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Having a Blast being weary from the long road!
Building and saving for these webinars is exhausting and even more rewarding - I really Love doing it!
It takes me a lot of time and hard work to get there. A lot of non-stop hours.
So after today's performance I had a bit of heavy-lifting (literally) to do. Ouch! I'm not as young as I used to be! LOL
A nice cup of hot tea and a pile of animations that I haven't converted to Rosie 8 yet are the perfect way to unwind!
I still have a nice bundle of animations from Mixamo that are still in Genesis 2 Female format. I have all of my Bone Minions set up so I can access them from the Scripts drop-down on the upper UI window. So handy!
I love it when I kick back and work on these transfers. It gives me a really good look at everything within the entire collection that I'm working on - which always gets the gears turning inside my head!
You see, aniBlocks are really fun. Many of those from BoneTech3D and Mixamo are like one would use to drive a character using game commands, like WASD and all of the special combat and auxiliary motions. That, all by itself can be a lot of fun to build animations with. But all of these motion captures offer So Much More than their original intention.
Showing folks (here and in other forum areas) the Behind the Scenes for Blade Runner - Black Lotus got me to watching it all through again and again as I wait for renders and simulations. The way they direct the story with their actors in their motion capture suits - in a huge space where they can actually be in places (right next to the actor, for example) that they could never be if it was being filmed by a camera as usual. So they can do 'takes' of several minutes of complete acting as opposed to just a second or three. Huge difference.
So when I approach designing an animation* I think about what I want the character to be doing. Where do they come from and where are they going. Lately I'm also concerned with what their faces are doing as the gears in their heads turn.
In that, I think of my aniBlocks as "Sets" of actions that I want my characters to do.
I know that I've talked about this many times before, but I can see how difficult it can be to understand my points unless I actually demonstrate them. So one day I will. That show will take a Lot of prep and capturing lengthy workflows so I can speed them up during the lecture. Stuff that makes us sit and wait for long periods lend well to ramping up the speed so we can see it, but don't have to wait for it. I did some really cool work in the way for my last course - Movie Magic, that I think worked really well!
But here are some examples of what I mean.
Even when exercising their moves and techniques, martial artists release the power of their energy with a special conviction, which is what makes the lightning fast motion such a powerful one that can possibly even blow a hole through a building. At the center of this comes a special war cry that occurs as the climax of the energy is being released.
Now this isn't something I was told or anything I've learned from someone or something - this is me thinking about it. Making up my own explanations to help myself "Direct" the actor(s) to deliver the performance I think I'm looking for.
I took a section of conversation from the Face Controls for Genesis 3 & 8 example files and cut out a few parts of excited speech that looks like a shout. I trim it down to the entry expression, through the shout, and the final shape of the face for that short facial musculature gesture. It's only a tenth to a third of a second, after all.
I crop these little shout clips and save them to my facial aniBlocks folder for Face Controls. At the very beginning, I had done the same sort of thing for "idle" times when there don't appear to be any visemes occurring - and save those short clips.
Now I can combine those throughout a Martial Arts move to have the shouts occur just as I think they should. Since they're aniBlocks, I have the ability to speed them up, slow them down, reverse them, mirror them, repeat them, etc., and we can do all of these things in combinations with other short blocks that have opposite adjustments to them to really get variety going.
I was recently discussing how I am making specific facial characterization dials specific to Rosie.
Using these custom dials in combination with the above facial aniBlock workflow... I mean... wow. Until I actually start using real Rosie facial performance capture, this is an excellent way to breathe life into what the character is doing - even when they're apparently doing nothing at all.
So that's the face.
In another example - I'll examine my imagination for how the character needs to move within the scene. I'm imagining the leg movement and scene translation in X, Y and Z from the hip down. This is the driving force of where the character will be, and how energetic the overall motion will be.
Now what are the characters doing? The upper torso and perhaps even the head. Most of the time I let the torso and arm actions drive the neck and head - and then key frame in changes as I need them. This usually helps to keep the head and neck aligned with the counter motions needed to match the rest of the body - but not always.
Sometimes I want the arms and hands to do something very specific so I completely ignore what they're doing as I shop my library for the right motions - because I'll be removing all of their keys and key framing their movements by hand. Other times I might load in or create an object and animate that within the scene and use LimbStick to drive the hands, forearms and shoulders. It doesn't animate the collars, leaving them free for hand key framing as well - which can be done to remove the "Stuck-to" appearance after a session with LimbStick. Then I use control dials to further animate what the hands and fingers are doing.
In this way, I'm truly directing my actors willfully, yet; actors being actors, they always give their own personal touch to our vision and surprise us in the end with a wonderful performance - or one that ends up in the waste can. Never get bummed out about failed animations. These are the best thing to happen to us - so we can lock in what we don't like about it and get better at finding results that we really like.
So... yeah. transferring piles and piles of animations from one target figure to another is not just relaxing - it's inspirational and enormously beneficial!
Creative Cart - Webisode 002 - Pestryakov and the Dragon
A fun little "Appreciation" story
DAZ Studio : The Creative Cart may be all about the cool stuff we get at Daz 3d - and endeavors to help all of us dust off what we have in our libraries and put them to creative, artistic use, but since it gives me the opportunity to promote it, it also opens up the ability to call out Thanks to the people involved it making it all happen.
Of course, we can't get that all done in a single video - heavens no! So I guess I'll have to keep making more and more videos! :)
This one shouts out appreciation to several people who actively helped this whole thing along. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I appreciate All of YOU!!!
Movie Magic - Now On Sale!
Crazy stuff. I'm having So Much Fun animating, demonstrating, performing live to a room full of artists... what a Blast!
Now I just how to teach myself how to go to sleep. Right now I just keep going until I fall... somewhere... sometime! LOL
Wonderful intro. Looking forward to the series.
Thank you!
I'm really looking forward to discovering where this cool thing is going to take us!
Paul created something that falls right into my creative lap. So the possibilities just keep presenting themselves!
As you were saying in your sketchpad, there's still So Much More to Learn!!!
So as that happens, even more possibilities turn up and become the exciting topic of the day... so I have a feeling that this whole Creative Cart thing is just going to keep growing!
It's funny. I have a fairly modern (Genesis 8) main character, yet I still use assets from Generation 3 with her. Not Genesis 3... Generation 3 as in V3, M3 and the rest. I also use products for all generations between them and up into Genesis 9.
This makes this whole "Creative Cart" a real boon for folks, like me, who have massive collections - but also reminds people that, legacy doesn't mean lower quality. Some of these legacy assets are truly spectacular - and I get a beautiful opportunity to demonstrate that Live! :)
I added "Animation Corner" which will give me the opportunity to demonstrate all of the cool stuff I've discovered regarding animating in Daz Studio - and that, too, just keeps continuing to grow!
When I get tidbits of spare time, I hop into Cascadeur and work out really cool animations - so I'm trying to save up for the Pro version so I can make unique new animations for the world. But times are tough. So far I have somewhere around -$546.00 saved up!
A fun little skit for Pestryakov and the Dragon
Good point. When I am just using the 3D as a blockout, such as for Controlnet 'canny' preprocessor, I actually do not want the extra detail that comes with the latest and greatest photorealistic content. As you know, I even go back and use Poser 4 Posette and Dork! And then, after using AI to process from generic to a scene, I can then use Carrara or Daz Studio (or...) to add detail. Then one might want the latest and greatest Genesis 9 high detail content. It is great to have tools in the toolbox that best fit each task. Generic to get started, highly detailed to finish off.
Okay, first of all I'd like to thank All who came to the show!
Your interaction with questions, ideas, experiences, etc., and the wonderful artwork you share is Amazing to me! I Love this!!! It's cool to see fellow Carrara users attending as well! So Cool!!!
I put a Lot into these things - recording myself work in Studio and, instead of cutting, I speed up lengthy processes and procedures to keep the flow and allow for So Many products and tips and tricks to be explored, and you folks make it all worth it - Big Time!!! I've even been creating all new special music just for the promos! So while this show is fun and organic, it's also forcing me to become better at all of this, which is a real Rush! I really have to start training myself to Go To Sleep once in a while! Sheeesh!!! LOL
I'd also like to express how honored I am that the video in the above quote has gained over 1.9K views in only 2 weeks!
For some YouTubers, that might not seem like much. For me... it's Golden!!!
Thank You Thank You Thank You, to All of You!!!
If anyone wants to know what was going on in "Pestryakov and the Dragon", the support page on my website explains a lot with pictures and links and will likely grow with more info, tips and tricks, etc., as time moves on!
There's a Lot of cool stuff on the horizon! I have a rather massive library of really cool stuff that's calling out to me because it wants to be demonstrated in interesting ways on:
The Creative Cart!!!
the views are great BTW
you might think having 34K subscribers I might see those numbers
well I can tell you for a fact, not many watch my later videos, only the 5 14year old viral ones people laugh at for how terrible they were
many will say I haven't improved
most of my recent videos average 200 views or less, many under 100
Oh, and I've also just been reinstated as a Daz 3D published Artist, so stay tuned for fun goodies from my workshop!
First up will be the Amazing and Incredible Starry Sky Iray - coming soon to your local Daz 3D Store!!!
New videos coming shortly - promo style as well as a complete instructional video course that will come with the product.
This one was made with the prototype. When we see Starry Sky, just know that you may use any sort of background you wish for your renders - as the stars are all 3D objects, which is really cool! Now we can use HDRI to light our ships, stations, planets, and/or anything else we want to render in our scenes independently from what's generating the stars - and we also get Starry Parallax! Makes All the Difference in the Universe when it comes to space travel animations!!!
Same here. I'm happy whever someone watches my videos no matter how many. And you want to see terrible? Check out any of my earlier ones! Yikes!!!
I'll never take them down though. I enjoy seeing how horrible I used to be!!! LOL
For the show (Pestryakov and the Dragon), I made rendered examples of each of the cool animations from MysticShard/SimonWM's aniBlock pack. Looks cool rendered in Iray!
Here's just a few examples of the frames of animation and the Iray optimizations I taught during the show:
I wanted to let you know how much I love your animations. You always have such wonderful, realistic details that make me wonder how you achieved them. And I adore Rosie! She's a rockstar!
Keep it up, Dartanbeck! I love seeing your updates.
Great news. Congrats.
@Missleah and @Diomede -
Thank you both So Much!!! :)
I really enjoyed your webinar on Andrey's environments, etc. Sucks I had to leave after first 1.5 hours. Keep up the great work.
We only went another .5 hour.
Thanks for coming, Brother! Once I start going, I'm so focused that I can't see who all is there - but I can feel this wonderful presence... it feels like Magic!
I love how that works, don't you? We all hang out and share... such a great time!
At least for me - it feels like that! :)
One of the things that keeps me from getting into animation is that I'd be rendering till I'm 90. How long does it typically take you to render, say, a minute of animation?
I try to shoot for 1 minute per frame, so right around 60 hours for one minute at 30 frames per second - but I never render like that.
Like most CG houses, I render in three to six second shots, and then use other animated renders (ones that render Much Faster) to help move the story along - like renders of scenery, for example - or cruising through the city.
So I'll most often set up a character animation for 210 frames with 30 frames at the front for pre-render scrap frames - useful for initiating simulated movements and the like. So that would be a 240 frame total scene.
Also, that one minute per frame is for Rosie character renders. She has that simulated, long and curly hair which looks much better if I give it some time to render. Most of my other characters take MUCH less time to render - sometimes several frames in a single second. Some environments are like that too - others might take longer depending on how heavy they are.
Animation does take time and patience. I'm animating, simulating, or rendering for about 36 hours each day - which is why I'm having a hard time figuring out when to sleep! Okay... that's a bit of an exaggeration, but there really isn't much time on any day when I'm not doing one of those things. For long simulations and render situations, I often put those off until it's time for bed - then I start rendering or simulating just before I leave the office.
Inspired
My daughter got me a subscription to Paramount + so that I could get my Star Trek on whenever I want. Well I've discovered a really cool show - "Halo".
I've never played the game.
I've seen at least two of the animated movies made for Halo - and I enjoyed them - but this thing is... well... let's just say that "Wow!!!" is a total understatement!
So in my making of animations that I'll use to help demonstrate Starry Sky Iray, this sequence just kind of... happened. The actual animation looks pretty cool, I think!
Michael 4 as Major Cache, and the Flyer Eagle makes for a pretty cool Condor! :)
Flyer Eagle also looks pretty sweet flying through space!
Major Cache (Uzelite), Star Ship Command (PerspectX) and Starry Sky Iray (Dartanbeck)
The first two have lost their images, probably as a result of attaching a new image to the box while the old atachment hadn't cleared. try refreshing the page after each post.
Thanks Richard!
WARNING
This is Really Cool, but it's also a half an hour long!
just watched it
looks cool
I would probably add the Milkyway to it though on another sphere
Really enjoyed the video. Has so much extra information on Daz environments, etc. Thanks.