Finally, a working model from me!

[cribbidaj]

I'm so excited! - I know this is not much by many standards, but the clip below features a model completely created and rigged by me and is my best work so far in A:M. Using Mike Caputo's rigging tutorial from the A.R.M., I managed to accomplish a simple but working animateable rig. Alas, the links to these tutorials are currently dead, but hopefully will be up again soon. If anyone has info on his "FK to IK" arm tutorial, please forward. I've got it working pretty well, but I believe I'm missing a step when constraining the "IK Bicep to Elbow".

 

I am learning simCloth after purchasing the 2005 Siggraph DVD from Hash, Inc. Mark Weller's tutorial is very informative, but I believe it has some errors in the presentation that need to be addressed. After speaking with James at Hash, who cleared up some of the misinformation regarding which cloth material to use as the deflector, I have been experimenting and am totally immersed in the coolness of simCloth!

 

Please submit comments - any and all are welcome! I now believe Animation:Master to be the sweetest software ever created!

tux_walk.mov

[gazzamataz]

Not bad m8, not bad.

 

You seem to have got the cloth working very nicely which is more that I can say for myself since I have only dabbled with cloth...

 

The one thing that bugs me about the walk cycle is the foot slapping down as he takes a step - it looks a tad to fast and almost painful.

[cribbidaj]

The one thing that bugs me about the walk cycle is the foot slapping down as he takes a step - it looks a tad to fast and almost painful.

 

Please look at this and see if it's better. Admittedly, I have some work to do in timing and animating in A:M.

 

How do I place single poses into a larger pose (i.e. a single finger "open_close" pose into a "open_closed fist" pose) without creating an unruly list of poses in my user properties?

 

Thanks.

tux_walk_2.mov

[robcat2075]

The one thing that bugs me about the walk cycle is the foot slapping down as he takes a step ...

 

Please look at this and see if it's better. Admittedly, I have some work to do in timing and animating in A:M...

 

I'd say I liked the 1-frame slap-down more than the 4-frame.

 

The thing i note most is that the hips are too far back in relation to the feet. It's almost like he's pulling himself forward with his heel; he really should be pushing himself with the rear leg.

 

But congratulations on getting your character working! It was years before I got to that point.

[frosteternal]

Please look at this and see if it's better. Admittedly, I have some work to do in timing and animating in A:M.

How do I place single poses into a larger pose (i.e. a single finger "open_close" pose into a "open_closed fist" pose) without creating an unruly list of poses in my user properties?

You should be able to make a "open_closed fist" pose out of your individual finger poses; although I always had problems blending poses within poses. Just set the pose sliders you wish to use while editing a new pose. You should see new keys for them show up under "User Properties" under the Relationship that partains to the pose you are using them within.

I tend to take a simpler approach - I usually have a hand "tense/relax" pose for each hand, and then an "open/close" pose for each as well. I find that creating any other more specific hand poses just gets "cluttered" as far as pose sliders, so I tend to build new hand motions on-the-fly. Just my personal preference.

 

Also, I'm with Robcat; I prefer the first walk with the quick slap down of the foot. It's got more "snap" which for your super-stylized character looks much more lively.

[cribbidaj]

Thanks for your input, all.

 

I think I remember an artist working on rigging the facial poses on the scarecrow in the T.W.O. project mentioning creating nulls that contained a number of poses that in total worked certain areas of facial movement. While I understand that I'm incapable of tackling that complex of a rig at this point, I thought I could at least incorporate some of the concept in my own rigging. If I remember correctly, the topic explained that earlier versions of A:M made this process difficult, but as of v. 12 (I think), it was easier.

 

Of course, frosteternal's suggestions of creating 1 or 2 hand poses and doing the rest on the fly seem logical.

 

I know I'm letting my enthusiasm run rampant, but it feels SO good to actually grasp and utilize some of the inate beauty in A:M.