rendering models; combining animation clips

[Yossi]

Hello, I am working on a short character animation that will be imported into Flash as a sequence of jpeg images. Ideally these should be the images of the character only without the backgrouds (ground, light) so it can be incorporated with the existing Flash scene . I found that I can remove the default ground from the PWS but do not know how to get rid of the sky/light (whatever it is?) that is rendered together with the model. I know that A:M can do that (Merlin the assistant is a good example, it floats and fits to the scene) - any suggestions?

 

Another issue I am struggling with is the combining two animation sequences. In this particular case I have a 1. character walking, turning and zooming in on a face 2. character talking. I have created both animations but can not combine them, the animation stops at the end of the 'walk'. What am I missing??

 

Thanks!

[Rodney]

You'll want to investigate the Targa format (or any other format that maintains an Alpha Channel/Transparency layer).

I would guess that Flash will import that.

The final product you produce can be JPEG format.

 

Once you set your rendering format to Targa you can turn the Alpha Channel buffer on in the Render Panel.

There is quite a lot of information on Alpha Channels here in the forum.

 

A workaround for when you absolutely cannot use an image with Alpha Channels would be to render the background with a color not used in the part of the image you need (hot pink!) then have the program you use mask out that color.

 

Alpha Channels are definitely the way to go when compositing.

 

 

For your second issue there are several possibilities. We need a little more information.

At first thought it sounds like your Choreography isn't set to the correct length.

[Yossi]

You'll want to investigate the Targa format (or any other format that maintains an Alpha Channel/Transparency layer).

I would guess that Flash will import that.

The final product you produce can be JPEG format.

 

Once you set your rendering format to Targa you can turn the Alpha Channel buffer on in the Render Panel.

There is quite a lot of information on Alpha Channels here in the forum.

 

A workaround for when you absolutely cannot use an image with Alpha Channels would be to render the background with a color not used in the part of the image you need (hot pink!) then have the program you use mask out that color.

 

Alpha Channels are definitely the way to go when compositing.

 

 

For your second issue there are several possibilities. We need a little more information.

At first thought it sounds like your Choreography isn't set to the correct length.

[Yossi]

You'll want to investigate the Targa format (or any other format that maintains an Alpha Channel/Transparency layer).

I would guess that Flash will import that.

The final product you produce can be JPEG format.

 

Once you set your rendering format to Targa you can turn the Alpha Channel buffer on in the Render Panel.

There is quite a lot of information on Alpha Channels here in the forum.

 

A workaround for when you absolutely cannot use an image with Alpha Channels would be to render the background with a color not used in the part of the image you need (hot pink!) then have the program you use mask out that color.

 

Alpha Channels are definitely the way to go when compositing.

 

 

For your second issue there are several possibilities. We need a little more information.

At first thought it sounds like your Choreography isn't set to the correct length.

[StormedFX]

I seems to have the same problem when I have to test the SimCloth system. I could have wrong setup... I set 6sec in the chor and run the SimCloth which it works fine. The system simulate 6sec, but when I hit the play button it always stop at 1 second. Not sure what's wrong. As you can see in the picture, the chor length is set to 6 seconds.

 

CHEERS!

[NancyGormezano]

Yossi, Stormed - It's probably that your playrange (in the timeline) is set to less than the length of the chor

 

In my example, length of chor is 24 frames - but the playrange is set to only play frames 0-10

 

Right click on the top bar of timeline and set your range, or drag the ends of the playrange with your cursor (start and end)

[StormedFX]

Yossi, Stormed - It's probably that your playrange (in the timeline) is set to less than the length of the chor

 

In my example, length of chor is 24 frames - but the playrange is set to only play frames 0-10

 

Right click on the top bar of timeline and set your range, or drag the ends of the playrange with your cursor (start and end)

Perfect! It works now. Thank you for your help, Nancy.

CHEERS!

[Yossi]

Thanks for all your comments and suggestions !