Rotoscopes

[adamjames]

OK, I'm going to tackle modelling a character. I've created some images in Poser and my plan is to use them as rotoscopes. The character will be used for toon renders.

 

Are these pics OK for the rotoscoping process, or should I have done something differently? I don't want to make problems for myself before I start.

 

Thanks

 

Adam

[adamjames]

Side view.... (ignore the red line)

[adamjames]

body...

[adamjames]

body from side...

[adamjames]

from back...

[adamjames]

Hopefully aiming for something like this...

 

 

Adam

[KenH]

Nice model

Some look like they are in perspective and not "plan view". In the side view for example, you can see her far arm. But her face looks right....maybe you've done something in Poser to give that effect?

 

I don't know if you're familiar with splines but I would get a good example body off the net and learn how best to lay them out. You're target image is easily possible in AM. Good Luck!

[heyvern]

I use poser a lot to create rotoscopes for AM.

 

What you want to do is make sure to use the "left" "front" "side" views in poser to create the screen grabs.

 

These cameras in poser are orthoganal...orthopedic...orthographic... uh... they do not have perspective. They are flat straight views. This is very important as it will help lining things up in AM. If you use a perspective view it distorts the image and you will have trouble getting things lined up in AM.

 

What I also do is load all of my views in photoshop from poser and line them up perfectly. I usually do separate rotoscopes just for the face and head for when I get to that part.

 

Once you get them the way you like in photoshop save out each rotoscope view from photoshop as targas. By doing it this way all of the rotos are exactly the same size and position. You shouldn't have to scale or move them around much in AM.

 

Also I have found using a wireframe render in poser for the rotoscopes is a huge help. It gives you 3D cues to the shape of the body that you really can't see just from a plain render.

 

On side views I will hide the arms and hands so I can see the body more clearly. You can't really use a side view of the arm anyway. I use a top, front and back view for the arms. I also will do a render for the side view only that is a "see through" wireframe. You can see how the body parts connect in the center of the body sort of if you know what I mean.

 

If you plan to use poser for rotoscopes of hands you can also use the high resolution hand models. These have very high detail for close ups. I can't remember if poser has female and male high resolution hands though. This may not be neccessary for the new version of poser. I am still using an older version. You will also need to do a separeate render for the tops of the feet... the...uh... head and other things can get in the way.

 

Here is something I tried a while ago. I did a "3-D" rotoscope from poser. It was somewhat helpful when trying to determine the 3-D shapes, but I got headaches from it. You will need the red/blue glasses to see this:

 

front 3D

Side 3D

 

Vernon "I'm a poser" Zehr

[adamjames]

Thanks, Ken...I'm more used to polygons than splines but I'm hoping to change that.

 

Hey, Vern, thanks for that info..very useful. And that's an interesting stereo render.

 

 

Adam

[KenH]

Oh and don't forget, you only have to model half of her!

[adamjames]

Of course, half the work.

 

What about clothing? She will be wearing some...am I better to model the clothing fixed to her (but then I'd have to make a whole new model if she wore different clothing) or to add it later as a separate cloth model?

 

 

Or is it just persomal preference?

 

 

Thanks

 

Adam

[heyvern]

Of course, half the work.

 

What about clothing? She will be wearing some...am I better to model the clothing fixed to her (but then I'd have to make a whole new model if she wore different clothing) or to add it later as a separate cloth model?

 

 

Or is it just persomal preference?

 

 

Thanks

 

Adam

That is a toughy.

 

It all depends on how brave you are. You may want to model the clothing into the character on your first attempt. On the CD Jim Talbot uses a really cool method on the Tarzan and Jane characters where the (minimal) clothing is attached to the model.

 

On the other hand there is no reason you can't model the clothing separately even if you do not use the cloth wizard built into AM.

 

You could do it this way and just bone, smartsin and animate the clothing by hand, constraining it to the body bones and at a later date when you feel confident with the tools you can try using the cloth wizard.

 

For the most part I have seen clothing modeled into the character with "extra bits" extending beyond for "flowing" stuff like skirts, dresses, sleeves etc. This way you could create separate versions of the character and change the outfits by changing colors, materials, and altering the clothing part of the model without a ton of effort.

 

The few "humanoid" type characters I have done just wear really tight body suites so not an issue. I have to address some of this on a current project and will most likely have loose fitting clothing models over the character.

 

Vernon "not an expert" Zehr

[KenH]

There are so many ways indeed to do clothing.

One other suggestion is to model the character with none. Then when you are happy with the look, copy the splines that make up the area that will be covered in clothes. This can be manipulated into your clothing layer which can be put over the original model or even stitched into it.

[adamjames]

Thanks, guys....you've both been a great help.

 

I'll let you know how I get on...

 

 

Adam