Black Widow

[Ross Smith]

I filmed a theater performance called Die Schwarze Spinne (The Black Spider), and I decided to make a little opening sequence for it. This is the 3D part of that sequence -- I'll add in titles later.

 

This really only took me about four hours in A:M... Considering it went from "idea" to "finished animation" in that time, I'm happy.

 

Anyhow, feedback would be cool.

 

Spider!

 

Warning: not for arachnophobes.

[Iham Wrong]

Looks really cool. You nailed the spiderly aspects of repelling on a web.

 

Any desires to try climbing back up? That would be a fairly challenging bit of animation to do. Think like a spider...

[Ross Smith]

Thanks!

Climbing back up, eh? Well, I admit that this guy is really starting to grow on me. Lots of potential, especially with the thread. I'll probably elaborate on the model a bit and play with it some more. But that's another animation.

[robvmonte]

its kind of jump, like you cut something out and have nothing in between. maybe you could tweak it! Other than that its kool!

[JohnArtbox]

Very nice rappel Ross. The sudden appearance of the spider is great

4 hours including modelling the spider? I'd be ecstatic.

[Parlo]

Without revealing myself as too much of a wimp - I'd like to look at what you've done Ross but I'm seriously arachnophobic

 

How sleepless would my night be if I looked at your clip?

[Ross Smith]

Aye, the clip is a little jerky... I wanted to fix that, but somehow my chor got corrupted. Ah well. I still have the spider and action files saved. I might remake it.

 

I understand, Parlo. I myself and terrified of bees for no good reason.

 

The clip starts with a black widow dropping large into the frame and stretching open its legs quickly. After that it's pretty tame. The clip is, however, designed to have some shock value.

 

It's nice to see you on the thread anyway! Seeing as your boogeyman character rocks the scariness house.

[xor]

Looks great, but her butt is kinda flat. Can you J-Lo her booty?

[Guest jandals]

Warning: not for arachnophobes.

Oh, c'mon. How squeamish can you get over... AHHHHHH! GET IT OFF! GETITIOFF! SOMEBODY KILL IT QUICK!

 

 

Ahem... Nice work. The flat 'butt' does stand out a bit but still very convincing. If you want an extra touch of creepiness (spidey-tude), you might move the legs around a little as the spider descends. Subtly curl and extend like they do in spooky movies.

 

Rhett

[gschumsky]

Interesting. Scary, but interesting. We have a lot of those around the house. Yech. The one comment is when it drops the second time, they really don't "catch air" like that. It is the same kind of drop, head first. Also, have the back legs hold onto the web as it repels (they tend to hold on as the webbing comes out of the spinnerettes).

As far as the abdomen, that looks okay. I've seen them much bigger as well. Sprayed one and when it it the ground it made a small thud. Really.

Nice work.

[Ross Smith]

Thanks all! Ja, the butt is a bit flat. I was just told there's on rush to finish this project, so I'll revisit this sequence and fixt that, among other things.

 

Greg, thanks a lot for the pointers. I was wondering what to do with the back legs. I'll work on the drop a bit, too.

[pally]

[James gets up from floor after falling off chair]

 

YIKES!! That gave me the heebee jeebees. I DID NOT DID NOT expect it to just jump out like that.

 

...now all the creepy spider stories come out...

 

You are a talent.

[KenH]

Cool. The legs look real claw-like. I wonder if there's something wrong with the motion blur in the beginning. Not enough maybe?

[robcat2075]

I think that's a cool "graphic" title sequence spider. I hope the thespians love it. The quick drop doesn't bother me at all. Don't change it.

[Ross Smith]

Thanks for the feedback, guys.

 

I like the sudden drop a lot. I would revise the rapelling a bit, so the back legs are constrained to the thread and the butt is a bit more properly shaped. I might change the second drop to be a little less horizontal, though.

 

I was going for nasty, talon-like legs. I'm glad that it came through, Ken. I tried turning up the motion blur, but it looked a bit ridiculous. I'm not sure how to set motion blur properly to make it blend between the motions, instead of rendering the intermediary frames and layering them onion-skin style. It looks bad with the motion blur turned up any more by that method. Pointers on a better way?

[D.Joseph Design]

Pretty good. One thought: I expect the spider to have at least some motion while hanging in the air, but since you're planning a title to show there, it's probably not a big deal.

[Randy]

Beauty!

 

If'n you were to animate her climbing back up her own thread, I think it would be a great opportunity to play with the new dynamic bone constraints (v11) for the thread that hangs behind her. Since the targets can be anchored at both ends and animated now. Don't ask me how, my bro wrote it (Bob). I haven't had time to even try them. I'm sure he'd be more than happy to give you pointers if you got stuck. Maybe you could then pan the camera down to see why she changed her mind.

 

Cheers,

Randy

[Guest jandals]

Coincidentally, I caught a black widow in a jar over the weekend. Apparently not an uncommon sight for some forum-goers, but I'd never seen one before...

 

Anyway, what struck me was that the front two legs were almost twice as long as the other, legs have three segments (I read somewhere that a tarantula's leg has seven, so that seemed odd) and the abdomen is best described as "bulbous". I only saw it scurrying around on the ground, so I can't offer anything about how it rappels.

 

Rhett

[Guest jandals]

I think it would be a great opportunity to play with the new dynamic bone constraints (v11) for the thread that hangs behind her. Since the targets can be anchored at both ends and animated now. Don't ask me how, my bro wrote it (Bob).

AWESOME! Go Bob!

[Ross Smith]

CAUGHT a black widow? ::shudder:: Man, I've never even seen one. I thought they were super-poisonous, deadly-style.

 

Anyway, thanks for all the feedback, guys. I've reshaped the rump a bit so it isn't so flat, but the chor I animated this fellow in got messed up somehow... so I don't thinks I'll be changing this particular animation much. Still, it's good to know how to improve.

 

Thanks, Randy! Means a lot from you. I would love to try new dynamic constraints, but I'm on v10.5. I intend to upgrade once I have the spare cash. Are CP weights in v11 all the rage I hear they are? I'm getting tired of smart-skinning and fan-boning everything.

[Randy]

Bob kinda' went off on CP weights too. I believe it should be pretty awesome, but I'll leave it to you artists to decide. Either way, v11 is probably one of the best bangs for your upgrade buck we've had.

 

Randy

[KenH]

Bob kinda' went off on CP weights too. I believe it should be pretty awesome

 

You mean there's more!?! 8)

[Randy]

You mean there's more!?! 8)

No, no, not since the last Beta. I did kind of make it sound that way though didn't I . I meant what is in the current shipping Beta (and has been for a few revs). Sorry, my bad. But it is very powerful, and you should check it out if you haven't already done so.

 

Here is the new (but not that new) documentation on it:

Control Point Weights

 

Randy

[heyvern]

CAUGHT a black widow? ::shudder:: Man, I've never even seen one. I thought they were super-poisonous, deadly-style.

Common myth about black widows.

 

Very rarely are the bites fatal if treated properly. That still sounds kind of painful though.

 

I find it interesting that of the three species of black widow in the united states there is only one that occassionally eats the male after mating. Apparently this is another myth.

 

There are species of black widow in the southern hemisphere that eats its mates as a rule.

 

Maybe most American black widow males have high carbs?

 

Vernon "I hate spiders" Zehr

[jamagica]

I know this is really old...but you should continue the animation by waiting a couple of seconds and then it suddenly jumps up right in front of the camera..that would be startling

[paulb]

Don't futz with it ..I think its a great thing to have going on with the credits- a very fun, direct, clear graphic!

[Eos]

Heey! Another spider! this is becoming like a fashion! hehehe

 

Good job! I come from the land of those creepy things (here in Mexico you can easily find one of those spiders just by looking under a wooden bed or inside a closet, really easily) Nice movements, convincing ones. Mind if I take note for my Monsieur Gamalier motion?

 

Good job again.

[Ross Smith]

Hey, what's this ol' thing doing up here? Thanks, guys. I like this lil animation, too.

 

It's kind of interesting, I've poured hours and hours into some models and rigs, trying to get just the right feel -- but I made and animated this character in a really short time, and it has received way more feedback and interest than most anything else of mine. Hehe.

 

Mind if I take note for my Monsieur Gamalier motion?

 

I'd be honored. I really got a kick out of your character when I saw him, Eos. Excellent style!

[TacoBallZ]

Wow, cool clip! I don't want to be a nit-picker here... But in Arizona, I have seen far too many Black Widows for my tastes, but I have yet to see one fall from a spider thread. They usually like to nest in dark damp areas and the webs they create are really chaotic. Oh man... just thinking about those nasty suckers *shudder*

The last one I encountered had made its home in a cardboard box full of long nails. The web funneled down into a dark hole. When you tapped the box it would pop out of its tunnel and look around for prey. Needless to say I drenched that sucker in WD-40, which is the fastes way to kill Black Widow Spiders... Raid and other bug spray just pisses Black Widows off, sure it will kill them, but it could take tens of minutes, where WD-40 is in a matter of a couple minutes... FYI

 

IT COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE!!

 

-Mark Weller

AKA TacoBallZ on #hash3d

[jamagica]

I bet if you added music to the sequence and the spider would jump down after a couple of seconds that would be awesome. The music would give a sudden "horror note" that's really loud when the spider comes down

[gschumsky]

I don't want to be a nit-picker here... But in Arizona, I have seen far too many Black Widows for my tastes, but I have yet to see one fall from a spider thread. They usually like to nest in dark damp areas and the webs they create are really chaotic. Oh man... just thinking about those nasty suckers *shudder*

I've seen it once, only ONCE (phew!) mind you where one did come down on a thread from the top of a stair landing and pretty close to my wife.

Fortunately I saw it, notified her of the impending situation, and...she ran screaming.