Monday, November 17, 2008
Friday, November 14, 2008
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
lesson2
3D Mashup Tool Mixes Your Pictures with 3D Models, Introducing 3Dcollage
3D Experience, 3Dcollage, Update 2 Comments »
Here is an application of our 3D technology that we have had almost too much fun putting together. Welcome 3Dcollage, our new picture application for Facebook that will let you overlay 3D models from 3DVIA.com on your favorite pictures to create new “3D mashups”. These new mashups can be published to your profile or, even better, sent to your friends Facebook profiles.
Why would you want to do this?…Not only is 3Dcollage is a great way to dress up your Facebook profile, but it allows you to create stunning new images in a way not currently possible. You can position and re-position 3D models over 2D images in a natural way, making use of 3D effects such as lighting, sizing, and rotation to create your own Facebook works of art.
Check out these 2 pictures as a very simple demonstration of what you can do with the same model over a picture. Models in 3Dcollage can be easily placed, spun and positioned in anyway that you want.
Now I am not making any political statements, but I found an interesting demonstration of the 3Dcollage idea on the campaign ‘08 group on Facebook using a Barack Obama model found on 3DVIA.com.
Interested in trying it for yourself? It’s easy to do…first, login in to your Facebook account (Facebook accounts are free) and then in 3Dcollage,
1. Upload your picture - or search for one on Flickr
2. Import a 3D model from the 3DVIA.com library
3. Position it any way you like on your picture
4. Click the camera icon to publish it to your profile or send it to your friends
5. Rinse & Repeat.
3dvia
Using Template Files in Shape 2.0
3D Experience, 3DVIA Shape, 3DVIA Shape Tutorials, Tutorials 3 Comments »
Why do things more than once? Whatever your passion is in 3DVIA Shape 2.0 modeling, you can create template files like gsmith has and save enormous amounts of time. He shows us how valuable it is to create a single model containing a bunch of common elements that we can then select, copy, re-position and re-texture to make a new model. Then we just delete the leftovers and publish it as our own custom model.
It’s like having a 3D catalog of housing choices that we can use to build just what we want. His Colonial House Template file is complete with instructions too!
The yellow highlighted “Secret tip for aligning extensions” is very valuable, so I’ll add some images here to hopefully help make it even easier. Please pardon so much scrolling to see the images, but it’s important to see the difference between one action and another and what it is that you should be looking for.
First, an important note about selecting:
If you just select a face or line, as in the left hand picture above, you won’t be able to move or change anything except what is highlighted with a blue dashed outline. If you select the box inside the blue circle, then you select the whole item, as shown in the right hand picture above. Once you’ve selected the whole object then you can copy and paste it and use the “Secret tip”.
I’ve rotated the model a little, but if you select the whole object, then copy and paste it ( ctrl-c / ctrl-v ) it will look like it does above.
This is the “Secret” - after you paste the selected object ( ctrl-v ) and before you do anything else, PRESS THE SPACE BAR. Now your object has the measles - oh, I mean it’s covered with orange spots that you can now choose as anchor points. The anchor point that I want to use is circled in green.
Now that I’ve left clicked to select an anchor point, as I move the copy closer to the original, the original gets blue spots all over it (some of which are highlighted with green circles). This shows potential points that my selected anchor point can be latched onto. The one that I want to match up with is circled in red.
The yellow dashed line shows that the copy is aligned horizontally with the original using the center of both objects - just like I want it to be.
As I move the copy closer to the original, it will snap into place and indicate with a blue square that the alignment is complete.
* It is important to note that once you have joined one object to another (like we just did), you cannot disconnect it as a unit later. If you are lucky and realize it soon enough, you can use the undo button. You can also delete it face by face if you have to, but it can be time-consuming.
So, now you know the secret and can start making custom houses that are all yours without having to do all of the work from scratch. Thank you gsmith!
NEXT - we explore the “texture as desired” part of his instructions. It’s kind of like a recipe where the instructions say “salt and pepper to taste”. Adding textures can be a lot of fun and make all the difference in how your house tastes - I mean looks!
Vehicle Design 102: Games
Tutorials No Comments »
In my previous blog we talked about individual vehicle design. In this blog we will explore vehicle design for games. There are a few considerations you must keep in mind when designing vehicles for games, today we’ll cover 3: Mobbing up, Flavor, and Balance.
Mobbing up
No man is an island, in games, no one vehicle can win a game. Sure there are mega/epic units but by themselves they will get over powered and destroyed. Build vehicles that can accomplish their one particular role well. Don’t add weapons and abilities “just in case”. You want the player to build all the wonderful units you made and use them all as one cohesive swarm. Each vehicle performs one role well, and all others badly, but in a group, it can’t be defeated. The best real world examples are Navy Battle Groups. Large formations of ships supporting one another with specific combat roles.
Flavor
Here is where we get creative. All games have factions or races, each one with a particular flavor. You can’t give a vehicle with laser gatling guns to a nomadic faction that cobbles together their technology from various junk piles. When building for a particular faction, write down their strengths, weaknesses and what makes them unique from the other factions. Keep this in mind when you create a new vehicle. That laser gatling gun vehicle could be an excellent anti infantry unit for a techie cyborg based race.
Balance
Here is where we make sure the game play remains fair for each faction. The main point of balance is to keep the game fun but challenging. No one likes a game they can’t win, and no one really enjoyes a $50 game they can beat in 15 minutes with 2 units.
Vehicles for each of the armies in the game usually have a direct corresponding vehicle in each of the other armies and a suitable counter vehicle. In this respect, you see many armies have an anti aircraft vehicle. You use the flavor to make them really different from each other, but they perform the same function, thereby creating balance.
A popular balance method is the old Paper-Rock-Scissors. Where class A vehicle defeats class B vehicle - class B defeats class C vehicle - class C defeats class A.
You’ll find some games that don’t follow these general rules, and go so far as to create units that one faction will have more trouble defeating than another, attempting to create a 3 way faction balance. These games usually give you other alternatives like super weapons/units, or the ability to pair up with another player using diplomacy rules to defeat a stronger army.
Recently some games have allowed you to customize special modular vehicles, allowing you to alter the role of the vehicle to meet your needs. These tend to be a unique vehicle, and allow you to create some real power houses adding an element of unbalance in to gameplay but creating a really fun (albeit unfair) experience as a trade off.
No mater the method you chose for balance, always keep in mind that each vehicle you create has a role within its flavor/faction/race, and it is best supported be an army of specialist vehicles covering each others’ weaknesses. All working together to defeat the latest evil nasty nameless army that has threatened your people with ever lasting elevator music!
Till next time,
Fight well, honorably and often
-Juan
-Models in the Tittle Image where created for a GI-Joe mod by Brendan Fennimore, Chris McCune, Jonathan Millman, and Juan M. Del Rio.
How to export CATIA V5 3DXML files for 3DVIA
CATIA, Tutorials 6 Comments »3D models make our world possible - and fun too! Whether our 3D models are the internal bulkhead of the next major airliner or the latest clothing mod for our hot avatar, 3D makes it better. 3DVIA.com is a gathering place for all kinds of models and modelers. Check out the latest architectural ideas or explore historical steam engines for some perspective. Learn some cool new things and have some fun.
In order to keep the fun factor up and the frustration factor down, this post provides some useful tips to export your CATIA models so that they can be easily uploaded and shared on 3DVIA.com.
Dassault Systemes’ CATIA is a creative tool that is highly respected throughout the world for its wide-ranging capabilities. Fortunately; Fabrice Pinot, member of the CATIA Solutions team in Suresnes, France, has kindly offered some valuable information to help make it as easy as possible to export your CATIA V5 models in a way that allows them to look their best on 3DVIA.com.
So, in his own words:
There are 2 options that are very important for the 3DXML exports from CATIA V5 to 3DVIA.com.
First is the type of 3D mesh which is used for the geometry. At the present time, the supported mesh in 3DVIA.com is specified in the following option, it is a mesh in ASCII code.
The second option deals with 3D Accuracy:
For products; where all the parts have roughly the same size, such as consumer goods or hi-tech products, we recommend setting a fixed accuracy from 0.1 to 0.2.
Fixed 3D Accuracy sets a fixed sag value (from 0.01 to 10), which is used for calculating tessellation on all objects and does not vary with object size. The sag value defines the chordal deviation for curves and surfaces. The “curve chordal deviation” represents the maximum distance between a polyline (”chord”) whose end points lie on a curve and a point on the curve:
For detailed models of cars, boats or planes, we recommend setting a proportional tessellation of 0.1 to 0.2 as you may have small parts and huge ones. In this case tessellation is calculated according to object size: the larger the object, the coarser the tessellation. For the same 3D accuracy setting, the tessellation on small objects is always finer than on large objects. Please note that the toggle does not represent a distance, but a parameter, as the actual sag will depend on the object’s size.
Of course, in both cases, the finer the parameter, the larger the 3DXML file. Uploaded files are limited to 10MB on 3DVIA.com. If your file is bigger, then toggle this 3D accuracy parameter in order to be below this value.
Other tips:
Products originally created in CATIA V5 have the Z axis as the vertical axis, so there are no modifications to perform to have them appear in the proper orientation in 3DVIA.com. If this is not the case, it is always possible to insert this product into a newly created one and rotate the inserted model with the 3D Compass.
Textures created in CATIA V5 are supported, do not hesitate to use them. It gives a better aspect of your product at a minimum cost.
SPECIAL NOTE: These suggestions are valid for V5R18 and V5R19SP1. V6 compliance and tips are in the works. Stay tuned.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
animation
In Latin, ‘Anima’ means soul. Animation is all about giving soul to a character.
It is about moving something which cannot move itself. Time and space play
a critical role in animation. The object of animation could be a 2D painting,
a clay statue, a picture of a person/ animal/ thing – just about anything at all.
Animation simulates movement through a series of pictures that have objects
in slightly different positions.
How does animation work?
A simple theory known as persistence of vision offers an explanation. The
Greek astronomer Ptolemy discovered this principle back in 130 AD. If
images are flashed before the eye at a speed of at least ten frames per
second, the brain thinks it is seeing a single moving image. The numberof
Frames Per Second (or FPS) directly correlates to how smooth the
movement appears. If the frame rate is too slow, the motion will look
awkward and jerky. If the frame rate is too high, the motion will blur.
Animation techniques
2D cel animation
Also known as traditional animation, 2D animation involves the creation
of a high volume of separate drawings that define a sequence. These
drawings are then traced with ink onto transparent celluloid sheets
called cel, which are scanned and painted using a special application
software. These cels are layered on each other to create a sequence.
The sequence is later edited to synchronise the audio and video content.
This technique is widely used in creating characters for animations and
cartoon programmes.Did you know that a full-length feature film produced
using cel animation often requires a million or more drawings to complete?
3D CGI animation
This technique makes extensive use of animation software programmes. 3D
objects are constructed using curves or 2D geometric figures. Software
programmes are used to modify the texture, light and colour of the object
surface. Virtual cameras are used to zoom, focus, illuminate and resize the
3D objects. Important frames are developed to regulate the flow of intermediate
frames. This technique is commonly used to create animation for television
programmes, movies and online and console games.
3D motion capture animation
This process of creating 3D characters is similar to the 3D CGI animation
technique; however, the techniques differ with respect to the time when
the animation effects are introduced. To produce animation effects,
sensors from a computer are attached physically to a human being.
These sensors help coordinate the real-time movements of the human
actor with the movements of a computerised 3D character. This technique
is widely used for low-resolution games, Internet characters, live TV
performances and special effects for animated movies.
What does it take to be a complete animator?
A good animator should have knowledge of:
~ Drawing techniques
~ Animation techniques
~ Different styles of animation such as 2D and 3D animation
~ Design and layout
~ How people move and express their feelings
~ How animals move
~ How to create different moods and feelings in characters
~ Computers and animation software applications
~ The history of art and design
~ Film and television production
Besides, he or she also needs to:
~ Be artistic, creative and innovative
~ Be a good communicator
~ Have inclination for good music
~ Be able to ideate and conceptualise
~ Be focused, self-disciplined and self-motivated
~ Be able to use knowledge of the human body and how animals move to
create animations
~ Be versatile and adaptable and able to accept criticism
~ Be able to work to a deadline
~ Be observant, with an eye for detail
~ Be able to work well in a team
~ Be able to understand the comic nature of cartoons
Creating animation Animation creation consists of idea development,
pre-production, production, and post-production. In idea development,
the characters and story for the film, ad or other creative are created
and a go-ahead taken on the same. In pre-production, the idea is converted
into layouts. The script is written and finalised, characters are designed,
a storyboard is created and layouts are developed. Cost-wise, this phase is
extremely important since a single mistake here can put the entire project
over-budget.
1. Scriptwriting 2. Storyboarding
3. Character development 4. Backgrounds
Production for 2D animation:
A large volume of production work is outsourced by overseas clients to Indian studios and the majority of Indian animation professionals are involved in production-related activities.
* Compositing: Images from different sources, e.g. real-world video, digitised film, synthetic 3D images,
2D animations, painted backdrops, still photos and text, are combined to create a finished frame of animation.
1. Editing 2.Special effects (SFX)
3.Colour correction 4. Compositing
5.Voice & music editing 6. Rendering*
*Rendering: Giving final touches to an animation scene, in which the (vector) data is converted to the raster image or animation.
Animation Principles
#1 SQUASH AND STRETCH
#2 ANTICIPATION
This movement prepares the audience for a major action the character is about to perform, such as, starting to run, jump or change expression. A dancer does not just leap off the floor. A backwards motion occurs before the forward action is executed. The backward motion is the anticipation. A comic effect can be done by not using anticipation after a series of gags that used anticipation. Almost all real action has major or minor anticipation such as a pitcher's wind-up or a golfers' back swing. Feature animation is often less broad than short animation unless a scene requires it to develop a characters personality.
#3 STAGING
A pose or action should clearly communicate to the audience the attitude, mood, reaction or idea of the character as it relates to the story and continuity of the story line. The effective use of long, medium, or close up shots, as well as camera angles also helps in telling the story. There is a limited amount of time in a film, so each sequence, scene and frame of film must relate to the overall story. Do not confuse the audience with too many actions at once. Use one action clearly stated to get the idea across, unless you are animating a scene that is to depict clutter and confusion. Staging directs the audience's attention to the story or idea being told. Care must be taken in background design so it isn't obscuring the animation or competing with it due to excess detail behind the animation. Background and animation should work together as a pictorial unit in a scene.
#4 STRAIGHT AHEAD AND POSE TO POSE ANIMATION
Straight ahead animation starts at the first drawing and works drawing to drawing to the end of a scene. You can lose size, volume, and proportions with this method, but it does have spontaneity and freshness. Fast, wild action scenes are done this way. Pose to Pose is more planned out and charted with key drawings done at intervals throughout the scene. Size, volumes, and proportions are controlled better this way, as is the action. The lead animator will turn charting and keys over to his assistant. An assistant can be better used with this method so that the animator doesn't have to draw every drawing in a scene. An animator can do more scenes this way and concentrate on the planning of the animation. Many scenes use a bit of both methods of animation.
#5 FOLLOW THROUGH AND OVERLAPPING ACTION
When the main body of the character stops all other parts continue to catch up to the main mass of the character, such as arms, long hair, clothing, coat tails or a dress, floppy ears or a long tail (these follow the path of action). Nothing stops all at once. This is follow through. Overlapping action is when the character changes direction while his clothes or hair continues forward. The character is going in a new direction, to be followed, a number of frames later, by his clothes in the new direction. "DRAG," in animation, for example, would be when Goofy starts to run, but his head, ears, upper body, and clothes do not keep up with his legs. In features, this type of action is done more subtly. Example: When Snow White starts to dance, her dress does not begin to move with her immediately but catches up a few frames later. Long hair and animal tail will also be handled in the same manner. Timing becomes critical to the effectiveness of drag and the overlapping action.
#6 SLOW-OUT AND SLOW-IN
As action starts, we have more drawings near the starting pose, one or two in the middle, and more drawings near the next pose. Fewer drawings make the action faster and more drawings make the action slower. Slow-ins and slow-outs soften the action, making it more life-like. For a gag action, we may omit some slow-out or slow-ins for shock appeal or the surprise element. This will give more snap to the scene.
#7 ARCS
All actions, with few exceptions (such as the animation of a mechanical device), follow an arc or slightly circular path. This is especially true of the human figure and the action of animals. Arcs give animation a more natural action and better flow. Think of natural movements in the terms of a pendulum swinging. All arm movement, head turns and even eye movements are executed on an arcs.
#8 SECONDARY ACTION
This action adds to and enriches the main action and adds more dimension to the character animation, supplementing and/or re-enforcing the main action. Example: A character is angrily walking toward another character. The walk is forceful, aggressive, and forward leaning. The leg action is just short of a stomping walk. The secondary action is a few strong gestures of the arms working with the walk. Also, the possibility of dialogue being delivered at the same time with tilts and turns of the head to accentuate the walk and dialogue, but not so much as to distract from the walk action. All of these actions should work together in support of one another. Think of the walk as the primary action and arm swings, head bounce and all other actions of the body as secondary or supporting action.
#9 TIMING
Expertise in timing comes best with experience and personal experimentation, using the trial and error method in refining technique. The basics are: more drawings between poses slow and smooth the action. Fewer drawings make the action faster and crisper. A variety of slow and fast timing within a scene adds texture and interest to the movement. Most animation is done on twos (one drawing photographed on two frames of film) or on ones (one drawing photographed on each frame of film). Twos are used most of the time, and ones are used during camera moves such as trucks, pans and occasionally for subtle and quick dialogue animation. Also, there is timing in the acting of a character to establish mood, emotion, and reaction to another character or to a situation. Studying movement of actors and performers on stage and in films is useful when animating human or animal characters. This frame by frame examination of film footage will aid you in understanding timing for animation. This is a great way to learn from the others.
#10 EXAGGERATION
Exaggeration is not extreme distortion of a drawing or extremely broad, violent action all the time. It¹s like a caricature of facial features, expressions, poses, attitudes and actions. Action traced from live action film can be accurate, but stiff and mechanical. In feature animation, a character must move more broadly to look natural. The same is true of facial expressions, but the action should not be as broad as in a short cartoon style. Exaggeration in a walk or an eye movement or even a head turn will give your film more appeal. Use good taste and common sense to keep from becoming too theatrical and excessively animated
#11 SOLID DRAWING
The basic principles of drawing form, weight, volume solidity and the illusion of three dimension apply to animation as it does to academic drawing. The way you draw cartoons, you draw in the classical sense, using pencil sketches and drawings for reproduction of life. You transform these into color and movement giving the characters the illusion of three-and four-dimensional life. Three dimensional is movement in space. The fourth dimension is movement in time.
#12 APPEAL
A live performer has charisma. An animated character has appeal. Appealing animation does not mean just being cute and cuddly. All characters have to have appeal whether they are heroic, villainous, comic or cute. Appeal, as you will use it, includes an easy to read design, clear drawing, and personality development that will capture and involve the audience¹s interest. Early cartoons were basically a series of gags strung together on a main theme. Over the years, the artists have learned that to produce a feature there was a need for story continuity, character development and a higher quality of artwork throughout the entire production. Like all forms of story telling, the feature has to appeal to the mind as well as to the eye.
Intermediate would be doing the same things listed above with better application of principles but their characters dont yet come alive.. except occassionaly.... To these guys, their work needs just that extra to make it look awsome.. they have to strive to get the principles into their work... but they atleast know where they fall and they try not to... with the guidance of experts, they can pull off great shorts pretty quickly... these constitute most of the people.. the intermediate is a wide range of people, usually consisting of feature animators and high end game animators, to top quality students... The elite of this group are animators in places like Pixar and blue sky and ILM.. people like Rick O Conor, bobby beck, Shawn kelly, and the best here, would blur the line between intermediate and expert... this range covers the starting feature animators and junior animators to senior Game animators and feature animators... The blur between intermediate and expert is filled up by people like the Animation Supervisors or Character supervisors in the big studios...
Expert is some one the stature of Eric Goldberg or Glen Keane, where they dont *think* about principles at all.. they have them coming naturally, and all they think of is the performance of the character...these guys struggle with stuff like acting choices, character portrayal and stuff..
This is not a great way to categorize but, Im pretty happy with it.. im still a beginner at this.. and hope to work another 2 to 3 years to reach the beginner intermediate stage.. no one knows when you become an expert, it suddenly happens and every one notices... there are just a handful of experts..
Now, lets work our asses off to get out of the stinkin beginner stage...
