Sid Contruction - Polyloop

Mr. Jeff · 23rd February 2007, 17:13

Hi everyone,

I make Sid the Poker Chip videos for a poker website. I've made 3 so far. Before I start my next one, I'd lake to redesign Sid to be a little more animation friendly. I am going to start with his mouth. (You can view Sid at www.willinois.com)

I make the mouth with 2 spline objects, one a compound path for an opening in the chips front, and the other his lips. What I would like is to somehow make this into one object. Right now, for each mouth movement, I must move the lips than goto the other one, take off the compund with, adjust the opening, reapply the compound path and se if everything lines up alright.

Here are a couple of screen shots of how it's set up.

I'll take any advice, even if it's just on how to make it look better or work better.
thanks

markbremmer · 23rd February 2007, 18:39

Hi Jeff,

For animation ease and speed, I'd really be tempted boolean the shapes together, convert it to a Vertex Object and then create morph targets for the vowels and expressions. That way you can animate talking by simply dragging and combining slider variables around.

Mark

Mr. Jeff · 23rd February 2007, 19:00

Thank's Mark. That sounds easy but maybe a bit above my knowledge. Could I beg you to explain a little more, maybe explain morph targets?

Thanks

markbremmer · 23rd February 2007, 19:17

Morph Targets are changes to the original geometry "saved" in a slider format so you can use the full change or only part of the change by adjusting the slider.

Creating them is not a simple explaination but it is a straight forward and simple process. :-D Check out the Carrara Manual for an introduction and play around a little bit. I'm sure you'll pick it up quickly.

I do have a section in my tutorial series about creating them if you're so inclined.

Mark

Mr. Jeff · 23rd February 2007, 20:18

Thanks again. I'm always hoping someone can explain it to me so I don't have to read the manual. But from what you told me, it might well be worth it to read about morph targets. That will be tonights project. And I will look at your tutorial.

If you've got any other advice of my character, I'd love to hear it. I mean, if you look at my animation and see something that so obviously wrong, please don't hesitate to say something!

Thanks very much!

23rd February 2007, 17:13	#1 (permalink)
Mr. Jeff Vertex Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 14	Sid Contruction Hi everyone, I make Sid the Poker Chip videos for a poker website. I've made 3 so far. Before I start my next one, I'd lake to redesign Sid to be a little more animation friendly. I am going to start with his mouth. (You can view Sid at www.willinois.com) I make the mouth with 2 spline objects, one a compound path for an opening in the chips front, and the other his lips. What I would like is to somehow make this into one object. Right now, for each mouth movement, I must move the lips than goto the other one, take off the compund with, adjust the opening, reapply the compound path and se if everything lines up alright. Here are a couple of screen shots of how it's set up. I'll take any advice, even if it's just on how to make it look better or work better. thanks Attached Thumbnails Last edited by Mr. Jeff; 23rd February 2007 at 17:22. Reason: More info

23rd February 2007, 18:39	#2 (permalink)
markbremmer Escaping to 3D worlds... Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 176	Hi Jeff, For animation ease and speed, I'd really be tempted boolean the shapes together, convert it to a Vertex Object and then create morph targets for the vowels and expressions. That way you can animate talking by simply dragging and combining slider variables around. Mark __________________ Mark Bremmer Beginner, intermediate and advanced Carrara tutorials are here.

23rd February 2007, 19:17	#4 (permalink)
markbremmer Escaping to 3D worlds... Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 176	Morph Targets are changes to the original geometry "saved" in a slider format so you can use the full change or only part of the change by adjusting the slider. Creating them is not a simple explaination but it is a straight forward and simple process. :-D Check out the Carrara Manual for an introduction and play around a little bit. I'm sure you'll pick it up quickly. I do have a section in my tutorial series about creating them if you're so inclined. Mark Attached Thumbnails __________________ Mark Bremmer Beginner, intermediate and advanced Carrara tutorials are here.

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23rd February 2007, 19:00	#3 (permalink)
Mr. Jeff Vertex Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 14	Thank's Mark. That sounds easy but maybe a bit above my knowledge. Could I beg you to explain a little more, maybe explain morph targets? Thanks

23rd February 2007, 20:18	#5 (permalink)
Mr. Jeff Vertex Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 14	Thanks again. I'm always hoping someone can explain it to me so I don't have to read the manual. But from what you told me, it might well be worth it to read about morph targets. That will be tonights project. And I will look at your tutorial. If you've got any other advice of my character, I'd love to hear it. I mean, if you look at my animation and see something that so obviously wrong, please don't hesitate to say something! Thanks very much!