Blockhead Greetings, Animation Test Options

[Simon Edmondson]

Still plugging away on the blockhead figures. This is the most recent animation test. You'll spot its intention...

I begin to realise that I am hitting my limits as an actor ( and the threshold was low to start with ) so I may start to take lessons accordingly.
Any feedback on the animation would be most welcome  Test.mov ( 9.28mb ) Number of downloads: 64
.

For me the biggest problem is the mouth shapes. The style of mouth chosen does not permit of enough variety of shapes so I will have to work on that.

On a related question to that.
It is possible to paste parts of one model into another, eg an ear or eye but, is it possible to paste the mouth poses of one into another if the style and layout of the mouth is the same in each case ?
or
Having got the shapes for one correct can I copy that and paste it on another and retain the pose sliders. Or do I have to redo them each time ?

regards
simon

Ps
Thank you once again to Nancy for pointing out the smart skin tutorial the other day.Most welcome.

[robcat2075]

To be honest I'm not sure what I'd do with "Happy Birthday" either.

That's really a long clip for one character to hold. At Animation Mentor they wouldn't even let you do a clip more than 12 seconds or so.

But it's fun to try, none-the-less.

Have you watched my "Keyframing Basics" video in the link in my signature? I think you would benefit from understanding that functionality more.

I begin to realise that I am hitting my limits as an actor ( and the threshold was low to start with )

A good exercise for the aspiring animation actor is to come up with single poses that clearly convey some emotion.

curious
tired
bored
eager
fear

and so on...

Some are harder than others. I'm not sure how I'd do "eager"

Chaplin claimed he could show any emotion in silhouette.

For me the biggest problem is the mouth shapes. The style of mouth chosen does not permit of enough variety of shapes so I will have to work on that.

Mouth shapes are over rated. On a minimal level you need closed, open, "oo" and "ee". Muppets get away with just open and closed.

Effective body language is what carries most dialog performance.

It is possible to paste parts of one model into another, eg an ear or eye but, is it possible to paste the mouth poses of one into another if the style and layout of the mouth is the same in each case ?
or
Having got the shapes for one correct can I copy that and paste it on another and retain the pose sliders. Or do I have to redo them each time ?

Pose sliders can be retained if you "import" a model into another model.

[Simon Edmondson]

Rob

Thank you once again for your feedback.

I've read the book "Acting for animators" but it was a few years ago and may need to re read it. The author is a big fan of Chaplin ( understatement ).

The length of clip was geared to the song but, in my naivety I hadn't realised the length would be so much ( if that makes sense ? ) it gives me pause as the next one lined up is 80 seconds long. I think I may learn from my mistakes there !

I will watch the keyframing basics tomorrow, as I'm off to bed shortly, but thank you for pointing it out.

I'll also try the single poses idea. That might take some time I feel.

Much to chew on. Thank you again
regards
simon

[RU2D4]

Bones bot girl has found her a man.

Attached thumbnail(s)

 

Attached File(s)

 Bones_Bot.mdl ( 1mb ) Number of downloads: 7

 

[Simon Edmondson]

Bones bot girl has found her a man.

Thank you.

I had got some female designs lined up but There are aspects of your model that may get incorporated.
regards
simon

[RU2D4]

Do you have any tips for using sound with the animation. I've used several programs before with audio, but I've never used sound within A:M. I'll dig around for a tutorial in the meantime.
Edit to add that that sounded a bit like I was purposefully acting stupid... once I realized how simple it is.

Windows Sound Recorder only lets me record 60 seconds from my ZOOM MRS-8. I wrote this beat with a ZOOM MRT-3B and Arturia's software, it's not that good, and took only one evening to record. I read on another post about a big deal with copyrights and stuff, but c'mon, I certainly am not worried about that.

Attached File(s)

 Sound.wav ( 10.09mb ) Number of downloads: 10

 

[Simon Edmondson]

I'm certainly not an expert in this ( as witnessed above ) but, it is fairly straight forward to animate to sound in AM in terms of importing the sound.

I think AM only supports wav files (?) so thats what you need but, I don't think it supports 24 bit sound files so 16bit or less is best.
It will import 24 bit files but, if you try to export as a QT or avi file the sound becomes distorted. This may have changed in V16 and V17 but I'm not sure. ( I haven't upgrade yet because of illness and trying to finish a project. ).

To import the sound just go to the sound folder in the PWS, right click and navigate to the file you want, select it, and its imported into the project.
If you are animating in an action file, drag the sound from its folder and drop it on the action.
It defaults to starting on frame 0 but you can drag it along to change that if needed. When you've finished the action file if you import the figure into a chor to set up the lighting and cameras and drop the actiuon on it there, the sound is automatically incorporated and the will be part of the animation when rendered out.

If you were using the soundclip you posted there are several approaches you could employ. Possibly the best (?) would be to analyse the clip to find out which frames the beats falll on and animate to that. Because you have a regular beat in the clip it should be fairly predictable once the pattern is established. You can analyse the clip outside AM or within by stepping through the file a frame at a time using the + and _ keys and listening for the beat. The style of movement or dance would be individual choice.

Hope that helps
simon

[RU2D4]

Yes, that helps a great deal. I've wondered before about animating to a beat pattern, as in using an existing song, or making a song fit to the animation. I think working on both at the same time works for me. If I get bored or frustrated with the video, switch to the music and vice-versa. Thank you!

[RU2D4]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CUppvIv7Ak...feature=related

I was going to try to animate something like this video, but I don't know if it is worth pursuing.

[Simon Edmondson]

Not really my cup of tea ( to use a brit expression ). I'm not a great fan of electro music these days, I prefer 'real' instruments and a less compressed sound.
Strange visuals with militaristic overtones though...

[RU2D4]

Not really my cup of tea ( to use a brit expression ). I'm not a great fan of electro music these days, I prefer 'real' instruments and a less compressed sound.
Strange visuals with militaristic overtones though...

Yes, I think the animation from The Wall must have been my first big influence.