What I'm working on...

[itsjustme]

I'll have to use another "stay alive" post for this thread...a couple more weeks to go before things level out. Still doing some small bursts of modeling, just not enough to show yet.

[Kamikaze]

As long as your still at it ..... all's well .....!

[itsjustme]

Okay, one more "stay alive" post for this thread. I'm just now starting to get a little free time, so maybe I can get a couple of things back on track this week.

[itsjustme]

I just posted a tutorial on modeling a high density cube here.

 

I used to use Subtitle Workshop for making subtitles, but I decided to try Aegisub and liked it. Since it is still being updated and is cross-platform, I thought it would be worth mentioning in case anyone else needed subtitling software

[itsjustme]

I posted another QuickStart tutorial for Expressions yesterday....it's in this post and is about Boolean Operators in Expressions

[itsjustme]

I just posted another QuickStart tutorial here...this one covers the SetFrame(frame), AtTime(time,n) and GetTime() functions.

[itsjustme]

I'll have to use a "stay alive" post again...things have been very busy for the past couple of weeks. I think I'll be able to get something worth posting in the coming week though. There are a few more tutorials I want to knock out and I have a few things I'm modeling.

[itsjustme]

I posted the beginnings of another set here. It still needs a lot of work, but I wanted to post at least one of the things I've been modeling (very slowly, unfortunately).

 

For the next couple of days I'll be concentrating on updating the Squetch Rig...Mark Skodacek found some issues that need to be corrected and made some great recommendations that should speed up installation. Thanks, Mark!

[itsjustme]

I'll have to use a "stay alive" post again.

 

I'm still working on updating the Squetch Rig...making progress, but still more to do.

[TheSpleen]

I'll have to use a "stay alive" post again.

 

I'm still working on updating the Squetch Rig...making progress, but still more to do.

your the man

[itsjustme]

I'm forced to use another "stay alive" post this time. I've had very little free time the past two weeks, but I've been working on the Squetch Rig update every chance I get...still quite a bit to do. I'll have a little time this week...we'll see how far that gets me.

[TheSpleen]

I am following this

[itsjustme]

Once again, I'm forced to use a "stay alive" post...I've got a week and a half left on a crazy schedule, so I'm not going to have a lot of free time until then. Still plugging away on the rig update in whatever time I can find...but it's been very slow.

[itsjustme]

I've been going over the rig to correct things I broke updating the installation method...I think I've found most of them. I won't really know for sure until I do a complete installation and that will be the last part of the process. I've done some tweaking to Squetchy Sam's modeling, so that I can better see a few things in the shoulder...which led me to tweaking the entire torso, forearms, legs and feet. That means I'm re-rigging a few things on him before I get to finishing the shoulder update...which is about half done at the moment.

 

Here's a quick image showing the tweaks to Sam (there may be a few more when it's all done).

[itsjustme]

My schedule hasn't slowed down yet, so I'll have to use another "stay alive" post for the moment. In the next couple of days I should be able to post a quick video illustrating the knee/elbow update I just put in the rig. Thanks to Sebastian for getting me to look into it!

[itsjustme]

Here's a quick video illustrating the changes to the knee/elbow fan bones. The inside fan bone is now anchored to a set distance from the joint instead of moving with the stretched/squashed thigh/bicep bones and both knee/elbow fan bones don't squetch along their length. Both of these changes help to hold the joint together better on extreme squetching.

knee_update_05_18_2013.mp4

[itsjustme]

I did some more looking into the legs and arms and fixed an issue with the knee/elbow bowing...it was affecting the entire leg/arm, in the next release it will be more independent.

 

The next thing I'm thinking about is the thigh flexing...after watching some reference, I've decided it needs to be changed.

knee_bow_05_29_2013.mp4

[Rodney]

Very interesting.

It's been awhile since I looked in on the Squetch Rig and I must say this is looking more and more like the ideal rig for cartoony animation.

[itsjustme]

After a bunch of testing, I decided that having the animator use Smartskin for the leg flexing would be the way to go. I made a bone setup that would do the job, but the CP Weighting would have gotten too involved. So, I'm going to tear the leg flexing stuff out.

 

Once I get that done, I'll tackle the shoulder update.

[itsjustme]

Here's a quick clip showing some leg flexing...it could be better, but I might just leave it as is.

Smartskin_06_11_2013.mov

[Rodney]

Very flexible indeed!

 

And... it looks more like real rubber than CG.

(That's a good thing)

[itsjustme]

Here are a couple of clips comparing non-automated and automated shoulder shrug movement.

 

When the hands meet, the shoulders lower on the automated version. It can be corrected manually, so it may not be a problem. I'll have to do some more experiments.

 

 

---------------------------

EDIT

---------------------------

 

Thinking about it, I probably should mention a few more things. The non-automated version was done manually and this was to see how the automated version would compare. Also, some of the muscle movement is done using CP Weighting to bones and some of it was done using Smartskin.

 

I messed with some rig setups to get the same kind of muscle and collar bone movement, but decided it would be easier for the animator to just Smartskin finer details like that.

Sam_non_auto_shoulder_06_20_2013.mp4

Sam_auto_shoulder_06_20_2013.mp4

[mtpeak2]

Looks pretty good to me, David.

[NancyGormezano]

And it looks very good to me also. I must say without seeing them side by side, I can't see much difference.

[robcat2075]

Here's a quick clip showing some leg flexing...it could be better, but I might just leave it as is.

 

Ouch! If it has to bend that way it looks like you've got it figured out.

[steve392]

Good movement David ,looking very real

[thefreshestever]

nice! cant figure out much difference either... but i guess that´s how it´s supposed to be i think automated shoulder movements can be very helpful in a lot of cases. i suppose there´s an on/off switch for that? or maybe even a slider? a slider would be cooler i think, so one can control the intensity and smoothly fade it in and out when needed.

[itsjustme]

nice! cant figure out much difference either... but i guess that´s how it´s supposed to be i think automated shoulder movements can be very helpful in a lot of cases. i suppose there´s an on/off switch for that? or maybe even a slider? a slider would be cooler i think, so one can control the intensity and smoothly fade it in and out when needed.

 

It's an on/off at the moment (which keeps everything in the correct position between switches), but the height that the shrug can reach is a slider...so it could be messed with that way since the movement is based on a percentage of the maximum height. Also, it can be manually adjusted even when the auto shrug is turned on. I'm still experimenting, so the current setup will probably get tweaked or even changed.

[itsjustme]

I had to change how it worked, but I think I've got the auto shrug working. Here it is side by side...left side is non-auto and right side is auto shrug.

Sam_auto_shoulder_test_06_26_2013.mp4

[thefreshestever]

very cool, david. i still can´t see much difference, even side by side. when are you going to do auto-animate?

[Dpendleton77]

Man that is looking good David.

[itsjustme]

...i still can´t see much difference, even side by side...

 

That's the goal, Sebastian. I've still got a little more testing to do, but I think this may do the job.

 

After I finish with the shoulder update, I've got two other things on Sam that need to be updated, then I can get the rig update released.

[itsjustme]

Okay, one more quick test. This is to make sure that the auto shrug will work with the shoulder steady setting. There is a little manual tweaking in there, but I think it's at an acceptable level.

Sam_auto_shoulder_steady_test_06_26_2013.mp4

[itsjustme]

I found a small issue with the auto shrug when shoulder steady is on...I tweaked it. I'll do some more testing and adding to the installation rigs and see if anything else turns up.

Sam_shoulder_steady_test_06_27_2013.mp4

[thefreshestever]

this is great!!!!

[Rodney]

Impressive. I love the side to side motion of that last one.

[itsjustme]

I fixed an error in the neck setup and added a "head_smartie" bone for head rotation Smartskinning. Here's a quick test...there's one CP that I'm debating, but I might leave it alone.

 

Next up is a mouth tweak...which might not involve any changes to the rig, but will see if a current theory of mine is valid.

Sam_neck_test_07_01_2013.mp4

[Rodney]

Nice!

[itsjustme]

I just uploaded an updated Squetch Rig, standalone FACE rig and Squetchy Sam....here.

[itsjustme]

I forgot to mention it here, but I am currently putting together some videos for the Squetch Rig which I'm posting here as I get them done. As I make them, I will be fixing any problems I come across in the rig...the lastest at this time is here.

 

I've got a few other things I want to get done, so I may jump around on projects so that I don't feel like I'm getting bogged down.

[itsjustme]

I've been adding Squetch Rig tutorials to this post and continue to tweak the Squetch Rig as I find things. The latest version of the rig and Squetchy Sam are here.

 

I've got a lot more to do.

[itsjustme]

I just added a video for animating the hands with the Squetch Rig in this post and an update to the Squetch Rig here.

[itsjustme]

I just posted another Squetch Rig update....here.

[thefreshestever]

thanks! we need a like-button at the forums!

[itsjustme]

Just posted another Squetch Rig update here.

[itsjustme]

I just added a video for animating the arms with the Squetch Rig in this post.

[itsjustme]

I took a break from making tutorials for a quick bit and did a little modeling. Not much to show, some of it is still in-progress, but here is a quick shot of the keyboard area of the cubicle.

 

I'll be getting back to the tutorials in the coming week.

[steve392]

A really nice bit of modelling David

[itsjustme]

I haven't been able to get time for the tutorials...but I squeezed in a little modeling. It's not much, but it at least shows a little progress.

 

I loosened up the bevels on the keyboard, added a monitor (which still needs the cables), a touchpad (which still needs the cable), speakers (which still needs a cable) and a computer (which still needs the back finished).

[Rodney]

That's some serious beveling there David.

Very nice!