Site Search
Join Muvizu

PatMarrNC - all messages by user

2016/11/17 0:55:40
TRANSPARENT MATERIALS IN FBX FILES how did you copy it? It doesn't work by copying the file itself, it has to be open in a program like Windows paint, then you click on the image to select it, and CTRL-C to copy...

then in your forum message, CTRL-V to paste, and you get an image as follows:

2016/11/16 12:02:05
How too Tutorial video ? willteix wrote:
cool thanks to both of you. The Character on diff layer worked in hitfilm express. I have adobe Premiere and after affects as well and will give them a shot.


Adobe Premiere and after effects both have layers, so if you're already proficient in those, they'll work too.
2016/11/16 11:52:47
TRANSPARENT MATERIALS IN FBX FILES Primaveranz! You got it working!! WOO HOO! That's awesome! I love it when people are free to share ideas, everybody benefits!

Regarding the addition of photos to forum messages: This is one of the few forums that doesn't require you to link to a URL... you can simply copy-paste photos directly into the message. So if you have a way to open the graphics and hilite-copy it, then its just a matter of clicking inside the message and PASTE!

PS... nice looking model! Great texturing !

------------------------------------------------
edited by PatMarrNC on 16/11/2016
2016/11/15 19:14:43
How too Tutorial video ? 1) The real-life video would typically be your background.... (bottom layer)
2) your muvizu characters would appear in front of the background (middle layer)
3) then, in order to make your characters look like they are INSIDE the background, static images (like the desk I mentioned already) can be inserted into a top layer, so the character in the middle layer can walk between the foreground and the background


here's another video worth watching:
http://www.muvizu.com/Video/44939/Muvizu-Play-Render-Layers-Tutorial
2016/11/15 12:36:33
How too Tutorial video ? Here's a link to a video showing how layers work in HitFilm Express, a free video editor that many of us have enthusiastically embraced for the many solutions it provides to Muvizu directors like us.

2016/11/15 12:30:17
How too Tutorial video ? there are a couple of ways to do it. And you're right, to my knowledge there isn't a tutorial on the topic. If somebody knows of one, I'm sure they'll post a link.

1) perhaps the easiest way to do it is by using layers in your video editing software. Layers work like stacks of pictures... the layers on top appear to be in front of the layers below. so, if you want your character to walk behind a desk:
  • first you'll need a desk with a transparent background. Most photo editing software will let you remove the background in images and make it transparent. I won't explain how to do that because all software is different... but that's your first task: creating the foreground object (desk) with transparent background (so you can see whatever is behind it)
  • with the video of your character walking loaded into your video editor, import the desk and put it on the layer ABOVE your character. Now when your character walks, he/she will appear to be behind the desk
2) The other way still requires you to make the photo with transparent background... but in this case you might put it on a backdrop in the Muvizu environment, and position the backdrop so the desk is wherever you want it. When the character walks behind the backdrop, it will look like he/she is walking behind the desk.



so the real trick here is creating the foreground object with transparent background. Its easy to create photos with transparency... but that only works if your camera stays fairly stationary. If you want VIDEO with transparency, then you'll need to look into more complicated solutions that I'm not prepared to talk about here.
2016/11/14 20:54:03
sale on Silo 2.3.1 I'm not quite sure how to answer, Ikes. It's one of those programs that was very popular for a while, then the company shifted its focus to other things, but the developer kept it alive at a slower development pace on his own. I've been using it for a while and haven't ever been asked for more money... but my guess is that when the FBX is added I'll have to pay for an upgrade... how much that may be I don't know... but I'll gladly pay it. It is my understanding (based on conversations with the programmer) that small updates are free

They offer a free 30 day trial if you want to DL it and go thru the tutorials. A guy with your intellect could easily learn how to use all of its features in 30 days, if he just worked thru the tutorials. Having said all that.. I think the software you're using is pretty cool! Since you are making good models with it, why change?
2016/11/14 20:24:34
sale on Silo 2.3.1 I haven't tried voxelize yet, but I plan to. I think its great for Digimania to provide a tool that seamlessly imports stuff to Muvizu... and the price is certainly affordable enough!

Having said that, I'm a real fan of Silo, and I like it well enough to sing its praises to anybody who will listen. I've tried many different 3D modelling programs in the past 10 years, and up until I found Silo, NONE of them made sense to me. SILO made sense almost immediately... and the large number of tutorials that still work exactly as shown made it easy to get the information I needed at each stage in the learning curve.

We all learn differently, and I suppose the main reason why I like Silo is that the software works the way I think. That might not be the case for other people who think differently.
2016/11/14 19:48:26
sale on Silo 2.3.1 I'm resurrecting this thread because I notice that Silo is on sale again. Also because I think it is particularly well-suited to making models for Muvizu. It is one of the few easy-to-use modelling programs that works equally well for hard and organic modelling. In other words, you can model by dragging points around like clay, or by using more conventional number-based techniques.

There are plenty of GOOD tutorials available on youtube already, but if people here buy it, I'd be willing to make a Muvizu-focused tutorial for Silo.

Although it doesn't currently export to FBX, I have inside knowledge (from talking to its creator) that the next release will allow FBX export. I'm also talking to him about fixing the MTL file so it doesn't strip out the information required for transparency, and he seems to think that would be a good idea... so SILO seems to be moving in a direction that makes it even more useful as a tool in the ol' Muvizu toolbox.

Here are a couple of links to videos that show what it can do:

overview:


making attachments:


making characters (a series of tutorials):


11 part series that shows how to use ALL of Silo's features... excellent tutorial and very easy to understand



SILO runs on WINDOWS, MAC or LINUX. In my opinion it includes a lot of the features found in 3Dcoat and Blender, but with a much simpler user interface.


----------------------------------------------------------------------
edited by PatMarrNC on 14/11/2016
2016/11/14 16:38:55
Coming to soon to the Muvizu store ikes wrote:
drewi wrote:


hi rod .....I'm getting this black area on my beach ...could be an oil spill.Any one else?....do i have to adjust anything to get rid of it?


Hi Drewi,

This has to do with a setting in the ini file under: ...\MuvizuGame\Config\DefaultGame.ini

change m_bStripVideoAlpha from true to false, that should do it.


it may be worth mentioning that this same edit needs to be made after every new release, so you might want to make a note somewhere. Better yet, it would be cool if Muvizu made this setting the default so our edit doesn't get overwritten by the current default
2016/11/14 15:43:26
Coming to soon to the Muvizu store
I have never found a solution to the problem that an imported FBX does not allow me to choose a texture but only a colour


In my experiments, Muvizu only lets you choose a texture if the original material was applied from a file (not from a color table)

To make this easier on myself, in my C:\UT3\ directory where the toto.bmp file is stored I also put a file for a lot of other commonly used colors (same 256x256 size).
C:\ut3\red.jpg
C:\ut3\blue.jpg
C:\ut3\green.jpg
C:\ut3\yellow.jpg
C:\ut3\cyan.jpg
C:\ut3\grey.jpg
C:\ut3\white.jpg
C:\ut3\black.jpg etc etc

Then when I make my models, I always select colors stored in C:\UT3... because they force the inclusion of a filepath, Muvizu considers it to be a texture, and will therefore let you replace it with another texture later.

-------update-------

another way to see if you will be able to pick a texture later is by looking at your material file before you create the FBX. (The material file is the .MTL file that accompanies the OBJ file)

Here are two material definitions. The first one will NOT let you select a texture, but the second one will... and the reason is because the second material has a file name, while the first material is defined by RGB values

newmtl blue
Ka 0.8 0.8 0.8
Kd 0 0 1
Ks 0 0 0
Ns 64 <--- lack of a filename means this material can only be replaced by a color

newmtl banjo
Ka 0.611765 0.611765 0.611765
Kd 1 1 1
Ks 1 1 1
Ns 0
map_Kd /home/pat/Pictures/BANJO.png <--- filename is what tells Muvizu this is a texture


-----------------------------------
edited by PatMarrNC on 14/11/2016
2016/11/14 15:25:43
Coming to soon to the Muvizu store drewi wrote:
Looks special Rod.....we should have a SET of the month and year awards.This would get my vote Cool


Mine too! And that's a cool idea Drewi! We'd probably have to do it as a "peoples' choice" award with no prize... but in a way, the comments people make under each store item already do a pretty good job of expressing how well a set pleases the user community. I'm sure Rod will get a LOT of positive comments in the download page for this one!

What we're seeing here is evidence that this is an active/interactive/inspiring forum. When people start to inspire one another with fresh ideas, and then somebody takes the idea to a new place and the cycle of creativity repeats.. I see so much of that in this group!

What's really impressive is that it happens organically, without the nasty competitive overtones you see on many other creative forums. You don't see people here saying "HEY ! YOU STOLE MY IDEA!" Instead you see an idea, and the next day somebody changes it a little and says "you can do this too..." and on it goes, with everybody benefiting from the stream of cool accessories showing up in the store.

Rod.. AWESOME idea, and so well executed! Stuff like this hilights what Muvizu CAN do when the people who use it think outside the box.
2016/11/14 15:11:04
the 12 principles of animation Thanks Rocque! I have no idea how it happened, just woke up one day and there was a new label under my picture!

In my opinion there are LOTS of forum members who are more knowledgeable about the software, generally smarter, better looking, etc etc the list of comparisons could go on and on.... but I am a very enthusiastic user of the product and one of the more active forum members, so I'm happy to wear the title!

I'll continue being a cheerleader for this amazing software. I like the product and I like the people who use it and the people who make it available to us. I feel like my life is a LOT more fun and interesting because of Muvizu. I love logging into the forum every day to see what y'all have to say about this 'n that. I like hanging out with smart, talented and creative people. You all inspire me.

Thanks to each and all of you for the parts you play in this interesting little community of creative friends.
2016/11/14 5:15:03
Coming to soon to the Muvizu store Rod, you have achieved an amazing wave simulation ! I'm very impressed! Can't wait to study your set to see if I can figure out what you did and how you did it!
2016/11/14 0:16:29
Coming to soon to the Muvizu store thanks, Ikes... your LOGO cubicle with UVMapped surfaces and PNG transparency demonstrated exactly what I was trying to describe
2016/11/13 19:02:46
Pivot while sitting on an office chair it may be worth worth noting that even though you're filming with 4 cameras., your final cut will only show one of the camera views at a time... so you only need it to work from one position.
2016/11/13 19:00:07
Coming to soon to the Muvizu store I did some experimenting with ASE transparency in the week just before Ikes helped me figure out how to get transparency working in FBX files. There are definitely applications in which transparency in ASE is the way to go, such as creating foliage for a tree using a single sheet mesh with a single texture applied to it, part of which is alpha.

My take-away from the experiments was that with ASE the transparent and opaque parts need to be in the same texture (not separate textures) and it needs to be loaded into Muvizu as ALPHA MASK.

My test was to UVMap a square block and paint each side with a different color (like Ikes did)... but on some sides I included shapes that were transparent (like a circle or the whole side) and I seem to recall that worked, as long as there was a double-sided surface.

Best result was achieved by putting a box inside a box, with normals reversed on the inside box so that when you looked thru the window into the block you couldn't see all the way thru.
2016/11/13 16:08:43
the 12 principles of animation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12_basic_principles_of_animation
2016/11/13 14:39:17
Coming to soon to the Muvizu store tonyob67 wrote:
Can we change the stores name?


Muvizu has its own 3D alphabet, so the easy path here would be to do one of the following:

1) omit the KACY'S sign altogether and let users make their own name from Muvizu's 3D alphabet

2) put the name on a texture that users can swap with whatever name they want

3) put a backdrop in front of the existing name, and put whatever graphic you want on the backdrop
2016/11/13 14:00:02
Coming to soon to the Muvizu store don't forget to add collision to the blocks and provide the UVMaps so people can edit them !
pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87

About

Media

Legal

Muvizu

Muvizu is easy to use 3D animation software that allows anyone to create high quality animations quickly and easily. Muvizu’s animation engine is ideal for storytellers, animators, teachers and businesses looking to engage, enchant and delight audiences with animated content.