Animation issue

pkappetein

I am trying to figure out, how to make an animation in Daz  with just the camera,

Like moving through a hallway and look left and right..

All I can find is doing it with people and object with Animate 2.

I tried just using the timeline, and set keyframes,  but there are no keyframes showing up.

Is it possible?

 

Richard Haseltine

Are you using a real camera? The Persepctive view won't animate, nor is its position saved.

pkappetein

Yes, I had it on that camera but couldn't get any markers to show.

After restarting Daz a view times,  it started to work..

Now I had the problem,   When I delete all the markers,  and move over the time line.   The Camera still moves even though there are no markers ??

So restarted Daz and started over again.      so idk  why the camera was moving.    I am using the latest version (non beta)

 

Richard Haseltine

Are you sure you deleted all keyframes, with the camera selected?

pkappetein

I sure did.

 

Richard Haseltine

Is the camera parented to anything else? Or set to Point at something else? Either of those could have it move without keyframes of its own.

pkappetein

To be honest.  (since it was last night)

I deleted all the key frames,  and  there was nothing on the line. 

I still could jump to prev or next keys,  but there was nothing...  so i gave up and restarted Daz.

and then  I made a starting point, and I was able to move and make the correct ones.

made a 20 second animation and worked great..  

too bad that it moves so darn slow,  if you have a lot of items on your screen/project..   it just crawls when i use the keys or mouse to move forward etc.

 

pkappetein

So,  I made a 20 Sec animation...  Took about 90 minutes....

Forgot to do the lightening lol,  but  the issue i am having, around the 15-20 seconds, when you get in the house (I put ALL the Dream House parts into the scene.. fyi) ,  the bottom part of the wall is flashing all kinds of colors, while in Daz, it looks fine.

When i look at the exported images,  they are the same, also little squares. while it should be a solid beige color.

Here is the video: https://www.dropbox.com/s/dp9cxi4kc6nd8dp/test4.mp4?dl=0

Any thoughts, what it causes that?

 

 

 

Richard Haseltine

That looks like there are two layers of geometry in exactly the same position, as if the skirting was doubled up in the model or between two models. I'm not sure which room that section belongs to.

pkappetein

It's the Mud Room / Hallway

I did a quick render with   open GL  and it showed fine..   but  let me double check

if there are not 2 rooms in that section..  I won't be surprised, since it's hard to see and the original cameras that come with those,  are not correct at all.

so I am making new ones.

 

Richard Haseltine

I had to experiment a bit - that's the pantry set. Check that you don't have two of it loaded.

Richard Haseltine

Just checked and it is rendering OK for me in Iray and 3delight so I don't think it's a fault in the model (unless another area doubles up the skirting and coving).

pkappetein

Hmmm.. There rings a bell in my ear...  Had a problem finding that one,  so i might have redone that one.

Since jumping to the item didn't work, so had to look around...  but since I was using all the items in 1 DUF file now,  it's very sluggish  

Even though my memory is 24 Gb.  (project is like 3-4 Gb in memory according to the task manager)

Guess If I hide items i don't need at that time, wont speed it up?   Have to try that at home..   but it's great for the movie I want to make.

Maybe I need to do the rest in smaller sections.

Richard Haseltine

Yes, hiding items can help with viewport speed (and render speed). I would suggest using groups to quickly hide and show items that are close together for ease of switching them in and out.

pkappetein

Awesome,  I have to work with that, when I get home...

Man besided buying all the items... finally playing with it, is addicting :)

 

pkappetein

I tried hiding everything, and the speed for viewing/zooming didn't make a difference.

I did had 2 rooms within eachother,  so that explains the weird glitch I was having.

Now going to add some lights,  so you can actually see the ground once it's moving..  now it looks all black.

 

pkappetein

ok, ran in to odd one, and can't figure it out.

I have 1 camera where that i use for the movie, and all it does it moving forward

I set the start marker and an end marker..  and it moves... easy cake...

Now somewhere in the middle  the camera moves from left to recht, up and down (like sombody fell)   but there are no markers what so ever....

Are there other items  that could have markers too that are activated for the camera that I am on??  since i don't see other markers,  and have tons of objects to check for (if that's possible)  but since the camera moves, i was thinking it's just the camera.

cause if you set a start and an end set for a straight line,  and you do crazy things with your camera (like looking left/right etc)  and it doesn't set a marker,  you should still end up moving in a straight line right?

 

Richard Haseltine

The camera isn't set to Point at something?

pkappetein

Nope,   it hapens for like 2-3 seconds and then it moves one.   and on the timeline I onlly have a start and a stop set.

 

Richard Haseltine

Rotations can sometimes produce odd results at about 180 degrees, but I've not heard of that happening with a translation - try correcting the tanslations at about the point where it goes wrong and see if the rest then fall into place.

pkappetein

I will give it a shot.  I will report back

pkappetein

Ok, spent hours on this,  and can't seem to find it.

i deleted pretty much everything from the scene and have 1 item with 3 camera's  on it.

Camera 1 (3)  is what i use..   

You can it goes in circles,  while Start and End  is just a forward move..

Maybe someone can see what's wrong with this,  cause i give up..  

 

Richard Haseltine

Try setting the y-rotation in frame 0 to 0 instead of 360.

pkappetein

heh.... That did the trick..

Wonder how that got set to 360...

Thanks for you insight,  I would have never noticed that one.

 

edit:  Changed it back to 360 (just to see what happens, and I see the screen turning back to the normal position),  and now it works fine too..    Weird..

 

pkappetein

ok, I am reviving this post,  since I am running into the same problem again..  and no matter what I do   it's getting messed up.

I recorded the whole thing, so it's easier to see what is happening, and what I tried to do.   it's so much easier to show, than writing it.

I am so puzzled why it keeps doing that.  

I tried setting the Y  in frame 0 but then everything is getting messed up and had to start over again..  but then again..  it failed later on again.

Any clue as of what the issue can be?  as you can see things are changing on it's own... to me it's a super bug... but what do i know :)

Don't pay to the beginning of the video.   my screen cast was hiding the left bottom, so i had to mess with it.   but around frame 1200-1400  you see the problem

https://www.dropbox.com/s/67tdcn3u5eriz0c/oddscreen.mp4?dl=0

 

pkappetein

ok, I see what is causing all these weird camera issues.  (Screen turning 360 degrees etc)

Seems like if I am using the move to move forward or use the box at the right top  then things get messed up.

If I use the symbols at the right top, and use the sliders for the camera,  then everything is working fine..

Are you not suppose to use the MOUSEWHEEL  to move forward if you want to record a camera?    (or it that a bug)

 

WendyLuvsCatz

D|S cameras and everything else in D|S will not create keyframes for every parameter unless you do so.

The little + key on the timeline panel needs to be clicked every step for anything you animate esp the first frame before you do anything.

If you neglect to do so it will not tween from the parameter on frame one it will simply replace any unkeyed parameters with the next keyframe for that parameter even if its on the last frame, so it you rotate the camera on any axis at the end it will be rotated there at the start etc.

this gives some crazy camera movements 

using the mouse or viewport controls do not create keyframes on every parameter for the camera.

so zooming etc you just end up at that parameter for that one movement not all the parameters, using the sliders and clicking the +key is the best solution.

viewport controls are more for navigating the scene to set up a starting or still shot.

JD_Mortal

Daz uses floating-point numbers, which are prone to floating-point errors. To simplify the display, it may show "360" but the actual number may be 359.999999999999, which, the program sees as 360.00000000000 one moment, in code, then oddly, 180.00000000, instead of 0.000000000, (Like they have a single error in one formula, at one stage of calculations, at some point along the process. Has to do with using -180/+180 in one formula, and 360/0 in other formulas.) Which, can mess things up a lot, when every rotation, translation, etc... all have three values that cross that bound. That is also the same issue that flips arms and legs and bones 180-deg, randomly, along locked positions.

The best way to ensure that any interpolation is not messing with the camera, is to copy the camera/object positions, and undo the actions which got you there, from your last location, then paste the position into that key. That will create a 1-shot interpolation to the final position, instead of using the potentially over-rotated values that have collected the floating-point errors along the way.

That trick also works for models too, where you see them spaz-out on an IK animation, where they hit a limit, but until you play the animation, you don't see the glitch. Copy the positions, (pose), for the model... Delete that key, then paste the values back into the model at that key-frame. (Deleting removes ALL hidden animation glitches in one shot. You will never find the exact hidden glitched segment. It happens between frames.)

Here is a nice script to help reduce camera-spaz jitter...

https://sites.google.com/site/mcasualsdazscripts/mcjslerp-for-ds-1-2-3-4

Many great scripts there, for asisting animations in all ways.

pkappetein

Thanks.

And I disagree with Toejam.   

If I have it set to Camera 1.   if  I move the the cursor on the timeline  and then move the move,  it creates a black square.

If I move in a straight line with the mouse and stop.  then when i play it back  between the 1st and the new position instead of going straight, it moves everywhere and the last frame is straight again.  I am not even rotating at that point.   you can see an example in the other post above.

If I delete points in the middle  then it works, but then the whole sequence is totally different.  and i don't see hidden que points..  that's why i am so puzzled.

I will check out that script as soon as i get home.

 

pkappetein

looking at the script.. No clue how it all works,  but does that remove the whole rotating thing?  and how do I use the script in Daz?

 

pkappetein

I recorder the issue, and then you can see how i solved it.   so I don't understand why it won't work with the mouse wheel or the item at the top.

I tried marking the spot first,  but doesn't make a difference, and you see it puts a mark by itself as soon as i move the mouse.    Even clicking on the mark again, doesn't help..

So what am I doing wrong?

Also attachted the DUF file.  it'd one of the West Ward  packages. (can't remember which one it was, since it doesn't show me from what package i used)