omoanime
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Here is a sample for you to take a peek at on my anime site. It's a recent entry, so only the video is in place but it has bright characters, loads of texture and fast moving elements.
I have a custom script I wrote for Sorenson 3 Pro/Sorenson Squeeze that takes the edited DV capture and compress it to a 160x120 file that delivers at 124 kilobytes per sec. That means that a 1:30 second piece compresses to approximately a 1MB file. I also save on bandwidth by running mono audio for these short previews.
http://www.omoanime.com/reviews/animedetai...so?id=1486&h=0#
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Before I could suggest a codec, a bit more information is required.
1) What is your target audience viewing this on? Computers or TVs? Macs or PCs?
2) What is your target delivery size? 640x480? 320x240? 1024x768?
3) What is your target delivery filesize? 1000 kilobytes per sec? 124 kilobytes per sec?
All three of the above combine to point you to your best codec. The Sorenson compressor, in it's Pro 2-pass mode, is an excellent codec that handles motion well and you can tweak gammas, brightness, etc, with the Sorenson Squeeze application. Inside of Quicktime Pro (which does not come with the Sorenson Pro but a 1 pass Sorenson compressor) the animation and Pixlet codecs are excellent at preserving color but with certain trade-offs.
The animation codec doesn't handle subtly as nicely as others and the Pixlet files can be huge, so the question circles back to the three above. Outside of the Quicktime realm, you might want to try Windows Media Player Encoder (free from Microsoft at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsme...r/default.aspx) or Real Player's solutions such as the Linux/Windows based Helix Platform (http://www.realnetworks.com/industries/resources/technology/helix.html)
Hope this helps,
Paul
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I archive everything to VXA tape. It's not the fastest storage medium out there but it is virtually indestructible and can hold huge amounts of data on a single cartridge.
New units can be pricey but you can find units on eBay for a little less.
http://search.ebay.com/VXA-Tape-Drive_W0QQ...rectZ1QQfromZR8
HTH,
Paul
I also maintain a 2TB Hard Disk Array for active projects - get a unit where you can swap out the drives. Then you can buy an inexpensive HD (200GB goes for under a $100 these days in the US) and store projects that way as well.
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Simon,
Have you taken a look at John Henderson's post on the topic from a little while ago? His solution and results were quite elegant.
http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=2982
HTH,
Paul
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Daniel,
I haven't tried to replicate your issue but if A:M handles colored light realistically and properly (which I expect it to do), then what you are seeing is the proper behavior.
The thing to remember when dealing with light and colors is that light is an additive process (red+blue+green=white) while paint is a subtractive process (red+blue+green=black).
The most likely reason you are not seeing the expected color on the dark surface is that when light is beamed onto a surface, the process of reflection determines what colors will be reflected back to your eye. If you shine a white light on a red surface, you will see red (with the area at the center of light brighter but still red) because the red pigment of the surface reflects the red light in the spectrum while absorbing the other colors in the light.
In theatre, we overcome this by two means. First, we use an overpowering light source. Most theatrical instruments have 2000w lamps, ellipsoidal reflectors and lenses to amplify the light to a point where the amount of light projected is more than the surface can absorb. The other method is to use color theory to our advantage and project a color against the surface that will result in the desired effect - if you have an orange surface and want to mute it, use an opposite color, blue, to
cause the two tones to cancel each other. You can do the same to "pump up" a color and that might help you here.
Here are two links that might do a better job of explaining additive color...
http://www.wellesley.edu/Chemistry/Chem&Ar..._and_color.html
http://www.bway.net/~jscruggs/add.html
I hope this helps and if A:M's lights don't actually work this way, I hope I haven't added more to the confusion - I am a theatrical designer and am use to having to deal with both additive and subtractive color, so I just assume A:M would do the same.
Paul M.
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Another "One Man, One Machine" 3D effort is "Voices of a Distant Star" also from ADV Films -> http://www.advfilms.com/catalog/DetailsVoi...DVDVolume01.asp
He probably could have finished even faster if he had used A:M. There is some "how I did it" stuff on the DVD in the form of an interview with the creator and the original production animatic.
Here is a link to the "history" of the project in terms of its release to the world...
http://daike.hp.infoseek.co.jp/HnK_history.html
and this link takes you to a pretty thorough overview site maintained by a fan...
http://daike.hp.infoseek.co.jp/About_The_V...stant_Star.html
And I have posted the trailer for this anime (but not a review, etc, yet) on my anime website...
http://www.omoanime.com/reviews/animedetai...sso?id=1240&h=1
This anime was my inspiration for buying A:M, even though the creator did not use A:M.
Paul
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Not URDA/Magical Play related but I saw the extended trailer for the upcoming Appleseed 3D movie on the 3rd Gungrave DVD. It looks nice but it also looks like it could have (or should have) been done with A:M. It certainly has A:M's cell-shading look to it. I am sure there are some here on the list that have see it and can comment.
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Hi,
I used A:M to pre-model an exhibit I designed for The Hunger Project. The event went up Saturday, November 6 and was a huge hit. You can read my post that I made after presenting the A:M generated walkthrough on the second page of this thread...
http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=7235&st=15
here is the rendered image and a photo from the event...
http://www.propagatedesign.com/dropbox/thp_west.jpg
http://www.propagatedesign.com/dropbox/IMG_0440.JPG
I'll post a more thorough case study later once I have processed all the images and video
Paul Melia
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As far as the Linux/Unix goes, the Mac OS (OS X and up) is a Unix Operating system (based on a variant of the Berkley BSD).
As far as picking a machine based on what is used at a studio now, you are making a very fundamental and potentially career ending mistake. By the time you are ready to work for a studio, they will have changed machines and most likely software as well. Time is money and the studio will invest in new systems that give them the most performance available for the best price. Hence the combination of PCs, Macs, Linux, Unix and other proprietary systems found in the major studios.
You are much better off focusing on the fundamentals of the area that most interests you while remaining agnostic to software and platforms. If you desire to become an animator, take life drawing class (with a pencil, no OS required), literature courses (to build your storytelling skills) and enroll in programs like Animation Mentor (http://www.animationmentor.com). If the technical side appeals to you, study math and take college level computer science courses.
If you do this, you will become a highly sought after individual and you will have skills that open up a wide range of opportunities to you.
Personally, I have numerous PCs, Macs and Linix machines and find them all useful tools. But that is all they are - useful tools.
HTH,
Paul
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Hi Greg,
Success! The new link on the http server worked very nicely on my Macs (OS 10.3.5/Safari Browser/Windows Media Player 9). The demo paused for buffering at one or two points but that had more to do with web traffic than a problem with the file.
Two points to remember -
1) Most Mac user don't have Windows Media Player installed (since it doesn't come pre-installed with the computer), so be sure to make it clear that they must download and install it. The <object> tag code I posted previously should initiate a download prompt to users without the plugin.
2) Microsoft has not released a version 10 of Windows Media Player for the Mac and has been cagey about whether they ever will (alpha male pissing match over digital music formats is the cause). So the official position is similar to their stand on Internet Explorer - no future updates are currently planned but they will respond to market demand. In other words, shoot for Windows Media Player 9 compatibility and you should be fine.
Thank you again for all the hard work!
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Mac OS X with Windows Media Player 9 installed...
- Cut-n-Paste URL into browser (Safari): Fails
(WMP launches and states "The specified stream type is not recognized")
- Cut-n-paste URL into WMP directly (via File -> Open URL...): Fails
(WMP launches and states "The specified stream type is not recognized")
- Change url to "ftp://ftp.hashmirror.com/pub/movies/" and paste into browser (Safari): sorta works
(opens ftp server in a finder window. User must locate file among all files on Hash server, then either download ~70MB file - recommended or can launch file and view off ftp server - not recommended, causes alert window to open, warning user that viewing video directly from an ftp server is unreliable and may be interrupted). I am viewing this on a 3Mb per second cable modem)
- attempted to create a load page to test with embedded player: fail
(file needs to be on a http server, not ftp, but should work)
Here is the code for that. Place the proper URL (dummy url in their now) in the appropriate places...
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-html401-19991224/loose.dtd">
<html>
<head>
<title>WMP Test</title>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
</head>
<body leftmargin=0 topmargin=0 class="body">
<br>
<br>
<center>
<OBJECT ID="MediaPlayer"
CLASSID="CLSID:22D6f312-B0F6-11D0-94AB-0080C74C7E95"
STANDBY="Loading Windows Media Player components..."
TYPE="application/x-oleobject"
CODEBASE="http://activex.microsoft.com/activex/controls/mplayer/en/nsmp2inf.cab#Version=6,4,7,1112">
<PARAM name="autoStart" value="True">
<PARAM name="wmvdemo" value="http://www.hash.com/pub/movies/wmvdemo.wmv">
<EMBED TYPE="application/x-mplayer2"
SRC="http://www.hash.com/pub/movies/wmvdemo.wmv"
NAME="MediaPlayer">
</EMBED>
</OBJECT>
</center>
</body>
</html>
The file looks good, though.
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I don't see the file in ftp folder you indicated.
Mac OS X (10.3.5) via Transmit FTP program
Paul
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Hi All,
There is a great article about the upcoming "The Incredibles" in today's New York Times. The author wisely focused on the techniques and challenges in making a 3-D movie with human characters as the leads and there is a lot of great knowledge to be learned from the story.
If you are interested in animation and/or working with animated human characters, I would strongly recommend you read and save the article. The greatest bit of news is that you could replicate most, if not all, of the techniques described with A:M (and you will have a greater appreciation for the skill, dedication and complexity involved in animation and how A:M makes it so much easier)
The article is available at this link (free registration may be required - please do not violate copyright and forum rules and paste the content of the article on this forum.)
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/03/movies/0...ml?pagewanted=1
Enjoy!
Paul M.
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Hi all
This is a slightly off topic post, but I think the requested info could be of use to other hash members as well
I am in the process of setting up a website and getting a domain name, to showcase my work.
If anyone has any advice about what to look out for and what to avoid I would appreciate it.
1) Who are some reputable domain name providers?
I have had great success with flagshiphosting and digital.forest. I have used Earthlink, Interland and AT&T in the past and though they were good, they were unable to meet my growth needs
2) acquiring a domain name - what are the core issues?
If you are going with a host that provides a mail server and webspace, then there is no need to get the same services from your domain name reseller. The big issue in domain names is misspellings and alternate versions. If you have a difficult to spell name, you may wish to purchase the most common misspellings. Alternate versions could include other domain realms such as .tv, .net, etc
3) isp hosts - again, what are the core issues?
Uptime and responsiveness to support needs are very important. Also, do they offer the features you intend to use - databases, shopping carts, forums, etc. Since you mentioned multimedia, you may want someone with a Quicktime, Windows Media or Real Player server (though is it not required). Often, the cheaper the service, the higher the price for a la carte or overage charges.
Remember, all it takes is one popular film to eat up all of your bandwidth and have you paying through the nose. I am also concerned about security and demand robust tools and solutions from my ISPs for that.
4) who are known good isp providers
I recommend Flagship Hosting (www.flagshiphosting.com) and Digital Forest (www.df.net) to my clients and use them myself. They meet all of my needs and offer Postini spam and virus filtering on all mail accounts.
5) who are known bad isp providers
The list is too long. Insist on knowing the refund policy and what solutions they have in place if the company was to close. The good ones will answer you right away, the bad ones will not or will give you a bogus answer
6) how much bandwidth should I get - given that I will be presenting images and multimedia files (hopefully lots of them!)
You probably want 2GB of bandwidth but this is another place where some ISP will try to back you into a corner with a high bandwidth/low storage combo like 2GB of bandwidth and 50 or 100MB of storage space or the inverse. Also, be sure to ask about their overage policy - will you just get an additional bill? Will they notify you when you are over or close to over? Or will they suspend your site when you are over until you pay for the overage?
7) anything else
I recommend that you choose an ISP that matches your current needs and abilities. If you use Adobe GoLive to make your sites, ask them if they use it and support it. Then consider whether that ISP has the ability to meet your future needs. If they meet those requirements, ask them for a list of sites hosted with them that you can review. Try to see sites that are doing the same as what you want to do. Then, if you want to go even further, write to the site's owners and ask them about the service.
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Robert,
My background is as a professional scenic designer working for over 10 years on major Broadway musicals, TV and feature films. I earned both a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master of Fine Arts and I still have much to learn and always will.
Here is my critique...
DSCN0418.jpg - male seated pose
The shading is good and the folds in the neck at the shoulder joint are especially nice. But overall, the image has a proportion problem. The top of the body (above the waist) is larger than the body below. Male hips tend to be about the same width as the shoulders. The head seems long and the ear is too small.
fdwlay.jpg - female resting pose
The pose is a good one for working on foreshortening but it suffers from not really have a sense of place. It is hard to tell if this is a top down, 3/4 view, or side view. The shape of the hip and buttock on the model's left is nice but the connection between her head and her body is missing.
fgstand.jpg - female standing pose
This is a drawing I can relate to - I did hundreds of the same one during my art training (BTW - undergraduate was at Virginia Commonwealth University, an excellent top-tier art program). It is difficult, as men, to know just how the female breast connects to the body - how it disappears into the sternum and under the arm, so almost all starting male artist begin with very masculine women. But, except for the misshaped breast, this drawing is pretty strong. The proportions are good and the slight angle to the viewer is much nicer than if it had been straight on. Take another look at how the armpit works - this poor lady's arm is barely hanging on with the joint you drew.
gesture-1.jpg
Great! keep doing them! There really isn't a right or wrong to gesture drawings. I, personally, would like to see more indication of the trunk, waist and angle of the hips - really block out the all of the planes of direction (vs. the surface of the body) but that is my style and might not be yours.
shadingstudy2...
this is another strong work. The proportions and how the body connects to itself still need tweaking around the lower back and buttocks but the pencil work shows the efforts of your practicing. The shading is a good first attempt - always try to allow the paper to be your high midrange color and apply white sparingly. Use your blacks and grays to fill the shadows - its more dramatic and easier to control than adding white.
shadingstudyongray...
I think this is the strongest of the bunch. Again, there are areas of proportion and relation that need further study - the forearm going under the head is not fully realized and seems a bit broad. The nipple is out of perspective and has a too heavy outline. The upper chest feels a bit barrel chested and again the hips are a spot that will need more work - it almost seems like someone took a chunk out of his thighs just below his buttocks.
Overall, I think you have an excellent start. I didn't start formal art training until college, so you are already ahead of where I was. Here are my suggestions...
1. try doing some contour sketches - where you don't lift your pencil off the page or even look at the page. Keep your eyes on the subject and move your hand to match your eye movements. This is excellent for breaking the "short stroke" habit (where you strike small, short strokes as you sketch a form.)
2. try doing some very fast sketches with a medium tip black sharpie - again the goal is to break the habit that all starting artist have of making lots of "stabs" at the page
3. try copying old master sketches - Leonardo, Michaelanglo, Albrecht Durer. It is the absolute best way to learn proportion, contour and shading.
4. keep asking for advice and critiques - you are already a success and an artist for taking this most important and brave step. Bravo!
I hope this hasn't been too harsh. If it is any consolation, I enjoyed a really great bonfire party after grad school where I burned most all of those early exercises. I did keep some, but you'll know what to keep and what to toss.
Here is a copy of Da Vinci's Old Man that I did my first year in art school. The ear sucks and the some the line weights in the neck wrinkles, nose and eyebrows are amaturish but it really taught me tons about everything when it comes to drawing -> http://www.omoanime.com/wip/davincicopy.jpg
I hope this helps and keep drawing - you gonna be great!
Paul
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Look in the "DATA" folder and root around in each version folder - v7.1, HASH2001, as these have the models that came with that year's version
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All of those models are available from Hash's ftp server. There is a link near the bottom of the left hand menu on Hash's home page. Dig around in there - lots of good, free stuff.
A talented team (of which I am the untalented part) is working on collecting, prepping and putting together a great catalog of models and more for release with future versions of A:M and such.
HTH,
Paul
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I don't know what settings were used but remember that in image contests, the use of Photoshop is allowed.
But couldn't you do most of that detailing to the decals and then use the toon shader?
Paul
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If your DVD player cannot perform frame by frame advance - due either to the software or to the disc - you could also try installing a dvix player. Most of them can playback DVDs as well.
But the best solution, IMHO, is to use a Mac for this. The DVD player in OSX has great abilities and Ambrosia Software's SnapX Pro is the most powerful screen capture program out there - it, when you have the movie capture version, can do full 30 fps capture of a DVD playing on screen, with sound.
HTH,
Paul
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Holes
in (2003-2004)
Personally, I start with the hole and work outward. In A:M, a hole is created when you have a non-valid patch - that can be a patch made from one spline circled around on itself or a number of other ways.
As Tunesy suggested, there are a number of good tutorials to get you started available. Check out A:M Resources -> http://www.lowrestv.com/arm/ or the hash tutes, David Rogers' book or the Anzovin tutes
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Your wish is our command! We have both male and female models created by Dev that are superb. Mark has prepped them and I am creating a set of "normal" clothes for them. And if I get the time and motivation, maybe even more.
Paul Daley, Rodney Baker, Mark Skodacek, Vern Zehr, myself and a long list of truly generous and talented individuals are working hard to create something very special for the next CD.
Keep posting your ideas and suggestions - we might not be able to accomplish all of them but we'll try to do our best to make sure what comes through is great.
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The only thing I will add to the conversation is that they have a free demo that is among the top 10 software downloads in the OS X section of Apple's site.
I look forward to the day when Hash unseats them.
(assuming that we are talking about the shady characters)
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Nasa's Earth Images...
http://earth.jsc.nasa.gov/sseop/efs/mm.htm
Choose "urban areas" in the scroll box and click search
HTH,
Paul
Disappearing Model
in (2003-2004)
Posted
On my Mac, a similar problem would occasionally occur and I found that if you adjust the real-time render quality setting the trouble went away. It's the Page Up and Page Down keys.
The model will look more "blocky" and the textures more rough but that is only for the real time display. You will still get a nice smooth model when you render.
HTH,
Paul