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RichardChaos, fantastic render. I have used similar jet exhausts that I took from models such as the Dystopian Heavy Lander LVX9-Basilisk.
I did my first animation today. A six second one. I notice that the Battlestar is passing by too quickly for my taste. To slow down the animation, do I extend the time line or add more FPS?
BTW, are there other places online where one can post videos besides Youtube? I know of Vimeo, I wonder if that is similar to Youtube?
I have done both, i.e. running the same video slower in my video editor (e.g. half speed, say 15 FPS), or keeping the same FPS and extending the timeline (more frames). The former is sort of a kludge if you are in a time bind, like in the 48 Hour Film contest. It works, but can result in slightly choppy playback. The latter is better if you have time to re-render the whole clip, keeps it smooth at a typical 30 FPS for video.
I'll try this next time. Also, how do I clear the timeline if I want to start over? I couldn't figure it out, I had to close the file and reopen it again to test with a different angle.
I'll try this next time. Also, how do I clear the timeline if I want to start over? I couldn't figure it out, I had to close the file and reopen it again to test with a different angle.
To stretch out the key frames and slow something down, select all the keyframes that you wish to extend so that they are all highlighted including the first one, and while you are holding down the Command key (I'm on a Mac, I assume it's a Windows equivalent) drag the keyframes as far along the timeline as you want. I'll post some screen shots. You can also use this method to compress the keyframes by dragging them in.
If you have a complex animation and it would be difficult to adjust everything, you could double your frame rate in the render room (I think the max is 60 fps) render to an image sequence and when you compile the sequence in your video editor make it 30 fps. You'll double your length and won't get the choppiness. Your six second clip at 60 fps will take as long to render as a twelve second clip at 30 fps but you don't have to re-time everything.
Thanks, evilproducer.
If anyone has a link to a great animation tutorial or even a pay for tutorial on animation, let me know. I think it will be best if I follow a video tutorial on animation. This way I don't annoy people playing "20 Questions" on the forum.
Well, you already have some of the hardest part out of the way - in that you were able to find example video showing movements that you like. Now have a look at the timeline of the YouTube video at various parts. If you'd like to make yours faster or slower, you can adjust accordingly. But much of the animation technique is learned from doing it.
Using the draft render mode can save some time for test renders if you have fewer cores to render with. On my workstation, it almost seems that draft isn't much of a savings because it uses one core as opposed to eight.
Getting the timing down can be frustrating - but you'll get better at getting it much closer to what you want early on - as you get more experienced at where to go along the timeline to perform the change in motion. Some story board folks are really good with timing and can express the timing to use within the story board. That helps! But that timeline on the bottom of YouTube is an amazingly helpful device as well.
Patience, young Padawan!
You already have a beautiful Battlestar. That's a major step out of the way, right there!
I understand what you are saying about studying the videos. I was just saying that I need to understand more the lingo (tweeners, etc) and the basics of using the NLA.
You nearly escaped my glare! {insert tonguing smiley here}
Even if LightWave was used heavily on the new BSG...there is only one...
I love the curving shape of those ships. Great exhaust flames there too.
I understand what you are saying about studying the videos. I was just saying that I need to understand more the lingo (tweeners, etc) and the basics of using the NLA.Yeah... I hear that. I thought that NLA Clips were something that I fully understood. Then along comes 3dage. I don't really know much about them anymore! lol
They are very useful in their most basic sense, in that they give us a way to natively store pose, morph, and animation data to our Carrara browsers. During the creation of an NLA clip or master pose, you can select or deselect to get really great control over what, exactly that file is controlling. I've used then for walk cycles a lot - excluding the arms and head - except that I'd leave the collar animation in there. This gives me enormous flexibility to use those to get the walk in place, then control the arms and head either by hand, or by using some other clip I've saved.
When you start getting into NLA, though... there's so much more. Animation, in general is huge and none of us will ever perfect it, I don't think. But just experimenting and getting better and better is SO freaking fun!
Like in that video I posted, I think it's just before the space ship scene where I come walking up to Rosie and run my hand along the top of her head as I round to walk with her. The expressions she goes through right there was a total roller coaster stomach tingle for me. The real Rosie gives me THAT look all the time- and I was amazed at how well it turned out.
Watching TV and movies in a different way is also an amazing grace for us. Just watch for a while and notice how long a camera angle lasts before switching to a different piece of footage. The sound is all tied together - yeah... but the video isn't. Going for a half second shot to another that's 2 or 3 seconds and then back to the other... adds a lot of interest. So we get the save from that - since animation renders can take a long time. I turn my settings down in the render room to speed things up. Object Accuracy 2 and shadow at 4. Fast AA. I have noticed a good bit of difference when you up those figures - but in the end, do you really need it? Save the super high end stuff for the day when someone lets you use their refrigerated hundred core render farm.
HI nDelphi
most of the terms used in animation, come from the animation industry (Disney etc),... before computers and digital rendering.
Traditionally,. an Animator would draw the main poses of the character, which were needed to produce a specific section of animation,. these main poses were known as Key frames,. (frames of film)
These hand drawn Key frames, were then handed over to the apprentice animator,. who was told to create all the frames in-between each of the main "key frames" to create a section of continuous animation.
The apprentice animators given the task of making the in-between frames,. became known as Tweeners, and the task became known as tweening. and it's still the same, even when you're using a computer to calculate the in-between frames,.. the process is known as tweening, and there's a variety of types of tweening filters.
NLA (Non Linear Animation)
Traditionally animation is created on a time-line,. by placing Key frames at specific points in time,.
NLA allows you to create "Clips" of animation which can be moved around in time, and placed where you ant the action to occur.
You'd create your animation as normal,. by creating key-frames and using tweeners,. and once you're happy,... you'd create a Master NLA clip, which takes all the animation information, and places it into a virtual container, which can be moved around and adjusted in the time-line.
Creating a master clip from your animation can (optionally) clear away your original key-frames.
If you want to work with the key-frames instead of an NLA clip,. you can import the data from the clip, as key-frames on the time-line.
NLA clips can be saved to your "My Clips" section of the browser, and reused in different scenes,. (you can also create and add your own folders to store animations for specific scenes, or specific figures.
NLA clips can also be used together to create more complex animations,.
for example: if you had an animation of a seated figure,. who reached up and scratched it's head,. and an animation of a figure standing, who raises it's arm,.. waving
you could use NLA clips , and define which parts of the figure, which each clip effected, to create a seated figure, who starts waving,. and then stands up and scratches it's head.
or any other mixture of the motions from the two, or more,. different animations you're working with.
Hope it helps :)
Thanks 3DAGE, much appreciated.
I would love it if I could buy a product that was 3dage writing down all of the different things we can do with, including the creation of, NLA clips and poses. The graph editor too. I'd love a good lesson - and would happily buy it.
I agree with that--I actually searched the forum for all post by 3DAGE about 6 weeks ago just to soak-up a little extra know-how. I don't know what the capabilities of these forums are, but it would be cool for a reader to be able to mark posts that they like and then come back later and read their "liked posts".
As for the Battlestar Project, I look forward to seeing some renders. It's fun to see what people are working on. I went through some of Dartenbeck's videos earlier today...great fun!
Most of my real work never made it up there! :)
"Just a Bit of Fun" is my favorite. I watch that one over and over - since it was made up of test renders that I was using to help guide me in one way or another - so the compilation actually helps me to focus! lol
Most of the other stuff was just to answer someone's question or the like.
Like this one was an answer to a bunch of negativity about Genesis when Carrara 8.5 beta first came out. For the most part, reading anything on the first page of the forum lead one to believe that it didn't work. That video is using all V4 auto fit clothing and aniBlocks - along with V4 textures once he changes into her. lol
I might be doing something wrong with alpha maps. When I add an alpha map to my shader I get a hole that you can see thru. What I do in this case is that I make a copy of the object with the base color I want and place it underneath the object with the alpha map.
I have included an image to help convey much better what I am trying to explain. The white objects at the top of the image are what I am applying my shaders with textures to. The bottom ones are the objects with the shaders+textures applied. As you can see, the black background. These are the guide lines for the runway, what I want to see is the color of the runway to show up, not a hole you see thru.
I am not sure now, but am I understanding the work the alpha map is suppose to be doing?
I am definitely confused.
This is part of what I have to do to make the Battlestars Carrara compatible.
Hi nDelphi
Alpha channel, is also referred to as Trans-mapping. or transparency maps,..
the Black areas of an image will become transparent when it's placed in the alpha channel of a shader.
Alpha maps are normally Black and White,. but they can also be grey-scale,. to give the effect of different amounts of transparency.
absolute Black, is transparent,. and absolute white is solid.
Alpha maps are used in almost everything, ... a figures eyes, clothing, hair, leaves, and particle effects.
In carrara,. many shaders which use an alpha map, can be replaced by using Carrara's transparency channel, instead of the alpha transparency.
the V4 Eye surface shader is a good example,. where setting this up to be transparent, with the Refraction of Water, and a wee bit of reflection, can create a better surface shader, than the existing DS / poser, shader combination of maps and colours.
it sems like you're trying to add the runway stripes (details) to the runway surface,. . Alpha's create transparency,. or a hole. but the same black and white image can be used as a blend,..
You can create a Mixer shader,. which can take your surface texture map, like tarmac,. and will Mix that texture, with another texture map, or shader. and blend them together with a black and white image, like an alpha map, or distribution map,. or a grey-scale image like a bump map, or displacement map.
Another option would be to use a multilayer mixer,. where you can mix together two completely different shaders, with different bump, shininess etc,. again, blended together with an B/W image or shader.
The same process applies,. the B/W image can be used as a blend instead of a mask.
hope it helps :)
After reading your explanation I understood that the modeler has to be doing something similar with the shaders in Lightwave, that would explain why he doesn't need to place anything beneath the objects to plug the holes.
I, on the hand, am not so savvy, so I went with the simpler fix. I had to edit the alpha maps as well to make it work for Carrara. I now have to go back and do the same for the Battlestar I rendered and I showed here in the first post.
This is the fixed section, this is for the Hyades, the one with the double, stacked pod:
For those who wanted to see some renders, here are a few. The planet is Venus. I followed a tutorial to create it. I added clouds to the planet.
The Battlestar is Hyades, a non-canonical, fan created design by tan.j.
The amazing stuff I can do with Carrara is awesome. Sorry DAZ Studio, but Carrara is where I should have focused my attention most all these years. Oh well, live and learn. LOL!
Wow... Bravo!
Great start! Hell, if I worried about "Canon" Vs. "Non-Canon," when doing a render of something like a Star Trek ship or a Star Wars ship, I;'d never get anything rendered.
I should try and fine the space thread I started and revive it. There was some good stuff in there.
Thanks! I posted another render on the "Post Your Renders - #5" thread.
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/20965/P330/#378776
It's the Hyades from behind as it cruises around Venus, you get to see the engines' exhausts from behind giving it a sense of action. My best render of this series.
Back on that subject - timing wise... I just remembered a trick that I use a lot:
When setting motions, I'll often ignore where I have my scene render range in the timeline and go off into the future with the scrubber - and then move the ship. If I find that I want to catch the entire motion with one camera - then I can change the length of the render. Otherwise - save as is - then set up a camera to catch the first second to three seconds. Save with a suffix: "01a" or something. Move the scene range to begin half way through the sequence I just saved and end somewhere further down the line and set up another camera using an entirely different angle - one that will help to sell the drama of the ships movement. Save with a suffix: "02a" - where the 'a' part can change if tweaks are necessary due to seeing the end result - which can happen a lot in animation clips. Be patient - and make lots and lots of clips. And then make more.
Right track = you, my friend! (attempting a Yoda Voice - but I totally suck at it!)
After reading your explanation I understood that the modeler has to be doing something similar with the shaders in Lightwave, that would explain why he doesn't need to place anything beneath the objects to plug the holes.
I, on the hand, am not so savvy, so I went with the simpler fix. I had to edit the alpha maps as well to make it work for Carrara. I now have to go back and do the same for the Battlestar I rendered and I showed here in the first post.
This is the fixed section, this is for the Hyades, the one with the double, stacked pod:
Dirty it up~
I've been thinking about that for awhile now. To dirty up even the ship's hulls a bit, too. Is there an easy way to do that with the shaders? Besides just dirtying-up the textures?
There are all sorts of fun Carrara functions for that. If, for some reason you bump up against a wall and can't do something, there are also numerous pluggins.
The dam in both images below uses no image maps. They are all Carrara procedural shader functions. The water spilling over the dam is a separate object and does use an image map for the foam streaks.
Edit: The leaves on the trees and the water plants are also,procedural, as are the rocks on the embankment. The cattails use Carrara's dynamic hair for the velvety look.