Trouble working with models...

[wsimike]

Hello..

 

This isn't a complaint about anything, but rather a "how do you deal with this" sort of thing.

 

I'm working through the AoAM book and am still on the "It's a Pitch" project. It's taking me some time thanks to rl issues and, most pertinently, because I'm finding myself having trouble working on it.

 

Basically, I'm finding it very difficult to work with the armature. It seems that I can't get the right angle to move/rotate things and it's causing me alot of headaches. For example, I'm working in left-side view and everything looks fine.. until I look at it head on or from any other angle, then I realize that everything is out-of-whack looking. Then it's a challenge trying to find an angle that I can discern one bone from another, making sure I'm selecting the right bone, and then selecting the appropriate part of it for the task I need to complete. Not always trivial when you have several bones all overlapping each other in a given view.

 

All in all, I'm finding myself going back and having to fix, re-fix and re-re-fix a single part of the model, like the arm when you're bringing it back for the pitch. The arm's fine.. but the hand looks all funny. So I adjust that.. looks fine.. 'til I look at it in another view.. and so forth.

 

How do you all get used to working with rigs/models? How do you get your eyes to adjust, or know that what you're adjusting from one angle isn't throwing it off in some other way?

 

I hope that makes sense.

 

Thanks :-)

[GAngus]

Hello..

 

"Basically, I'm finding it very difficult to work with the armature. It seems that I can't get the right angle to move/rotate things and it's causing me alot of headaches."

 

Animating models well, will take many, many hours of practise and only after you have learned all the tools of A:M.

Just a quick tip, if you are not aware of it yet.

After you have finally selected the bone you want to move, just hit the "R" key on keyboard and a small 3d positioning globe will appear and may make more precise positioning easier.

Re-Read and Re-Do every exercise a couple of times and I gaurntee you will discover and learn more each time. The "devil is in the details" as they say, and is FACT when learning A:M.

Just hang in and obsorb it all as you go foward. Then go back, and do it again before trying something else.

A:M is a very powerful, full featured application that can do so many different things and each thing very well.

If you can better describe (more specifically) where you have dificulties, I am certain more users here will help out.

Sorry about the "pep-talk" jive, but it'll be worth it when you succeed.

[jpappas]

How do you all get used to working with rigs/models? How do you get your eyes to adjust, or know that what you're adjusting from one angle isn't throwing it off in some other way?

 

 

Hi,

 

I think you just need to find your own workflow and make checking other Views a habit. If I move the arm in the Left view, I always check Top and Front. Sometimes I just press T and twist my view around. And let's say I'm rotating the arm, I'd rather hit R for the Rotate tool and grab just one axis; the rotate is more predictable for me this way.

 

BTW, I don't do this myself yet, but another thing you can do is open multiple windows and set each one to a different View, so as you move something in one, you can instantly see what it looks like in the others.

 

Another thing I like to do is save multiple copies of my project as I work on it. Sometimes if you move something and because of IK or some other thing, it ends up twisting another part of the model, it's just easier and quicker to go back to your last good state and go foward again.

 

Hope some of this helps!

 

-Jim

[LurkerAbove]

I had the same problem. Still do, actually, but I don't have it as much. A lot of it is practice, and some of it for me was the realization that moving something from one angle might visually look like its going where you want it, and then you discover its not.

 

I can only second checking from multiple views, and for me, I tend to constrain my motion by either using the advance manipulation tools (the ones that put you into either translate, rotate or scale mode) and selecting translate/rotate in X,Y,Z only (based on the color handle)

 

On the keyboard, you can constrain your motion by using the 123 keys on the keyboard as well. A cool thing is you always seem to have a labeled axis legend on your choreography screen. You'd almost think they planned it.

 

For me, arms were the worst, and are still a bit of a struggle. Animating KeeKat backhanding Sir Nigel made me feel better, but I'm cruel that way. ("I knew you couldn't keep a secret!")

 

But I digress. Cheers.