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Positive thoughts to both of you.
Thanks you two!
Just sending some more
Thanks, my Friend!
Thank You So Much!!! :)
I do feel your pain. I share this because well . . . In 2010 my soulmate went under the knife for spinal surgery. Prior to surgery, he played in a band, hung out in the race pits, had a giant career with a 1.5 million plus retirement plan and was active in sports and a social butterfly. The surgery was supposed to be a 3 day hospital stay and a 6 week rehab and back to work. But instead he spent almost three years in a ahospital bed. We had it all . . . but our journey did not go well or end well. It could have been worse . . . much worse. The first red flag was the hospital equipment had glitches. Later, just hours after surgery, Scott, my husband did not look right or act right and I thought maybe it's the anesthesia or drugs . . . maybe it well wear off. It But that gut feeling you have when something is wrong reared it's ugly head and would not leave. When the complaints he make (not typical for him) were seen as anxiety by the hospital, and swept under the rug by trainees working the midnight shifts, my radar blared loud. Scott was not a whiner. He never complained. I knew that - they didn't. The red flag became red flags as time passed. Nobody would respond to his "whining" until I fianally lost it, ran for the nurses desk and threatened to sue each and everyone of them. I must have looked and sounded like a lunatic but thank God soemone took me serious and rushed him down for a scan. Next thing I know they are telling me to call family members. Told me his odds were poor and shocked me is thinking WTF this man is healtier than any horse. He ended up in a coronary heart unit, (3 days after surgery) in critical care for 10 days. He never had a heart issue in his life but the night of the surgery, at 6pm, the leg compression machine failed. The hospital was understaffed and the workers were exhausted. It took hours upon hours ( me nagging them ) to correct it. The machine arrived just after midnight. but unbeknownst to us, it was too late. A PE (pulmonary embolism was rearing its ugly head). They fed him a full meal after surgery ( computer orders lost - he was supposed to have only ice chips -surgery took 7 hours not 3 they estimated) and he regurgitated food unable to move almost choked according to the patient in the other bed. When I heard that, I slept in the chair and refused to leave his side. Lost 10 pounds. No joke, had I not been there he would have died. A PE went thru his heart into his lung and they thought when he said his chest felt like a tightened vice, it was anxiety. Now, today, after 15 years workers comp finally declared and agreed he is 100 percent permanently disabled. Had we had our time back we would have said no to the surgery. But not all surgeons are equal. After one year (due to a scan by another surgeon) they discovered the spinal surgeon had opted to forego the hospital (robotic) equipment and do it the old fashioned way. Yes that is a doctors prerogative. A scan revealed the screws missed the rods by an inch and penetrated the spinal canal via the nerve cavity, crippling him. A year after the first surgery they performed a 2nd mandetory (no-choice) surgery to save his life and removed screw coroded by spinal fluid from his spine. It saved his life but not his mobility. This was not what we signed up for. Not all stories end up like ours but there are plebty of similar ones out there. I was unaware that a doctors's insurance has to protect his reputation, cover claims and hide the fact he's an embicile. Dispositon revealed this doctory=r had multiple law suits filed against him, settled, and was still operating on patients. Any attorney can dig up this is a heartbeat and had I known that I would have paid a few hundred but I was unaware of this and I have a degree in insurance. Things have changed. If you save someone from dying in a burning fire and accidently break their lef in the process they can successfully sue you. Values differ. I highly recommend you stay by her side and do not leave it until she is safe at home. Interns, trainees, tired night shift workers never have the time to watch over one person when there are many patients and few caregivers. Devout carecan only come from you. Not trying to scare you. Just suggesting you sacrifice a few days for the love of your life and watch over her like a hawk. I wish you well and God bless you both.
Oh... oooo...
Um... I started reading that and I already feel really bad for you folks... I really do. But I have to wait until after the surgery to read any further into it. So sorry. But I have to be the optimistic rock right now.
I promise to come back and read it later. I hope you understand.
I must say, however, that a very similar situation happened to us already... to me.
I was quite famous around here for how imaginative I could be with stone - and size was never an issue. I worked for a landscape firm that was owned by the major construction company up here. The owner (of the owning construction company) and I got along like two peas in a pod. He'd often come to my sites.
He gave me the opportunity to harvest stone that I needed, and I loved harvesting stone. Up here we need to be 'Good' about it as to not upset our delicate balance of nature - and I loved that too. I was always a nature boy.
Oh... I'm getting off track.
I was also the drummer for the area's premier rock band.
Messed up my back good. Right in line: Cervical, Thorasic, Lombar. The Cervical one scared them the most since right in between 6 and 7 (where mine was messed up) is where the nerves that control the lungs go. They didn't want me to just quit breathing, so I had one of those horrible collars on.
But it was the other two that had me clenching, wincing and spontaneously screaming for more than nine months.
Eventually Rosie took me to Guitar Center and had me sit in this special chair (thone, they call them... don't know why!) that was designed for drummers with bad back issues. I was overwhelmed! She also bought me a wonderful Jam Stands folding drum cart for loading and unloading my kit at shows. I was back in business!
When it came to the stone work, however, my comeback was very short lived. I've been trying to hold other, simpler jobs since then... four hours tops at first. I just couldn't make it. Now it's much less than that.
I'm still strong as an ox and healthy as can be. But my feet and ankles feel like there's a chunk of rebar (the construction steel the put in concrete) jammed straight up through my heel into my leg, with a vice grips clamped tight on my heel to hold it all together.
At my animating computer, I have a foot pad TENS unit. It helps for a short time while it's on, but then it doesn't when it shuts off. I also have a traction machine for the floor for when it gets really bad.
My little dog, Chicha helps tremendously, making sure that I walk the majestic shoreline every day - I just can't stop and stand or... Yikes! But since she's come along, I'm feeling better and better all the time!
It was only just a week or two ago when I played my final drumming gig with my band. I could feel my time coming. After every show I'd suffer for the following few days feeling like I got hit by a bus. I decided to bow down while I was still playing like an animal, and there was a wonderful opportunity with a really cool fellow to take my place. Rock On, Joe!!! Love that guy!!!
Poor Rosie though. Talk about going from Everything to Nothing overnight. Sucks.
That all said, however... Rosie's gonna ROCK this thing! I can Feel it!!!
Surgery was considered a resounding success!
That evening, as the anesthesia wore off, life got very interesting. They make it very clear before these things that 'healing nerves' is a very painful experience, but should clear fairl radily as they heal up.
Oh My! Rosie! I felt so bad. All I could do is Help in any way I could.
By the following morning (yesterday) she was still in a lot of pain, but nothing like the night before and it got visibly (to me) better as the day went on. By last night she was up and walking around, doing small things in her own. So Cool!
Thanks for all the prayers and well-wishes!!!
Capturing Conversation onto Rosie 8
I've also gone back to only using the Classic Long and Curly Hair, and back to settings that more resemble those I was using for Rosie 7 compared to what I've demonstrated on Rosie 8 so far - with the added 'other' hair on top.
Then going a bit further in that direction making for a more flowing and natural and I'm liking the change in rendered out animations, which is really the only way to judge it.
I'm also experimenting with giving Iray a bit more time and going for a better overall render quality.
Using the approach demonstrated in Dynamic Character Animation, I've made some fresh new Rosie 8 - specific facial dials that perform little sub-gestures through her facial musculature. These are really nice for adding many subtle facial movements to her performance.
Spontaneous facial tweaks that happen when the <faster than the fastest thing we can imagine> brain sends signals throughout the body so than all responses can react according to its plan - whether directed through conscious thought, subconscious wisdom, or involutary reaction - our brain knows what comes next much fatser than our ability to concieve of it. This process causes micro-movements throughout the whole body - inside and out. Where we really seem to notice it in our process is in the face. But all muscles are begging for this sort of treatment if we Really want to deliver a believable performance.
I've always been a quasi-realistic natured artist. I really like realism, but never trying to portray reality. Sometimes to a point where I'd like to filter everything over to look painted, but then I change my mind!
Glad to hear everything went well! Hope she has a speedy recovery.
This frame of performance is enhanced with a dial on the Pose Controls addon facial rig that I use to correct the placement of the centers of the lips when they go too high. One of my new facial dials is working the corners of her mouth down and back simulataneously utilizing several morphs at once, making it really easy to dial in a few more facial enhancements.
Keep an eye on which dials are used along the timeline and we can easily keep this all under tight control - often only needing a very short space within the timeline - sometimes only once.
I've only made a few of these so far and they've been such a blast to work with and valauble to the outcome, that I'm going to make more of these little helpfuls.
One cool example of such a dial (try it for homework) is to set the Eyes Pose control to Up or Down, then adjust the eyelid dials to how you'd like them for that eye position, and make a custom dial of the result. If the reverse doesn't work to your liking, edit the parameters of the dial and change the Min limit from -1.00 to 0.00, then make one another for that opposite direction.
You'll be amazed at how much timne it'll save you using this - even if you still like to tweak the eyelids, you've still got that wonderful automatic dial performing your default favorite changes.
For the new Rosie 8 Facial Smirk pose dial, I shaped the mouth for the smirk first and made that a separate dial. Then the eye squint that is default to her smirk, and made that separate. That one also includes some brow movements, and I also made a complex raised eyebrow dial to be used with the smirk or as a stand alone dial.
Leaving all of these go negative as well makes for some really powerful expression enhancements as well as just having simultaneaous, multiple facial muscle micro-movement possibilities, using just a touch of a dial here and there.
Stuff like this can mean the difference of: Accepting the results of the Performance Capture, or carving out the facial muscles into the performance to add the personal touch of who is being portrayed.
So cool to see that the pain that warranted the surgery is nearly gone already - even though it was the worst to deal with as the anesthesia wore off.
We're still taking it easy. It's so cool to visibly notice the change as the hours pass!
Thanks!
So glad to hear. Blessings to you both during recovery. Wonderful that Chicha is there to provide support.
Chicha's being Amazing! Such a Gift she is - our Princess from Spain... our Strawberry Kangaroo!!!
Any time we find ourselves getting used to using the same combinations of dials to correct the same things for different situations, we should make a dial that contains those corrections in the most commonly used settings. Meaning, the dial that has to be dialed up the most, dial that one up on a newly loaded base figure. Then dial up the rest of them according to how they would blend with the first one - using the most common (default) situations in mind.
If it's for a specific character, that character's name could even be the heading used under Pose Controls, to keep them all together. It won't change the fact that we can still use these dials on others using this base, but when we are using that character, we know where those character-specific dials are - quick and easy.
I don't actually do that (yet), but the option is there!
An example of what I mean:
Let's say that we're using a certain collection of aniBlocks and they're working beautifully on our character except that we always have to work the arms in the graph editor and/or delete a bunch of the keys to make them work - sometimes even deleting all of the keys for the arms and animating them by hand.
In my situation of the above, I could start to see corrective results using Arms Up/Down and Arms Front/Back, but to correct fully, I'd introduce a new problem with the arm poses looking funny.
Adding just three new dials: "ArmTwistL", "ArmTwistR" and "ArmsTwist" made all the difference in the world! Now I can actually run the Martial Arts aniBlocks without colliding with the body!!!
I saw ideas for improvement, especially using the Martial Arts example. Sometimes we just need a few frames of correction or simply a change.
Adding Bend and Twist dials for the forearms, individually and together, made this whole thing Superb! Now it's much easier to get that hand in contact with the floor and keep it there as long as it should stay, and then either revert back or go into something entirely different.
Taking this idea only slightly further as we go like this will make basic animation using aniBlocks something a Whole Lot More!
I realize that it's hard to see from my explanations and even my videos. I can tell that folks who are against animating in Daz Studio are still against recommending it - even though it really is the Easy Option for folks wanting to just hop in and animate without actually learning to animate from scratch.
I'm never against the idea of learning to animate from scratch - that's not it at all! In fact, I find that sort of education to be utterly invaluable. That's how we all did it before we got our hands on Motion Capture pose or aniBlock packs.
The ideas and philosophies used in traditional animation are Always valuable tools to learn - and animation software, like Carrara, Blender, Maya, Houdini, etc., have a LOT more going for them beyond just working with motion capture or even just character animation.
With content creators making plugins and scripts and other animation products for Daz Studio - the more of these we collect that perform duties that help our own, specific workflows, the better and better Daz Studio becomes as an animation software choice - Especially for Me!
Why I Love aniMating in Daz Studio
I love how Daz 3D is set up. It's like it's made specifically for me - but they make a plethora of stuff for other people too.
I have a membership. Instead of getting a really cool magazine to gaze through, I get 3D elements for Daz Studio! The membership also guarantees that every single day of the year - and then some - there's a sale going on.
When I have to put on the brakes and can't shop for a while, I still shop. I just put my purchases in my wish list instead of the cart.
I peruse my wish list and I also stroll the aisles of content that I had already purchased in my library. I use both of those with each other to work around a theme and make sure that I can stay on track with the elements I consider to be consistent with what I want to do.
During many of these membership sales events, I've got my hands on a whole bunch of extra goodies that help me along my journey. My subconscious helps me pick these out. My extensive assortment of Iray Shader Collections helps me to quickly change the look of anything in my scene.
I can go on and on - and will if you ever want me to!
The thing is, I really like collecting these various elements. Just the collecting is a big part of the hobby for me.
This collecting hobby is amazing when it comes time to working out scenes. I might load part of a product simply because i really love how the artist conveyed the materials - and I want to copy the shader to other elements in my scene. I'll just copy over the shader and switch the correct maps back in - making any of the missing ones if needed.
I love the entire Genesis line from the first through the latest, and I still find situations when I'll grab an earlier generation and work with them too. But the first Genesis and Daz Studio 4.0 Pro where developed together, making a system that is incredibly elegant and simple to work with, and yet has stunning imagery results.
As they add new tech to Studio, the Daz 3D company themselves along with all of their many Published Artists will rise to the occasion and make content that works with that new function, feature or technique. It's a beautiful thing!
The fact that some of the PAs are obviously either animators, interested in animation, or know how to work with and help the animation process, is a huge boon to this entire works.
Scripts, Props, Figures, Special FX, Special Functions, Motion Capture Data... Having these things available to us as product add ons is awesome!
Daz Studio itself lets us use it for Much more than a posing and rendering house. We can create tools, functions, scripts, props, figures, shaders, lighting arrangements... we can do a Lot of cool under-the-hood stuff to studio that customizes it to what we want to do and still... when we buy this cool new stuff, it just freaking Works!!!
This is going to be Fun!!!
Taking a deeper look at how I render out all of the elements I use to build my videos, which will now also be including Starry Sky Iray for Daz Studio!
Wow, has that even been coming along nicely! I just picked up The AntFarm's Planet Killer and Dominator is in the process of blowing it up as we speak - within Starry Sky Iray!
I'll be demonstrating a Lot of stuff. In the main intro portion I'll be using many of ThePhilosopher's iReal products, but later we'll see how Any content we have in our library will work for these sorts of elements.
In these subjects, there really is not single answer for how to Always get the right result. So we'll cover a Lot of ground looking at many different situations and opportunities to excercise a new method.
Don't forget to fasten your seatbelt! ;)
That is so cool. My guy was up and walking around on Day 2 and Day 3 but on day 4, as they were about to release him SHTF and it was a detour to critical care. So glad you are not in the same boat. I think his issues has to do with the surgical drainage coil in his back. Looked like a smaller version of the one in our fride (for filtered water). On Day2 they accidently ripped it out while transferrring hime to get a scan. I suspect the blood clotted there. Loma linda Univeristy in California did a scan on his legs post surgery and found the PE did not come from his legs. Apparently, according to them my husband had "beautiful viens". I'm thinking Dracula? LOL. He was president of the Riverside Bike Club and taught moutain biking after work, so that really helped. Now he can't drive a car or ride a bike or walk without a mobility device. He spent 2 years in a hospital bed. The typical recouperation is six week recovery and better than ever. We have been together 24 7 since his first surgery and we, like you and Rosie, have an unbreakable bond. So happy to hear all went well. Rock on!
Wow! She is really doing great! Thanks!
That is so horrible for you two. :(
I have many friends with similar stories. When I started bringing that info up to Rosie, she stopped me and whispered: "Happy Thoughts, Dartan... Happy Thoughts" into my ear.
I realized then that all she wanted from me was my usual optimistic self. So, while I was pertrified with fear, I spoke only happy thoughts of optimism about the surgery whether she was in the room or not. I would be of no use to her if I was hypocritical.
She's taking it upon herself to ween herself off the post-op Hydrocodone, and I'm amazed at how she's discovering that the pain that drove her to get the surgery in the first place is disappearing - without even stiffness or discomfort.
We've been looking into this for years, never actually going through with it mainly because we didn't get a good feeling from it. Finally her pain specialist MD gave us a referral to a brilliant, young surgeon.
Even his assistant practitioner left us feeling positive. He's young and brilliant too.
But when the surgeon came in and spoke with us, we both just knew that it was meeting him that we were truly waiting for. He not only had a plan, he knew exactly what she needed and was confident that she had enough disc surrounding the area that he could take special precautions to avoid future structural weakness from the surgery. That structural weakening is what requires future surgery to add titanium for support.
While he was operating, he noticed that there was more pinching that didn't reveal itself clearly in the MRI, so he finessed that opening as well, and told me that he believes that this should be the end of it. She should be strong and as the nerves heal, she should have considerably less pain.
Where other surgeons we've visited were rather negative, he saw the issue right away and knew deep down that he could fix it. I'm so glad we've found him and his team because I didn't like the other surgeons At All!
Today, Rosie is up and about cleaning, organizing... as soon as I awoke: "Can you take me shopping today?"
Her face is bright, her energy is amazing, and she's taking my posture execises very seriously - focusing on keeping herself centered, rather than relying on a cane or anything else to lean into. So her muscular structure will strengthen evenly and further help the whole healing process.
She's my Rosietreats! I'm so happy to see her succeed the way she is! :)
So... Rosie... are you ready to battle some Orcs yet?!!! LOL
Another one that's happy to know that Rosie's recovering well!
Hope she takes things easy for a while. And no, don't you dare put her into any Orc battle yet! 
Thank You All from the bottom of my heart! I Love my Rosie - and I'm grateful to know that you all do too!
Unfortunately, however, when those Orcs and Assassin Cybertrons come waving their martial prowess around at us, Rosie's really the one that has to step up to the plate. We can only afford to fix her for now - so I'm still too broken up to be swinging around that awesome sword that comes with Aeon Soul's The Legend. But Rosie handles it really well!!!
DAZ Studio : Movie Magic - Sneak Peak A
This is a series of clips taken from a presentation I've prepared for the beginning of the webinar. Not all aspects are shown, but I think this gives a good idea of what the free portion of the webinar will bring. I've captured many procedures in advance to make better use of web time and move along more fluidly - while my Daz Studio will also be open and loaded for live demonstrations.
Check out the Sign-Up Page for more details and attendance options. Paul's got some great packages available!