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PatMarrNC - all messages by user

2016/4/10 22:45:47
SKWERLEFEST! Episode #: The Sam BushyTail Band! mysto wrote:
Great video PatMarrNC! Nothing like a squirrel band to brighten up a day! Makes me want to get the Garage Band Blues guys back into action. I also like to design things with a "less is more" kind of attitude. Again great video!


Thanks Mysto! Yeah, you definitely should get Garage Band Blues guys back into action! I want to see them play!

Regarding my own version of minimalism: I like consistency. It bugs me to see one aspect of a project done professionally, while some other aspect of it is amateurish. So I try to keep my elements all at about the same level of suck. ;-)

Also, My goal is quite different from a lot of others here... I want lo-res speed more than hi-res detail. None of my projects will ever span years. Ideally, I want to get to a point where I hear a news story in the morning and by that evening I have a song and a video about it. Muvizu is capable of that... but at this point my skill level is not. Detail is an obstacle to speed, which is probably the biggest reason why I take the shortest path to completion.

Having said that, let it be known that I LOVE to watch the videos made by those of you who go all out for the rich detail... I think that's awesome to watch, and I am highly impressed by the skill it takes to make that happen... it's just not me, and I doubt it ever will be no matter how long I use Muvizu.
edited by PatMarrNC on 10/04/2016
2016/4/10 17:57:11
SKWERLEFEST! Episode #: The Sam BushyTail Band! ziggy72 wrote:
That is a fine performance, and some fancy pickin' from a squirrel The set is a little drab, but like you said you didn't really have time to get too elaborate with it - nice!


Thanks for commenting, Ziggy! I was starting to think I forgot to post it here!

Yeah, drab is pretty much what you can expect from me, even when I have time. My philosophy is to be a minimalist. Especially in a medium like comic strips where most of them are limited to a small 2D square in a newspaper, the mindset has evolved to show as little as possible to get the point across. So, even in this environment where there's much more potential, I find myself working the middle ground.... which will generally be quite unspectacular to those of you who are visually detail oriented about your projects.

And, regarding this particular project, I was imitating the look of the actual stage at Merlefest, which is just bare planks throughout. Drab. Good word. You nailed it. <--(plank pun intended. )

https://s.yimg.com/fz/api/res/1.2/qYKTlAZigSY8OO4Wia6u6g--/YXBwaWQ9c3JjaGRkO2g9Mzk4O3E9OTU7dz02MTA-/https://s3.yimg.com/ls/img/1024/38bdc3b4-9575-3784-a342-10750b401de8
edited by PatMarrNC on 10/04/2016
2016/4/10 14:29:11
icon images did changing the registry fix the problem?
2016/4/10 3:36:31
icon images I think this is a windows thing... each folder gives you the option of how to display the files in it... whether by details or by small icons or large icons. This option is accessed from the dropdown menu at the top of windows explorer > View

If you pick LARGE ICONS as the display option, your thumbnails will be back. Somehow that setting must have gooten changed for that folder, but its pretty easy to change it back
2016/4/9 3:56:55
SKWERLEFEST! Episode #: The Sam BushyTail Band! lyrics to the song, in case you can't understand the combination of squirrel voice, and contrived southern accent:
==============================
Well I'm a rodent if you please
the kind that climbs up trees
I love it when it rains and I get wet

I got a fuzzy little @$$
that just loooves to play blue grass
I play it each and every chance I get

My GPS tries to reroute me
and hunters sometimes try an' shoot me
none of that can steal my joy away

as long as festivals recruit me
& bands I'm with don't ever boot me
I'll keep on bein' happy every day
----------------------

My front two teeth are gappy
as squirrels go I'm quite happy
performing here for all y'all's the best

I'm joyful as can be
My spirit's been set free
appearin' on this stage at SkwerleFest

Though friends of mine sometimes upset me
and carnivores may try an' get me
none of that can steal my joy away

If nature doesn't second-guess me
and folks like you show up and let me
I'll keep on playin' music every day
------------------------

Well I'm a happy little squirrel
Not a worry in the world!
except for... maybe cats and hawks and things

but what I fear the most
is when my music turns to toast
cause I played it way too hard and broke a string!

When mixed emotions swell within me
or taxidermists want to skin me
none of that can steal my joy away

If fans are showin' up to hear me
& Folks I love are well and near me
I'll keep on feelin' thankful every day
(and so should you!)
2016/4/9 3:52:13
SKWERLEFEST! Episode #: The Sam BushyTail Band! This is a spoof on a local North Carolina bluegrass festival at which I volunteer every year. I made it for the Merlefest volunteers facebook page... and as such, it contains a lot of insider humor that might not make sense to anyone who isn't familiar with the festival and the bands who play there.

This episode pokes a little fun at one of my favorite acts, the Sam Bush Band (but since these characters are squirrels, it becomes the Sam Bushytail Band)

I really wanted to spend more time on this, but Merlefest is rapidly approaching and I wanted to get SOMETHING on their FB page in a timely manner, so I had to wrap it up, ready or not.

Also, a tree fell in my yard and obliterated my fence, so I need to do real-world stuff for a while and leave this imaginary world stuff alone.

Regarding time, it's amazing how much time it can take to develop all the resources needed for a project! I had to write the song, and its lyrics, record the song, mix & master it, model all of the attachments and accessories etc etc .. you all know the drill. But that's why I like to keep things fairly simple.

Anyway... the video:


Comments, criticisms or any kind of observation whatsoever will be greatly appreciated!
edited by PatMarrNC on 09/04/2016
2016/4/8 22:45:04
I'm stumped.... MrDrWho13 wrote:
Have you tried exporting an image sequence rather than a video?


not yet... I'll try that right now... thanks for the reminder. I like the simplicity of having one file, so I tend to shy away from the image sequence option... but it's time to try it!
2016/4/8 22:38:06
I'm stumped....
Is the movie in mp4 format using Xvid ? If yes the problem is there. May be Premiere hasn't filters to import that format. Try image sequence or uncompressed avi to find out .


I did save my MUVIZU output as MP4, and all of them worked in Windows media player , and 4/7 of them loaded into my video editor. The other three puzzle me. I have rebooted and regenerated the 3 errant scenes a couple of times to no avail. I have used a video format translator to change them to other formats... all of which work in windows and none of which work in my video editor.

I finally used screen capture software to grab the output from Windows Media player. My guess is that the scenes that failed were just too busy. Two of them included a crowd scene with about 50 characters and whole bunch of other scenery. Why they play in other software but not Adobe is the mystery.
2016/4/8 18:12:38
I'm stumped.... Wow.. I'm wrapping up a project I've been working on in bits and pieces for months... and today when I went to put it all together in Adobe Premiere Elements, the Muvizu video isn't playing in the Adobe environment. It plays in Windows and in Muvizu. I'm stumped. It's all the same settings that worked on my last several projects.

This MIGHT be the first project since I loaded Windows 10, not sure exactly. Anybody else here using Premiere Elements with windows 10? I'm open for suggestions.
2016/4/8 18:05:30
Epic Music Video looks like you don't need any help! That's a nice music video! I like all the moves!

I also really like the song! Your vocalist is awesome! What do you play in the band?
2016/4/6 18:56:03
animation fans drewi wrote:
Today only....Another interesting one from gaotd works as stand alone,... filterforge 4 pro ....art filters.....also works integrated into photo shop. maybe for other art packages.
one of the filters has a cartoony setting.....
edited by drewi on 06/04/2016


Drew, have you had time to mess with this yet? The built-in textures and effects that get installed are minimal, BUT...

there is a link on the top right corner of the program that leads to a place where you can download and automatically install literally thousands of additional texture sets and effects! Most of which are tilable (great for putting grass and clouds in the environment)

There are also lots of building textures, many of which have see thru alpha, like fences etc that would be simple to slap onto a backdrop instead of creating a model... I think this will be very useful! Thanks again for pointing it out to us!
2016/4/6 18:50:28
Finger Pistols Are dangerous 2 (Quick Draw) it wasn't my original intent, but if I go ahead and create OBJ files for the whole Muvizu character set, people will be able to break them apart into keyframable arms legs and head, and use them to animate any action that doesn't have a built-in solution.

Hmmmm

Clayster, you have really set something exciting in motion here!
2016/4/6 15:36:29
Finger Pistols Are dangerous 2 (Quick Draw) This is a good example of how companies like Muvizu tend to come up with changes to the program that are better than what the users were asking for. For example, I'd imagine that for years people have been asking for more predefined character actions.

If they went that route, time spent developing a new action would yield exactly that: one new action. It would be impossible to implement every new action that users could request.

But now, the time spent developing keyframes has basically given us a way to create ANY ACTION WE CAN IMAGINE! Even a pooping horse! Who could possibly ask for more than that? ;-)

Man, we need a contest to see who can come up with the most awesome keyframed animation... although, I think it's going to be tough to beat Clayster's submission!
2016/4/6 15:06:38
animation fans drewi wrote:
Today only....Another interesting one from gaotd works as stand alone,... filterforge 4 pro ....art filters.....also works integrated into photo shop. maybe for other art packages.
one of the filters has a cartoony setting.....
edited by drewi on 06/04/2016


that DOES look interesting Drew! Thanks for the heads-up!

Here's a youtube video showing the product being used:
2016/4/6 4:20:13
FAT MAN OBJ file for the sake of info:

The FAT MAN OBJ model was made with a subdivision modelling program called SILO

but the WOMAN OBJ model was made with a nifty little tool I mentioned recently in another thread. The tool is named ARCHIPELIS, and it creates 3D models from the contour you create by tracing around a 2D graphic!



Its not a very clean model, but it was my first attempt with the software, hopefully future attempts will yield better results. But for the purpose intended, it's good enough to gauge relative size of accessories.

The photo of the woman character shown above as a comparison is the same photo that I used for tracing in Archipelis. It's a fascinating program, and it sells for only 29 euros / $33 USD

For this model I made no effort to save the head, body, arms, legs as separate entities.. I just traced around the figure. The result ends up looking like the cookies made with a cookie cutter.
Then I imported the semi-flat model into Silo and tweaked it from a side view in order to get the length of the feet and side contour of her head and body.

The waviness is an artifact of all my experimentation, trying tweaks, then undoing them. Fun!
edited by PatMarrNC on 06/04/2016
2016/4/6 4:06:45
FAT MAN OBJ file OK, Here is a set of two OBJ files for the Muvizu WOMAN character. Like the OBJ files for FAT MAN, these are strictly for loading into your modelling program to help you size attachments and / or accessories. The smaller model is for sizing objects that will be exported as FBX, and the larger one is for reference on objects that will be exported as ASE.

Its a pretty rough model, but that shouldn't matter if using it for reference. It loaded successfully into three different modelling programs, hopefully it will load into whatever program you're using to create accessories.

But it isn't clean enough to export as FBX.. it will export, but what comes into Muvizu isn't pretty.

Here's a side by side graphic of the OBJ file and the Woman character:

here's a link to the OBJ files: https://www.dropbox.com/s/w0i9cuqrv1u2ivd/woman.zip?dl=0
edited by PatMarrNC on 06/04/2016
2016/4/5 23:23:01
Finger Pistols Are dangerous 2 (Quick Draw) Clayster, that was awesome! I loved the keyframe animation in the horse and the crowing rooster! It's a really good match with the MUVIZU look due to the way you modelled the characters!

How did you do the circling eagle? Same way?

On a different note, I liked the miscellaneous little touches you added throughout:

1) Recurring theme of the sleeping snoring dude

2) the way you set the viewer's anticipation with the squirrel getting the nut references, then threw us a curve right at the end with a literal interpretation

3) I liked the way you used the horse as an ambient character, not really doing anything except making the scene look more "westerny"

4) naturally, a little unexpected horse poop is usually good for a smile or two

I'm very impressed... since the keyframe pack was introduced, I don't remember seeing anybody else use it to create claymation style movement in static characters! You've broken new ground here, and set the stage for a lot more of the same, now that we all see what can be done with keyframes!
2016/4/4 13:04:34
some combustibles drewi wrote:
cheers Pat.........cough!! splutter!! choke!! cough!!!
in real life my brother had a pipe for his birthday recently,he doesn't smoke, he wanted it purely as a theatrical prop so he could do a range of gestures with it whilst dealing with customers in his place of work.


now that you've said that I can see what your models are! A pipe, cigarette etc.. (I don't smoke either, so I just wasn't sure how to understand the word "combustibles" ;-)

Very cool and timely, since the question just came up about how to make a Muvizu character smoke a cigarette!

(I like the way your brother thinks!)
2016/4/4 3:11:44
Some new animated foilage? braj wrote:
I think I'll bow out of this forum and community now, it is way too small, mostly I'd only be talking to you and you are trying to make me go away, so... Bye.
edited by braj on 04/04/2016
edited by braj on 04/04/2016


Braj.. please accept my apology! I certainly am NOT trying to make you go away!

Re-reading what I wrote I can see how it could come across as condescending, but that wasn't my intent! My point was just to offer a 3rd party perspective, with no expectation that you would agree with it. But to some extent you must agree, or you wouldn't be planning to buy iclone at some point.

In the final analysis, all the choices are yours.But if you leave, don't leave with the idea that I disrespect you, because that would not be true. As stated on many occasions already, I think the stuff you're doing is downright amazing. I enjoy seeing it, and I think your various ideas are brilliant!

I guess what I was doing was the same thing I would do on a musician forum if I knew a guy was interested in buying some new gear, but he was reluctant for the usual wife reasons. I'd paint a scenario where the obvious conclusion was for him to go ahead and go for it. Life is too short to spend it wishing for stuff (or features) that you don't have... but COULD have for a few bucks.

Yes, I know all this is none of my business... but when my wife died 3 years ago, it changed the way I think about deferred happiness. That's all I'll say, except to add that I sincerely hope you stay.
2016/4/4 2:47:14
FAT MAN OBJ file It has been talked about in the past that it might be useful to have a reference model to load into a modelling program in order to size accessories and attachments without quite as much trial and error. Here is a link to a set of two FAT MAN OBJ files: One of them is sized for making ASE attachments, and the other is sized for making FBX attachments.

With the software I use, If I size to this model, the attachment comes into MUVIZU pretty close the first time, with very little resizing and rotation adjustment varies depending on the accessory. But I suspect that not all modelling programs handle sizing the same way, so you'll probably need to resize both of these to get the right ratio for your modelling program. Or not... (fingers crossed)

Let me know if this is useful.. if it is, I may go ahead and rough out approximations of the whole character set (as time allows)

Likewise, if you don't find it useful, please let me know that too so I don't spend a lot of time making more useless stuff.
<--click the little square for a visual


https://www.dropbox.com/s/6iwgk5z64hjrdo8/fat%20man.zip?dl=0
edited by PatMarrNC on 04/04/2016
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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.