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[NoobJens007]

I made a character (orc) and he's a pretty simple model.
His name is Swobu
I did this short animation where he is puzzled by some strange cans
he has never seen before. I couldn't figure out how to make the cans stand still until they are knocked over,
any tips appreciated.

I'm very much a beginner and slow learner of Anim8or and 3D modelling.
The render took two full days before it was completed(!), but I think I got some nice shadows.
Help with understanding how lights/shadows work in Anim8or and what monte carlo samples mean
would be appreciated.

Cheers,
Jens

[Gyperboloid]

Wow! Nice shadows, lighting in general. Rendered with ART  As about the cans, how did you animate them? They shouldn't move untill the moment you "drop" them.

[NoobJens007]

Thank you

The scene has 2 infinite lights, one that casts shadows, and one that doesnt.
Used the default renderer which I dont remember what is called.

The cans are seperate objects and when I moved them at the frame where
The action happens, they sort of started moving in the starting frames.

I thought I had made a keyframe when the action happens to make sure they would start moving there, but I had to do a clumsy job of moving them into their place where they werent supposed to move. Thats why they move a little before he hits them.

[thecolclough]

The cans are seperate objects and when I moved them at the frame where
The action happens, they sort of started moving in the starting frames.

I thought I had made a keyframe when the action happens to make sure they would start moving there, but I had to do a clumsy job of moving them into their place where they werent supposed to move. Thats why they move a little before he hits them.

whenever you start keying an element's position or orientation, another key is automatically added at frame 0.  sometimes this is useful, and sometimes it isn't.  in this case, that extra key is what's causing your unwanted movement (i sort of understand the reasons why it does that, but it's a bit complicated; Steve could explain better).  if you want the element to stay still at the beginning of the scene, you can do that by deleting the auto-added key at frame 0; the program will then keep the element at the position (or orientation, or whatever) specified by the first key it can find, even if that key doesn't appear until hundreds of frames later.

nice video overall though - looks like your animation career is off to a good start

[NoobJens007]

Thank you for the help thecolclough!
I will use that for future animation.

I actually used Anim8or more than 10 years ago, but have forgotten alot of what I learned back then,
but Anim8or is very intuitive and easy to get started with again. And it's exciting for me to come back to it now
that v.1.0 is out.

[neirao]

you can use the old "Cre8or Tool" for Physic to anim8or
my old test:

[NoobJens007]

Wow that looks great, thanks for the tip!

[Steve]

Nice work, NoobJens007.

[davdud101]

Yo Jens! That character animation is quite good, kudos.
Just gotta fix that up with the cans and you're on the way!

[NoobJens007]

Thank you guys! Im working on a 2d short film where the backgrounds are made with Anim8or.
The animation in that film is made with Flash... But I plan to do alot more exclusively in Anim8or and hope to learn alot more in the process

[johnar]

 Hi NoobJens007
 That's a cool short animation. well done. hope to see more.

 In reference to the cans staying still, until swobu hits them, and deleting the first key.
  That is defineately an option, and the reason behind the unwanted movement, tho i think the way i would control it would be different.
 On the frame immediately before a can moves, it should have a position and orientation key set.
 Simply copy those keys and paste into the frame immediately before that frame, so you have the 2 frames keyed identically. Then zip back to where that object was last keyed, (in this case frame 0 (?) ), and paste those copied keys there as well. (into frame 0 and 1)
 note. this is assuming the last time the objects position or orientation keys were set, was frame 0. (automatically).
  One advantage in double keying like this, is that as your animations get longer, or more intricate, its a sure fire way of stopping any unwanted movement, in all situations.
 For example, if swobu was to 'stack' the cans before knocking them over, the steps woud be:(for 1 can).
 1) in frame 0, place the can in it's position before swobu picks it up. Add a key for position and orientation. Copy those keys and paste into frame 1.
2) copy both frames, (shift and click to select multiple frames), and paste into the 2 frames immediately before he picks the can up.
3) when he has put the can into position, do the same thing. Make sure position and orientation are keyed in that frame, and copy them into the frame next door. this will hold the can firmly there until the can is about to move again.(till swobu hits it)
 4) when the can is ready to move, copy those last 2 frames into. the 2 frames immediately preceeding the can moving. (the bat hitting it)
 5) when the can stops moving, key the final position and orientation into the last frame of movement and copy those keys into the frame next door, to bring the can to a dead stop again.

 Once you get into the habit of double keying like this, (double key before start of motion, and double key at end of motion) it does become really easy, and really effective.
 Having double keys can also help visually in the time track, making it easier to see stops and starts in motion. This can be really handy, especially when you want your cans to move completely individually. (timing etc..)

 

[Claude]

If you want the position of the object to be fixed on
the left of the key,why not make the key a corner one
and using the key left handle in the graph editor make the curve flat?
N.B Probably need to adjust the first key too.

Update:yes you have to.

[johnar]

 Hi Claude
 Yes, thats the normal way to do it.
 Double keying is just a habit i've picked up which, to me anyway, has advantages over using a single corner key, and actually, the visual part of seeing 2 keys side by side in the timetrack is one fairly main advantage, making it easier to quickly see in the time track where things stop and start. (different colored keys would do the same)
 Double keying, for me, actually came about initially when wanting to STOP a motion. (Stop drifting). From there, it became quicker to copy those keys and paste them before re-starting a move, than it was to set a corner key. Tho i still do that at times.

 Edit: Just to say, i'm not suggesting that different coloured keys would be a good thing.........hadn't really thought about that...

[NoobJens007]

Thank you very much guys for the help!!

[davdud101]

Hi Claude
 Yes, thats the normal way to do it.
 Double keying is just a habit i've picked up which, to me anyway, has advantages over using a single corner key, and actually, the visual part of seeing 2 keys side by side in the timetrack is one fairly main advantage, making it easier to quickly see in the time track where things stop and start. (different colored keys would do the same)
 Double keying, for me, actually came about initially when wanting to STOP a motion. (Stop drifting). From there, it became quicker to copy those keys and paste them before re-starting a move, than it was to set a corner key. Tho i still do that at times.

 Edit: Just to say, i'm not suggesting that different coloured keys would be a good thing.........hadn't really thought about that...

Double-keying.. certainly interesting. I haven't done quite enough animtion to say much about that but i think that's something I ended up finding out I needed to to to get things to be stable and not slightly "wiggle" backwards before moving in Anim8or, lol!!

@NoobJens007, something that could always be improved (especially amongst Anim8or users, as we're so caught up with making decent looking characters that we don't think about it) is the camerawork, making the camera move in a way that feels natural and stuff. I think the double-keying method from johnar can help here too haha!