Christmas animation

[Gerry]

I'm working on my employer's animated company greeting again and I'll be posting some renders here as I progress. Thus far I've taken the Santa Lion model from the cd and made him into a "real" Santa, and modeled his sled and bag of presents. here's a still. I'm still detailing things but I wanted to get something up here to get a thread started.

 

More later!

 

Gerry

[Jentham2000]

Looks Great!!

 

I can't wait to see how things progress.....

[Gerry]

Thanks! Not to give too much away, but I'll be introducing a new holiday symbol, the Christmas Snail.

[Dhar]

You have a great imagination, Gerry. I always liked your stuff. The Christmass Snail sounds great and very original.

 

Keep up the good work.

[Gerry]

Hey Dhar, I just clicked over to your link from the 11-second club and it cracked me up! Good work!

[dborruso]

Ah cool, you went with the snail. That was my favorite. Looking forward to seeing it.

[Rodney]

Christmas snail eh? This oughta be good.

[Gerry]

Here's a beauty shot of Santa's sleigh. I think I'm finished with the detailing, though I may come back to it. I'd like to do something more interesting with the fabric of the sack. But for now, it's on to...the snail!

Sleigh_beautyshot_rotate_v2.mov

[Gerry]

Here's a quick test with the major elements in place and a little body movement from Santa. I busted my butt creating a material for the snail shell, and a coworker came by and said why not make it striped like a candy cane? D'oh!! So that's what I'm gonna do. I'm also figuring out how best to rig the snail for movement. Believe it or not on YouTube there are movies of snail movement!

 

The Santa model also needs some additional rigging in the shoulders and face, and I still haven't added his eyebrows. Mouth needs some work too. I'll try to post a closeup of his wireframe as I think there will be at least one closeup reaction shot of Santa, and I would like some feedback on maximizing his face for animation.

SleighSantaandSnail_v2.mov

[Gerry]

Some progress on the snail.

[largento]

Haha, that's great! I love the "Rudolph" lights!

 

Actually, he's more useful that Rudolph, since he can not only light the way, but signal when Santa wants to change lanes. :-)

[tido]

a snail? is it fast?

[Gerry]

Well, no, but as you'll see that's kind of the point.

[Gerry]

Still tweaking, and combined the snail and sleigh into one model. I've tried a ton of different materials for the snail shell and it's still not final but I think I like this one for now. The snail will be decorated with lights etc so the hopefully the focus will not be on the shell itself.

[Darkwing]

Do a toon render, I wnat to see a toon render as I love the old cell christmas cartoons! That's just me though, but I do like some of the old modeled stuff like rudolph and santa clause is coming to town.

[Gerry]

Here's two images of Santa's wireframe, bare face and with all the details. The animation will have only a closeup reaction shot or two, but i want to be able to rig it right so there are no (or very few!) surprises when I get to animating. Any comments on these are appreciated!

[Gerry]

Here's a very quick and dirty animatic of the whole piece, just to get a sense of timing and overall length. Actual character animation will be minimal, though I'll be doing a walk cycle. the Santa Lion model isn't rigged very thoroughly and I've been watching some rigging tutes (for the squetch rig, though I won't be using it. Just need a refresher on rigging in general), checking in on the rigging forum, and agonizing over how much I will need to add. It won't be much, just one facial reaction shot that I may do with a pose slider, and I'd like the fingers to bend a little better than what they're currently set up for.

 

I want the animation to suggest a dramatic movie trailer to create some contrast with the action itself, which is all about going sloooow. I've got some crossfades here that will actually be pans/zooms, but as I said this is q 'n' d to the max.

animatic_h264.mov

[largento]

Haha, that's awesome, Gerry! Can't wait to see the finished piece. I love the mis-direct with the snail's light's coming on one and then the other.

[Gerry]

Hey, the Santa model is in fact rigged very nicely and I don't want anyone to think I don't appreciate a free, rigged model like this. I'm working on the walk cycle now and the model is working great, but I expect to be refining the knuckles a little. I don't want to sound ungrateful!

[Gerry]

Here's a first draft of the shot with the walk cycle. I would like to slow it down (I'm after a true, dramatic slo-mo effect) but I'm not sure how to do this. Should I just stretch out the action over more keyframes, or is there a way to keep the action at a normal speed and slow it down in the chor?

 

I know I could do it in post but if there's a way to do it in the chor I would like to know.

Santa_walk_closeup.mov

[Gerry]

Yeah, here's more what I had in mind. Still a draft, but I think this is gonna work just fine...

Santa_walk_closeup_v2.mov

[Gerry]

I worked quite a bit on the walk cycle as it wasn't working in the side view. there was a lot of slipping that wasn't apparent from the front. so here's a closeup side view of the walk. I wanted to get more specularity on the back of the boots from the interior light, and it was there at first but for some reason it's gone. But in most respects I'm happy with this.

Shot08_H264.mov

[NancyGormezano]

I would like to slow it down (I'm after a true, dramatic slo-mo effect) but I'm not sure how to do this. Should I just stretch out the action over more keyframes, or is there a way to keep the action at a normal speed and slow it down in the chor?

 

I know I could do it in post but if there's a way to do it in the chor I would like to know.

 

Yes - you can create your action at any length - and then in the chor, after you've inserted it at the correct place, change the length of the action - essentially speed up or slow down to suit your needs.

 

(I suspect you might not be able to have stride length set however - not sure - did not verify)

 

EDIT - just verified - seems to work ok with stride length

[Gerry]

Wow, thanks Nancy! I'll look into that. I'm still tweaking the walk. Here's another render of the front view that I like pretty well, but it seems too smooth and rolling. Also, the bottom hem of the coat seems a little floaty. I'm also on the fence about putting footprints in the snow. While I'd like to, I'm not sure my schedule will allow it.

 

EDIT- I just tried that and it seems Cycle Length and Chor Range are locked and change together. You seem to be working in a newer version based on the interface shot. I'm using 13.0q. Could that make a difference, or is there some other setting I should be looking at?

Shot09_H264.mov

[NancyGormezano]

EDIT- I just tried that and it seems Cycle Length and Chor Range are locked and change together. You seem to be working in a newer version based on the interface shot. I'm using 13.0q. Could that make a difference, or is there some other setting I should be looking at?

 

Yes, cycle length and chor range are tied together, along with repeat in all versions. If you only want an action to occur for 100 frames in the chor, then set your action length in the chor to 100, repeat to 1, or length to 50, repeat 2, or length to 25, repeat 4, or length to 10 repeat to 10, etc. Depending on the speed you want for the walk.

[Gerry]

Yeah, I don't seem to have the Repeat option in my settings. Not sure why. Everything else is identical to what you show.

 

However I've figured out a way to put footprints in the snow with foot-shaped boolean cutters! Here's a quick test...

footprinttest_02.mov

[NancyGormezano]

Yeah, I don't seem to have the Repeat option in my settings. Not sure why. Everything else is identical to what you show.

 

Turn off stride length in the action (not in the chor) then repeat should show up in the chor.

 

Verrrry nice footprints

[largento]

Also, the bottom hem of the coat seems a little floaty.

 

I think if you had his body move up and down with the legs bending and straightening, you'd lose the floating feeling with the coat hem.

[Gerry]

Here's the first half, still rough, but I wanted to see how the shots flow.

Comp01_02_H264.mov

[Jentham2000]

Excellent!

 

I'm a newbie, so if it's not possible or feasible, please overlook my comments.

 

I wonder how it would look if you could add the cutouts in the snow for the sleigh runners and the foot steps?

 

Just my 2 cents, I can't wait until I am able to create something like this.

 

Nice Job!

 

Bob

[Gerry]

Thanks for your comments!

 

Yeah, this is still rough and not all final bits are in. There will be footprints in the snow for sure. As for the runners, well, then I have to think about the snail's slime trail too I guess! A coworker asked what happens to the snail if they encounter road salt...so I gots to figure out just how far I want to take this. But runner trails in the snow is a definite possibility. I am totally jazzed that I figured out how to put footprints in the snow and feeling very inspired to tweak as far as my timetable allows.

[Gerry]

Here's another update. Still some rough spots, I want to get all the scenes done and then go back and tweak. Critiques welcome!

Comp01_04_h264.mov

[Gerry]

Now my fabulous boolean footprints in the snow are misbehaving, well, one of them anyway. Here's a quick test I did because in the shot I was going for, the second footprint was appearing as a grey rectangle. So I set up a new camera and rendered just the footprints, and got this.

 

I've replaced the bone, the geometry, the camera, and the one footprint continues to appear as a grey rectangle. Suggestions welcome. This has me stumped. I've checked that it's a boolean throughout the chor, so it's not like the setting is jumping back and forth.

 

EDIT: Problem solved!

newcam_footprinttest.mov

[Gerry]

Here's the final animation with all the bits in place. There are still a few rough areas to smooth out, and once sound is added it will really come to life. Comments welcome!

finalcomp_h264.mov

[Dhar]

Other than the leg popping and lack of arcs in the movements, that looks pretty good. Please share the final wll you?

[Gerry]

I'll check those things Dhar, thanks. There's something about the hand movement when it checks the harness that seems wrong too. And I think I want to show the snail for another beat in the second-to-last shot.

 

Gerry

[Gerry]

Here's the final render sans sound, which my bud Randy will be starting on tomorrow. I did the snow in After Effects. I might still tweak some things but for all intents, this puppy is on its way!

Mastercomp_final_h264.mov

[largento]

Great job, Gerry! Looks really good!

[John Bigboote]

Great work!

 

Seems like you could replace the logo and sell this to other companies as well...? ($$$)

[alweb]

Nice one Gerry !

 

very cool!

Al

[Gerry]

Great work!

 

Seems like you could replace the logo and sell this to other companies as well...? ($$$)

 

 

Well, my boss might have something to say about that! But after this is all done, I would like to contribute the Santa model for the next Hash CD, and maybe even the sleigh if there was interest. I put a lot of work into the sleigh and I'd like to see it get more use.

[Darkwing]

I'd use both santa and the sleigh, it's my goal to make a christmas cartoon for next year. One thin with your animation, it would look better if when the snail starts to pull the sled, it leaves behind tracks in the snow, and, have snow "bubble" around the snail, like when max pulls the frinch's sled up the mountain in the cartoon.

[Gerry]

I tried yesterday to do some tracks in the snow for that last shot, using a bump map, but the effect was so slight it wasn't working. Having the snow "pile up" in front and on the sides was also something I thought of, but doing it with bump maps isn't the way. I still have some time so I may think about this a bit more. I did kick up the percentage of the bump map but that didn't appear to have any effect. Not even sure what the "percentage" setting is supposed to do.

 

Maybe I could have an intersecting model of piling snow just come up through the snow on the ground. Hmmm...

 

EDIT: Tried to make tracks with boolean cutters but I started getting the same wacky behavior I got with the footprints! So for now, no tracks. I may take another swing at it in the morning.

[Darkwing]

if you wanted to use bump maps, they should work if you make the percentage high enough like 500-1000. Just a thought, would take experimenting. You could maybe try blobbies. I've never used them, but they might work.

[Jentham2000]

Excellent Gerry!

 

Looks really good!

 

Thanks for sharing your work as it progressed, it helps a newbie like me to learn.

 

Also, if you ever donate the Santa and Sleigh, I would be interested...

 

 

Regards, Bob

[Gerry]

Here's the "final" version, though we still have a few more days to tweak, so there's no telling what else might change. In any case, this my official "Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays" to all you Hashers out there!

Gerry

2007_Holiday_finalh264.mov

[NancyGormezano]

Fabulous! (I had always wondered what the music track would be)...Excellent all around, put together wonderfully.

 

Happy Holiday to you and all as well!

[Gerry]

I've heard from a couple of folks who can't download or view this file. If you've tried and it won't play, let me know as I'd like to figure this out.

 

One guy gets an error message that he's missing some component (probably a codec) in his QT software, and another friend gets the blue Q logo but no download. Both *claim* to have the latest QT software, which I can't check. But if you've tried and failed, then given up, let me know what behavior you're seeing.

 

Thanks!

[Luuk Steitner]

I've heard from a couple of folks who can't download or view this file. If you've tried and it won't play, let me know as I'd like to figure this out.

 

One guy gets an error message that he's missing some component (probably a codec) in his QT software, and another friend gets the blue Q logo but no download. Both *claim* to have the latest QT software, which I can't check. But if you've tried and failed, then given up, let me know what behavior you're seeing.

 

Thanks!

 

If one gets an message about a missing component he does not have the latest version of Quicktime. If one only sees the Q, it's just not downloading or taking a long time to download.

[robcat2075]

Hey that's a charmer! Schlomo the Hannuka Snail saves Christmas again!

 

I bet the .H264 codec is what's tripping up people who are still on QT6.