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Wizaerd - all messages by user

2011/7/27 15:39:32
hi video not showing on Muvizu hexslayer wrote:
hi I've uploaded a video through the muvzu web page but it doesn't seem to be showing here but is on utube

cant see any copyright issues etc
any thoughts ?


it may take up to a couple of days, it is not immediate.
2011/7/27 15:37:59
Instead of waypoints... freakmoomin wrote:
I thought waypoints were just to create/adjust the position of a path.......where as keyframes would create the position and depending on where you put ure other keyframes would adjust the speed and direction of the motion between keyframes....but can also be moved in the timeline etc......

There are probebly many versions of each and we are all thinking of different versions


These would be the correct high level definitions of these elements in the animation industry, and are fairly standard across any and all animation applications. Even the simple logo animation programs work on the premise of keyframes as you've defined them, although there is a bit more to them.
2011/7/27 15:33:02
Instead of waypoints... toonarama wrote:
Neil wrote:
Maybe I'm being thick as usual, but I'm not completely clear on how keyframes and waypoints differ. Care to enlighten me?

Disclaimer: Not an official response. :p


Seems to be a Flash thingy where a “keyframe” stores every setting of every “layer” item on the current canvas at a particular point, whereas a “waypoint” just stores one setting.


Keyframes are most certainly not a Flash thing, they are a standard element of any type of animation, regardless if it's 2D, 3D, character animations, motion animation, etc... Keyframes are even present in traditional had drawn animations. You will not find any animation application that doesn't work on keyframes. Even Muvizu has them, they're just not exposed to us on the timeline. For example look in the timeline any animation block in the timeline. Where it begins would be a keyframe (although not visible as a keyframe), as would the ending. The space in between would most likely also be comprised of keyframes and tweens between them.

Keyframe can store any type of information. Position, rotation, scale, color, object parameters, etc...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_frame

Waypoints on the other hand are merely a visual representation of a path a character or object would follow along. At a very low level, those waypoints would translate to keyframes within a timeline, it's just that they're placed within the 3D environment, keyframes are placed directly on the timeline and do not have a visual representation in th 3d environment.
edited by Wizaerd on 27/07/2011
2011/7/26 22:39:43
Instead of waypoints... I think it's an interesting idea, for different versions. And while I know Muvizu wants to be free, I'd even pay for an advanced version, assuming there were some additions, such as movement paths, object interactions or attachment points to pick up other objects, keyframes, and precise object placement/rotation for scene building, and better object/model import. Heck I've purchased iClone, and wasn't nearly as productive in it as I have been in Muvizu thus far... I paid the subscription cost of MovieStorm, and again wasn't nearly as productive in it. It'd be worth a price to be productive, to have the sheer number of assets Muvizu already comes with and be immediatley productive unlike the other alternatives.
edited by Wizaerd on 26/07/2011
2011/7/26 20:23:59
Instead of waypoints... Dreeko wrote:
Danimal wrote:
i agree

Jumping, stomping, screaming agreement with this. Camera starts here, ends here, movement occurs. Oh how I would love that. In fact, every time I do even the slightest camera movement only to have to go horribly awry I curse about the lack of a basic keyframe system.


Totally agree and sympathise, but could an eight year old get their head round such a system?
Muvizu is built with simplicity in mind so that anyone from eight to eighty can pick it up and create a movie in next to no time. The problem is that movies with outstanding quality will (in my opinion) not be made by eight year olds. They will be made by older animation enthusiasts who would love to have features like keyframe options for cameras etc.
So what's the answer? Does Muvizu evolve into a tool aimed at the older enthusiast or does it maintain it's simplicity for all approach and sacrifice more advanced features that would alienate the average Joe?

Can't we have both? A Muvizu that has a simple interface with limited menus etc but also has the option to change to a more involved UI with all the goodies that the more adventurous user would love?
Muvizu standard...."click"....Muvizu advanced

Thoughts?


Cheers
D


I agree with the options, although I'm not exactly sure an 8 year old is going to understand the multiple passes of the animation process, nor be able to precisely control the camera and object movements as they are now... I'm sure there are some that will, but certainly not all of them. Heck I'm 46, and still cannot control the camera well enough to the point that I use moving cameras in any of my movies... But I'll concede the point, best to offer options so nobody gets alienated.
2011/7/26 17:30:53
Instead of waypoints... I know that people have suggested waypoints for things like camera positioning, and object movements. I think a better solution would be able to set keyframes, with tweening between those keyframes. Waypoints woul dbe great for character movements, but for camera and objects, a more standard approach in almost every other animation application is being able to set keyframes. Just my opinion of course...
2011/7/25 20:10:47
Problem! babybell11 wrote:
but i cant get it to work coz they dont show u how to get on they just show u how 2 do it after u got on it xx


The tutorial series will indeed show you almost everythin gyou need to know about Muvizu... they're how a large number of us, myself included, learned how to use it.
2011/7/24 19:13:37
Cheap(ish) laptop glasgowjim wrote:
Oops, that's a typo - it's actually the 560 that I have ordered - I didn't see the point in spending more than £150 on a graphics card as once you go higher than that you are into the area of diminishing returns.


I've been pricing new comuters as well, but besides Muvizu, I also play a lot of games, do some 3D, and muck about with graphics all the time, so to get the machine I really want is a pretty penny, and just not in the budget right yet. Sad, because I really wanted to start using HitFilm Ultimate for post-production and editing, but won't run on this machine, even though it should be powerfil enough. Dua Core 2.66, 3 GIG RAM, and 2 Geoforce 8800 GTS cards...

But Muvizu runs, Cinema4D runs, Vegas Home Studio runs, and all the games I have thus far works, so I'm not too bad off...
2011/7/24 18:09:48
Cheap(ish) laptop glasgowjim wrote:
Luscan wrote:
This is one of the most thinly veiled 'Guys look at my new computer!' posts I've seen in a long time


It does look good though... :I



If I was going to go "Hey guys look at my new pc" I would wait until I bought one of my own rather than showing off my work laptop.

Coincidentally, I have just bought a new PC and, for the techy users, here are the specs:

Intel i5 2500k Quad Core 3.3 GHz (I am hoping to overclock it to 4.5 GHz)
Geforce 460 GTX 1GB
8GB 1600 MHz DDR3 Ram
MSI P67A-GD3 Motherboard (Compatible with both SLI and Crossfire)
Low-noise Modular Cooler Master PSU
OCZ Sata-3 60GB Agility 3 SSD
WD Caviar Black Sata-3 1TB HDD
Asus Xonar 5.1 Surround sound PCI Card
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Cooler
LG Super-Multi Blu-Ray/DVD Drive
2 Low noise fans
Screwless case

Thats more than you need to run Muvizu, but it never hurts to test for the high-end users (that's how I have been justifying the purchase to myself but it hasn't really worked).

I am looking forward to getting the bits and putting it all together - now that PC cases don't try to eat your hands like they did in the '90s.


Isn't the 460 a rather old card? Of course, with graphics cards they're obsolete within 6 months, but the 590s were relesd not too long ago, and the 460 is old.
2011/7/23 20:47:21
Character Swap I imagine the result will be available on my profile soo, but whomever care to watch, here it is...

edited by Wizaerd on 23/07/2011
2011/7/23 18:40:21
More universal 3d model support? That sure would be really super swell... with full texture support as well.... Mmmm, I can imagine the sets I could build.
2011/7/23 18:37:49
Character Swap I probably already know the answer to this, but I figured it doesn;t hurt to ask, right?

I'm attempting a short little flick that is two scenes. Well, that's not entirely accurate... In one shot, I need a character wearing one outfit, and then in a different later shot, wearing a different outfit. Is there a convienent way to swap out a characters outfit during an animation?

Here's what I'm thinking I'll need to do, it's one of three options.

1: While a different camera is active, manually move the character out of the shot, and replace him with a duplicate character, just with the different outfit. Of course the disadvantage is getting him to walk off set while the dupe character walks on, and get his position accurate before the next camera cut.

2: Build a duplicate "set", with duplicate characters and upon the need for the different outfit, use the duplicate set. Of course the disadvantage there is the limited number of cameras, and I'm still horrible with camera positioning on the fly, and the duplicate of everything makes for an unwieldy set.

3: Film the sequence twice, and splice in post editing. So prepare all the animations, dialog, camera cuts, etc... Render it out, change his outfit, then just re-render. Won't have to redo any animations or camera cuts.

Option 3 will probably be my chosen option, but again, just wondering if there was any other approach?
2011/7/23 16:41:02
More universal 3d model support? Will Muvizu ever allow for importing of 3D models in something other than ASE format? I'm pretty sure the Unreal engine supports more universal or standard 3D formats, doesn't it?

I'm not a big fan of Sketchup. I can do some basic things with it, but just have never been a big fan of it since I have familiarity with other 3D applications. Sketchup's UI and navigation is irritating for modeling, although it does have a lot of neat features. Unfortunately, the one I am most comfortable with, Cinema4D, doesn't have any kind of ASE export, and I cannot find any recent plugins (for the latest version) that supports ASE. Of course, majority of C4D users exclaim the app is not meant for game development, so nobody seems overly interested in creating one.

I dont want to invest in another major 3D app, such as Max (C4D was quite a chunk of change already), plus learning a whole new 3D app just to create some static props/objects isn't too appealing either.

So I'm really hoping and wishing for more model formats to choose for importing static meshes into Muvizu.
2011/7/23 6:41:33
Set Building - Rotate Objects I know if I hold RMB and drag, the object will rotate left and right. But is there any way to rotate in any other direction? And is there a constrain hotjey to constrain the rotation to a single axiz, or to a certain angle or rotation?
2011/7/13 21:04:56
import texture ziggy72 wrote:
The only thing you mention that's different is that you exported the texture from Sketchup - I didn't. I used a texture bmp that I already had, which was nothing to do with Sketchup or the model, so...I guess it must be the format of the exported texture then? I just used a standard bmp for testing, are you using anything different? Or does Sketchup use some odd codec for encoding it's exported textures, maybe? Can't think what else would stop it appearing.


It was a JPG... it's no real biggie, since the object looked just as well colored within Muvizu... But I was going to do more experiementation when I'm next able to sit down with the app. Thanx for the assist tho!
2011/7/13 19:53:02
import texture Ok, Ziggy, I think I've found the specific posting you meant (and have included it at the bottom of this message)... However, I did that very same thing. In Sketchup, I exported the texture first (since it was indeed a texture, not just a color mapping), then exported the model. Went into the ASE file, changed the texture file name, imported into Muvizu. The texture did not show up, BUT in the objecy properties it was there. Just didn't show on the actual model itself.


ziggy72 wrote:
Thanks for the in-depth reply Jamie, but sprawling out into other programs which need other programs... that way madness lies, and Muvizu should be easy to use, so...

Unwilling to accept that I needed to learn Maya just to do this I checked around, and the ASE exporter we use for Sketchup says it supports UV and texture exports - but it only seems to work for UT3 itself, not Muvizu natively (incidentally there's a new version of HSKP2UNR - v1.02 beta). The new version doesn't change anything relevant, but while I was messing around I discovered a (pretty ugly) fix.

- Created a box in Sketchup, used the Materials window to paint some surfaces (doesn't actually matter which material you use, it just marks that face as textured). Exported it as an ASE as per usual.

- Copied the texture I wanted to the c:\UT3 folder as a BMP file (let's say wallpaper.bmp)

- Edited the ASE file for the box, and replaced the name of the texture from Sketchup to the name of the texture I copied to the c:\UT3 folder

*SUBMATERIAL 1 {
*MATERIAL_NAME ""
*MATERIAL_CLASS "Standard"
*MAP_DIFFUSE {
*MAP_CLASS "Bitmap"
*BITMAP "C:\ut3\wallpaper.bmp"

- As you can see, the name of the material is Brick Basket Two, but the bitmap can be renamed something different.

- Loaded up the object as per usual in Muvizu, and lo and behold, one (wallpaper) textured box.

You could probably tweak the UV scaling options to get a better fit for your model, but I'm happy to just have some way of achieving something in the same ballpark as JonBez's excellent rocks. See what you've started JB?
2011/7/13 19:44:19
import texture ziggy72 wrote:
Wizaerd, try herehttp://www.muvizu.com/Forum/topic995-monty-python---the-bridge-of-death-.aspx?Page=1

Try reading my post, on page two, about this very issue - I think it might help. Oddly enough, it ended up in a discussion about JonBez's excellent Bridge of Death animation, and the textures he used.


Thanx Ziggy... Unfortunately, when I click the link I go to an error page:
Sorry, an unexpected error has occurred.
Our engineers have been notified of the issue. Please try again later.
Click here to return to the home page.

Download Muvizu - make movies in hours not weeks FREE



I bleive I found the forum posting you mean tho...
http://www.muvizu.com/forum/topic995-your-videos.aspx
edited by Wizaerd on 13/07/2011
2011/7/13 19:03:06
import texture Is there anything else special you have to do to the model in Skethup first, such as generate UV or anything like that? I tried exporting a model with textures, and chhanged the path appropriately in the ASE file, but it still didn;t show up in Muvizu... I assumed it was because there were no UV coordinates or something like that...
2011/7/13 17:45:11
Muvizu's long range plans I'm just curious, as to what the business model of Muvizu is going to be? Right now, it's a free download, and it's beta. Will it eventually become a charged application, will there be licensing models? Subscription based? Surely Muvizu isn't putting all this hard work into this, and not expecting to make money off it somehow, right?

As I said, it's just a point of curisoity for me...
2011/7/13 16:43:47
Interface & Timeline Emily wrote:
Just out of interest, would you prefer a short, fast swooping camera movement, or no movement at all?


When I right click on a character to view and/or edit their properties (objects too), I expect to see the character or object I am wishing to affect. I don't mind the swooping, although it could be mucho faster, but if you want to just cut to their position I am fine with that as well. I would hate to blindly change properties without seeing the effect of those changes.
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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.