A small brown Richard the Third (Ronnie Barker Rhyming Slang) is quite apt for the way things are running at the minute. Production is grinding to a halt because, I’m simply not happy with the results I’m getting. This is not a fault of Muvizu, just my inability to create what I see in my head.
But let me start at the beginning and things might get back on track. Insects was where I left off and it’s insects, or the creation of them, that started this kerfuffle. I wanted to create a scene where a bee would fly into shot and as a result of a second object flying past very fast, the bee would be hurled backwards twisting and turning as it went.
At first I tried the 2D approach, by animating onto a plane, but found that being non too careful with the steering of the plane caused the bee to vanish as the plane moved edge on. This meant 3D so out with Sketchup and a whole different approach to modelling. Houses and other various props all tend to be square. What curves are present are regular. So to create my bee, I was going to have to turn to a different set of tools and basic shapes.
I began by playing around with sphere’s and then using a range of plugins to bend and stretch them. All well and good so far, but the results...well ‘load of balls’ sums it up quite well. I then turned to my tried and tested method of creating trees...and found it worked very well...although not quite as ‘organic’ as I would like. However the ‘Artisan’ plugins for Sketchup enabled me to get nearer the ‘organic’ shapes I wanted.
But let me start at the beginning and things might get back on track. Insects was where I left off and it’s insects, or the creation of them, that started this kerfuffle. I wanted to create a scene where a bee would fly into shot and as a result of a second object flying past very fast, the bee would be hurled backwards twisting and turning as it went.
At first I tried the 2D approach, by animating onto a plane, but found that being non too careful with the steering of the plane caused the bee to vanish as the plane moved edge on. This meant 3D so out with Sketchup and a whole different approach to modelling. Houses and other various props all tend to be square. What curves are present are regular. So to create my bee, I was going to have to turn to a different set of tools and basic shapes.
I began by playing around with sphere’s and then using a range of plugins to bend and stretch them. All well and good so far, but the results...well ‘load of balls’ sums it up quite well. I then turned to my tried and tested method of creating trees...and found it worked very well...although not quite as ‘organic’ as I would like. However the ‘Artisan’ plugins for Sketchup enabled me to get nearer the ‘organic’ shapes I wanted.
The newly modelled bee was textured as usual in 3Ds Max and dropped into Muvizu. It looked good...well until I tried to animate it! It’s wings were not beating it looked plastic and fake. I put on my thinking cap, well fishing hat, and took the beagle for a mooch while I mulled things over. Perhaps I could project wings onto a backdrop in Muvizu, group it with the bee model...no no hang on I can’t steer grouped objects in Muvizu...if only I could crack Multi-sub-objects in 3Ds Max...
So that’s what I started to research and experiment with, and I cracked it.
So that’s what I started to research and experiment with, and I cracked it.
The bee looked great on it’s maiden flight through scene one and looked fine when it came to the tumbling as another object flashed by it in scene two...but that other object?
There has been much discussion about corpses in the Muvizu forums this week. Getting rid of the the breathing animation on characters. This led onto an area I was dabbling with...no I have not developed a taste for necrophilia...but I was trying to model a character in Sketchup...a stunt double if you like. I was having such problems trying to animate two objects to move simultaneously that the only solution I could see was to have just a single object.
Character modelling is hard! Oh hell is it hard...but strangely it was not the bits I thought would be difficult that gave me such a headache. I was dreading doing the hands...but I cracked those after a couple of attempts. No what’s been the most difficult to model are shoulders, elbows, wrists and knees! I’ve still not cracked it and had to resort to...you guessed it...balls again. I’ve had to use spheres to make a kind of universal joint...but I have two models now of my witch riding the broomstick...not perfectly happy but it’s the best I can come up with in about a week and a half. Things would be so much easier if I could drop an actual Muvizu character into 3Ds Max...pose it...and then generate anything from statues to stunt doubles as the animation script called for.
Character modelling is hard! Oh hell is it hard...but strangely it was not the bits I thought would be difficult that gave me such a headache. I was dreading doing the hands...but I cracked those after a couple of attempts. No what’s been the most difficult to model are shoulders, elbows, wrists and knees! I’ve still not cracked it and had to resort to...you guessed it...balls again. I’ve had to use spheres to make a kind of universal joint...but I have two models now of my witch riding the broomstick...not perfectly happy but it’s the best I can come up with in about a week and a half. Things would be so much easier if I could drop an actual Muvizu character into 3Ds Max...pose it...and then generate anything from statues to stunt doubles as the animation script called for.
Well that’s it for this week. The other half’s birthday tomorrow so it’s a family dinner out and being all attentive...and then right back to the Muvizu!
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