This section of my site allows me to keep family, friends,
and other viewers up to date on projects I am currently involved in. A powerful feature
of the News is that readers can give feedback on any of my posts by clicking the word "COMMENTS" at the bottom of each post. Also, be sure to check out my new forum for updates and critiques on artwork from myself and others!
Thursday, January 27, 2005
My First 3D Take!
Just finished my first 3D take (surprised expression) but just so you know there is still a couple of things I want to do to it in order to really "sell" it. The good news is that I am starting to get comfortable with the tangents in the graph editor as well as blocking via the dope sheet. I cant wait until I actually start taking 3D animation classes! Anyways, you can check out what I have so far in the animations section. All I can say is that this character is going to be wearing a full-body cast this semester if I keep beating the hell out of him like I do! LOL!
Bah! I caught the sneeky buggers trying to pull a fast one on me. You animators out there will appreciate my frustration and joy, and for those of you who are not animators...well...heres the deal...
The computer likes to smooooth things out for you which is fine SOMEtimes but obviously not ALWAYS! Well, I figured this out the hard way. I am over here working away on my take (suprised expression) and I couldnt figure out why the character was moving ever so slightly from time to time even though I had not told the computer to do ANYTHING! Well, refer to my trusty little diagram (see below)...
Those lines are not supposed to swoop up like that between the two points...they are supposed to be as straight as an arrow, however, in the computers infamous wisdom (because I had it set to do that on accident...cough) it tries to smooth everything...sometimes even straight lines! Bah! I didnt catch it on the walk cycle but I got my eye on the little bastards now! Learning more and more by the second (insert evil sinister laugh here).
Well, I was having a little fun with my latest animation inside of After Affects and thought I might try and add a camera shake effect by animating the composition window diplaying the walk itself. Special thanks to Roger for walking me through some of the controls inside the program. This stuff has really been good to get me ready for the WORM as well as priming me for school. Anyways, check it out...its in the animation section.
I just uploaded my very first computer animated walk cycle to the animation section and I must say...man have I learned alot! I will be honest with you, at first it was alot like hurding cats! Keys everywhere, hips all over the place, knees were shakin'....it was alot like one of those parties in highschool after the cops arrive! I havent had any computer animation classes yet so I am figuring all of this out as I go but hey...I am having alot of fun taking a stab at it so bare with me. Anyways, it wasnt until my 5th try last night around 4 in the morning that I actually started to get somewhere. My desk is covered in books and notes and all for a little 30 frame clip for you guys....too funny. Anywho, the character is actually a rig used in the PIXAR classes here at the Academy. One of my good buddy's Dang hooked me up so I could get a head start. I plan to create a few more walks this week so keep checkin' in.
Hey folks! I have been a very busy bee lately. Roger was kind enough to get me into the Mac World Expo this week and it was awesome! As you may know I am a PC guy, however, nearly every computer enthusiast has to admit that Mac is quite an exciting "little" company. Nearly everything they make resembles alien technology I kid you not and the iShuffle is their latest addition....pretty cool.
As far as video is concerned, Roger, Chris (founder of APEX...our internet host), and I are currently learning the "in's and out's" of the latest streaming technology in hope to offer future animations "on demand" (capable of loading as soon as you click them). Roger and myself met with a representative of the Sorenson company regarding various options and I must say we are both pretty excited. For me streaming will be offered as yet another option in the drop down menus of animations section of my site for all movies from this point on.
Now, currently my target pigment has been that of a pee-pod from the local supermarket, however, after tons of research I am tossing around the idea of Inch having more of a flesh tone look rather than the ol' "green worm" cliche' (see below for comparison)...
Thanks to Gerry over at Project VII my animations now auto-resize themselves according to the file so no more big windows when selecting a format from the drop down list. All movies now play exaclty the size that they are listed as (320x240, 640x480, etc.). Thanks Gerry! I have also added Project 7 to my links page in the resources section as well.
Resume and Store links have been added to the main menu. The store is currently under construction but will be rockin' once its finally up. I plan to offer instructional videos, training manuals, texturing discs, and even merchandise from some of my characters! The Resume section has replaced the old Bio section and will eventually host a copy of my resume, however, until then resumes will be sent upon request exclusively. Last but not least an Email link has also been added to the main menu for your convenience.
First things first...the AIRMAN has been selceted for print in the 3D total digital art book! A high resolution print will be featured on one page along with 1 to 2 additional pages discussing the methods used to generate him. I should have it all typed up by the end of this weekend.
Secondly, Roger and I have been tearing up the websites with tons of updates! He now has all of his pages up and I have improved the CG and Animation sections of my site! Now when the thumbnail is clicked in the CG section a larger view comes up with a surounding browser window that is EXACTLY the same size of the image so no more funny business with false borders and misalignments! Lastly, due to the large number of requests for support of various file formats I have integrated a drop down menu which will eventually accommodate both downloadable as well as streaming versions of Windows Media, Quicktime, Flash, and DIVX animations! Currently there is no support for auto sizing of the quicktime and Flash based media in the animation section so for now you will all have to put up with the large browser window popping upon selection. More to come on that soon.
The resources section has finally been updated with tutorials, downloads, and even links! Speaking of which, a good artist friend of mine (Roger Ridley) launched his site just moments ago. So, be sure to swing by and check out some of his his artwork at www.RogerRidley.com.
