Anim8or Community

okay... i got so many scrapes and bruises right now from battling ART   I'm fairly happy with how my scene is coming along overall (i've added the suspension cables, which were the last missing bit of modelling, and i think i've improved the readability of the text), but there's the occasional little bit which just doesn't want to come out how i want.  the main culprit is the right-hand end of the version-number block; i've tried all sorts of things to get it to show up red like the sides of the letters above it, but it seems determined to stay brown for some reason.  hmph

also, i know it's all a bit grainy atm, but i'm planning to crank up the sample count for the final render.  the last two i posted were at 16, this one's 25, and i'm thinking i might go for 64 on the final pass.  if the render time isn't too prohibitive, i'd like to run off a full-HD version just to see what it looks like, but we'll have to wait and see on that one!

anyway, what do you guys think of this one?  is it more readable (or less, or no difference)?  any other detail critiques?

looking excellent as ever, FSS.  one tiny little suggestion for the sake of fine-tuning: where you've done the '8' and the '1.0' in red, that makes them look like they want to fit together as a pair, so i think it would work better if the lower line of text was moved very slightly to the left so that the two numbers centre-align relative to each other.  i realise the whole lines are currently centred, but i think the alignment of the numbers draws the eye more.

anywho, back soon with another version of my design, once i've picked another little fight with ART

thanks for the feedback so far, and especially for the help on the reg-tm symbol, everyone!  as you can see, the symbol has made it into the update below.  i also improved several other aspects, and decided to include the version number within the render after all.  still not completely happy with the glass effect - i might crank up the IOR a bit, and/or experiment with putting a different material around the sides of the letters; something aluminium-ish, maybe.

also, i'm going to try and smooth out a fair bit of that grain for the final render; i'm just rendering quick-and-dirty atm so i can gauge how the models and lighting are developing.

fss: i definitely prefer the new colour pallette for Sharkie.  like you said, i'm sure you'll get a much stronger overall image going that route.

davdud: i think there could be scope to add something organic to your existing scene, rather than reworking the whole thing; maybe a pot plant sitting to one side of the sink?  hanging a towel on that ring would make a big difference to the sense of lived-in-ness too.  just thinkin' out loud, again

ah, one more thing - does anybody have any tips on how to type the Registered Trademark symbol into an Anim8or text element?  can't remember whether the alt-gr key or the alt + unicode-number trick ever worked in anim8or before, but they don't now because alt and alt-gr both toggle arc-rotate instead.

okay, turns out my problem wasn't with the materials, it was with the normals.  i'd forgotten that ART can be a bit funny about rendering the back-sides of polys.  so now that i've addressed that issue, i think i'm ready to show my first preview render...

i gave myself a few extra criteria for my design, as follows:

• keep the overall concept as clean and focused as possible
• keep the emphasis firmly on the title text - everything else is just window-dressing
• keep the colour scheme centred on the new grey-and-orange interface design, with a nod to the red and yellow of the Robin icon
• ...and don't even think about putting characters in there, because my character modelling is nowhere near as good as FSS's

i've slightly increased the sideways resolution to 800x450, to give a 16:9 aspect ratio.  i've always liked working in 16:9 and i think it suits this composition a bit better than the traditional 750x450.  however, it wouldn't suffer too much from being cropped back to 750x450 if that's what Steve really wanted.

this is very much a work-in-progress; known issues include:

• there are a few more modelling details to add - the reg-tm symbol and the version number are missing (although i'm kinda tempted to add the version number in post), the 'table'/'plinth' pieces will be redone in a more interesting shape, and there will be cables suspending the text pieces
• the materials aren't quite right yet; the checkerboard effect on the floor and ceiling (inspired by the default ground grid) isn't as obvious as i want it to be, and there are just too many different things all reflecting each other so i want to change some elements to use less-reflective materials; i also want the main text to stand out much more from the background
• the lighting will have to be adjusted; i like the orange-ness in general, but as it stands i think it's a bit too orange

i expect there'll be one or two more previews along the way, before this is finished...

It did occur to me to try to come up with a composition which features the knife from the Cut-Edges tool. Though in my head it'd be a kind of image of her right after finishing something which would be visible right next to her.

yeah, that would be cool - the "ta-da!  look what i made!" moment.  oh, now i've just thought: for the sake of keeping things simple and to-the-point, what if the thing she's just carved was the 'Anim8or' text itself?

The 3rd pose huh? That's interesting to me, because I find that to be the least engaging.

i guess the overall pose is more static than some of the others, so i see where you're coming from, but i do think it has the nicest facial expression... just IMO

That's a cool idea

why, thank you

I wonder if I can repurpose my bathroom idea into an incredibly expensive, high-class woodshop xDD

i'm sure you could - just throw in an angle grinder or something to give it that authentically workshop-y feel, heheh

i wasn't involved, but i remember reading about it.  seem to remember the plot synopsis involved a king and a princess and a rogue cosmetics company, or something?  or am i getting mixed up with something else?

i'd say a sound on render completion should be a user-settable option as there are times when i wouldn't want it running, but there are certainly other times when it could be useful