Exercise 3: Move it

[Rodney]

Great job Chris!

 

The background works great with the theme (posing).

Your image strikes on several levels and as such immediately pleasing to the eye.

 

Nice.

[Rodney]

Thought I'd put together something of an official TaoA:M review.

The idea being to get all thoughts onto one page as quickly as possible while thoughts are fresh in the mind.

 

While no one may care to get feedback from little ol' me... I'll offer it for those interested.

Agree... disagree... it's all good.

 

Feedback is something we all need.

I hope you agree.

Ex3_Rodney__s_Review.pdf

[Chrury Sanson]

Well I'll be! That reminds me of my Keystone animation course! With useful info! Saved! Thanks.

 

I was going for that clothes store window feel. I suppose a "belk" or something sign on the glass would have helped with that. (yes there's a plate of 'glass' between the camera and the rabbits. I'll be more careful with refraction in the future. 1.02 = 10X render time )

[Rodney]

I was going for that clothes store window feel. I suppose a "belk" or something sign on the glass would have helped with that. (yes there's a plate of 'glass' between the camera and the rabbits. I'll be more careful with refraction in the future. 1.02 = 10X render time

 

Now that you mention that it seems obvious but I think you can see where my mind drifted elsewhere.

 

I agree some indication of glass would have probably worked.

A decal or two ,"New Year's Sale", or something to that effect.

Perhaps a sidewalk in front?

 

This is where exploring the story could be used to good effect.

It certainly would sell the fact that it is a storefront.

 

If it were a take on a Norman Rockwell painting it might have some rabbit passersby looking in the window or walking by. Quite a few possibilities there.

 

Still, all in all, well done.

[totlover]

Name: Caleb Gunby

 

Exercise completed: Ex 3

 

Date Completed: Jan 4, 2006

 

Comments: This is really fun

 

Ex_3.bmp

[Leo73]

Good job Caleb.

[totlover]

thanks again leo

[nicknite]

Name: Dion Kirfman

 

Exercize: 3 Move it

 

Date completed: 1-4-07

[Leo73]

Good job Dion, these beginning exercises are easy and fun. Keep up the great work.

[Rodney]

Outstanding work guys.

 

Here's the pick of 2007 so far.*

These rabbits crack me up.

 

 

*Any guesses as to whose work it is?

They've taken up their rightful place in the first post of this Exercise... Here.

[totlover]

Outstanding work guys.

 

Here's the pick of 2007 so far.*

These rabbits crack me up.

 

 

*Any guesses as to whose work it is?

They've taken up their rightful place in the first post of this Exercise... Here.

 

that picture is mine,

 

Caleb's

[Rodney]

that picture is mine,

 

That it is Caleb, and a fine image it is at that.

[totlover]

that picture is mine,

 

That it is Caleb, and a fine image it is at that.

 

thanks

[jmf3d3d]

Name: Jeremiah M. Faries

 

Exercise Completed: #3: Move it

 

Date Completed: Jan 4, 2007

 

Instructor: none

 

Remarks: Here's a jpeg of the final pose (4 rabbits mimic the 4 poses on first page of exercise). In the foreground rabbit 5 mimics discobolos. He refused to remove his red sweater though... claimed he didn't have the body for it... literally.

 

 

 

I also have a question about file size. The next few submissions will be increasingly large movies (well between 1 and 2 mb). I compress the avi into movs trying to manage a tradeoff between size and quality. What is the limit for posting? The attachment form sez "max. single upload size: 8mb". Is that true?

 

--Jerry

[Moonsire]

Exercise 3: Move it

Completed: Jan 31, 2005

No Inst.

 

Toon Rendered

 

[Caroline]

I also have a question about file size. The next few submissions will be increasingly large movies (well between 1 and 2 mb). I compress the avi into movs trying to manage a tradeoff between size and quality. What is the limit for posting? The attachment form sez "max. single upload size: 8mb". Is that true?

 

--Jerry

 

Hi, Jerry - nice lighting

 

If you render your animations to use the Sorenson 3 codec, the file sizes will be a lot smaller.

 

1. Make sure that on your Render to File Settings dialog you have Advanced ticked.

2. Change the format to mov

3. Click the triangle next to format, and click Set.

4. Change the compression type to Sorenson Video 3

5. Change quality to Medium.

 

You should be able to render the shorter movies to VGA, and still be under 1MB (that's with no sound, though).

[jmf3d3d]

Hi Caroline, thanks your kind comment and for the response to my question. I've been rendering to AVI and then converting the files in Adobe Premiere to MOV. I generally prefer the AVI format for my stuff but I understand that MOV is the only format I can use to post. I tried out many codecs and I agree that Sorenson 3 is the best for filesize and quality. I'll try to render directly to MOV and compare. So, do I understand from your mention of 1mb that that is the single file limit? Thanks again,

 

--jerry

[Caroline]

Not 1MB file limit, Jerry - On my reply window here, it says Max. single upload size: 8mb. It used to be 4mb, but may have gone up with the new forum. But 8mb would be very big, and may deter people from downloading.

 

You can do the video conversion within A:M, you can convert tgas to mov, mov to avis, etc.

 

There's a video of how to do that in this Thread.

 

Since I've been using mov, I actually prefer it - I like being able to step through it frame by frame with the arrow keys, and being able to loop it.

[Nunsofamerica]

name: Ryan Krysiak (nunsofamerica)

Exercise : #3

Completed : January 14, 2007

 

Suggestions. uhhhhh, Pankake! I am in a good mood. lol. just have fun.

 

[RockLee]

Name: Steven Ellinger

 

Exercise Completed: Exercise 3 Move It

 

Date Completed: 1-27-07

 

Instructor: None

 

Remarks/Suggestions: So far this is my favorite lesson. I did it three times, and I am very happy with how it came out. Instead of trying to make up my own pose, I took the book's suggestion and tried the poses in the book. The sad sitting pose was the most dificult. The one in the book must be rigged a little different, because I couldn't get the ears to bend right. The sitting one also had a drooping face, and the one that is leaning over has angry eyes. Even so, I am very pleased with my poses.

[Tunames]

NAME: Steve George

EXERCISE: #3

INSTRUCTOR: You

[Rodney]

Steve,

I've always suspected Keekat and Rabbit were moonlighting as acrobats or performers.

Now we know the truth.

 

That lighting, Ambiance Occlusion I take?

 

Steve... Steven... ohoh... this could get confusing.

[Caroline]

I was wondering what the interesting lighting was - is that what AO looks like?

[Tunames]

Its actually an old skylight rig if I remember right our own Yves made it. Rendered in Multipass 16 passes with the soften turned on. And uh .... Just call me 2-names...

[Tunames]

Oh by the way what is ambient occulsamacallit? And the skylight rig is Yves you can find it at his website "ypoart.com"

[Rodney]

Matt Bradbury has a great write up of AO in the A:M Features wiki.

Check it out!

 

A:M Features - Ambiance Occlusion

 

When the question was asked before here in the forum Yves's response was:

Ambiant occlusion is calculating, for each pixels, the amount of the environment that is occluded by surrounding objects in a scene. In A:M you get the same effect with a skylight rig.

[rwilkens]

I redid exercise 3.. i'm trying to go through the exercises again...

 

http://robwilkens.com/tao/tao-exercise3.jpg

 

I tried to stay exactly aligned with the picture in the book. For me it was an exercise in following directions.

-Rob

[largento]

Name: Mark Largent

Exercise 3

February 8, 2007

 

Comments: The Rabbit Supper! Decided to take on a challenge with this one. This was a lot of fun and I learned a lot over the course of it.

 

[jlummel]

Name: James Lummel

Exercise Completed: #3

Date Completed: 2/14/2007

Instructor: A:M Tutorial Video

Remarks/Suggestions for Improvement: None.

 

Edit: After reading Excercise 4 "It's a Pitch" I decided to practice my poses a bit more and went back and did the other poses for the rabbit.

 

[effreek]

Name: Jonathan Webster

 

Exercise Completed: Exercise 3: Move It

 

Date Completed: 2/13/07

 

Instructor: The Art of Animation Master Book

 

Remarks/Suggestions for Improvement: Tried the other poses suggested. This one was fun.

[eburritt]

Name: Ed Burritt

Exercise Completed: #3

Date Completed: 2/16/2007

Instructor: Manual

Remarks/Suggestions for Improvement: Practice, Practice, Practice

 

[Rodney]

I think I missed the opportunity to officially welcome you to TaoA:M... so...

 

EVERYBODY WELCOME ED TO TaoA:M!!!

 

Practice, Practice, Practice

 

I see you've already been indoctrinated.

[eburritt]

Thanks Rodney!

 

It is a pleasure to be with all of you.

 

And a hearty Thank You!! for taking care of this forum.

[Raffi]

Name: Ralf Kampp

Exercise: 3 (Move it)

Date completed: 23.2.2007

[elliotclem1]

Name: Elliot Clements

Exercise Completed: Exercise 3: Move it

Total Completed Exercises: 3

Date Completed: 24 February, 2007

Instructors: Manual

Remarks/Suggestions: I found this exercise quite hard and time consuming. But it was really worth it and i am very impressed with the finished project.

 

[Rodney]

I found this exercise quite hard and time consuming. But it was really worth it and i am very impressed with the finished project.

 

You are storytelling now!

 

Well... mostly still imagery... but put pose with pose and the next thing you know you are animating!

 

In simplistic terms this exercise sums up the level of difficulty you can expect to encounter throughout your journey into animation.

There will always be elements you know and feel really comfortable with.

Other aspects will continually present new challenges requiring time and attention you'd rather be applying somewhere else.

 

One of the reasons I like Exercise 3 so much is the storytelling aspect.

Define a good character pose and it'll automatically tell a story.

 

Good job Ralph and Elliot!

[tbenefi33]

Finished Exe 3 I was messing around with the toon rendering and came up with this one.

 

[howboring]

That looks cool! Toon rendering is one of my favs of Hash A:M

[Logrus]

Finished Exe 3 I was messing around with the toon rendering and came up with this one.

 

 

Very nice, i like his expression. Toon is also one of my favorite, just because you can give it so many differnt looks. This looks like an inked out sketch. Keep up the good work..

[Tigerblue]

Name: Pip Rawlinson

Exercise: 3:Move It

Date Completed: Sometime late Januray 2007

Instructor: Manual, videos and this forum

 

Hello, I've got three exercises to post today. Unfortunately, I haven't touched A:M for a month but I am back to it now and am posting my work from a few weeks ago.

 

I had a few problems with A:M v13 and 14 on a Mac. The program was crashing a lot and after a while this project file refused to continue updating. Hash support were able to open it for me but any changes I make just won't take. So I hope it's ok if I upload a tiff file of the finished poses as any tga files I create don't show the finished poses.

 

The one (constructive, I hope) criticism I would have of A:M is that there aren't enough instructions on how to save a project (with models etc) just when you're starting out. Could someone advise if I'm doing the right thing by saving the project to a folder I've created: Desktop/Animation/TaoA:M/Exercise 3 and putting the copies of each of the different rabbit models in there? Is that all I need to do?

 

I realise I've made the exercise slightly more complicated than it has to be but it's been SUCH a great learning exercise that I couldn't resist! I've enjoyed it a lot and was inspired by some earlier posts with four bunnies in different coloured jumpers. Your instructions on how to do this were great, Rodney (once I'd worked out what the PWS was - like I say, I'm a complete newbie.

 

One final question - I couldn't get the pupils to move so Rabbit looks slightly deranged in certain poses. The eye itself moved but that didn't help. Is there a way of doing this?

 

Apologies for such a long post but any help or comments would be much appreciated.

Many thanks,

Pip

Ex3TigerblueCamera1.tiff

[Rodney]

Pip,

I didn't know that one of the Rabbit brothers was deranged but I sure know it now!

 

There is an eye target null somewhere in there that you can move around.

Once you find it you can place it on the object of interest for your character and adjust the head until it matches the gaze.

 

The one (constructive, I hope) criticism I would have of A:M is that there aren't enough instructions on how to save a project (with models etc) just when you're starting out. Could someone advise if I'm doing the right thing by saving the project to a folder I've created: Desktop/Animation/TaoA:M/Exercise 3 and putting the copies of each of the different rabbit models in there? Is that all I need to do?

 

You are right. Most of the instructions around here assume a basic understanding of computer operation.

I've worked with kids and adults lately that are intimidated by that aspect. Perhaps we could make a quick 'cheat sheet'?

For the most part you just save as you would in any other program; "self evident" I believe is the term.

 

Where A:M picks up an moves to the next level is in options to package or embed files.

There is also a consolidate option (I won't delve into that here but its a great option).

 

For those just starting out this can be a bit confusing so the current documentation lets people move into it at their own pace.

v14 has "Save Project" under the main File menu so that should help.

 

Once use to all that I might recommend using the 'Embed All' command.

You'll find this under the Projects menu.

It makes sure all resources connected with the project (except images) are saved in one project file.

The images will remain where they were when added to the project so consider that.

 

If you are saving just your model (and not embedding it in a project) you may want to create subfolders within that model folder to contain any images and materials associated. That way when you grab the model to take it somewhere else (or share it with others) everything needed with it will go.

 

There is an infinite amount of information about A:M that isn't covered in the manual.

The answers can still be found by asking here in the forum!

[Tigerblue]

Many thanks, Rodney, for such a detailed and informative response.

 

I think a "cheat sheet" would be a good idea. I've had a few problems with A:M (the libraries don't automatically appear in v13 of the Mac software; and as I mentioned, the program kept crashing and files wouldn't update) so it's possible my experience has been worse than others. Figuring out how to save things on top of all these other issues was frustrating. I'm not complaining, just stating a fact. The forums have been invaluable.

 

The message that comes up when you first try to save a model is a bit scary for beginners! When you're just starting out, you're afraid you're going to override defaults and then not know how to get them back. Perhaps some reassurance on that front (plus a quick guide to how to / where to save to) would be helpful?

 

Happy to help further if I can.

 

Pip

[brainmuffin]

Here is my posed rabbit:

[Rodney]

Here is my posed rabbit:

 

He's just sitting there... staring at me.

Doesn't he ever blink!

 

 

 

Edit: He's still not blinking.

Good grief that's unnerving.

How does he do that!?!

Edited March 31, 2007 by Rodney

[jbeery]

Name: Jim Beery

Exercise Completed: Move It

Date Completed: March 31 2007

Instructor: TaoA:M pdf

Remarks: My copy of the TaoA:M is missing page 34 with the other 3 poses (maybe one of my dogs ate it?)

Not only did I get the idea of the exercise I was hard pressed to move on from Move It.

[Logrus]

Looks good, I like how you played with the camera angle. Dont worry to much about the other 3 poses. If you want to practice a couple more times on poses you see during your normal day. But i think your ready for the next step..

[rojon]

Rod Muller

Exercise: 3 Move It

Completed: 04/01/2007

Instuctor: Video Tutes: Forums :Manual

 

having alot of fun,, still working on the lighting.

[rojon]

Name: Rod Muller

Exercise: 4 Pitch

Date Completed: 04/01/2007

Instructors: Video Tutes : Forums: Manual

 

a big thanks to all who make the video tutorials,

 

 

 

 

 

Pitch.mov

[catsqueezer]

Name: Brent Lowrie

 

Exercise Completed: Exercise 3

 

Date Completed: March 31, 2007

 

Just moving through the exercises as fast as possible to get up to production speed.

 

[spacecomics]

Name: Roger Christenson

 

Exercise Completed: Exercise 3

 

Date Completed: 8 April 2007

 

Instructor: Book & Video

 

 

I tried the 3 poses on page 34 and had difficulty with the middle one, especially getting the left arm out front - it was going through the torso until I remembered to move the shoulder forward. After working with that a while the 3rd one went somewhat easier: