AdamT
04-10-2003, 06:42 PM
WOW!!! wOw!! I just bought this new plugin from Idea Graphics, and I would go so far as to say that it's an absolute must-have for anyone serious about doing character animation in Cinema4D. The plugin allows you to render bones, and while that's kinda cool, the killer function of this plugin is its ghosting feature.
Anyone who's familiar with The Animator's Survival Kit or similar books knows how useful it is to be able to view an overlay sequence of frames/motions, and that is exactly what this plugin gives you. You can display ghosting for your entire rig or for any smaller chain with one Ghosting Polybone object, or you can use multiple objects to isolate different chains.
In this pic I used one object to ghost the leading leg: http://bellsouthpwp.net/A/d/AdamTrachtenberg/Ghost.jpg
And in this pic I added another Ghosting object to add the motion of the head bone:
http://bellsouthpwp.net/A/d/AdamTrachtenberg/Ghost2.jpg
Amazing! You can immediately see the up/down sequence of the walk cycle and where it needs to be tweaked. You can see the foot lift, toe roll--everything! This should be of even greater benefit to users with slower systems who may not be able to scrub the timeline effectively. [One note: although I haven't noticed any slowdown from using the plugin, I do have a very fast machine and your results may differ.]
GP gives you the option of deciding how many frames to ghost, both forward and backward, and of deciding how many ghosts will be drawn within the selected timeframe (e.g., every frame, every other frame, etc.). And for the aesthetes amongst us, you have the option of changing the ghost primary and fade colors.
Also seen in the second screen grab is the use of the "Wings" feature, which displays a plane bisecting the affected bone. In this case I used a Wing on the head bone. Although it's difficult to tell from the side angle, this feature is very useful for isolating whanky bone rotation.
Conclusion: I'll admit that I'm a lousy character animator, but with the new tools in R8.x I've decided to improve my skills. After my brief time using it, I believe Ghosting Polybones will make this endeavor much more fruitful than it might otherwise be. Bonederland indeed. Highly recommended.
Anonymous wrote:
>
> I-dea graphics is pleased to announce the immediate
> availability of Ghosting PolyBone for sale to the Maxon
> Cinema4D user community on our homepage.
>
> http://c4dplugins.idea-graphics.de/
>
>
> Overview:
>
> Ghosting PolyBone is a plugin of the
> character-animation-plugin-series Bonderland.
> With its assistance bone chains are representable as
> different basic objects, therefore bones are not only in the
> editor- but also in the rendering-output visible.
> Additionally there is a ghosting function, which provides you
> the possibility to see motion sequences in the editor-view.
>
> Price USD 30
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> BONUS:
> You can find in the free-stuff section the Plugin-Expression
> Splones for free. Now it’s easy to stick bones to a spline or
> vice versa ;-)
>
>
> http://c4dplugins.idea-graphics.de/
Anyone who's familiar with The Animator's Survival Kit or similar books knows how useful it is to be able to view an overlay sequence of frames/motions, and that is exactly what this plugin gives you. You can display ghosting for your entire rig or for any smaller chain with one Ghosting Polybone object, or you can use multiple objects to isolate different chains.
In this pic I used one object to ghost the leading leg: http://bellsouthpwp.net/A/d/AdamTrachtenberg/Ghost.jpg
And in this pic I added another Ghosting object to add the motion of the head bone:
http://bellsouthpwp.net/A/d/AdamTrachtenberg/Ghost2.jpg
Amazing! You can immediately see the up/down sequence of the walk cycle and where it needs to be tweaked. You can see the foot lift, toe roll--everything! This should be of even greater benefit to users with slower systems who may not be able to scrub the timeline effectively. [One note: although I haven't noticed any slowdown from using the plugin, I do have a very fast machine and your results may differ.]
GP gives you the option of deciding how many frames to ghost, both forward and backward, and of deciding how many ghosts will be drawn within the selected timeframe (e.g., every frame, every other frame, etc.). And for the aesthetes amongst us, you have the option of changing the ghost primary and fade colors.
Also seen in the second screen grab is the use of the "Wings" feature, which displays a plane bisecting the affected bone. In this case I used a Wing on the head bone. Although it's difficult to tell from the side angle, this feature is very useful for isolating whanky bone rotation.
Conclusion: I'll admit that I'm a lousy character animator, but with the new tools in R8.x I've decided to improve my skills. After my brief time using it, I believe Ghosting Polybones will make this endeavor much more fruitful than it might otherwise be. Bonederland indeed. Highly recommended.
Anonymous wrote:
>
> I-dea graphics is pleased to announce the immediate
> availability of Ghosting PolyBone for sale to the Maxon
> Cinema4D user community on our homepage.
>
> http://c4dplugins.idea-graphics.de/
>
>
> Overview:
>
> Ghosting PolyBone is a plugin of the
> character-animation-plugin-series Bonderland.
> With its assistance bone chains are representable as
> different basic objects, therefore bones are not only in the
> editor- but also in the rendering-output visible.
> Additionally there is a ghosting function, which provides you
> the possibility to see motion sequences in the editor-view.
>
> Price USD 30
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> BONUS:
> You can find in the free-stuff section the Plugin-Expression
> Splones for free. Now it’s easy to stick bones to a spline or
> vice versa ;-)
>
>
> http://c4dplugins.idea-graphics.de/