I still have trouble wrapping my head around the best way to run the splines. But as my skills have grown, so have my desires to do other projects. I wanted to model and rig my own characters (which I've done now). I wanted to learn to use cloth and hair better (which I've also done, but I am still learning). I wanted to animate (and I am working on a simple music video to teach myself). Modeling is the part of the whole movie-making process that I enjoy the least, so this project ended up on the back burner.
I regularly read Terrence Walker's blog (as do some other people here), and one point he makes all the time is that you just need to finish your movie no matter what, and then you can move on to the next one. I am going to try to apply that same philosophy to my modelling as well and finish this project no matter what. I am not going to stop working on my other, more enjoyable, projects, but I am definitely going to set aside time to work on the Batmobile regularly at least a few minutes each day. Some progress is better than no progress, right?
When Charles and I first started this project, there were times when I would get spurts of creativity and get a lot done. It would give me such a great feeling of accomplishment. It made up for all the times I got stuck and struggled. Hopefully I can rekindle some of that feeling and bring some fun back into my modeling.
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Hey, I got it first! Thanks David! :-)
I know dialup is pretty slow, but I recently lost my internet completely for a while and I would have killed just to have dialup. I was suffering from withdrawal!
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Cool, T-Dogg! This is the first time I've seen this. It was fun being able to see the progress through the whole WIP. And who doesn't love the old Batmobile?
It does look like to me that the wheels are smaller than they should be, so I took the liberty of superimposing the original roto image from your first post over your latest version to check.
Can't wait to see the finished piece!
largento, I always thought the wheels looked way too small, as well!
I made my tires small because I they were completely round and I didn't want to distort them to match the rotoscope. I thought the tires just weren't drawn very well in the original sketch (because the rims are elliptical, too, and not just the rubber, which would be flattened at the bottom do to the weigth of the car), so I lined things up the best I could, and then I moved on.
Now, after looking at that picture you posted, I noticed the wheels DO look round, and my model doesn't line up with the picture very well at all... at least not in the Y-axis. The only explanation I can think of is that maybe my rotoscope was squashed some back in the beginning stages to get the heights of the front, back, and side views to all be the same. The rotoscopes were set up to match the real-world measurements of the car, as well.
I am pretty much commited to these rotoscopes at this point. The only thing I can think of to do now is to continue modelling as I have been and make any changes to the scale of the model after I am done.
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I've been really busy lately with other things, as well as other projects in A:M, and I've let the Batmobile Project fall by the wayside. I do pull it out and work on it from time to time when I'm frustrated with my other projects, so it hasn't been completely forgotten.
I haven't really added anything new except for that emergency-whatever handle that hangs down in the middle. However, I have tweaked a lot of different areas of the mesh. When you compare my previous side view (top) to my current side view (bottom), you can see some of the changes. I raised the top of the front fender. I also lowered the area around the windshield. I think it looks much nicer now.
The things you can't really see are all the minor adjustments to the glass and the console(?) in the middle. I made a lot of adjustments to the bias handles to prevent intersections of their surfaces. I also discovered a lot of normals that were pointing the wrong way and fixed those. I try to watch that as I am modelling, but apparently I need to do a much better job of it.
I've started doing a little work on the interior, but I have nothing worth showing at this point.
I know it isn't a lot to show for over 5 months since my last posted update. I just don't enjoy modelling nearly as much as I enjoy experimenting with the different features and dabbling in animation. I will try to persevere and eventually finish this thing, though. I must admit I do feel a little more inspired ever since I got this.
Here are a couple more pics, since it's been so long since I posted any:
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This looks incredible, Paul. Nice work.
I can't seem to be able to choose a Custom Group. I have a model which is basically a circular mesh with the innermost ring group of CP's named "Attached", but when I go to the Custom Groups in the Attributes, there is nothing in the drop down list
Any ideas?
Dhar,
It sounds like you might be clicking on custom groups for the cloth material itself. The custom groups for the cloth in MATERIALS is always empty. If you go to where your cloth is applied to your object, you should be able to click on custom groups and see a list of all the groups. Your attached group should be visible there.
Hope this helps.
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You're welcome! It's nice to finally be in a position where I can occasionally answer questions instead of always asking them.
A lot of people on here have helped me, so I try to return the favor by helping others when I can. -
Hi everyone! when im doing the distortion mode is there any way i can change the default number of points i can select to distort the model?.
Click the Tools button and then click Options. Click the Modeling tab and you will find the place to change the Distortion Grid parameters.
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That is really cool! Great job!
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Rodney,
Now that I think about it.... I seem to recall seeing a thread about payouts for TWO. If the people were paid, then that actually makes them professionals... so hobbyist doesn't apply at all.
BTW, 3D World no longer has the reviews in the back of the magazine. They were supposed to put a buyer's guide on the website, but I don't think it's been released yet. As of issue #85 (the last time it was in the magazine) A:M did indeed have a 9 out of 10. The consistency can be attributed to the fact that this has been the same review since issue #72 (Christmas 2005). Personally, I would like to see a new review when v14 is released. Maybe the new SSS would bump A:M to a 10.
As a side note, I noticed another of my programs was also reviewed back in issue #72. Paintshop Pro X also received a 9 out of 10. I guess I have good taste in software!
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I've been buying 3D World for a while now, because I used to use a different program. Now I use A:M, but I still keep buying 3D World even though A:M is rarely mentioned. I do miss an ocasional issue because it has a habit of not showing up at the store some months. After I got A:M, I even went back through all my issues and made a little list for myself of the tutorials using it... and I do mean little list! There are only about 7 entries on it, and one of them is the hair tutorial mentioned in this thread!
In the case of TWO, I think using the word "hobbyist" could be a good thing. I don't mean to devaluate the people working on the film, but I think saying the movie is done by hobbyists might inspire more prospective 3D artists to take a look at A:M... and isn't that really the whole purpose of TWO?
If you can show that even hobbyists can create a movie using A:M, then all those people who like 3D but feel they might not have the ability (or the finances because a lot of those other 3D programs are EXPENSIVE) might plop down their $300 and give A:M a try.
That's just my 2 cents, though.
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Once you digest that there's a written tut on a more functional IK leg setup
I've used that tutorial as well, but unfortunately the webpage has "expired on 02/08/2007 and is pending renewal or deletion."
If you happen to own his book, Animation:Master A Complete Guide, the same leg setup is taught there. It is a really good starting point for setting up IK legs. Personally, I use his foot setup (with a few minor changes), but a completely different setup for the thigh and calf.
As a side note, I recommend buying David's book to anyone who is trying to learn A:M. It touches on some things not covered in TAoA:M.
EDIT - Looks like the web page is up and running again.
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The animation looks very cool T-Dogg. Just imagine the camera angles you can use after you finish the model!
The model is coming along nicely. Keep it up!
Also....LOL I thought I was the only one who used Paintshop Pro here. All I ever hear used is photoshop. Nice to know there are others out there hehe.
George
Yeah, I love PSP. It might not have all the bells and whistles that Photoshop has, but I really believe it can do everything I need. I paid around $50 for PSP X when it was marked down right before PSP XI came out. I'm just a hobbyist, so what it came down to for me is this: Does Photoshop really do enough to warrant me paying $600 more than I paid for PSP? In my case, the answer was a huge, resounding NO!!!
By the way, I was at a local Best Buy store the other day and they had some copies of PSP X marked down to $9.99!!! I was kinda PO'ed.
I don't have any updates to show this time around. I am really struggling of late. I've been trying to work in A:M at least an hour a day, but more often than not I find that I spend the hour working only to end up with results that I don't like. So I end up deleting it and having nothing to show for my time. It's frustrating.
I remember hearing that every artist has to make a thousand bad drawings before he gets a good one. (I think it might have been Chuck Jones who said that.) Perhaps modelling is the same way. Maybe I have to struggle through 1000 bad hours to get to that one good one. Unfortunately, at an hour a day that adds up to almost 3 years!
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Another update. I'll be working on the beacon now as time permits.
Beta Release of Glenn Anthofer’s Library Manager V0.36
in Free Models! Materials! Projects!
Posted
This sounds like a great little program, Rusty. Tell Glenn thanks from all of us! It will be a great way to keep everything together.
When I first got A:M, I used to get very frustrated with what I called "moving models" in my libraries. I would spend a lot of time arranging my models in the way I wanted. Later, I would find that my models had disappeared from the library!!! After searching I would find that they hadn't actually disappeared, but had just somehow moved to a completely different folder. For example, Thom might end up in the vehicals folder instead of the actors folder. It was annoying, to say the least! At first I thought it was just a strange fluke, but then it kept happening. Finally, I went back and fixed everything for what seemed like the thousandth time, and set the file attribute for the library file to READ ONLY. That fixed my "moving models" problem, but it also meant that I had to turn off READ ONLY every time I wanted to add something to the library and then turn it back on immediately afterwards... and hope everything stayed where it should.
Do you know if this program will help keep the "moving models" problem from happening? (I am assuming I'm not the only one who has experienced this phenomenon.
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