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PatMarrNC - all messages by user

2016/4/27 1:32:39
Music Video for Netherlands band RnAM thanks Rocque! Your impression of the video was exactly what I was aiming to create! Peripherally a 70s disco music video reminiscent of the BeeGees ... but with a personal hook for anyone who has ever had a great dog buddy they play with! I tried to capture the "fake stick throw" that enthusiastic dogs always fall for... and the way they zero in on a dangling hand and sniff it, knowing it will lead to getting petted.

It was fun exploring the various actions trying to find approximations of the moves I really wanted. Typing and writing both worked pretty well as petting if you substitute a dog's head for the keyboard. At he end of the BIG LAUGH action, the character crouches down, which simulates the "Who's my good boy?" pose

When the band posts their version later this week, I'll post a link to it

Thanks for taking time to comment! I appreciate your kind observations!
2016/4/27 1:19:58
Music Video for Netherlands band RnAM Dropbox is not a good place for streaming, best thing to do is just download it (dropbox allows that) and watch it from your computer.

(Right click on the link > save link as...)

I didn't want to put it on youtube because I know the band will change the video to meet their needs, and other members of the music forum subscribe to my youtube channel. Out of respect for the band, I want the forum to see only their final version.

I imagined the footage at the beginning (which *IS* silent) to be moved to the end of their finished video as out takes, playing concurrently with the credits. But Now I'm hearing that they'll probably ditch that footage altogether to keep the video moving so people don't click away. ;-(
edited by PatMarrNC on 27/04/2016
2016/4/26 16:19:37
Music Video for Netherlands band RnAM Link to RnAM's web site: http://www.rnam.net/eng/songs.html

The band RnAM always posts videos with their songs, and they are quite adept at video editing, so I didn't include titles, credits or anything, knowing they will want to do that. I also sent them links to all of the rough footage in case they want to replace any of the scenes I used with other scenes that I cut, but which they might like better... so what I posted here should be regarded as just a placeholder for their final video.

They are so impressed with Muvizu that they just bought it for themselves, and I hope to lure them to this forum. They are absolutely wonderful people, two of my favorite people in the world!

Regarding this video: Its the first time I've used one of the "not quite quadrapeds" in a video, and although the ability to walk like a real dog is not there, I was more interested in seeing if I could capture dog mannerisms in other ways. There were a couple of scenes that I thought turned out quite "doggy", and given the biped limitation imposed by Muvizu, he ended up being a "fairly" convincing dog (based on the attributes I was shooting for)

I'm a newbie, so any comments, criticisms , suggestions etc are welcome and appreciated. I make no claim of being good at this, and I'm fairly thick skinned, so no need to hold back your real observations. How will I learn if I don't know the specific ways in which I suck? ;-)

Conversely, if there's any aspect of it that "works" for you, I also want to know that.

There is a concept called "conscious competence" and it involves developing an awareness of what works, so you can duplicate successes predictably (as opposed to throwing spaghetti at the wall hoping that something will stick). Acquiring conscious competence involves thinking outside the realm of personal preference and getting a much larger basis for evaluating what works.. and the only way to do that is by getting feedback from others.

Thanks in advance for anyone who takes time to critique this and any future videos I may post
edited by PatMarrNC on 26/04/2016
2016/4/26 15:58:52
Music Video for Netherlands band RnAM I'm on an international song writer's forum where people frequently collaborate on projects. Recently one of my favorite artists there asked me to make a Muvizu style music video for their latest song. The song pays homage to the disco era, so they wanted the set to have a 70s look and use colors that werein popular use at that time. I used a set from the store that was uploaded by Dannynw23 (thank you!) and made few changes to it.

Rather than doing the usual music video with a band playing the song the whole time, I decided to build a story around it. There's a line in the song that says "Holding you close this sweet loving could never be wrong", so I set about the task of making it wrong anyway. ;-)

The opening scenes exist only to establish the love a dog feels toward his owner. Later when the girl pops the band's cassette into the player, the dog's imagination takes over, and he fantasizes about being a bit more human-like (yet still a dog) and wowing the girl with his dancing and guitar playing prowess. By the end of the song the dog is so convinced of his fantasy that... well, I'll let you watch to see what happens.


https://www.dropbox.com/s/l1r7kzs6dtzbyg2/RnAM_HoldingYou.mp4?dl=0
2016/4/25 20:04:46
Flying Airplanes MrDrWho13 wrote:
PatMarrNC wrote:
3) a third option might be to see if you can find or model a 3d prop, and use keyframes to move it in the Muvizu environment.

I've had trouble in the past with rotating objects in Muvizu, it seems they have a 360 degree limit, so you could turn it once, but you might have to turn it back again. Animating it with the old system may still work though.

did you experience that with keyframes? if so, hmmmm.
But, if that's true, by putting the prop in its own layer all you need is one 360 degree rotation exported as video to use as a backdrop texture, and the perpetual animation will take care of it

You know, it seems like somebody would have created a spinning propeller and put it in the store by now. Same for spinning wheels on a car. There's all sorts of boiler-plate scenes that come up all the time that would be greatly appreciated in an accessory pack

Which prompts a question: if a set contains a backdrop with an AVI animation of a spinning prop or a rotating wheel... could that backdrop/animation be saved in favourites and used again in other projects? If so, that would be a good way to put these solutions in a SET that could be made available to others.
2016/4/25 19:49:56
Flying Airplanes
Now, I just gotta find a spinning propeller!


here are some workarounds for the spinning propeller problem.. I'm sure there are a thousand ways to skin this cat, and others will have better ideas.. but this is a starting point

1) since you can't really SEE the actual propeller when it spins (its just a blur of motion) you could create a circle in your 2D graphics program... put it on an alpha background... color the circle white, then reduce its opacity to about 50%. That way you'll be able to see thru it (as would be true of an actual moving propeller) but there would still be enough opacity to reveal the circular shape of the propeller and its path. Save the graphic and use it as a texture on a square backdrop located at the front of your plane. This is probably the easiest way to simulate a propeller... but not the best looking.

2) another way would be to draw or download a propeller . Load it into your 2D graphic editor onto an alpha background, and save a copy as PNG. Then rotate the graphic a little bit, being careful to keep the center of it in the same place. Continue rotating and saving until you have a full 360 degrees of rotation. Name the series of saves something like prop0001, prop0002, prop0003, and keep them together in the same folder. If you're lucky, Your video editor may open the folder as a video and let you save it as an AVI animation, which you can then use as a texture on a backdrop, same as example #1, only in this case it won't be a static image.

3) a third option might be to see if you can find or model a 3d prop, and use keyframes to move it in the Muvizu environment.

4) yet another option might be to search free video archives for a snippet of a rotating propeller, then use it the same as in example 2 (minus the hassle of having to create the animation)

5) and yet another variation on a theme might be to start with idea #1, then in a higher video layer, add brief shots of a still prop at various angles. If you keep the still shots almost subliminally short, it will create the illusion of the stop motion you see when blinking while observing a moving object. It will be more realistic than idea #1 alone, and without the hassle needed to create a full blown video.
2016/4/25 17:51:40
compositing software this is all GREAT information, and I really appreciate everyone's input!

@Wabby: thanks! I'll definitely look at that!

@Urban Lamb: Wow! I had no idea! Blender is clearly one of the best all-round useful tools available for people who do what we do, and apparently I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and dedicate a block of time to learn how to use it. Period. (I'll try to weasel out of this, so I'm depending on you to keep reminding me. )

@Ziggy: I finally got around to generating a scene in PNG sequences today... probably wouldn't have bothered except for your ongoing affirmation that it's the way to go... and my editor accepted it nicely, so Thanks! I can see a bunch of advantages to going this route! FWIW... it solved a problem we talked about previously. I've noticed that if I generate a short scene that does not contain any audio track.. and save as MP4... my video editor won't open it. If I go back and add audio, it will. OR, if I save as AVI or SEQUENCE, my editor will open it.

@UKBerty: I keep going back to your statement "you get what you pay for"... you are a wise man! (And I'm a cheap one.. but your words resonate with me nonetheless) The proof in your words is displayed in the quality of your work. I appreciate the advice you've offered via private message and email, and I'm beginning to catch on to how you use HitFilm to do things that Muvizu alone cannot do. When I think of the synergy between Muvizu and HitFilm, and how you have made the two work together, I am very VERY impressed. HitFilm and Muvizu should be paying you, your work is a great ad for them!

in fact ALL of the contributors to this thread have demonstrated over and over again that their approaches and choice of tools can result in excellent work in the hands of the right master. My hat is off to all of you, and I appreciate the willingness of so many here to share their knowledge.
2016/4/25 13:58:41
Move an attachment? I've noticed that if I try to reopen the same character attribute window immediately after closing it, it won't reopen again until I open something else .

I've also noticed that if I have the Muvizu program MAXIMIZED, none of the windows will open! I have to run the program on the middle setting (neither minimized nor maximized) then stretch the window to fit my screen. Otherwise all sorts of dialog boxes just won't initialize!
2016/4/25 13:47:34
compositing software foff47 wrote:
HitFilm does have a free version (HitFilm Express) I downloaded it and there are some good tuts on Youtube.

This looks like a low-cost high-yield approach, so I downloaded the free version yesterday. The ability to buy add-ons as needed in order to have exactly the features I want is very consistent with my financial style... (I'd rather be nickled and dimed to death rather than buy the right thing in the first place ;-) )

The add-on packs are between $10 and $25, which I consider to be reasonable.

I looked for a comparison chart so I could see if the basic engine was the same (between express and pro).. if it's only a difference in the number of effects you get, then buying as needed is perfect. But I suspect its more than that, and I never did find a comparison chart.

Many of the effects from PRO come as plug-ins, which will also work in most video editors... and that is a huge advantage for anyone who is more comfortable working in that environment.
2016/4/25 2:41:17
Move an attachment? primaveranz wrote:
Nope, nowhere to be seen I'm afraid.
It looks like you can only change an attachments position before you save the movie. Once you have done that if you reopen the movie you can't access the attachment again. Well, I can't anyway.

MrDrWho's response is correct, but let me restate what he already said in different words.

You seem to be trying to select the attachment by clicking on it, as you might do for any other object. But once an object is attached to a character, it isn't treated as a separate object any more. Rather, it is treated like one of the character's attributes (selected in the same way that a hat or hair would be selected... through the right click character edit process)

Since there is no cigarette attachment point, you must have used some other feature (like beard or nose or hat) to load your model . Whichever one you used, if you go back to that feature in the edit menu, the slider menu that MrDrWho mentioned will then appear... and the position of an attachment is controlled by moving those sliders.
2016/4/24 18:35:06
compositing software ukBerty wrote:
I'm using HitFilm (full version). This coupled with layers within Muvizu has revolutionised my workflow. Everything goes through HitFIlm now....


Cool! This is exactly the kind of feedback I'm looking for! Thanks a million for taking time to reply... I'd guess that especially after we all watch "BEWARE THE EYE..." that everyone will be rushing to learn and imitate the techniques you used to achieve such a masterpiece!

Sales of Muvizu AND HitFilm may skyrocket after you release your video!
2016/4/24 18:31:21
hearts a-flying
If you go to create-->effects then choose the music notes effect, you can edit this to use a heart image rather than the music notes.


Oh, I get it now! Very creative and cool idea! I foresee this getting used a lot as time goes on... Thanks!
2016/4/24 16:31:01
compositing software Sorry for all the posts today... maybe I should stick to one cup of coffee until after I check my email and forums... ;-)

I see a need for compositing software to add effects, and I'm curious to hear what others are using.

Adobe After Effects looks great, but I don't like the new model of paying a monthly fee to use software. HitFilm looks awesome, but it comes with a healthy dose of sticker shock.

Anybody using the free version of HitFilm lite in conjunction with add-on effects packs?

also, I notice that Reallusion has recently introduced a product that could be used for compositing effects. PopVideo3 in conjunction with VFX200 is much less expensive than HitFilm, and it appears to have import-export formats that would let it work with other software... but Hit Film has a much richer set of features

Maybe you're using something else, or the effects that come built-in with your video editor... whatever it is that you're doing, I'd like to hear about it.

(Thanks in advance for sharing your knowledge!)
2016/4/24 16:16:00
general video question ziggy72 wrote:
Yeah, I hate when they do that. You have to 'zoom in' closer in your video editor till you fill the frame (and can't see the bars anymore) and then re-export them as videos. There's no way within Muvizu to correct the pan/crop view of the video.


thank you! I really appreciate that you took time to respond!

This must have something to do with aspect ratio, since I used screen capture software to get a lot of these textures, and the capture area was not a match for any of the standard ratios.. so apparently the remaining area gets filled with black in order to flesh out the standard dimensions.

If that's true, then I'm guessing when I re-size my view to eliminate the bars, I should also take care to ensure that the size of my window is true 3/4 ratio. Does that sound right?
edited by PatMarrNC on 24/04/2016
2016/4/24 15:40:57
hearts a-flying MrDrWho13 wrote:
For a similar effect not attached to a character, you could use the music or bubble effects and replace the image with a heart.

I'm afraid you're over my head with this answer... but I want to understand, because this sounds like a great idea! But this may be enough info to help me figure it out ...

Thanks! Great ideas from everybody!
2016/4/24 15:38:35
hearts a-flying theotherguy wrote:
Or if you're handy with your video editor, just make some hearts, save as PNG files and put them on your timeline in a sequence.

you did a great job with this! I like this solution... whether or not I use it on this project is unsure, but I'll definitely explore this idea further! Thanks!
2016/4/24 15:25:00
general video question I never messed with video much until I got Muvizu, and now I'm encountering some things that I suspect others with more video experience will surely know how to solve...

For example: I notice that some of the motion AVIs that I've collected to use as backdrop textures have a black band at the top and bottom. Is there a way to process these snippets to get rid of that?
2016/4/24 15:10:01
Flying Airplanes wings449 wrote:
How do you keep a character in the cockpit with the airplane moving?
-Dave

I guess the standard wise guy response would have been "SEAT BELT" ;-)

(ba-boom! TSHH!)
2016/4/24 15:05:50
hearts a-flying THANKS to UKBERTY and CLAYSTER for being smart enough to know the answer and kind enough to share it! (I was looking for it under character actions... but in retrospect, it isn't an action so it makes sense that it is found under character attributes)
2016/4/24 3:48:53
Flying Airplanes yeah, for a plane scene, if you put clouds on a backdrop, and set the backdrop's animation to move the clouds toward the tail of the plane, even though the plane is not moving, the relative motion between the plane and the clouds will create the illusion that it's the plane that's moving past the clouds, instead of the other way around.

You've already noticed that trying to move the vehicle causes other problems, so in muvizu moving the background is generally an easier and more controlled way of getting the effect you want.

But it *IS* possible to move vehicles too. It all depends on how you you choose to present the scene to your audience. Creativity goes in every direction. ;-)
edited by PatMarrNC on 24/04/2016
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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.