*A:M User* Shelton Posted November 6, 2014 Author *A:M User* Share Posted November 6, 2014 It has begun! The render farm is back up and ready to work. Here is a shot of 1/2 of the farm. The other 6 machines are in another location. I still have 72 cores available but need to update a few machines. We are rendering some blocking and story board info. Steve 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsjustme Posted November 6, 2014 Share Posted November 6, 2014 Very cool, Steve! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Rodney Posted November 6, 2014 Admin Share Posted November 6, 2014 me = jealous Not that I have anything to render that would require such a renderfarm. Maybe someday! Thanks for sharing Steve. You are an inspiration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hash Fellow robcat2075 Posted November 6, 2014 Hash Fellow Share Posted November 6, 2014 Wow. My cat would be on that in a second and stay the whole winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*A:M User* Shelton Posted December 13, 2014 Author *A:M User* Share Posted December 13, 2014 As we move forward in the project Chris and I have made a change to one of the lead characters look. Here is what I have so far. I tried to use re topology tool for getting a head in quickly but in version 18g the project would crash. I went back to modeling the character myself. Still to finish is the back of the head and then touch up Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*A:M User* Shelton Posted December 14, 2014 Author *A:M User* Share Posted December 14, 2014 Is there a wizard or plug in that allows you to select a model and auto the process of front facing the patch. For what ever reason when I copied/flip/attach the new side patches are reversed Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markw Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 Right Click anywhere in the modelling window and choose 'Refind Normals'.That should get everything facing the right way again. But in truth, not always I've found! Still it should do the majority of the work for you.In the attached example it scored 100%. Also, I have 'Show Back Facing Polys' "OFF" in the render sittings in the example which leave "holes" where the offending patches are which makes spotting them easier.If you have areas of incorrect patches you can group select them. Then right click inside the bounding box of the selection and choose 'Flip Normals'.And then lastly there is the 'Patch Group Mode' tool in the 'Modelling' toolbar (or shift+P to activate it) you can use if only needing to do a few scattered patches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuchur Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 If you can easily select those patches and really all of them are inverted select them and hit "F". See you *Fuchur* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*A:M User* Shelton Posted December 14, 2014 Author *A:M User* Share Posted December 14, 2014 Thanks Gerald. I was selecting the mesh and then look for the wizard. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*A:M User* Shelton Posted December 23, 2014 Author *A:M User* Share Posted December 23, 2014 Here is where I am at on the remake of Stone. He will replace the more cartoon character. I will use a new tool from Mack Chappelle, (be looking for the link). I finally happy with the head and face. Thanks to Chris Dailey and his constructive criticism. He noticed the shape of the head was not looking right. Finally, he gave some photos to me for my review. That is what I like about collaboration. We are able to work together to make the finished product better. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hash Fellow robcat2075 Posted December 24, 2014 Hash Fellow Share Posted December 24, 2014 On "Refind Normals"... the first time won't flip everything but if you do it several times over it will get everything in the same direction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*A:M User* Shelton Posted December 25, 2014 Author *A:M User* Share Posted December 25, 2014 Thanks Robert Found this out too. But it is a quick way of fixing a problem. Here is an update. Working on the shirt today before our family get together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mechadelphia Posted December 26, 2014 Share Posted December 26, 2014 Here is where I am at on the remake of Stone. He will replace the more cartoon character. I will use a new tool from Mack Chappelle, (be looking for the link). I finally happy with the head and face. Snip.. Here's the link... I hope that it's working out well for you Steve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*A:M User* Shelton Posted January 22, 2015 Author *A:M User* Share Posted January 22, 2015 It has been a few days. I have completed the new Stone and the new rig is in place and should finish it shortly. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsjustme Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 He looks great, Steve! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*A:M User* Shelton Posted January 22, 2015 Author *A:M User* Share Posted January 22, 2015 Thanks David. Working on the rig and hope to have it done tonight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*A:M User* Shelton Posted January 24, 2015 Author *A:M User* Share Posted January 24, 2015 We are getting closer to animating! It has been a long process and one that has been noted with issues and discoveries. Thanks to Chris and Mack for all their insights!!!. Stone's Rig is in place but having issues with mirror bones and mirror smartskins. As soon as that has been completed we will animate the first section and then render the test and so on. It is finally happening! Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Rodney Posted January 24, 2015 Admin Share Posted January 24, 2015 Looking very good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*A:M User* Shelton Posted January 26, 2015 Author *A:M User* Share Posted January 26, 2015 Very easy fix. The mirror bones plugin was mirroring a new set of bones as i had not set the filter correctly. Deleted the extra bones, reran the mirror bones and viola cps correctly weighted. That in turn allowed me to mirror smartskins as it was weighted the area to the correct bone. I love the fact we get together on google plus. It was something so simple i was missing that Chris caught the error and Mack stated the solution. Thanks again to Chris and Mack for all their help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*A:M User* Shelton Posted January 26, 2015 Author *A:M User* Share Posted January 26, 2015 Laurie doing her best Zombie impression. The poses are going in but would still like to get the face rig to use the pose sliders. Still working on that. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*A:M User* Shelton Posted January 29, 2015 Author *A:M User* Share Posted January 29, 2015 I wanted to put Laurie in a pose that put stress on the rig and smart skins. I also wanted to test the pose slider on the face and look at the reworked hair. OK I am not a fan of the pose but it was able to accomplish a lot of the test. The face poses are in except for the phonemes. I am re working the brows now. I am trying to create a face rig that makes sense for me and Chris and hope to show that soon. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hash Fellow robcat2075 Posted January 31, 2015 Hash Fellow Share Posted January 31, 2015 That looks successful except for her left shoulder (on our right ). I think the shoulder itself would raise too if she was reaching up like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*A:M User* Shelton Posted January 31, 2015 Author *A:M User* Share Posted January 31, 2015 I agre. I raised the shoulder but, it still doesnt look right. I will explore that thanks Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hash Fellow robcat2075 Posted January 31, 2015 Hash Fellow Share Posted January 31, 2015 On mouth animation... I would not spend a lot of effort on phonemes. i would have the mouth be able to do the "ah" and "oo" and "ee" shapes and those will serve better than trying to do automatic lip synch with phonemes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*A:M User* Shelton Posted January 31, 2015 Author *A:M User* Share Posted January 31, 2015 Thanks Robert. I had discussed with Chris on Tuesday about that very issue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hash Fellow robcat2075 Posted January 31, 2015 Hash Fellow Share Posted January 31, 2015 When I was at Animation Mentor, the "Bishop" model had up and down for the jaw and control at each corner of the mouth that you could move in for "oo", out for "ee", up for smiles and down for frowns and that is what I did for my A:M version of Bishop. They didn't teach "phonemes" it was more about the mouth motion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*A:M User* Shelton Posted January 31, 2015 Author *A:M User* Share Posted January 31, 2015 Excellent, once i finish this installation i will move on from this to finalizing the face rig/puesdo face rig! Thanks Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hash Fellow robcat2075 Posted January 31, 2015 Hash Fellow Share Posted January 31, 2015 If you can get a cheap copy of Jason Osipa's "Stop Staring" he teaches this fundamentals approach to lip synch. His first edition even has A:M coverage but ignore the specifics of that because he was on an old version that didn't have CP weighting like we do now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*A:M User* Shelton Posted February 1, 2015 Author *A:M User* Share Posted February 1, 2015 I have a copy and I am currently looking for it! thanks Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hash Fellow robcat2075 Posted February 1, 2015 Hash Fellow Share Posted February 1, 2015 For our first dialog assignment we only had mouth open and close and that did a lot... YoureRight242b.mov Most of "lip-sync" is really the body language and that's what wears me out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*A:M User* Shelton Posted February 1, 2015 Author *A:M User* Share Posted February 1, 2015 Was that the character you created in AM or is that the rig from Animation Mentor. Very nice by the way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hash Fellow robcat2075 Posted February 1, 2015 Hash Fellow Share Posted February 1, 2015 That was my A:M version of the school's character. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*A:M User* Shelton Posted February 1, 2015 Author *A:M User* Share Posted February 1, 2015 You did a great job of putting him together. Were you able to use him throughout the classes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hash Fellow robcat2075 Posted February 1, 2015 Hash Fellow Share Posted February 1, 2015 Yeah, that was back when that was the only character they had! Although, technically, the assignments said "Using Bishop, or an equivalent character..." Maybe I coulda just put Shaggy or Rabbit in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*A:M User* Shelton Posted February 6, 2015 Author *A:M User* Share Posted February 6, 2015 I was looking for Kat's area and i dont see it. Anyone else Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*A:M User* Shelton Posted February 7, 2015 Author *A:M User* Share Posted February 7, 2015 This program still amazes me. I have applied the apron to Laurie and cp weighted 80% and smart skinned 20%. We have set a pose to turn the apron on and off and everything works. Here is a shot Laurie admiring her new ring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*A:M User* Shelton Posted February 7, 2015 Author *A:M User* Share Posted February 7, 2015 David Simmons, back in August you showed me how to link a null to a smart skin. I am not getting it. I know you are busy but I still could use some help Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsjustme Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 David Simmons, back in August you showed me how to link a null to a smart skin. I am not getting it. I know you are busy but I still could use some help Steve 1. Make a copy of your model, add a bone in the copy and name it what you want the null to be named, add a null with the same name to your original model. 2. Make a Smartskin using the added bone in the version of your model with the bone. 3. Drag and drop the Smartskin in the bone model onto the name of the model with the null in the PWS...the null should now work exactly like the bone did. 4. Save the model with the new null and Smartskin. Hope that helps, Steve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*A:M User* Shelton Posted February 7, 2015 Author *A:M User* Share Posted February 7, 2015 Ohhhhh. I think i got it now. I will try that this evening. Thank you sir! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Rodney Posted February 7, 2015 Admin Share Posted February 7, 2015 1. Make a copy of your model, add a bone in the copy and name it what you want the null to be named, add a null with the same name to your original model. 2. Make a Smartskin using the added bone in the version of your model with the bone. 3. Drag and drop the Smartskin in the bone model onto the name of the model with the null in the PWS...the null should now work exactly like the bone did. 4. Save the model with the new null and Smartskin. Hope that helps, I suppose that is something I should have known already but you just made a huge aspect of relationships click for me. Very interesting. Thanks David! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*A:M User* Shelton Posted February 7, 2015 Author *A:M User* Share Posted February 7, 2015 Ok next question and it should be an easy one. I have been working on a face rig that will lay ontop of the model. I have nulls that will be driving the pose sliders and bones. I have a master bone on the rig in which all the nulls and controls are children of. I can move all the bones and nulls to the correct location and scale accordingly. However, the mesh and labels are not moving. My mind is a mush bowl and can not think of how to get both to move together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsjustme Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Ok next question and it should be an easy one. I have been working on a face rig that will lay ontop of the model. I have nulls that will be driving the pose sliders and bones. I have a master bone on the rig in which all the nulls and controls are children of. I can move all the bones and nulls to the correct location and scale accordingly. However, the mesh and labels are not moving. My mind is a mush bowl and can not think of how to get both to move together. You have two choices. 1. In Bones Mode, select the bone, hit the "N" key and hold down the "Ctrl" key while translating. 2. Move the bones in an Action and export the model. Hope that helps, Steve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*A:M User* Shelton Posted February 7, 2015 Author *A:M User* Share Posted February 7, 2015 Thanks David I had forgotten the control key, but, well, like I said mush. I created a face outline and placed the nulls on it for my rig. Now one more question, When rendering, the group of mesh and labels need to be hidden. On your face rig how do you keep all the items from rendering? Your pose slider for the face interface turns them on and off, and does the split system. Do you just make sure it is off before rendering? I cant remember Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsjustme Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 On your face rig how do you keep all the items from rendering? Your pose slider for the face interface turns them on and off, and does the split system. Do you just make sure it is off before rendering? I cant remember Steve Yessir, just make sure it is set to "0" or delete the keys for the "FACE off/Joint Controls/Split Controls" Pose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*A:M User* Shelton Posted February 9, 2015 Author *A:M User* Share Posted February 9, 2015 David Now I have the face and nulls and set up ready to install on the model. I have created a pose slider 0 and 1 to hide all the bones, nulls and cps/mesh.. O = On for hidden 1 = Off for visible Questions: 1. I can get the face bone to hide in the relationship, but how do I create another key in the relationship to turn off hidden. How do I add all the bones and nulls into the relationship? It states add bones but when I select the option nothing happens. 2. Also, all the mesh items for the face rig will need to be hidden as well. I have grouped all the cp as face and if expand drivers to see the groups the only thing I see is transperancy. I want to hide them. Will all the mesh items hide since I have them tied to the face rig bone? Am I asking the right questions? Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsjustme Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 David Now I have the face and nulls and set up ready to install on the model. I have created a pose slider 0 and 1 to hide all the bones, nulls and cps/mesh.. O = On for hidden 1 = Off for visible Questions: 1. I can get the face bone to hide in the relationship, but how do I create another key in the relationship to turn off hidden. How do I add all the bones and nulls into the relationship? It states add bones but when I select the option nothing happens. 2. Also, all the mesh items for the face rig will need to be hidden as well. I have grouped all the cp as face and if expand drivers to see the groups the only thing I see is transperancy. I want to hide them. Will all the mesh items hide since I have them tied to the face rig bone? Am I asking the right questions? Steve 1. While editing the Pose, turn on the Pose and unhide the null by selecting it and hitting the "J" key. 2. What I did to hide the controls was to just hide the nulls in the Pose and scale the geometry down to zero percent and translate it into the character's head (also in the Pose). I have bones that the geometry is assigned to and in the Pose have them translate to the FK head bone and scaled to zero percent when hidden and translate to "home" bones and scaled to one hundred percent when visible. Hope that helps, Steve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*A:M User* Shelton Posted February 9, 2015 Author *A:M User* Share Posted February 9, 2015 OMG, how is that David. Wow, I was killing myself and there was the answer So Easy Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*A:M User* Shelton Posted February 9, 2015 Author *A:M User* Share Posted February 9, 2015 Still having issues with the geometry. I will do something like you did as far as the nulls and bones worked like a charm!!! Steve I will post a shot later tomorrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*A:M User* Shelton Posted February 9, 2015 Author *A:M User* Share Posted February 9, 2015 Here is a screen shot of where I am at now. The face rig is built so I can import the base to the individual models. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsjustme Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 I'm happy it helped! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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