"[Schlitzy Screentest contest] Pequod's WIP"

#41

Originally posted by pequod
BThe strange shadow I hadn’t noticed, but it’s to be expected with z-buffered lights.
(2)The stool does need another couple of little settling hops as it comes to rest.
(3) His hand is searching for the stool, not tapping it. If you are misreading this I’ll have to make it clearer. I’m going to keep the smile on his face for longer, in his inebriated state he would not necessarily be too aware of most things that are going on -like a misplaced chair.
[/B]

Hi Pequod.!
I originally thought the shadow was a way of describing some off-set action - like whoever had obviously pushed schlitzy out to do his test closing the stage-door.
Now you mention the stool… it does stop very suddenly doesn’t it? I actually meant Schlitzy’s stance. (I downloaded and watched your first pass again in comparison with a friend - she felt the first was “tighter” in some ways?)
Re: stool - I see what you mean now about reaching for the stool. He does move closer to the stool before reaching for it - maybe sound could tell that part of the gag I suspect?

I’ll shut up now!

#42

Originally posted by pequod
[B]

I animated him on my G4 Mac, (I’ve put a 1.2 Gig processor upgrade in recently). However, when it came time to render him with his hair on, it would always crash. So I rendered him on the PC (1.4 Gig) and it took the best part of the day to complete. It averaged 50 seconds per frame (approx 750 frames). [/B]

Stephen,

I’m getting crashing when trying to render with z-buffered shadows when the hair is on, also. When I render it with raytrace shadows, I’m getting render times of just over two and a half minutes per frame. I’m on a dual gig G4 w/1.5 GB ram. Ugh. I may have to settle for no AA in my final entry. I don’t have time to let my only machine just render all day.

No big deal, the quality of my render isn’t going to help me win this contest anyways! :stuck_out_tongue:

Love your work, Stephen!

Jim

#43

Carl,
The droopy bit of the hat at the moment has got a dynamic constraint applied to it’s bone. The motion it produces is erractic, sometimes not moving at all. I can’t be fussed to work it out, so it’ll be simpler to just hand animate it, then if it doesn’t look right I’ve got no one else to blame other than myself. I think there was some notion going round that if you reversed the orientation of the dynamic bone, the simulation would be more accurate.:shrug: I think this is a question for Joe W.

Zaryin,
Jim has cleverly modelled in folds in the clothes which actually deform rather well when moving the character around. Anyway, as long as you’re happy now :wink:

Kricket,
Thanks. I think your Katrina character definately has the Wow Wow factor.

Alfiebabes,
His dismount from the stool hasn’t had much additional work done to it since the first pass. The mo-blur might make it look a little different though. But you might be on to something, I need to reexamine this section.

Jim,
Thanks for the info, raytraced shadows with hair is just not on. I use my Mac mostly for work as well, so the PC has become the render machine. Another advantage of having more than one computer when using AM, is if there is a problem in a project on the Mac, it’s occasionally rectified by opening it up on the PC and indeed visa-versa. Also good for double checking bugs.

#44

Hey Pequod, the dynamic constraint problem only uccurs when you use a single bone. If you just give the chain two bones then it would be sorted. Whether or not it will look just how you want it is another thing. These things may be changed by the next update though (if it ever comes :slight_smile: ).

Check here for more on DC’s,


Joe and I am trying to get other people to ditto any of these requests if they want to.

#45

Hi Gang,

www.hash.com/users/milos/schlitzy3.mov

Latest Schlitzy updates:

Fixed droopy bit of hat, got rid of dynamics. (John Keates)
Improved spin on stool, (Alfiebabes)
Now brought to you in glorious sound,
Increased ambience in eyeballs (Carl Raillard)
Reintroduced bottle (apologies to Kevin if this looks too familiar)

#46

Oh my…

That is just ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!!!

The sound is excellent and adds so much to the whole thing. All the tweaks raised it to another level.

Thanks so much for doing this contest, Stephen. I always wanted to see one of my characters animated well. This is better than I hoped for.

Jim

#47

Once again Stephen, that is awesome. And how could I complain about the bottle? It actually leaves his hand in your animation :thumbsup: I take it you are finished? Amazing job.

Kevin

#48

Thanks Jim,

It’s been a pleasure constantly hitting that render button and revealing Schlitz in all his textural goodiness.:cool:
Judging from the other entries so far, your character is certainly going to be brought to life, it’s a shame there haven’t been more participants, but hey.
Like you say, the music (Mr. Men theme) has really helped. With just sound effects, it was too stark.

Kevin, I’m glad you don’t mind. I’m not finished yet, a few more tweaks and a proper render is required.

#49

the Mr Men didn’t just bring back memories (:beer: ) it fit the sequence perfectly!

Really fantastic work Stephen, and I now understand one of the little jerks Schlitzy made - it was a hiccup. :blush:

#50

Wonderful stuff Steve!!! You use of timing and balance (particularly to animate a drunk guy) is terrific!!

I would have loved to enter the contest, but the last month has been crazy, as we have just had our first child. Which has been wonderful (but a little tiring, 5 hours sleep isn’t really enough for me to work on I have discovered).

Shaun

#51

Congratulations, Shaun! You’ll never “animate” anything better than your own child. :slight_smile:

Jim

#52

Thanks Alf and Shaun,

Shaun, I suppose I’ll have to concede that the ‘bleary eyed father’ is a good enough excuse…for the time being :wink:

Ah, I now understand where the inspiration for your cuckoo chick in diapers comes from.:wise:

#53

Sorry, but I’m afraid I must complain. To both Stephen and Jim Talbot.

I downloaded Stephen’s WIP yesterday, and whilst viewing it, my 18 month old son climbed on my lap. He now DEMANDS that I play the animation as often as possible. I can’t get any work done!!! I’m falling behind my deadlines, I’m not getting any time to myself. My computer does nothing but show Shlitzy!!!

Seriously though, guys. Fantastic animation and superb modelling. Really nice work.

Mark

#54

Not my fault, it was Jim…he started it.:stuck_out_tongue:
Cheers for the nice words Mark.

Stephen.

#55

Ha! But you took it to a new level. Maybe it’s Schltzy’s body, his proportions are very kid-like.

Jim

#56

Stephen! Maaaaannnnn…that’s really awesome work there. And from the looks of your comments, you’re not done yet…zat right? Wow…can’t wait to see it totally finished! :smiley:

#57

Wowie that is terrific. Very good work, and the sound is perfect.

Only thing that is 100% (for me) is his leaning on the stool and his leg cross. I just don’t feel it adds much.

Now, I’m off to watch it again.

#58

Hey pequod, just saw your latest version. Looks realy nice! And the music is an inspired chice. I was at the doctors the other day and I couldn’t help but read the tale if Little Miss Giggle. I don’t think this impressed the receptionist though:hmm:

I can’t wait to see what expert touches you add to the next version.

#59

Thanks for the comments guys.

The extra tweaks I’ll do on him are quite minor, no one other than myself would notice them. Mind you, one area that needs attention and is probably quite noticeable, is his right hand slides about a bit when he is holding the script. Time permitting, I’d like to change some of the timing in a few areas by sliding those keyframes about in the timeline, unfortunately at this stage it will cause havoc with the placement of various objects constrained to him. If I knew how to select all the keys of Schlitzy and his accessories at the same time (without deselecting others in the process) that would help.
But if I don’t get another chance to work on him, I’ll just hit that render button two days before the deadline and let the computer chug away on Schlitzy’s ‘multipass’ hair.

John and Doug, you’ve both mentioned the ‘unnecessary’ moment when Schlitz leans on the stool for the first time. I’ve kept it in, as this relaxed action of him leaning on the stool, hopefully sets up the final gag (admittedly weak joke) when, just after you feel he’s finally ready to read the script, he misses the stool altogether. (yes… that piece of paper is the script, I’ll decal some squiggly lines on it).

Justin, looks like your new job is keeping you busy, which I think is a good thing, not sure. I’m eager to see any new stuff you can show us, even if it’s not done in AM.

#60

Stephen,

Busy has its ups and downs. Sometimes it has meant animating some really fun shots. Other times it’s meant staying up for 26 hours straight at the end of crunch time. But I prefer busy over bored…had a few of those types of days, too, and they can be downright depressing if my mind takes the wrong track. There have been a couple times when I’ve semi-seriously questioned why I even chose animation as a career. Thankfully I’ve come out of those moments, but it’s been a hair scary at times.

Sorry, but I can’t show anything from work yet…non-disclosures and all that. Hopefully soon, though. I’m also working on a little something just for A:M folks. Not sure how much I can/should disclose about that right now, but hopefully I’ll have some teaser material ready before too long. :wink: