TaoA:M - Scarecrow of Oz version

[Rodney]

I thought I'd try to run through TaoA:M with a 'Scarecrow of Oz' theme applied.

Others are welcome to join in with this theme as well of course.

Especially those of you that have an interest in contributing to the film.

 

Benefits include:

Get to know the people here in the forum better.

Get familiar with the powerful rigs used in TWO and SO through Posing and installing the rigs.

Animate! Animate! Animate!

Create props for possible use in the movie

Explore the world of A:M!

 

Its a lot more fun if others join in so let your wishes be known.

[Rodney]

Exercise 1: You're the Director

Goal: Create a Dynamic Pose that works from all angles.

 

Here I'll start out with the title character.

 

 

 

First attempt: (See screenshot below)

 

 

Note to those working on SO: Editing is created using a copy of the Scarecrow model. The original model has been left alone.

[Rodney]

Here's a final render:

 

Particle Hair: On

Image Based Lighting: Grabbed the first image I saw with orange in it. Happens to be the Giraffe decal

Multipass setting: 2 Passes

Resolution: Vistavision (but resized 50% and cropped in Irfanview)

Render time: A few seconds

[Rodney]

In this render I played with the lighting a bit more.

 

Changed the IBL image to something darker

Added two lights via Action

 

Ah... my first bit of frustration with not getting the results I wanted.

I tried to remove the light from the back hand (see how bright it is in the pic) but so far... no dice.

Adding a negative intensity light near the hand didn't work.

Moving the lights around... nope.

Hmm... more testing needed.

[Rodney]

AH... GOT IT! Definitely a case of user error on my part.

 

For some reason the light was still showing as positive in the Choreography.

A quick drop into to the negative values produced the results I was looking for.

 

Negative intensity lights are cool!

[Rodney]

Note the difference a little negativity properly applied can produce.

[Rodney]

A setting of -200 is a bit dark.

-100 a bit too light.

-150... just about right.

[Caroline]

Negative lights. That's interesting.

 

Keep at it, Rodney

[Rodney]

Negative lights. That's interesting.

 

Keep at it, Rodney

 

 

Thanks Caroline. I probably won't rush through TaoA:M but try to savor it like fine wine. There is so much good information in the manual as well as related areas to explore.

 

Keekat and friends won't be forgotten though. They are too cool to ignore.

[youngman]

Hi Rodney,

I would like to join in with you if that's ok?

Going through this with you should be fun.I would certainly like to learn more about the Sqeulch Rig as at the moment it looks quite confusing,far too many options going on there..

 

Here is my contribution.

 

 

And here is the pose i had while looking at the rig.

(Throne not included)

 

 

 

Jay

[KenH]

Cool throne! Are we using that in SO? I think we could use it.

[youngman]

Ken,

The throne is from SO,What i meant to say is that i wasn't on a throne when making that face trying to figure out how to use the rig.

Sorry for any confusion,Humor isn't one of my best strengths.

 

Jay

[Rodney]

As Scarecrow would say, "Ohh... well done. Very nice indeed!"

 

Great poses!

I can easily see both in the film.

The barrel roll... knowing Scarecrow... what a great event that'd be!

 

Bravo.

 

 

It's great to have you joining in Jay!

I think the early Exercises are especially suited to the challenge of adapting the SO theme to TaoA:M.

 

Not only are the Oz characters fun to play with but we can learn a ton from them!

There is nothing like animating with such wonderfully rigged characters as those from the land of Oz.

 

I confess I'm both a little wary as well as excited about the prospects of Exercise 13.

The plan would be to explore and discover what we can about the 2001 rig and the Squetch Rig... and then move a few characters of our own into the 2008 rig. Who knows... the characters might even get to appear in a scene in the film.

 

I'm hoping with this round of TaoA:M we can develop new ways of learning to improve upon what we've already learned in the past. Seeing others work is inspirational and I'd like to capture a little bit of that.

 

Please feel free to consider the SO script when taking on the challenges here (storytelling poses, antics, dialogue)... but deviate as necessary. We'll be fortunate indeed if we are able to study some of the animation from the film!

 

Explore your imagination and let that take hold.

[Rodney]

So... for those of you just looking in. Whats the deal here?

 

The characters we are borrowing from the film don't have a 'dynamic pose'.

So... we'll have to build one.

 

On a rigged character its (almost as easy) as Right Clicking in your character's modeling window and selecting New / Pose.

 

From here you have two options; Percentage and On/Off.

Percentage is used when you need more options than On/Off in your pose.

 

You may want to activate your Pose Slider view to keep that handy. (See attached image)

 

Right Click on the name of the Pose to rename the Pose something descriptive.

In our case we might as well name it "Dynamic Pose".

 

Once you've got your Character posed make sure you save the Model.

The poses are saved as part of the Character (as a relationship).

 

Now when animating with that Character you can always use that pose.

[Rodney]

Of course the cartoon calvicade of characters from the classic TaoA:M aren't slouches either when it comes to dynamic posing. Find a character and explore!

 

Strike a Pose!

 

Create a Dynamic Action!

 

Explore your Storytelling Poses!

 

(If the pose already exists... name it something different)

[Rodney]

This one doesn't classify as a dynamic pose per se.

Its more of a dramatic lighting test.

 

I've often thought a lesson in basic lighting would fit well as Exercise 1.5.

Interestingly enough Lighting is covered very briefly at the beginning of Exercise 2 (page 23).

Hmmm... rendering formats and lighting. Perfect place to fit in.

 

At any rate here is a render out of A:M to the Jpeg format.

No cropping no resizing... just pure A:M renderer.

 

Yes, she should be sprinkling her ingredients into the gooey mix but... particles aren't explorered until later.

 

Outstanding work on the modeling, rigging and texturing of the Witch Ken, Nancy, Mark, David... all ya'll. Sorry this one doesn't quite do her justice. That mouth glow has got to go and particles must be added. I may just have to fine tune this.

[TheSpleen]

interesting

[Rodney]

I've gotta say... I really love Image Based Lighting.

It provides a perfect starting place for those of us that aren't tuned into the process and perfection of lighting our scenes and models.

 

Keekat gives it a big thumbs up.

He likes IBL too!

[youngman]

Had a lot of fun with this one.

This is the first time i've created a pose,and went a little nuts with it.

 

This was all done with one pose.

 

pose_animation.mov

 

And here are some screen grabs.

 

 

Gotta run as i'm up for work in 5hrs time,time sure does fly when your having fun.

 

Jay

[Rodney]

Very nice Jay.

I'd guess being a youngman all your life will have distinct advantages when it comes to burning the candle animating into the night.

 

Had a lot of fun with this one.

This is the first time i've created a pose,and went a little nuts with it.

 

This was all done with one pose.

 

A Pose is not very far from an Action if you approach it in that way. Not far at all.

The difference of course is you have a handy dial with which to control the action.

 

I confess I feel a tinge of guilt for not trying to steer you away from using such animation in a single pose. The little voice is saying "Its... its... ITS JUST NOT DONE THAT WAY!".

 

Bah to the voice. "Keep experimenting!" I say.

Whether in Actions or Poses I know you'll find the best way.

[youngman]

I'd guess being a youngman all your life will have distinct advantages when it comes to burning the candle animating into the night.

 

Trust me i felt it this afternoon

 

I confess I feel a tinge of guilt for not trying to steer you away from using such animation in a single pose. The little voice is saying "Its... its... ITS JUST NOT DONE THAT WAY!".

 

When i was creating the pose i had a little voice at one side saying this really ought to be an action,and on the other side the slightly more dominant voice saying nah !..just do it.

 

Jay

[Rodney]

As Forrest Gump might say... "Stupid is as Stupid does". Let me explain...

 

I spend some time rendering multiple shots of Cap'n Bill yesterday.

I wasn't looking through the camera but turning the Chor around in realtime until I saw an angle that I liked. Then I'd hit render, type in a name for the image file and move on to the next render.

 

It was only after doing this for about an hour that I realized I was rendering right over the top of my previous renders with new sequential renders... without particle hair turned on!!!

 

Now... that... was really... really stoopid.

 

What makes up for it is that Cap'n Bill is a really great character and the time I spend posing and rendering, even if most of the images are gone forever, was time well spent.

[Rodney]

The goal is to keep publishing every day...

 

Today was mostly experimenting and catching up in the forum.

All kinds of neat things get posted here every day.

 

Mostly I just thought about what areas I wanted to explore in TaoA:M that would be fun and educational with an emphasis on things I'm not sure are well known. I'd like to explore Libararies a bit if there is interest.

 

Realizing I hadn't posted anything in awhile...

Nothing fancy and no SO related material. Rabbit had something he wanted to say.

So... its Rabbit with Rabbit as an Action Object that gets posted. (Mostly 'cause I played with Action Objects today)

[HomeSlice]

These tuts are great Rodney! Keep up the great work

[Rodney]

These tuts are great Rodney! Keep up the great work

 

Coming from you Holmes that is high praise indeed.

Remind me to pester you for your PDF templates and maybe I can create some tutorials in the same fashion as yours. Which reminds me... I need to link into more of yours!

 

I may have to consider the space my attachments are using but I hope to expand into some additional video and SWF demonstrations. There are some things that can't be explained easily with static text and pictures. We'll see.

 

RE: My Daily Deadline. Do I have something to post today... er... not yet!

[HomeSlice]

Hi Rodney,

I write all my tuts in OpenOffice, then export them as pdf files. If you use OpenOffice, I can send you my document template. I isn't much, it is basically just a blank document that has all my different text formatting styles.

[Rodney]

I write all my tuts in OpenOffice, then export them as pdf files. If you use OpenOffice, I can send you my document template. I isn't much, it is basically just a blank document that has all my different text formatting styles.

 

Outstanding. I have MS Office but have decided to standardize where possible on OpenOffice as just about anyone can use it with A:M. In fact, there may be some basic tutorials on using A:M to generate artwork for use with OpenOffice coming this way in the future.

 

Your layout is very TaoA:M friendly. That's a real plus.

I like your "Conventions Used in this Tutorial" page too.

 

Having your template should keep me from just tossing things together and calling it done. If nothing else out of respect for the quality of your tutorials.

 

I plan to test some other layouts as well but I think you've found the perfect format for tutorials here in the forum. So, yes, I'd love to have access to your template.

 

Thanks Holmes!

[HomeSlice]

Hi Rodney,

I just emailed it to your gmail account.

[Rodney]

Got it. Thanks Holmes!

[Rodney]

Well... here I am... still lost somewhere between Exercise 1 and 3.

I did get my five minutes in tonight though.

 

Who can resist Gloria!

That Pon is one lucky guy.

 

Here is a screen capture from a little pose/animation experiment I worked on tonight. The idea was to pose a character but add in a subtle bit of animation. Rarely is a pose a static thing isolated from the character. A small turn, a shift in weight, a smile... all these things bring life to a character. In its own little way its my attempt to elevate my understanding and appreciation of Moving Holds.

 

Errors encountered? I deviated from the simplicity of the core idea and thought I would have Gloria drum her fingers. I'll need to attempt that part again later.

 

Once again I got to experience what its like to (try to) animate with an outstanding character from 'Scarecrow of Oz'. This character is wonderfully made. A joy to animate with. Can it possibily get better than this?

[Rodney]

I'm not sure why I settled on the crossed arms for the pose.

I think I just wanted to see how well the rig allowed her to get into that pose and it stuck.

 

In considering again... it seems a rather awkward pose to strike.

Perhaps this setup would look better with her hands in her lap?

 

Dunno.

 

Attached: 30 frames from the animation.

Gloria_pose.mov

[TheSpleen]

nice model!

[mtpeak2]

Holy Cow!!! Animation from Rodney. Somebody archive this somewhere.

[Rodney]

Holy Cow!!! Animation from Rodney. Somebody archive this somewhere.

 

Hey now... wait a sec... this shouldn't count as animation either... notice how little movement there really was!!! As a matter of fact I think the rig did it... it accidentally moved... just a little... that's all.

 

Don't be telling people I'm animating. I'll never live it down!

[mtpeak2]

[Rodney]

Hanging out at home whilst the family is out galavanting in the old pagan tradition I sat down to lathe some vases or something in A:M.

 

Ended up modeling pumpkins and playing with Layers. (I tweaked the heck out of those Biases!).

 

Its not surprising that my mind should turn to such myths... it seems everyone gets caught up in the season. Of course my mind searches after the answers hidden somewhere in history.

 

In the process of researching I stumbled upon the Legend of Stingy Jack (Jack the Smith). Perhaps some here have heard of him?

 

The tale is told that Stingy Jack was a pretty worthless character. He took to strong drink and playing practical jokes on everyone every chance he got.

 

One day while stumbling down the road Jack ran into a stranger. He knew this stranger well even though he had never met him. It was time to fee for the life he had wasted. The stranger he had met was Death.

 

 

Jack pleaded with the stranger that it was too unfair to take him from this world without one last drink. The stranger smiled at this suggestion and they both walked down the road and into the public house. There the two drank and laughed and enjoyed themselves tremendously. At last the barkeep shut them off and motioned for them to pay their bill.

 

Jack explained to the stranger that he'd fallen on hard times of late and begged to borrow a piece of silver. The stranger smiled at the ingenuity of the drunken man but expressed he also had no tender with which to pay the tab with.

 

Jack leaned forward and whispered into the stranger's ear.

The stranger laughed again. He smiled and in the next instant transformed himself into a piece of silver.

 

Jack looked at the piece of silver, pointed a finger at the door and yelled, "Hey, that fellow done run off on you!"

 

The tavern near emptied as men chased after the stranger that was no longer anywhere. Jack smiled. He flipped the coin and put it deep inside his pocket.

 

The stranger would have smiled that day if he could have for Jack had once again showed his shrewd and crafty ways. But if he had smiled it surely would have faded to anger after a few days.

 

End of Act I

[Rodney]

My family returned from their adventuring with the loot (bags of candy) in tow. My oldest daughter (the witch) and youngest (the cheerleader) kept their costumes on for several hours more.

 

In my effort to understand why we do the things we do I inevitably overanalyse. It seem clear to me the whole of the night is rooted in socializing and (surprise! suprise!) superstition. It surely was a great time for storytelling in the days of yore and lore.

 

By way of introducing the young into a bigger, facinating and scarier world those that are living hide their identities and go forth. For the kids its even better (they are convinced) if they can adventure out into the darkness and uncertainty on their own. As I was sure to break the spell, my daughters were quite relieved to hear I wouldn't be adventuring out with them.

 

 

When we left off last, Scarecrow was telling us the tale of 'The Legend of Stingy Jack'. (that's why you see him there in that pic... don't you know)

 

 

The Legend of Stingy Jack is an old Irish tale passed down from generation to generation. It is credited as the origin and our facination with Jack o' Lanterns.

 

In my reciting of Act I I've altered the story a bit. While death does come for Stingy Jack its the Devil who makes his appearance and bargains with Jack.

 

At the end of Act I the Devil bargains for release and promises not to bother Jack or to place claim on his soul for one year. It seems Jack knew well the advantage of keeping a crucifix in his pocket. Upon removing the totem, the Devil was gone.

 

In Act II, after the year has passed, the Devil returns for Jack.

Unprepared but as crafty as ever, Jack convinces the Devil to grant one last request. He requests as a last meal an apple from the nearby tree. Futher entertaing the Devil he demonstrates his inability to retrieve it himself and the Devil agrees to fetch it himself. (No doubt the Devil has a thing for fine apples)

 

The Devil climbs high into the tree to select the perfect apple but upon his attempt to leave the tree discovers he can't. Stingy Jack's hastily carved cross in the bark of the tree has ensnared the Devil. The Devil is impressed and angered by that.

 

This time the Devil initiates the bargaining and grants an extension to Jack's contract. The Devil swears not to trouble Jack for 10 years and never lay claim to his soul.

 

With the bargain sealed, Jack scratches out the cross and the Devil is gone once again. Smiling and stumbling down the road, Jack takes a big juicy bite out of his apple. He's at the top of his game without a care in the world.

 

End Act II

[MJL]

In the first part,(post #36) what was it that Stingy Jack whispered into Death's ear that made him turn himself into a coin?

[Rodney]

In the first part,(post #36) what was it that Stingy Jack whispered into Death's ear that made him turn himself into a coin?

 

The imagination is alway more facinating than the truth isn't it?

 

In the original tale Jack tells the Devil how they can extricate themselves from the situation. Jacks suggests that the Devil can transform himself into a coin to pay their bill. Once Jack leaves the bar then the Devil can restore himself and rejoin Jack outside. The Devil, always up to a good scam, is easily swayed.

 

If the story was one that was being developed more there'd be considerable room for establishing the wit and character and relationship of Jack and the Devil. The easiest way for me to deal with it quickly was to turn that into a whisper. What he actually said would need to be revealed by the interaction between Jack, the Devil and the barkeep and via setup of the transformation.

 

There is another aspect of this to consider.

While the whisper may not be enough to carry the idea its best not to put in words what you can demonstrate visually.

 

 

Your query does illustrate the difference between the visual and the narrative. In a purely textual representation what Jack whispered would need to be revealed. Thanks for closing that loop here.

[mtpeak2]

Hey Rodney, you got a typo in the image you posted.

[Rodney]

Hey Rodney, you got a typo in the image you posted.

 

Thanks! Somebody's actually reading this stuff?

[Rodney]

Act III begins after seven years has passed.

Stingy Jack's worldly ways have caught up with him at last.

Jack dies unremarkedly. A victim of his own folly. Buried in an unmarked grave no one will visit.

 

At his approach to Heaven Jack finds the gate locked tight. The sign reading, "Do Not Enter" lets him know the price he has paid for his ruinous life.

 

So Jack set off for hell where he was sure to be accepted.

At the gate of the pit he met that old stranger.

But the Devil frowned as he pointed back to where he came from.

"I am bound by my word Jack... I have no claim on your soul... you cannot enter."

 

As a parting gift the Devil gave Jack a burning ember.

Jack now roams through the earth where he still carries that ember today.

 

Legend tells that the way to ward off Stingy Jack and prevent his trickery is to place a brightly lit ember in a pumpkin to scare him away.

 

 

The End

[Rodney]

So... what does this story have to do with anything besides Halloween?

 

First and foremost its a story told in three basic beats... three acts if you will. Its a little tall telling as told over hundreds of years.

 

Beat 1 - Stingy Jack bargains with the Devil for one additional year of life

Beat 2 - The Devil adjusts Jack's contract

Beat 3 - Stingy Jack's fate is revealed

 

In writing it could be summarized thusly:

- Introduction

- Body

- Conclusion

 

In a joke or comedic work it might be:

- Setup

- Delivery

- Punch Line

 

Its not a story that interests me personally, except as it explains a little more about the history and practices of Halloween and provides a view into the process of storytelling. Its concepts don't mesh with my religious beliefs. But plot holes, misspellings and other faults not withstanding its a pretty good tall tale. It elegant enough in its simplicity that I'm surprised this is the first time I heard Stingy Jack's tale.

 

Of course, any tale can be told better.

[steve392]

Good story ,never heard it before .but halloween is a prety recent thing in the UK

[Rodney]

Good story ,never heard it before .but halloween is a prety recent thing in the UK

 

Halloween is a very new concept in Japan too and I find that to be both interesting and disheartening. Its interesting as I learn a lot from seeing the process of ideas, characters and stories making their way into other countries.

 

Its pretty clear why companies support these celebrations; they make lots of money!

 

Everyone else? People just want to have fun and be entertained. They want to see and experience the new and different. So... they get what they want regardless of whether its good for them or not.

 

The downside (I think) is that new layers are placed over the old legends that further cloud the origin of the original tale. Its the root of truth found there... at the origin... that I am primarily interested in.

 

If you have never noticed... I have a love/hate relationship with storytelling.

[glenn]

Good story ,never heard it before .but halloween is a prety recent thing in the UK

 

Halloween has been celebrated in the UK for thousands of years since Celtic times, the recent bits are the pumkin lanterns and the "trick or treat". I remember making lanterens out of turnip when I was young.

 

Here is alink to an interesting site on Halloween.

 

http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content...mp;mini_id=1076

[Rodney]

Thanks for that Glenn. I did take it that Steve meant the recent trappings of Halloween were what was new in the scheme of things. The UK and surrounding area is pretty well known for its history of druidism/paganism. That hadn't escaped me.

 

Its easy to see why ancient peoples made note of the changes in season at the end of October. Who can miss it in the northern hemisphere?

 

While in the US (Colorado) one could expect cold weather to arrive on 31 October to the day (at least that's how I remember it). This year in northern Japan was quite similar with cold winds blowing in right on that schedule too.

 

Of course Japan has a whole different history of folklore and myth to fit into their schedule. I'd say there are just as many simularities as differences.

[Rodney]

Other than my recent hijacking of Robert's post in the Newbies forum where I waxed poetically about Titles and Credits etc. I haven't had much time of late to even think about A:M. (yes, this is rare!)

 

I did manage to find the time to install v15e and play with it tonight however.

 

Congrats to Ken Heslip for his Troll being on display front and center of the A:M startup screen.

He looks great!

 

Shaggy is like an old friend so I'm posting a piddly lighting test I did with him. He makes me smile every time I look at him. What can I say, it just felt right to render a shot of Shaggy as one of first out of v15e.

 

I also thought I should check to see if I still had the basic skill required to get involved with Martin's new SO-related contest! Verdict: Probably not but... I'm still in!

[Rodney]

Some nice usability enhancements have worked their way into the latest release of A:M.

Because of the 'Apply' button in the render dialog gone for instance are the days of setting your render to TGA only to have it convert back to AVI... or whatever. At least that is my experience thus far.

 

..and those new guys from Oz are creepin' in on the old toons.

I can see that 2009 is already set to be a great year.

[J90]

This isn't a dynamic pose.

 

Just testing the rig.