Messages

One I know... Gabriel Knight Sins of the Fathers

Anim8or vs Blender...

I went looking for some tutorials on skinning in Anim8or because I was having some problems. Bumped into some Anim8or vs Blender comparisons. Interesting stuff, albeit not at all unbiased. The consensus from you folks seems to be Blender, and I may get there, someday. Again, thanks everyone. And thanks also for the suggestions about the float plane, and the anasazi head. I got sidetracked, but hope, eventually, to return to those projects and take action on some of your suggestions.

Atmosphere - Miez
Composition - Miez
Functionality - Awakening
Technique - Miez

Generally, I found Miez's background really drew me into his world. But I did feel Awakening's background had more possibilities for interaction.

@Tosek

Problem also gave me that solution; I was able to change the Blender interface. I'd been using sPatch (a very old modeler) and rendering the stuff in Bryce. Bryce doesn't "rig" things, but using linking and origin handles Bryce, movement can be "spproximated." There is no way to "skin" in Bryce, as far as I know. I did wade into Blender, but only up to my ankles. I found an outstanding tutorial for Anim8or, and have been making, what I feel, substantial progress with Anim8or. I think I may need Anim8or as a stepping stone into Blender.

@All

I've gotten a lot of really good feed back here. Thanks, everybody! In the Anim8or tutorial I've been working with, Phoxo was suggested as a useful painting program. I did download it, but haven't used it enough, yet, to have formed an opinion. Anyone use it and have an opinion?

@Miez

I have checked your entry. The time stamp shows "Yesterday 23:19." I see no reason why ThreeOhFour would not accept it as an entry. I am already working on my concession speech. cJwalt.say("Whew").

Edit: Make that cJwalt.say("Whew");    How's that for a Noob mistake. Pesky critters them semicolons.

Edit2: Okay, try cJwalt.Say("Whew");   I, maybe, should sign up for some scripting classes at Blender Summer Camp, too.

@Sunny Flightless Bird, you have uncovered my devious plan. Unfortunately, little is likely to come of it. By popular demand, I am being sent off to Blender Summer Camp. There I will learn such things as welding vertices, and putting bones into things, after which I will skin them. Those later two have me particularly concerned, since they seem a cruel and unusual process.

In confidence, I will share two possible story lines for my never to be released OSD games:

Spoiler alert…

It is a dark time for England. In an almost medieval fashion, pyres burn late into the night, the final solution to Spongiform Encephalopathy, The Mad Cow Disease. OSD and Life Partner Ray cross the land searching for Cow Zero, the source of the devastating plague. They have tracked it to Farmer Macdonald's, near Kent. In company with Farmer Macdonald, they contemplate the beasts peacefully grazing in the field beyond. Each time Farmer Macdonald turns away from his herd to converse with OSD and Ray, Ponch's avatar begins booty dancing among the otherwise docile beasts. They have found Cow Zero. England is saved.

My second story returns to OSD #1, the Bridge and The Blob. From the Blob side of the room, Larry and Bob enter (of Veggie Tale fame). They are dressed as newsmen. Bob begins describing the action unfolding before them. Larry keeps asking if the Blob on the ground is bubblegum. OSD begins casting spells. Bob describes the action. Larry moves closer to the bubblegum, sorely tempted to taste it. Near the climax to the battle, Life Partner Ray enters the scene. For unknown reasons Ray's arrival throws Larry and Bob into a panic. They dash about, eventually colliding with one another. They then exit to the right of the room in great haste. The Blob dies. OSD and Ray are once again victorious.

While I feel the Mad Cow story is fairly original, I confess to the second idea having recently germinated regarding a fairly active discussion on the Forum. Further, I doubt Big Idea would think this was a good idea, and I can't afford a lawyer. I also like Veggie Tales, so that one is dead before it begins.

This shared in strictest confidence. I feel secure in my trust of you. Who cannot trust a bird in a tuxedo?

Oh, ThreeOhFour, are we in trouble, or what?

Honest guys, do you think my image is a Blitz winner? Quick, somebody submit a six-sided-color-cube, or risk me winning the competition. No body wants that to happen. Just take a peek at the Critics Corner, and you'll see what I mean.

Then again, it would be nice to have minions of my own to create something for me in the next Blitz, if I haven't killed the contest.

Edit: And gals, my bad.

@Problem

You are a gem! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you! You have saved my eyes. Whoever came up with that default color scheme should be shot.

A question for all you folks wanting to ship me off to Blender Summer School: I've got Blender 2.64a on this system. Is there any way to change the interface background color from that dark, dark gray, that effectively blots out the menu items, to something more readable?

Additionally, I have Anim8or on this system. It seems like it would also provide some of the tools I'm being told I need. Any opinions about Anim8or? It looks like it may be out of development in view of the dates I'm seeing on the website.

@Anian

The majority of the character is made up of deformed spheres, so there are numerous unwelded points. sPatch could have spun up a better body shape, but I was just playing around. I still think he has his own charm, but it looks like I may be the only one who thinks so.

@Dactylopus and Frenzykitty

I knew I could count on you guys to keep my moonwalking secret. You both have such honest looking avatars.

Edit:

@Everyone

I've loaded this thread up with so many images that, based on what I'm seeing, it is becoming a pain to load. I will keep this in mind for the future. It may just be my connection, but if it isn't, I'm sorry. I'll not post any more images in this thread.

@Dactylopus and Frenzykitty

I should probably use a smaller font in this true confession... The image I was relying on for the walkcycle, which was one posted on the forum elsewhere, was walking to the right. I started out with the character walking left, so I flipped the walkcycle image. That would have been okay, only I still went left to right on setting it up, so the natural result was moonwalking. That will be our little secret. Don't tell anyone else, okay?

I enrolled the dude in an aerobics class, which corrected a size issue between front and side views, but seems to have introduced a slight hitch in his get-along. I gave him some new clothing.



I also decided to try generating some quarter views, since I was lugging the camera all around, anyway.



I notice an issue with the left knee, and I should probably have killed the shadows in Bryce. I'm not showing the front and rear walkcycles, but they display a shadow which might be hard to explain if the little guy ever winds up in an actual AGS game.

@Armageddon

You have no idea how much work your Gimp suggestion has already saved me. Thanks for the prod in that direction.

Armageddon's and Tosek's comments had me up late looking at a couple of the modelers I have on this system that "do bones." All I got was a headache, so I pulled one of the models from the boat into Bryce, used Bryce's "origin handles," and made some 8 frame walkcycles:



I think these look usable. I have more doubts about the sideview:



I've appreciated all the feedback, and I would welcome comments about these walkcycles, particularly the side one. I already know the height should vary, and I need to move the camera closer, and I need to figure out why he's moonwalking. I didn't use the imagezoom tags, since these are fairly big anyway. Regarding the model, I know it could have been better, but the more I work with the fellow, the more I kind of like him just the way he is.

@Ghost

I have a number of modeling software programs on this system, including a free, late edition of TrueSpace. It has the same problem, for me, that most of the other programs have; I get lost in all the buttons/features. Here is a screen capture of TrueSpace, with the much simpler sPatch modeler interface inside:



sPatch continues to run quite well in Windows 7 and has to have the easiest learning curve of any program out there.

@ Armageddon

Your suggestion about Gimp to make the gif files seems a good one. I thank you for it. Regarding where to start, I submit:


I modeled this in sPatch, and rendered in Bryce, using Bryce's keyframe animation to move it around.

@Baron  Congrats, and I have faith in the results. Afterall, Chef used the accounting firm of Stupot+Ponch to tabulate the results.

@ Ghost  Thanks. I believe some of the jerky motion is also covered by Armageddon's tweening commment. I think you are also correct in that the boat's motion was too much for the existing weather conditions.

@ Armageddon  Thanks. These are all sPatch models, without bones or rigging. I rendered in Bryce 7, using origin handles for pivot points. Bryce does offer keyframe animation, but I've yet to get it to work (my shortcoming, not Bryce's). Why Bryce and sPatch? Because I have them at least partially under control. Would welcome a suggestion regarding a gif converter?

     Edit: Thanks, also, for your other suggestions. In other words, I should maybe leave out the sub's bridge crew, looksouts, and gun crew?    I did give Gimp a try for the gif file. I messed up the delay time, and I couldn't get Gimp to let me change it? Here it is, slightly accelerated, from Gimp:




@ Anian. Also thanks.

I keep coming up with stuff that looks like claymation, not that there's anything wrong with claymation. The intent here was a conversation on a Greek fishing boat which was interrupted with the nearby surfacing of an Italian submarine. I came "close." I thought the boat needed to move with the gentle ocean swells, but I came up with a hurricane. Any insights into how much movement is too much movement?



Thanks in advance.

This gif has 13 frames. I know I need more frames for it to really work, but I'd like to know if I've got the general idea, here?



Open to comments, and thanks in advance!

I vote:

1st Ponch
2nd Baron
3rd Armaggedon 

@Stupot+:

Opie, the teenage years
Opie gone bad
Opie gone really bad

Opie gone extremely bad

Edit:

@ThreeOhFour

Dear Moving Thread

Dear ThreeOhFour,
I hope you are well. I am well, although they are being mean to me over in the Critic's Corner at the moment. The clock's ticking down has me a little concerned. Since I am a Noob around here, I have some questions that you might care to answer.
     Is it possible to be the only Blitz entry and still lose the contest?
     Are write in votes allowed? I note Ponch has a new (to me, at least) avatar. It is awesomely awesome and extremely extreme, while still being "Shakin' Bakin' Booty Quakin'" If the current situation continues, I'd be tempted to start a write in campaign to make his avatar a winning background entry.
     Do you think there will be some new, last minute entries?
                                       My best regards, jwalt

Extreme, huh….Well, I think this qualifies. It's extremely bad while, at the same time, being extremely unfinished. It displays extremely bad artwork, as well as extremely bad modeling. I'm so talented I can mess up both 2D and 3D. Isn't that pretty extreme?

Floyd has met his match: more hair than God, and a sword bigger than Floyd's shears, or Europe, as you prefer.

[imgzoom]http://i1341.photobucket.com/albums/o756/jwalt10705/extremlyBadpng_zps51960438.png[/imgzoom]