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What I'm working on...


itsjustme

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  • 2 weeks later...

I just posted another ball bounce exercise here. I'll spend a little time working on the generic guy's modeling and kick out another ball bounce exercise this next week. I've also got a tweak to add to the Squetch Rig along the way...I'm squeezing it in before I stick with my "feature freeze" on it.

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

I've gotten tied up in a few other things, so I haven't been able to work on much else for a few weeks...one more "stay alive" post, I guess.

 

I did add another bouncing ball exercise since the last one I mentioned here...it's here.

 

If I'm able to post what I've been making for a friend of mine, I'll do that in a few days or so...he needed a five second logo, so it's up to him whether I can show it to anyone. I'll ask him once I get the renders done (SD, 720 and 1080...the SD is rendered so far).

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If I'm able to post what I've been making for a friend of mine, I'll do that in a few days or so...he needed a five second logo, so it's up to him whether I can show it to anyone. I'll ask him once I get the renders done (SD, 720 and 1080...the SD is rendered so far).
If he needs encouragement, tell him that the purpose of a logo is for it to be seen and get him noticed, so posting it on the forums would be free advertisement!
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If I'm able to post what I've been making for a friend of mine, I'll do that in a few days or so...he needed a five second logo, so it's up to him whether I can show it to anyone. I'll ask him once I get the renders done (SD, 720 and 1080...the SD is rendered so far).
If he needs encouragement, tell him that the purpose of a logo is for it to be seen and get him noticed, so posting it on the forums would be free advertisement!

 

I'm pretty sure he won't have a problem with it, but I don't want to assume it's alright without asking. I'm still rendering the HD versions and then I have to do some double-checking of the final renders before I'm done with it. I'll ask him after I've actually delivered something, Chris.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

I was hoping to have more done to show by now, but I did get another Quickstart Expressions tutorial knocked out about two weeks ago...it's here, in case anyone missed it.

 

At the moment I've got another ball bounce exercise I'm working on and an update to the animation I made for my friend incorporating Matt Campbell's suggestions.

 

I've also done some tinkering on one of my nagging rigging issues...I periodically go back to a couple of those to see if I can come up with a solution. I've put in a couple of feature requests because of this one, but I may have to add one more, I'm thinking. I just have to think up a request that makes sense within the existing system.

 

I've still got a rig addition to make and some modeling on the generic character that I'm trying to improve.

 

It seems unrelated to Bertram, but in reality it's all going to help with the animations I want to make with him...he's always my main focus even though it may not appear to be the case at times.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I've had an extremely busy couple of weeks, so I'll have to use a "stay alive" post again. I think I might be able to get something accomplished this week though. I'll put a couple of experiments aside for the time being and do something that will yield results I can show.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I finally got some time to do some more tweaking on the generic character. I beefed him up a little, opened the eye sockets up a little, thinned the nostrils a little, put in more details in the neck, shoulders, arms, legs, abs and face and added soles to his shoes/boots. Most of the changes are pretty subtle, but it looks a lot better than the last posted images to me...so I think I'm making progress. I've still got more to do...a little tweaking on the ears, mouth and probably a few other places I'm forgetting at the moment.

 

This time I used Jason's default Choreography and light setup...the AO render didn't show the details as well.

 

I'll put this guy down for a little while so that I can make some changes to Sam's modeling and then work on the rig additions I want to get in before I finalize everything.

05_02_2012_generic_character.png

05_02_2012_generic_character_wire.png

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  • 2 weeks later...

As usual, it's been a very busy couple of weeks. I've been bouncing around to a bunch of different things...research, working on a rig update, etc. However, my major accomplishment this week has been getting the first draft of three Bertram shorts written...I've got a couple more that may get written this weekend. Of course, they'll probably be revised a lot, but I'm getting the ideas I've carried around in my head for years put into a more coherent form...so that's a good thing.

 

I decided to use Celtx (free) seriously for the first time...no complaints, so far. I used to just use a text editor like AbiWord, but a friend of mine convinced me that I should follow the advice I gave him and see how Celtx feels. At this point, I'm glad I went that route.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I haven't gotten as much done as I would have liked since my last update.

 

I wrote a first draft for the fourth Bertram short...which is where I'll stop for now. I'll go back over all four in a few weeks to see if I can improve them. I did some modeling for Bertram's first short, but it's not far enough along to show. At the moment, I'm in the middle of rigging a character for use in an animation exercise...when I get it done, I'll release it (which I'm hoping will be sometime next week...we'll see).

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Hi David

 

looks great! In the shoulder area, how well does the mesh work when you roll the shoulder to wave for example?

 

Steve

 

I haven't actually rigged him yet, but I don't see anything that would be an issue. Except in extreme movements, the shoulder probably won't have to roll...for a wave, the bicep would roll the mesh starting at where the shoulder yoke ends (creating the bicep crease).

 

This version of Sam is modeled differently, but, the same principle applies. I just brought the arm up like it's going to wave and then rolled the bicep to show how the mesh deforms. Hope that helps, Steve.

wave_arm_roll.mov

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  • *A:M User*

Thanks David. The reason I ask, the should looks good. I think the shoulder area with all the dynamics there is a hard area to model. I have concentrated on the last models to do a better job in the shoulder. Anyway, keep up the good work

 

Steve

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  • 3 weeks later...

I'm still working on that animation exercise character...a lot of trial and error, which takes me longer than I'd like. I've also re-worked the splines on the face and abs of the generic character.

 

The changes show up as very subtle, so not a lot of difference in a final render. The face should animate better and there's a little more definition in the abs (I'm not going for "six pack abs", just a suggestion of some underlying structure)...I did end up with a hook in the neck that I don't care for though. I think it would take me a lot more work to improve my head modeling, so I may just accept what I've got with this one for now...I can always tweak some things as I rig him.

 

Now, back to the other character and the rig update.

06_29_2012_generic_character.png

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Hopping around a little, here's some casters that I needed to model for a cart (which will probably be in the background of the first Bertram short). I realize it's not much, but, these kinds of odds and ends eventually add up...and it keeps me from bogging down on one thing for too long.

casters_07_02_2012.png

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  • 3 weeks later...

I was hoping to have something to show by now, but it has been slow-going recently...I'll have to use a "stay alive" post for now.

 

I've been re-doing the ceiling in the Break Room, testing different lighting for the Break Room and re-tweaking the face on the generic character. I've also got what I think is an answer for a problem I was thinking through on one of the rig updates...which I'm trying to work my way toward installing.

 

I'm hoping to have something to show in the next couple of days.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Unfortunately, time has crept up on me and I still don't have anything new to show yet. Getting a new laptop and doing the usual transferring and resetting up of everything has been one of the culprits...I still have more RAM to add to that.

 

I've done more work on the generic character, lighting of the Break Room and some fixing of the Squetch Rig installations (Mark Skodacek pointed me at a few issues...the current installations are broken, but I should have the next version done in a little while).

 

I'm still moving forward, but it's not apparent by my posts.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Another "stay alive" post, unfortunately. I took a side trip on my modeling explorations for a week and found out that it was a dead-end...at least for what I was looking to do. I've been dinking with the Squetch Rig updates since then...a few dead-ends, but I think it's getting better. I'm hoping to have something worth showing next week...if things go well.

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Another "stay alive" post, unfortunately. I took a side trip on my modeling explorations for a week and found out that it was a dead-end...at least for what I was looking to do. I've been dinking with the Squetch Rig updates since then...a few dead-ends, but I think it's getting better. I'm hoping to have something worth showing next week...if things go well.

 

Well, now you've got me curious!

 

Are you really going to leave us hanging without expanding upon that?

 

Oh to be a fly on David Simmons wall (with a nice zoom lens video camera pointed directly over his shoulder at the monitor of course). :lol:

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Another "stay alive" post, unfortunately. I took a side trip on my modeling explorations for a week and found out that it was a dead-end...at least for what I was looking to do. I've been dinking with the Squetch Rig updates since then...a few dead-ends, but I think it's getting better. I'm hoping to have something worth showing next week...if things go well.

 

Well, now you've got me curious!

 

Are you really going to leave us hanging without expanding upon that?

 

Oh to be a fly on David Simmons wall (with a nice zoom lens video camera pointed directly over his shoulder at the monitor of course). :lol:

 

It was just attempts at simplifying some of my anatomical modeling...it works fine, but I lost some definition. I'm not great with anatomy, so I'm trying to get better. There are some landmarks that I thought I could get to look more realistic when they move...it's time consuming testing with a lot of trial and error. I've learned a few minor lessons, so it wasn't for nothing entirely. I've figured out some better bone placement and additions in a few places, which have turned into possible additions to the Squetch Rig. I'm in the middle of at least five possible updates, some will be easier to figure out than others.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

I'll have to use another "stay alive" post....it's been a very busy couple of weeks.

 

I've done more testing and modified Sam's torso in order to test the possible rig additions...still heading in what I think is a good direction. I'm hoping to get a little more time to work this week...we'll see what happens.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

I haven't been able to do much except work and sleep for the past month...so, I'll have to use another "stay alive" post.

 

I managed to get a little modeling done (in ten minute bursts...which isn't much), but nothing else. I think I've managed to get past some of the issues I was having with a particular model...this will be the third time I've started working on it. If I'm lucky, I may have that model to show by the end of the week. Baby steps for now.

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