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31

General Anim8or Forum / Re: Blenderize me, but why?

« on: August 28, 2014, 02:16:21 pm »

Quote from: ENSONIQ5 on July 05, 2014, 09:20:00 pm

The only reason I use it at all is so I can work with models created in Blender by co-collaborators, and I usually pull them out and work in Carrara or Anim8or anyway. On the other hand, while I do 99% of my modelling in Anim8or, it is not able to provide the standard of work I require for my current projects which include physics, particle effects, animated textures and full 1080HD 24fps animations, often running over 300-400 frames per animation with 15-20 such animations per project.

My advice to you jwalt, would be to consider what you want from a system now, and what your future plans are. If Anim8or provides the tools you need to bring your imaginings to life through 3D modelling and animation, then there's no need to overcomplicate matters. Not that Anim8or is as limited as you might have been led to believe; it has more than enough functionality to challenge all but the most demanding of CGI artists (you could argue that Anim8or would actually be more challenging, since it has fewer out-of-the-box shortcuts and requires some actual artistry to get the best out of it). On the other hand, if you intend to continue down the CGI path, aiming perhaps at doing it professionally or even as part of a collaborative project, it might be a good idea to persist with Blender as the things this will teach you could turn out to be invaluable... and it's free to download.

Ultimately, neither system will suffice on their own IMO and spending $ on LightWave, Maya, 3DSMax or even Carrara is probably worthwhile, but both are useful tools in your CGI arsenal.

I recently bought Carrara (on sale). One reason was the promise that it could work with the DAZ Studio figures. It sure doesn't seem to work with the DAZ figures in my case. I'm curiouse, Ensoniqs, if the DAZ models behave in your installation?

I'd recently given F8ce a try and was hopeful that it might help. F8ce comes close to what I needed/wanted. I can make a fairly decent human body in Anim8or, but my faces never, ever come out right.

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General Anim8or Forum / Re: Can't Find Skeleton

« on: August 24, 2014, 08:18:34 am »

Quote from: lppena on August 24, 2014, 07:54:11 am

Where did you save it? Do a system search with something like an8 as a keyword; windows should find it.

If the problem is just where it is saved, can't you get it back just using the file list at the bottom of the file menu? I read the post as the skeleton had disappeared from the file. Hide and the bones toggle both reset when the file is reopned, so I doubt that's the problem, but might want to show all, and push the bones toggle button.

Regarding tutorials:

It was a bit advanced, for me, but I'm going to give some things Soy Sauce mentions a try, since they look helpful. Looks like he has a number of tutorials, only I couldn't seem to figure out how to get YouTube to only display his. Thanks, Soy Sauce.

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Finished Works and Works in Progress / Re: To bed

« on: August 21, 2014, 11:52:24 am »

I'd put an early iiteration of this scene up on the AGS Forums for criticism. I thought Scavenger's response worth sharing:

http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=50497.msg636488843#msg636488843

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General Anim8or Forum / Re: Using bone as parent in Scene mode?

« on: August 21, 2014, 11:47:19 am »

I used Ian's technique in the sword fight scene. Just be careful about positioning the two models in the scene for a seamless animation. I also did this, a while back:

In this one, I used only one character model (one figure/sequence), and paths for the two basketballs (objects). It may depend on what is happening in the scene.

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Finished Works and Works in Progress / Re: Gypsy, sort of, dancer

« on: August 15, 2014, 07:16:06 pm »

Thanks for all the nice comments. Ian shares some of the responsibility, since I picked up a lot with his tutorials. Putting a cape on the cow got me thinking about the Banderas Zorro movie. Gave it a try:

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Finished Works and Works in Progress / Gypsy, sort of, dancer

« on: August 07, 2014, 10:27:16 pm »

FYI, I'm using three lights in this: two spot lights, and one area light. Fog cranked up to max. I probably should have tried for a fire, but I am a chicken. ;-)

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General Anim8or Forum / Re: Anim8or v0.98 is ready!

« on: July 15, 2014, 03:44:34 pm »

Quote from: justletgo on July 15, 2014, 06:28:30 am

Hi Steve,

I just wanted to say a very big thank you for such wonderful software...I've been waiting for the update...my computer has not been playing nicely but it likes this anim8or version. I had surgery on part of my head 3 years ago and had been working on an abstract animation as a therapy from the event and then my computer said "no" ...but now says "yay" so now I can put my ideas together...thankyou again.

Quite a while back, I purchased Hexagon 2.5 from DAZ. I have worked with it, but like Blender, it seems to be hard to pick up. I'd made a couple of attempts, recently, to make a couple of different car models in Anim8or. They are, generally, failures, although two are "usable." I poked around the DAZ site this AM and found and purchased a tutorial for Hexagon about making cars. In the course of the four videos making up the tutorial, Hexagon must have crashed around ten times on the guy. Anim8or does crash on me on occasion, but not nearly that often. In fact, the more I work with Anim8or, the less it seems to misbehave. Also like to point out the guy had to use a "work around" to get his back ground drawings into Hexagon for his model, something that seems overly complicated in Blender, as well. Other words, Steve, you're doing good!

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General Anim8or Forum / Blenderize me, but why?

« on: July 05, 2014, 02:29:40 pm »

I keep getting shoves, from people I respect, toward Blender. Admittedly, I'm still new to Anim8or, having given up sPatch not all that long ago and with more than a little hesitation, but they seem to feel Anim8or will fall short, somewhere, somehow. I'm not seeing where, or how? Anyone clue me in? I know the renderer is limited, but Steve is actively working on the program (yeah, I know, he's in Italy at the moment), and there are other renderers that I can use. Bones are bones (or armatures), and IK would be lovely, but what makes Blender superior? Every single time I've tried to do a tutorial or a project in Blender, I've made absolutely no progress. And that includes a very simple snowman, which I couldn't do in Blender, 'cause it made no sense, but pulled out of Anim8or in no time, without any problem. I do note that a lot of the senior Forum members seem to use multiple tools, probably for a reason. Model me confused.

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General Anim8or Forum / Re: Skirts/robes

« on: June 27, 2014, 12:39:03 am »

I didn't antialias it, so your eyes are (were) okay. Thanks for those suggestions.

40

General Anim8or Forum / Skirts/robes

« on: June 26, 2014, 10:07:42 pm »

I seem to be able to do skirts and robes, and they seem to work okay for walking.

But it sure doesn't work when you try to have them take a chair. Don't have an image handy, but think along the lines of those Carol Burnett sketches involving hoops skirts; all will be revealed when they sit down. Any guidance?

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General Anim8or Forum / Re: Why different in wireframe?

« on: June 19, 2014, 03:32:31 pm »

Kind of figured it out. I had to darken the blue way down to get the renderer to light the scene the way I wanted. Here it is:

I ran this as 36 frames, and used 200ms timing per frame in the gif. Since none of my animations ever look right, any guidance on what I should have done here? Is it a matter of playing with the timing in Gimp, or is it needing more frames, or less movement? I'm kind of at a loss. Thanks! Still haven't turned the canoe right side around.

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General Anim8or Forum / Why different in wireframe?

« on: June 19, 2014, 01:07:01 pm »

I bumble into some really stunning (to me, anyway) images in wireframe that look considerably different when rendered. I've been playing with this:

Take my word for it, the render doesn't look this good using any of the renderer options. I'm using one spot light and a fake light surface in the torch.

Is it simply a matter of darkening down the water, or is something different about wireframe that I can get the redered to do? I know it's my fault, but I'd love to get the scene to look like this, sans the wire. Oh, and I should mention the foliage on the hillock are Plantstudio. The pads and flowers upon them, are mine. And don't tell anybody, but I've got the canoe in there backwards. It'll be our little secret, until I get around to fixing it.

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General Anim8or Forum / Re: Paddle/pedal question

« on: June 19, 2014, 10:42:29 am »

Lot of helpful, interesting comments there, thanks! I did this one, below, using a bone off of the paddler's right hand. It seemed to make animating the free hand merely a matter of moving the shoulder, but that might just have been dumb luck in this case. And the paddle is simpler.

I guess I need to look at my weight painting, since I am flattening out the paddler's left shoulder, badly.

Got a request for flowers in the scene, so I made one. Not happly with the lilly pads; they look more like green oil slicks, but it's a start.

44

General Anim8or Forum / Paddle/pedal question

« on: June 09, 2014, 03:06:33 pm »

So,

Got me wondering about the best way to handle things like the paddle, which is being operated by two hands, but can only attach to one bone (as far as I know). Something similar would apply to things like bicycle pedals. Any insights?

45

General Anim8or Forum / Re: My boat leaks...

« on: June 07, 2014, 01:54:45 pm »

Thanks for those answers. They helped.

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