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Messages - ADSohr

Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 13
1
Finished Works and Works in Progress / Re: Cursed Horse II
« on: July 29, 2011, 10:49:49 am »
If you have an entire rib painted as one influence then it won't bend.  So rib 1 = 100%, rib 2 = 90%, etc.  It will not bend the ribs, just move them less with one bone, the spine would curve as you rotated the yellow bone.  But if the spine does not move then there is nothing to worry about.

If I'm not mistaken, morph targets only work in a linear fashion, which means your jaw is shrinking and growing throughout it's rotation.

I notice the trees are all pointing the same direction,  all have the same branches, and all look exactly the same.  Most trees look very different form each other.  Also it looks like your texture is slightly stretched.

I know, I'm a bringer of bad news.  ::)

2
Finished Works and Works in Progress / Re: Cursed Horse II
« on: July 28, 2011, 02:23:39 pm »
Something you might want to try, rather than having everything be 100% weighted to one bone, is to have a progression of influence.  Like on the spine you have all but two ribs as red, so when you move the bone that controls the yellow ribs there will be a rather nasty looking gap in the ribs.  If you take the rib that is right at the joint and paint it 100%, the next one 90%, the one after that 83%, etc., you can get much smoother deformations.  On the jaw, you will need another bone in order to open the mouth. Have a joint go from the base of the head, to where the jaw would hinge, then another bone to where the jaw bends.  Usually it is better to have more control in animation. 

3
Finished Works and Works in Progress / Re: Scene from my Dreams
« on: July 19, 2011, 09:03:37 am »
Whether it is your dream or not, I'd say it is a wonderful landscape for a fantasy.  For a while I was going to use Ha Long Bay as the setting for a dragon animation that I'm working on, until I settled on the Dolomite mountains in Italy instead.

4
Finished Works and Works in Progress / Re: Scene from my Dreams
« on: July 17, 2011, 06:44:21 pm »
Well, it is kind of difficult to find pictures that perfectly replicate mentally fabricated images.  If you look around the world long enough you might find a place that is very similar.  Like I said; that area does have beaches, I just do not have a picture of them.  This is what Google is for.   ;)

5
Finished Works and Works in Progress / Re: Scene from my Dreams
« on: July 16, 2011, 11:58:46 am »
This is Vietnam.  I think there is a resemblance.  The mountain structures are similar to those in your render, and there are beaches in that area of Vietnam.

6
General Anim8or Forum / Re: 3d model to real life prop?
« on: July 02, 2011, 03:00:03 pm »
For the fact that it won't have a hilt if you use a CNC machine is becuae then you would be more than doubling the cost of both materials and cutting equipment.  You would have to buy a bar of metal that is as thick as the hilt and then cut the width of the blade out of that.  That is a lot of wasted metal and extra cutting that you would not have needed had you used a bar of metal the width of the blade.  If you research how knives are made, you will find that almost all blades are made with the same thickness of metal from tip to pomel and then have two halves of the handle added on top, either by glue or rivets.  Old swords used wire or leather to tie the grip onto the blade.

You could make the blade and handle all one piece like this one: One-piece knifeThe reason I didn't mention doing this is due to the cost.  $222 for a knife is a bit excessive, but to make a sword like this...  :o  Like I said, more than double to the cost of manufacture.

Here's about the cheapest option I can think of:  Print out the side view of your model onto paper in 1 to 1 scale.  1 inch for the model = 1 inch on the paper.  You can send the side view render of your model to GIMP and enlarge it. Then buy a hunk of metal that is the same dimensions as the bounding box of your model.  If your sword is 2 feet from the tip of the blade to the end of the handle, then get a 2 foot long slab of steel.  Since this blade is probably for show, you can make it thinner than the model. 1/8th inch might work for the blade, but it will be pretty flimsy.  Glue the paper print of your model to the steel.  Now get out your jig saw, clamp the steel to something, and cut out out the outline of your sword.  You might go through several metal saws in this way.  Once you have cut out your sword, grab a metal rasp and carefully shape the edge of the sword.  Do some research on what the proper angle should be for the edges.  Once the edges are done, refine them with a whetting stone or sand paper.  For a shiny finish, polish the steel.  Now grab a nice stick off the ground and split it in half.  Glue one half of the stick to each side of the steel.  Now take a knife and sand paper and shape the wood into a handle.  Wrap it up with wire or leather and show it off.

I know, manual labor.  But it saves you the cost.

7
General Anim8or Forum / Re: 3d model to real life prop?
« on: June 29, 2011, 10:30:06 pm »
Most CNC machines that your going to be able to afford to hire are going to use something old school like G-code, which is not so much a file type as it is a written code.  I'm definitely not an expert though.  Here's a tip for you though, take your object into a software like AutoCAD or Solidworks and save it out as a .DWG.  Then go to the engineering department of your local community college and give them the file and a hunk of metal (Stainless steel 440 is probably your the best bet for CNC milling a sword and shaping the blade afterwards, but it'll be about as sharp and durable as a butter knife).  The engineering students will generally eat up your file and make your part for you.  Don't expect it to come back in good quality though, students are by no means experts.  But hey, you get what you pay for right?  :D

This will probably get you a basic shape of your blade, but it will not have a sharp edge, a hilt, or any other features; just a flat piece of metal.  You will need to make your own hilt or handle out of wood or something.

I looked into a bit of knife making but never quite got around to actually doing it.  :'(

Hope this helps.

8
Anim8or v0.98 Discussion Forum / Re: Anim8or Crashes while loading texture... GRRR!!!
« on: June 15, 2011, 12:23:28 am »
I'm not sure if UVmapper or Anim8or can do it (I've never tried), but it is possible to UV map a model so that it spans 4 separate 2048x2048 maps.  That would, in essence, give you a 4096x4096 map.  This must be a very detailed model if it needs such a large texture map.  I've never gone over a 4096x4096 texture map on a model.

9
Finished Works and Works in Progress / Re: The Kitties
« on: May 20, 2011, 10:48:54 pm »
Documentaries are a great place to find reference material.

Here are a few you tube videos that might help you:

High-speed video of cat running = youtube.com/watch?v=UYom2wVDEiM[/youtube]]http://www.

Cat walking casually = youtube.com/watch?v=bEQKotnQ2oo[/youtube]&feature=related]http://www.
&feature=related
Kitten fast walk = youtube.com/watch?v=aev_bcLhljU[/youtube]&feature=related]http://www.
&feature=related

10
Finished Works and Works in Progress / Re: The Kitties
« on: May 20, 2011, 11:36:48 am »
Videographers love to film cheetahs running, walking, pouncing, etc.  So there is plenty of reference there; both high-speed camera footage and normal video.  Also a cheetah's bony, skinny frame will help you see the actual movement of the cat's skeleton better.

11
General Anim8or Forum / Re: Animation wanted of my newly Patented reciprocatin engine.
« on: May 10, 2011, 09:01:48 am »
I have some experience in AutoCAD and engineering animation with Solidworks/Inventor as well as Anim8or, Maya, and Blender.  However, can you tell us more about your design and patent information, I'm having a hard time finding your patent at USPTO.  Also, to what extent is this animation?  I've spent a year working on a "simple" animation before I felt it was good enough.  Also, paying handsomely can have varying meanings.  If you were to go to a professional and ask the same question, he would probably quote you from $10-30/hour.  I know from experience that animations always take longer than you would like.  So for example; I could charge $10/hour at 6 hours a day for 1 month, it would cost you about $2000.  

So consider and answer these questions:
-Who are you? (If anyone takes you up on this offer, they need to know their employer.)
-What is your design?
-What does it do better than the competition?
-Do your diagrams include a 2D/3D CAD model?
-What kind of animation do you want? (describe purpose, parts breakdown, show internal operation, etc.)
-How advanced do you want the animation? (throw in some exploding cars, photo-realistic rendering, extreme modeling accuracy, or combustion in the cylinders, audio, music, etc.)
-How much are you willing to pay for this animation even if your product does not sell?  (fact of life; many patents aren't built or sold)
-How much are you willing to pay if it does sell?
-Do you have any questions for me?

I know, it's a lot to answer but necessary if I'm to consider helping you out.

Thanks,
ADSohr.

12
Finished Works and Works in Progress / Re: Achtung! Was ist los? Was willst du? (What is it?)
« on: April 01, 2011, 12:31:33 pm »
Ah, I love that show.  Can't wait to see the underground tunnel system leading to Klink's office.  :D

13
Finished Works and Works in Progress / Re: Achtung! Was ist los? Was willst du? (What is it?)
« on: March 31, 2011, 06:01:17 pm »
I'll take a wild guess at something like "The Great Escape" or "Hogan's Heroes."  I can see that as a watchtower at Stalag 13.

14
Finished Works and Works in Progress / Re: The most horrid, disgusting thing in the existance of planet earth
« on: March 17, 2011, 09:48:00 pm »
This might help you out:  http://www.blendercookie.com/2010/03/31/topology-review-shoulder/

15
General Anim8or Forum / Re: Using anim8or to model robots:
« on: March 15, 2011, 10:24:08 am »
You could make the arm or claw assembly its' own figure and then import it and parent it to the robot body.  Then you can slide it locally along the robot.  When the robot moves, the arm will still move along with it. 

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