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PatMarrNC - all messages by user

2015/8/29 19:31:45
is there a set of scaled reference models...? After throwing days at the problem, I'm close to having a generic head shape for the fat man character, that's positioned at approximately where his head is spawned. That way, I can create accessories around it, and when I import them to MUVIZU, they'll come in at the right place. (or, at least close enough to position them with the sliders)

Once I have it sized a little better, I'll mark the location of the mouth so people can import it to their preferred modelling program and use it to position their own add-ons like noses, ears, hats, face masks, helmets etc. Knowing where the mouth is will let people create masks that don't cover it up. With the mouth exposed, all the lip synch stuff will still work even with face masks.

Finally, I'll save it as an .OBJ file so it loads into virtually every 3D modelling program, and post it for downloading by anybody who might find it useful
2015/8/29 19:11:32
QUADRAPED IDEA.... OK, I see lots of requests for quadrapeds. I figure it hasn't happened because the engine supports bipeds only, and that would be a major development to introduce a whole new animal (so to speak)

But here's an idea that might be something the existing engine could handle with a few tweaks from the programmers:

Remember those old vaudeville acts where they'd simulate a horse by putting two men under a blanket, and had one of them wear a horse's head? If Muvizu had a "body" container that could be populated with a character, (or two)... then you could create creatures with 4 legs! (better yet, if you could instantiate the legs from one character, you could make a centipede!)

Once we had that, we could create 3d heads all day long and the sky would be the limit!

And while I'm asking for crazy stuff, it would also be cool if the resulting assembly was scalable down to pet size or up to radioactive monster pet size. You know somebody will want to do that. ;-)

Or, it might be easier to create a new biped character class that is much smaller, specifically for use with the quadraped body

Just a thought... put it in the back of your thinking. It might be possible already... can somebody out there figure out a way to couple two characters with a body container so they stay together as a unit? Oh, and we'd only need one head.... ;-)
2015/8/28 16:00:32
is there a set of scaled reference models...? would you be willing to share your tool kit?

I'm retired, so I have a lot of time to throw at this... yesterday I spent all day resizing and re-importing a hat design. My last attempt before going to bed exhausted was scaled so small in the modelling program that the grid wouldn't go any smaller...

its an architectural modelling package, so the dimensions are accurate. I made the hat 2 mm wide, and when I imported it into Muvizu it was still wayyyyy too large for the scaling sliders to make it fit.

I opened my .ase file in notepad, and compared the coordinates to those of another .ase file I got on the asset download page (which imports correctly)... and the coordinate values appeared to be in the same ballpark. The values were in the same range on both sides of the xyz origin, so I would logically expect the width of both imports to be about the same... but they aren't.

And the fact that the physical size of my model is +/- 1mm from origin... I'm not sure I can make it much smaller.

Is anybody aware of an .ase IMPORT utility? or of a modelling package that natively imports .ase files? If I had that, I could import other props that are sized appropriately, and make mine to match.

I did find an FBX importer for Sketchit, but when I tried to import an FBX asset, it said that "ascii FBX is not supported"
2015/8/27 14:55:02
is there a set of scaled reference models...? LOVE this software! I'm already evangelizing it on every internet forum I subscribe to! (Trying to send you customers)

I like that you have made the product infinitely extensible by providing a way for users to create their own models and bring them into Muvizu in a variety of different ways! VERY powerful stuff!

I know I'll be a content creator / contributor once I get my brain wrapped around all the details, but....

My recurring problem is that I have no point of dimensional reference when building my models. It would be great if there existed an inanimate solid model shaped like each of the characters and saved as an .obj file so people could import it into their preferred modelling program and build their accessories at the same scale and coordinates as the characters. (specifically, the XYZ coordinates used for spawning new characters... )


Not asking for freebies here, I would gladly pay for a set of such models.
2015/8/27 4:16:47
New characters and animations well said Braj!

And yeah, once the content store opens, I will be standing in line with my wallet out too...
2015/8/26 21:50:50
objects import at wrong size Okayyy, so I'm going through tutorials as exercises...
I opened a model in Sketchup (Cat ears, to be imported as a hat)...
sized them in Sketchup to fit the 2d character who likes to hang around the intersection of X,Y and Z axes...
exported as ASE, and imported to Muvizu... all that worked as expected

but they were HUGE! too large to resize with the sliders
it was also oriented 90 degrees off what I wanted...

So... back to Sketchup.... changed the orientation and size ...
exported and reimported to Muvizu....

neither size nor orientation changed!

I did this about 5 times, with the same lack of results. Has anyone else seen this? Any suggestions?

(I should probably mention that I actually created the ears in a different 3d package that I'm more proficient with (Silo2) then brought the model into Sketchup so I could use its ASE exporting trick. That might be pertinent information... your thoughts?)
2015/8/26 21:22:44
sizing an object in only one of 3 dimensions Thanks! I never would have figured that out in a million years! In fact, I didn't even NOTICE the chain icon until you mentioned it!

I like it when things work, because that means I'm not as clueless today as I was yesterday...
2015/8/26 15:55:56
Totally Original Characters Is there any chance that the secret of how to create 3-d characters that work in the Muvizu environment will ever be revealed in a tutorial?
2015/8/26 1:28:25
How Do I Combine "live" or "real" video Here's a more comprehensive answer...

http://muvizu.com/Wiki/wiki/108/
2015/8/26 1:16:11
make video wont make video! On my first project, I had the same experience of the computer getting hung before the video finished rendering.

So I tried setting the START - STOP markers at one minute intervals, thereby breaking a 5 minute video into 5 segments. That worked fine. I left a little overlap at each break so I could join them back together on Adobe Premiere Elements

I arrived at the one minute break point by trial and error. With my settings, one minute of video was creating a file about 2 gigs in size. If the output exceeded 2 gigs, either my computer would hang, or the resulting file was unusable.
2015/8/26 1:08:17
Anyone Using Muvizu to promote affiliate products My first MUVIZU project was an animated user testimonial for another software product. They loved it!

Here's a link to it:


Experienced users will recognize it to be a "first project" but to people who aren't familiar with MUVIZU, even the simplest project looks pretty impressive.

This video was created during the first 48 hours after installing Muvizu ... and most of that time was spent learning how to do what I wanted to do and troubleshooting codec issues
edited by PatMarrNC on 26/08/2015
edited by PatMarrNC on 28/08/2015
2015/8/25 22:14:37
sizing an object in only one of 3 dimensions I was watching the tutorial on backdrops, and I noticed that Barry was able to change only the width of a backdrop without changing the height. Every time I try to resize an object, all 3 sizing sliders move together... I can't move only one at a time.

Am I doing something wrong? Or has something changed in MUVIZU since that tutorial was made?
2015/8/25 22:08:51
How Do I Combine "live" or "real" video I couldn't find the answer to that question in one tutorial, but by piecing together info found in several tutorials I tried this (and it worked)

1) the video must be in AVI format. (If your video is in a different format, There are many video format converters you can DL for free from CNET.COM)

2) Once you have a video in AVI format, you can apply it as a texture. If you want the video to play as your background, the easy way to accomplish that is to CREATE > BACKDROPS then select the one you want, wide screen probably being the best choice for a background

3) Right click on the backdrop to open the floating menu, then select EDIT > PROPERTIES > then click on the image

4) on the bottom left corner of the dialog box, click IMPORT

5) navigate to the AVI file, and select it as the texture

6) the backdrop will look like a movie screen playing your AVI video!

7) adjust size of backdrop and/or camera view to fill the whole scene with your video (or whatever you need)


if you don't need transparent alpha channel video, that's it!

If you DO need alpha channel animations then a program named VIRTUALDUB (http://virtualdub.sourceforge.net) is a program that can assemble a series of individual PNG files into a flip-book style animation which can then be saved in AVI format

Hope this helps
2015/8/25 19:07:49
New user with ideas that are probably old news... Thanks Ziggy! I appreciate your help, and especially the fact that you are willing to share your knowledge with newbies.
2015/8/25 19:04:57
some character actions stopped working ! Thanks Ziggy! That's important info to know! (is that written down anywhere, or is it tribal knowledge that gets handed down from user to user on a need to know basis?)

In retrospect, I *DID* move my character to a sitting position just before the conversational actions got greyed out....

BIG OL' DUMMY-O-METER
0_______________/_100 <----me

The good news is that I substituted other actions and got my project finished before Monday morning !
2015/8/25 18:57:05
New characters and animations Having said all that, I realize that it would be great to have one software package that does everything. I'm not trying to discourage improvements to the MUVIZU product... I'm a newbie, but I'm already a huge fan of this software!
2015/8/25 18:40:12
New characters and animations Here's one idea that would open up a truck load of possibilities: Think of MUVIZU as one module in a larger system, then acquire more modules that are really good at doing the things MUVIZU can't do.

For example, AnimeStudio has an entry level product that is VERY affordable. It offers frame by frame and bone animation, a character creator, lots of predefined content, keyframes etc. Because rigs can be posed in any way, you'll always have an alternative to fall back on when MUVIZU doesn't have the predefined action or pose you need.

It would be very easy to take a screen shot of your MUVIZU characters and then rig them in Anime Studio, so your audience wouldn't even notice that you switched animation environments. By default, Anime Studio exports ONLY what's on the screen... so if you create a character animation and export it, you can now put it on a MUVIZU layer and it will blend in seamlessly with the rest of your project!

http://my.smithmicro.com/anime-studio-debut.html
They frequently put this on sale, but even at full price $49 is money well spent for the solutions it brings to the table!

As time goes on, I will try to post links to Anime Studio rigs I've created from the stock characters in MUVIZU. Or maybe some sample video that incorporates snippets from both programs

$30 USD for MUVIZU plus $50 USD for Anime Studio Debut puts a whole lot of animating power in your hands for less than $100 USD! Consider the fact that other animation products like ToonBoom Studio cost much more
2015/8/24 23:02:50
Copying and pasting character movements If you look at MUVIZU as one part of an integrated system that includes standalone audio and video editing programs, then new possibilities become evident. Every component of a system having multiple parts has its own strengths and weaknesses.

Instead of waiting for one of the components (MUVIZU) to provide solutions for every need, consider the fact that most video editing programs are really good at all sorts of effects like mirroring.

I'd guess that most people already use MUVIZU to make small scenes that get edited in another software product. Take that same idea to the next level by putting a green background behind one dancer, choreograph his/her dance, then import that one dance scene into multiple tracks in your video editor, mirroring or transforming there as needed.

If you don't want exactly the same dancer, you can make copies of the MUVIZU project once the dance scene is choreographed, and change clothes on the dancer and regenerate the scene with exactly the same moves, almost no extra work.

Lots of ways to skin a cat. (figuratively speaking. No cats were actually skinned in the making of this post) ;-)
2015/8/24 2:21:00
New user with ideas that are probably old news... Hi...
New but very excited user here! Although I'm new to this software, I have lots of experience with other software that uses time lines, animation and audio editing. After using this wonderful program for just a few days, I would love to see the following feature:
The added ability to edit directly from the time line without having to insert actions in real time.

It looks to me as though all of these actions are already pre-packaged, and inserted via the interface... it should be fairly simple for the programmers to create a way for the same pre-packaged actions to be added directly to the time line, something like this:

set time marker on time line > right click on the appropriate lane > insert > dropdown menu would be populated with the most recently used director function > pick action from list box > enter

even easier would be to add a button to either the PREPARE or DIRECT dialog.



Another thing I notice is that any movements I have to control with the mouse while recording tend to be choppy because the computer is multi tasking and not watching the mouse 100% of the time. The ability to create smooth precise interpolated movements with keyframes would let me grow back some of the hair I pulled out this weekend. ;-)

But really...if you never changed anything on this software, I would continue loving it for the rest of my miserable little life! I just discovered it from a post on a FaceBook group named Amateur Animators... can't believe I never heard of it until now! Kudos to everybody involved in creating this software!
2015/8/23 23:07:28
some character actions stopped working ! Hi,

I'm new to the software, but I've watched most of the tutorials and I have one short project completed already. I like this software... it makes sense to me!

But today in the middle of resuming my work, I find that some of the character actions are greyed out, and clicking on them won't do anything. Other actions that aren't greyed out can be added to the timeline as expected. Specifically Conversational1 and 2 just stopped working for me!

I closed the program and reopened it but the problem did not go away.

I'm running Windows 8.1 with 12 gigs of ram. Did not have this happen on the first project. Any ideas what's happening and specifically how to fix it? I had hoped to get this project finished this weekend, but now it's looking like that won't happen...


Apologies if there is already a thread about this. I did exercise due diligence by searching for a little over an hour, to no avail.
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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.