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PatMarrNC - all messages by user

2016/10/17 18:01:25
3D Coat Tutorial for noobs (for Muvizu)	WooHoo! Thanks for this, Ziggy! Can't wait to dive in! You couldn't have produced this at a better time since I just bought 3D coat and I'm a bit bogged down in the learning curve.
2016/10/17 17:58:48
NEW Trick or Treat Junior pack - in the store now!	Timely offering and a good fit with my idea for this year's Halloween contest! I'll keep waiting for the dragon... ;-) edited by PatMarrNC on 17/10/2016
2016/10/16 18:43:37
TRANSPARENT MATERIALS IN FBX FILES	Once you go down the dark side of manually editing your MTL files, there are lots of things to do. The wavefront OBJ material spec is fairly comprehensive and worth reading. http://paulbourke.net/dataformats/mtl/ One thing that can make a difference in Muvizu is the illum parameter. I started looking at this because I get weird color artifacts on my models sometimes in Muvizu./ The illum param can help compensate when this happens. Illumination: syntax = illum # (# is in the range 1-10, defined below) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 0 Color on and Ambient off 1 Color on and Ambient on 2 Highlight on 3 Reflection on and Ray trace on 4 Transparency: Glass on Reflection: Ray trace on 5 Reflection: Fresnel on and Ray trace on 6 Transparency: Refraction on Reflection: Fresnel off and Ray trace on 7 Transparency: Refraction on Reflection: Fresnel on and Ray trace on 8 Reflection on and Ray trace off 9 Transparency: Glass on Reflection: Ray trace off 10 Casts shadows onto invisible surfaces -------------------------------------------------- If you start getting light artifacts, try illum 0. It turns off most of the things that make the color deviate from its base color. It also makes it more boring, so experiment. ========================== edited by PatMarrNC on 16/10/2016
2016/10/16 18:04:07
Fantasy Pack 2 requested post	Clayster, your items will still be in the store long after this post has scrolled away never to be seen again. The best place to put descriptive teasers about store items is in the product's store page. If you run out of room in the description, you can add them to the comments. That way people who are actively trying to decide whether to buy will be able to see just how cool your set is... and the pics will be there easy to find every time anybody looks at your fantasy pack. In my opinion, you are so dang good at advertising, it should be standard procedure for you to load up your store's point of sale page with teasers.
2016/10/15 14:09:27
laws of lighting	I thought this was interesting and useful
2016/10/15 14:01:59
JLA: Unseen part 1 - demo	hahaha... I like the idea of drunk Superman. Sort of an anti-hero... interesting concept! I like the scene at 0:45 where he blows everything into the distance at 1:08 where he takes the motorcycle bandit into space and kills him, we learn that Superman can be a mean drunk (Nice job animating the weightlessness of space) at 1:26 where he kicks away the bat signal.. I'm guessing that's to show a drunken and petty jealousy toward the attention other superheroes get? at 1:47 I didn't understand the significance of the jail cell scene.. (but it was well done visually) I think you do a good job of portraying your scenes visually in Muvizu, but your storyline requires the viewer to make assumptions about what's happening. I think it's risky to rely on the audience's discernment, as some people will not bother and just dismiss your video because they didn't get it. One way to guide the interpretation is what you did at the beginning when you showed text clearly stating that this video is about how Superman might act if he was drunk. Follow-up descriptions for each scene might be overkill, but it would make it more likely that viewers will come away with the point you intended to make.
2016/10/15 13:18:33
Muvizu Halloween Contest 2016 Entries	Wow, Tony! That was AWESOME!! I loved everything about it! You put a lot of work into this! Great neighborhood at the beginning.. and lots of cool vehicles that I haven't seen in the store, so you must have created them.... I liked the driving scenes, very well done! And the costume/head attachment was also very cool.. I'm guessing you made that? VERY cool house... I liked the texture you used for the driveway... great character development, both physically and also defining the personality through dialog. And I thought your use of the piano for the closing credits was very clever! Did that interior come with the house? Or did you create separate sets? I'm going to go watch it again, I may be back with more comments.... (Great job!) follow-ups: 1) where did you get the car with the hood that can be opened? 2) good use of music when we first see the house 3) I like the lines "Only a witch would live here..." followed by "That's why we brought you..." hahaha! 4) at 4:18, is that photo on the wall significant? You linger on it as though it may be somebody we should recognize... 5) at 5:10 I like the imagination sequence, and the fact that you used different shading to distinguish it from the rest of the video 6) I liked the harp music as a transition in and out of the fantasy 7) I like the way you succinctly make the points required to create the story. You didn't linger on the purchase of the costume, but there was enough shown to get the idea across. I also like the fact that the "I have a plan" music started while he was leaving work and continued through the purchase of the costume. That is good directing, because it leads the mood easily from one scene to the next with music. 8) at 6:01 I liked the headlights! 9) at 7:00 I like your use of music again. It creates the feel of suspense and humor at the same time, which is perfect for the scene 10) at 7:32, again.. effective use of music to establish the mood 11) great use of lighting.. it was appropriate for each scene... darker when necessary, lighter what that was a better match for the scene! Another good example of directing the scene, not the technology. 12) I thought the mother in law character was particularly well developed. Nice job all around! Great contest submission! And thanks for the subtitles! They make your videos so much more enjoyable for those of us who don't speak or understand Spanish. -------------------------------------------------------- edited by PatMarrNC on 15/10/2016
2016/10/15 0:46:10
How do I place things inside a building?	I did add a UCX_Collision model to the house Rod... which let me move my character in and out... but it didn't allow the furniture. Happy to report that the trick Ikes suggested (positioning the furniture as keyframed moves) worked like a charm. Apparently the keyframing overrides the collision detection.
2016/10/14 20:11:28
creating sound for video	I thought this was interesting, and applicable to what we all do when we create Muvizu videos
2016/10/14 17:15:08
How do I place things inside a building?	ikes wrote: hi Pat, You can bypass the collision if you add keyframe movement to the objects. Just place a keyframe of every object on frame 0 and possition them in the house. The lights in muvizu work kind of strange, actually do not work at all in conjunction with objects, the light / shadows goes straight through the walls. You can check a light to be interior under the shadow tab of the light, but it does not really improve it. thanks Ikes! Exactly what I needed to get the furniture inside the house! Also good info about the lights! Thanks for the quick response... I appreciate your help, as always! Changing the light to an inside light DID accomplish most of what I wanted... (how did you know that? I haven't seen that in any of the tutorials... ) ------------------------------------------------------- edited by PatMarrNC on 14/10/2016
2016/10/14 17:10:24
How do I place things inside a building?	MrDrWho13 wrote: Have you tried removing the 4th wall? not yet.. but it's on my list of things to try if I can't find other workarounds. I notice some of the other members' building models have removable roofs. That wy I guess you can show the whole house when necessary, then for close-ups remove the roof It might make more sense to build a tri-wall set that's used for inside scenes. Thanks for the quick reply! You are a very helpful man!
2016/10/14 16:28:29
How do I place things inside a building?	I modelled a house with collision minimized so I can put people inside... but I can't furnish the place because I can only get people past the house's collision. Is there a workaround for this? Or do I just need to model some furniture into the house? I also notice that when you put a light inside an enclosed space, it doesn't work the way one might expect. I hoped it would light up the inside of the house and shine out through the windows. (but it doesn't) I could embark on a long research project to see what works, but if anybody knows how to light up the inside of a building, please let me know ------------------------------------------ edited by PatMarrNC on 14/10/2016
2016/10/14 16:04:28
COMBINING TOOLS IN YOUR TOOLBOX...	good find, Ziggy!
2016/10/11 19:11:18
HOW TO MAKE A LOW POLY TREE	There are also free and paid extensions for sketchup that automatically generate trees and other types of plants. https://extensions.sketchup.com/en/search/site/3d%20tree%20maker
2016/10/11 4:26:29
HOW TO MAKE A LOW POLY TREE	Nice tutorial! Thanks for expanding on the topic! I'd like to hear more from you, you have so much knowledge to share!
2016/10/10 2:36:34
HOW TO MAKE A LOW POLY TREE	export the tree and cones as OBJ and then convert to ASE (ASE seems to handle this type of transparency better than FBX) Import the resuklting ASE file as follows: DON'T USE ID TEXTURES MAP ALPHA TO: OPACITY MASK (NOT OPACITY!) NO AMBIENT OCCLUSION MAP DOUBLE SIDED In Muvizu, the cones are invisible because the opacity mask only sees the opaque part of the image, which is the leaves. You should get something like this:
2016/10/10 2:24:40
HOW TO MAKE A LOW POLY TREE	Next step is to assemble a bunch of sticks into a tree however you want to do that.... and make a bunch of copy-pasted versions of your cone. Attach the point of the cone to the ends of your branches and try to make the leaves aligned to the branch so they aren't obviously crooked. But it's a fairly forgiving end result because the edges of the circle that make it look crooked in this environment will be invisible in Muvizu, so there will be no straight lines to indicate a lack of squareness. You should end up with something like this: (Don't worry that you don't see the transparency yet... in the modelling environment it's helpful to see the edges for alignment purposes)