how about a group cinema project

[derwolpertinger]

hey that's quite a good idea you came up with! it also bugs me that all people are saying that lightwave, max, maya and xsi for sure are the top apps. well i know that xsi for example can't really be compared to the others cause it is really extraordinary but i think that with the upcoming R8 cinema can compete with the others easily. but back to your idea, what did you have in mind exactly?

[sanciok]

I'm not very experienced... but consider me in! :bounce: :bounce:

[kiwi]

I think thats a really good idea as well :thumbsup:



I feel I should add thats a lot of work and if everyone does not work together and do their share its a recipe for disaster,I have seen a group project tear down a forum before.



Dont mean to pour cold water on your idea finearts2 :)



Stu.

[ndat]

Ill help out the best I can... as for the project how about an parallel futuristic setting with some cool but primitive technology. And the character would be cg anime style, as shown in the tutorials at http://www.comet-cartoons.com/toons/. So sort of a Final Fantasy 7 type deal... I could handle the machinery and back drops but I blow at Characters and Texturing.

[Grey]

KISS!!!!!

The key to any group project is the KISS RULE! :D

keep it simply, silly!

[finearts2]

Boy, that was quick!!!

Well, as more people respond, perhaps we could start out with ideas for themes?
1) Dramatic style - something like a film noir detective or maybe a Hitchcock thriller
2) Comedy
3) Experimental ( Cabinet of Dr. Caligary anyone?)
4) SciFi
5) contemporary setting and subject ( Man walks into a bar, restaurant, etc...)
6) Romantic flair ( anything from Sleepless in Seattle to Lady and the Tramp)
7) Anything else anyone could come up with :)

I guess I could start out with a brief idea.

(close up on face) A man in the twilight of his years, lies in a bed, reflecting on the if's in his life. IF he would of only asked a college sweetheart out on a date. IF he would of pursued a higher paying job with more power. If he would of put himself before others. (Each question shows a very brief situation with his voiceover of that question) Then he glances over to a nightstand that has photos of his wife and himself, photos of his children and grandchildren, all showing a family that has a bond, warm and loving people. (as camera pulls away and fades from man lying in bed) He smiles gently, and says if they only had more time to spend together.


Remember, send in any and all ideas and imput. No matter what we all decide to work on, I am sure we will all learn from each other and have something in the end to show and be proud of.

No matter what level you are at, don't be shy. This could be fun.

[Phasmatis]

Hmmm.... this sounds cool, I'd be willing to help out. :thumbsup:

[ndat]

Im for Dramatic SciFi... : ) Ive got a good Idea in my head but Im so sleepy so Ill post more later

[Grey]

<----happes to have a mech model he made that has a rocket laucher that would be great with the new thinking particles... :D

[sanciok]

Well... I'm in!!!
I know my level isn't that good... but as you said "don't be shy"!!
:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[JINN]

I'd love to get involved

[anobrin]

Well i use a proprietary character animation plugin so i cant contribute
any CA but i might be able to offer some TD assistance
in the effects area

http://66.70.166.29/promo/watersim.mpg

http://66.70.166.29/promo/clothbx.mpg

http://66.70.166.29/promo/smokae2.mov

[finearts2]

I hope as this project starts to flesh out, that even more of our cinema 4d forum members feel the need to get involved.

OK, first things first...... if you want to get involved, GREAT! If you have even the smallest germ of a idea for a story, please let all of us know.

I don't know about the rest of you, but my mind runs a mile a minute and I could come up with numerous ideas for a project all of us could work on, but I don't want to post any other ideas until others have their say. I really want this to be something that each one of us could look at and say " I really had a voice in both the concept and completion of the project, and am proud to be associated with it."

For all of you that have responded so far, your wanting to be involved is wonderful.

Pass the word.

finearts

[anobrin]

MY bias storywise is towards Sci Fi, other world environments
Space battles , political intrigue and betrayal
and of course gratuitous naked chicks:airguitar


(link)
http://66.70.166.29/promo/sbae.mpg

[matty2x4]

I am pretty busy at work at the mo but if I can help I will (thats a count me in) I am average at modeling and ok at texturing, still a newbe really and not that knowledgeable... teaching meself in spare time... up to skeletons (more on that latter). Im mac based will that matter??

[matty2x4]

Oh sorry, not really fussed with what genre, but I can be quite picky and yet sugestive at the same time and am ok at :p
And am ok at illustartion and character design... if I get time:annoyed:

[marcom]

nice idea.
do we need a special website with forum to up/download modells/textures/scripts etc.?
something like http://sourceforge.net/ ?

i said we, that means i'm interested... ;)

marcom

[JeePee]

great idea

i'd like to help out too i'm a bit unexperianced but i'm eager to learn more :bounce:

[DannyB]

This sounds great, as far as a genre perhaps we should take a vote?

[verti]

i think im not bad at modeling... i will help as my free time allows...

im more surrealistic kind of person...

and... im not sure yet but i think i could host the project site... i would create a subdomain at: c4d.eekworks.com or whatever subdomain we would choose...

even if i do not have time for creating the project with you guys and girls i think i could do the web stuff...



take care,
verti.:buttrock:

[matty2x4]

I have to ad as a new-b I think we should stay away from human baised animations. Unless you are doing a final fantasy quality movie I think not quite rightly done humans tend look bad... we as humans have way to much reference to be non critical, and way more time is spent on modeling and expressions. Look at Ants, bugs, toy story, ice age yadda yadda all did fine with out humans. I perfer quirky cartoony baised stories, introducing humor, non realistic events like chartures carrying things 3 times there size (guns included). I also think as some of us (well I for 1) may not have hugely powerfull computers, so perhaps we sholud keep it simple, maybe that means nature scenes is kind of out of the question, that would leave indoors and sci-fi. I am in no means a writer... is anybody here??
my 2 cents
2x4

oh have a look at my post in general discusions (lord of the rings fans)

[finearts2]

I'm starting to get a idea that there are a few sci-fi fans in this forum (lol).

For those who have a preference to any type of movie style, keep posting your suggestions. We may have 20 people who want to do a sci-fi epic and you may want to do 'Smurfs - the movie', let everyone know. This is in the early stages and it would be at our benefit to discuss the story line, style we want to go for, etc...

I'm happy that people are willing to go beyond just the story prep and possibly set up a site to aid in this. Again, we can all discuss what to do about everything involving the project. Personally, if anyone wants to do anything at all to aid us, I say it is really welcome and I will help in all aspects that I can.

Question. Should we set a initial date on when to confirm what style of movie to work on? I am guessing that about a week from now, all of our cinema 4d friends should of read this posting and have decided if they want to be involved. Hopefully after a week, we could have a general vote to see what direction we will be heading? ( I know people who are newbies to the forum after we get started might want to join in, the more the merrier)

Let me know what you think.

One last thing. I have received quite a few e-mails from people using other apps (all have been nice about it, won't be suprised to see this idea popping up in the other forums). With alot of eyes on us, I hope we will shed some light on what is possible not only with cinema but with our helpful community.
(think I have something in my eye, sniff.. sniff...lol)

look forward to each message

finearts

[finearts2]

I wanted to ask those of you that wanted to sci-fi this thing, is there a style you are thinking (star wars , star trek , matrix, blade runner, dark city, city of lost children, metropolis....)

Please let us know when you submit a genre, if there is a movie or tv show you know of that will give us a flavor of what you have in mind.

A friend of mine thinks that posting a picture I recently worked on might let you know what my art skills are like. I guess if this helps anyone....

I have a very extensive background in traditional art (self taught) with painting, graphic work, drawing, sculpting and animation. I hope I will be able to do you all proud. If anyone wants to show something they worked on, PLEASE DO. It will be really appreciated.:) :) :)

[ndat]

Im thinkin something along the lines of final fantasy 7 cg work... Its quite simple to model and texture but when put toghther it comes out looking quite good. So basically everyone could have some hand in it no matter their skill level...

Well se for yourselves http://www.ffonline.com/ff7/wallpaper.htm

The first cg movie in the game is my fav but I couldnt find any shots of it, oh well...

[Pate]

This group project is a cool idea! :bounce:

I am still very much a newbie and am probably not of much use to this project, but if you have some simple (read: boring) props to model, I could try helping with those...

I am also a SciFi fan, so anything within that genre gets my vote! :thumbsup:

Pate

[verti]

i think we should do some more artistic piece of work. why to copy manga/ff or whatever? any good writer here? in my opinion c4d community has some great potential, that is just not discovered yet...

im for "dark city" style... at least when we talk about structure animations - if you know what i mean...

ill setup my web site soon so you will be able to see the tv spots...

cinema4d is a great app... the proof? our tv spots won the 1st prize on this years Animago 2002... for the best On Air Design...

so... lets get to work... our tools are enough! lets check out how about our ideas ;P

sorry 4 my english.

verti.

[neilyb]

I'd love to help out, but between travelling and trying to become a student I have no time. But I shall follow along and if I can help out I certainly will!

[sad]

it is a sunny day.
we stand in a hotels hall and look straight to a door 10 meters away. it is a very small hotel. we see two doors on the right. one of it is opened some centimeters.
in the back daylight falls on the red old fashion carpet. wallpapers are red with 30es pattern.
in the middle ofthe hall there are steel-wires that hold a little rusty box that is a symbol for life or a heart. it has a counter like old cassete recorders do. some electrical supplies. a cable leading into the open door.

the feeling should be uncomfortable and scary although the background is lit by the sunlight.

what do you think?

[verti]

your idea is good... but i think that this kind of movie would be a much bigger challenge for music composer... it's a simple animation - thanks to that a lot of "newbies" could participate... umm... is that correct word in english? :p

if you work a little more (or the community) on this idea... it could be an interesting story...

that's just my 2 cents... (euros ;) )

verti.

[finearts2]

Have another idea for a story...

(background on the concept. I was driving my usual 1 1/2 hour route to work thinking about what genre I would really like to work with when it dawned on me, I love them all! and why not have the movie contain many varieties of genre. Have one main plot hold the thread for a few different clips. SO...)

1st shot - closeup of hand of man, possibly in his 50's, writing in a journal the same words as he is voicing over (Words that sound like a serious, tormented writer) -" My mind runs without rest. I am a slave and yet I am ruler over my world. With the power of these words I put to paper, I create a world of unimaginable beauty, but tainted by darkness ...
(shot fades to a sci-fi epic, battles, exotic locale and/or interiors, then at a climatic moment, quickly cuts back to the hand writing.)
I lift my battered soul by surrounding myself with characters who posess a wonderment of life ... ( quick cut to character based romantic, cary grant type of some kind, then again, back to the close-up of the hand writing ) and languish in the depths of mortal torment and struggle (fade into a film noiror horror type of scene, and again, when a climatic ending is almost reached, cut back to the hand writing)
Voice continues. "Yes, I have the power to make all happen, because I am...

(LOUD VOICE of older woman) HAROLD CRABTREE! (using same shot of hand throughout, it quickly morphs into a 9 year olds. The notebook has thumbnail sketches of the different scenes he invisioned instead of the elequent writing he was dreaming. Camera shows he is in school and other kids giggle as teacher takes his notebook away. Shot of her looking at notebook then with a smile looks back at Harold in his chair. He looks back at her and smiles as camera pulls out of classroom, thru window as teachers voice is heard saying
"tomorrow, we will begin a class assignment. It is called creative writing, and...(sound and camera fade out)

Of couse the words aren't exactly like above, and the breaks inbetween could be of anything, but this is to keep ideas flowing.

I thought with something like this there might be a few positive things that can happen. Say you love modeling cars. You might be able to model not only a pod racer type vechicle in one clip, but then try something new and model a old packard for another scene. And the other thing is if you feel uncomfortable doing CA in any style other than a cartoon type, you could work on the scene you want to, then check out someone who's working in a different clip doing CA and possibly share your techniques or opinions.
Any way you cut it (no pun intended) everyone could start with what they feel at ease in, then jump to other parts and help and learn.

What do you think????

Finearts

[ndat]

I like the Idea but do we have the skill it would require to pull it off keeping the intended feeling?

[LucentDreams]

Originally posted by finearts2
Have another idea for a story...

(background on the concept. I was driving my usual 1 1/2 hour route to work thinking about what genre I would really like to work with when it dawned on me, I love them all! and why not have the movie contain many varieties of genre. Have one main plot hold the thread for a few different clips. SO...)

1st shot - closeup of hand of man, possibly in his 50's, writing in a journal the same words as he is voicing over (Words that sound like a serious, tormented writer) -" My mind runs without rest. I am a slave and yet I am ruler over my world. With the power of these words I put to paper, I create a world of unimaginable beauty, but tainted by darkness ...
(shot fades to a sci-fi epic, battles, exotic locale and/or interiors, then at a climatic moment, quickly cuts back to the hand writing.)
I lift my battered soul by surrounding myself with characters who posess a wonderment of life ... ( quick cut to character based romantic, cary grant type of some kind, then again, back to the close-up of the hand writing ) and languish in the depths of mortal torment and struggle (fade into a film noiror horror type of scene, and again, when a climatic ending is almost reached, cut back to the hand writing)
Voice continues. "Yes, I have the power to make all happen, because I am...

(LOUD VOICE of older woman) HAROLD CRABTREE! (using same shot of hand throughout, it quickly morphs into a 9 year olds. The notebook has thumbnail sketches of the different scenes he invisioned instead of the elequent writing he was dreaming. Camera shows he is in school and other kids giggle as teacher takes his notebook away. Shot of her looking at notebook then with a smile looks back at Harold in his chair. He looks back at her and smiles as camera pulls out of classroom, thru window as teachers voice is heard saying
"tomorrow, we will begin a class assignment. It is called creative writing, and...(sound and camera fade out)

Of couse the words aren't exactly like above, and the breaks inbetween could be of anything, but this is to keep ideas flowing.

I thought with something like this there might be a few positive things that can happen. Say you love modeling cars. You might be able to model not only a pod racer type vechicle in one clip, but then try something new and model a old packard for another scene. And the other thing is if you feel uncomfortable doing CA in any style other than a cartoon type, you could work on the scene you want to, then check out someone who's working in a different clip doing CA and possibly share your techniques or opinions.
Any way you cut it (no pun intended) everyone could start with what they feel at ease in, then jump to other parts and help and learn.

What do you think????

Finearts

Nice idea, hope you don't take any offence, but take it from of a few XL users doing the collaboration projrct for cgtalk, this will be harder than it seems, we all have little to no time, some have disappeared dropped or are struggling to get work done in their schedules (like me) so my best advice that we took and still hasn't really helped, was to Keep it simple.

YOu idea is not bad at all, but far to complex, think about how much work goes into even one of those simple sci-fi shots in the imagination of his writings. Thats a lot of work there alone.

[1YAG]

I'd be glad to work on this project also. :applause:

I agree with the idea of this being a sci-fi animation, with a style resembling bladerunner, but characters could be not human because of the difficulty in creating realistic humans. As for the scene I think a great idea would be some sort of a bounty hunter battle. If this would be taking place at night, it would be a good chance to show off the quality of C4D's renderer and lighting. Also with version 8 coming out, the weapons could use thinking particles to make spectacular gun shot effects. ohwell... that was kinda some random thoughts of myne after reading the thread. lol. But i think this is a great idea :thumbsup:

POST NUMBA ONE!! BeBBi

[LucentDreams]

Originally posted by 1YAG
I'd be glad to work on this project also. :applause:

I agree with the idea of this being a sci-fi animation, with a style resembling bladerunner, but characters could be not human because of the difficulty in creating realistic humans. As for the scene I think a great idea would be some sort of a bounty hunter battle. If this would be taking place at night, it would be a good chance to show off the quality of C4D's renderer and lighting. Also with version 8 coming out, the weapons could use thinking particles to make spectacular gun shot effects. ohwell... that was kinda some random thoughts of myne after reading the thread. lol. But i think this is a great idea :thumbsup:

POST NUMBA ONE!! BeBBi

Non realistic would be best, but non human characters is a smart idea. WHy sci-fi though, what is it with 3D artists and sci-fi??? BountyHunters??? Now theres originality at its finest, ever notice that as soon as a col movie comes out there is a huge amount of artwork done online of the same topic, what happened to originality? Why would night show off the renderer and lighting, a nigth scene would show off an artists lighting abilities more than an apps, Daylights shows off what an app can handle. As for the renderer, when things are dark things are not as impressive, ever notice all the fancy GI and all the topnotch renders from the XSI/LW/Max5 galleries are typically bright, even Final render and Brazil have a majority of bright images (partly to show off GI, but thats what you show off in renders but also to show off all the other things which you wouldn't notice with a large black contrast of darkness.)

As for using TP, just keep in mind that R8 is still a few months away and will cost you a bit before you can play with those, and the money involved is a fair bit to pay if all your going to do with TP is play around with it.

[neilyb]

Sci-fi is easier as you can get away with non human character, flying space ships and lens flares.....lets be orignal here guys...someting easier....like a teddy bears picnic, could be comical...could end up in a blood bath fight...could could have aliens whisk them away....could utilise radiosity, sunlight through the trees....old wooden table....big mushrooms.....hey, the teddy bears could smoke the mushrooms and drink humungous amounts of beer.....maybe they have an orgy....maybe they are run over by a bike.....maybe they are on bikes....or moutain bikes.....and you won't need to wait for TP or v8 to do it.....at least no future employer would sit and think "Uhhuh, another sci-fi show reel....oh goody!"

[finearts2]

Well, to update a little...
Can't go into to much detail but I spoke yesterday with someone at Maxon who was supportive of the idea of this movie project and will check in from time to time. Of course, if we have teck questions that may need additional help , we can consult the company. I am going to keep in touch with the company from time to time, and he said he'll give a heads up to the support team and would be happy to be involved with our project. (possibly others from California's company- we'll see. I will be calling again soon to talk to some others)

Also, I have received ALOT of e-mail from all over the place from people who are going to get involved throughout the project when their schedules permit so we will not have to worry too much about this being a big undertaking (if it ends up to be) if the numbers hold true.

Finally, I know the project might take ALOT of time, (everyone has a life to live)
so again, don't worry too much on us having something complete in a month or so, but then again I also have some contact numbers of a few festivals that we could submit the finished work once it's done.

Talk to you all soon,

Finearts:)

[finearts2]

Also, I will post a poll so we can start to narrow things down . It will be called (gleam of genuine genius) Cinema Group Project Poll (gosh, how original)
Look for it and vote. We'll try to get something resolved within 2 weeks max.

Finearts:)

[ndat]

Cool :), Don’t worry Im still in school (summer Vacation) while I do have a life its not a busy one. So I have plenty of time to work on this, in fact I am quite eggar to begin.

[matty2x4]

ok here is my idea... I am no author and speed typing at work...:shame:

In a factory big gears steam grime...
there is a construction line of little robots bolting together undiscript bits of metal. we centre in on one robot a little out of time with the rest. the screen goes blury and we are on a beach with the aforementioned robot (in board shorts) with a cute little girly robot walking down the beach. BANG! we are back at the factory our robo has stuffed up his bolting, he panics and grabs it from the construction conver belt, in the process launching it into big machine... The robot chases drops and looses and finds the bit of metal all over the factory all the while it keeps getting bits added bolted welded painted etc to it. in the end it pops out of one machine he cahcthes it and it is a copy of the girly robot from his dream (perfect or banged to gether from bits not sure) she picks him up and carries him out of the factory to the music from officer and a gentelman...

wadda ya think
its ruff bu I recon doable (with some story work)
2x4:wavey:

[finearts2]

Good ideas so far. Keep them coming.

[anobrin]

Originally posted by 1YAG
I'd be glad to work on this project also. :applause:

but characters could be not human because of the difficulty in creating realistic humans. As for the scene I think a great idea would be some sort of a bounty hunter battle. If this would be taking place at night, it would be a good chance to show off the quality of C4D's renderer and lighting. Also with version 8 coming out, the weapons could use thinking particles to make spectacular gun shot effects.
POST NUMBA ONE!! BeBBi

With the right post effects work you can do gun blasts
i am doing a short film with version 7.3 using many plugins and
post effects apps like combustion and not everyone will be upgrading to version eight right away.

(PC 5megs)
http://66.70.166.29/promo/roughcut2.wmv


(MAC 8.7megs)
http://66.70.166.29/promo/trlr.mov

[marcom]

at the end of the trailer it says "december 2002"... thats really close, isn't it?

[finearts2]

Any more ideas for the project?
It seems that comedy is the way people are voting. If you haven't voted yet, please do. Have about a week + to go.

Thanks
Finearts

[ndat]

I would give an Idea but Im really not a funny type of guy so its sort of hard for me to write comedy. But I do think something about a blind dog running into things, chewing on things it shouldn’t, and doing funny stuff that would be stupid even for a dog. Would maybe have some humor to it, I don’t know. Its kinda controversial so maybe the dog would have been just temporarily blinded by a camera flash or something...

[DannyB]

Perhaps if we began with the characters in an environment, so (1) get a couple of dudes together a funny guy and a straight guy. Then put them in a ridiculous situation, the whole thing could then develop into a story board. Influenced by the situation and the nature of the comedy duo.

Characters can be very stylised so as to avoid the constraints of highly accurate chracters, although that doesnt mean they lack any character...

more soon...

[MrKeith]

Hi all... not a Cinema 4D user... a friend of Finearts (we work together).... how about doing a MadLib to get the idea? Come up with a rough idea....don't post it.... ask for specific input... a guy's name, a country, a place to eat,.... a specific color, a verb, an adjective,... some crap like that. Plug that info into the madlib and voila, there's your idea. Could be pretty damn funny.

Just my .02

BTW - just 'cuz I don't use Cinema doesn't mean I don't admire the hell out of it.

K

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