Basic NLA in C6 - Polyloop

Couerl · 23rd December 2007, 08:29

This is an introduction video on how to setup a simple NLA using Carrara-6.

The figure is just a stock Aiko-3 for simplicity, but you can use any charecter you like.

I suggest you just right click and "save target as" so you can start and stop where you like on your own machine.

Hope it helps someone,

Steve
http://files.polyloop.net/tutorials/couerl/NLA.mov - 90Mb

Tartiflette · 28th December 2007, 14:39

Thanks a lot Couerl !

I'm downloading the Quicktime right now.
And again thank you for taking the time to explain how the NLA works in Carrara 6, as i'm sure a lot of people are a little bit lost with the relatively poor documentation about this great feature.

Cheers,
Laurent aka Tartiflette

mi2mi · 30th December 2007, 17:05

Yes, thank you very much for showing us how it works !!!

Tartiflette · 5th January 2008, 14:50

Wow, actually i'm amazed that nobody except mi2mi has looked at that !

Probably people don't even know or undertand what NLA is ?

Anyway it's a great addition to Carrara's animation arsenal and i hope that people will realize that.

Cheers,
Laurent aka Tartiflette

John M. · 5th January 2008, 18:55

Thanks Couerl! I'm fairly new to Carrara and haven't fully investigated the animation features yet. This will be a big help for me.

John
(former west slope inhabitant)

Couerl · 5th January 2008, 19:04

It's very basic, in fact the simplest possible scenerio. There is a lot more one can do with NLA if they get a little creative, for instance you can create more than one animation group and use one to control facial morphs and the other to control body movements and so forth, but Carrara seems to be only able to handle around 20-30 different clips at any one time so you still need to break down your animating in "chunks" and do some experimenting. It actually is pretty cool if you like to animate and eliminates the need to micromanage keyframing.

Gary_P · 10th February 2008, 22:10

That is truly amazing!
Thank you so much Couerl, from a Carrara newbe.
I'm loving this program more and more.

How would you overlay one track onto another for separate control of the head and body?

EricD · 22nd February 2008, 20:49

Thanks Couerl. This is great. I suppose this can also be used with Carrara-generated characters and poses. Can you also reuse animation, like a walk cycle, or just static poses?

Eric

Couerl · 22nd February 2008, 21:10

Yes and no.. You can use NLA on anything, "content" or not. You cannot transfer NLA clips to other figures/charecters, whether you use canned or make your own. You also cannot transfer clips to new tracks created in other scenes as far as I know, but there might be an exception to this rule if you are using the same figure. I have not tried it myself, but it can trash the file if you try and transfer clips to animation groups/tracks created in oher scenes. For something like a BVH import, I imagine you could try to apply it to something else, but again, I'm not really sure. You can create a walkcycle and save that as a clip and apply it anywhere on the correct track and anywhere on the timeline, but to me anyway, the significance of NLA is that one need only create static poses and stitch them together and allow the NLA feature to blend these altogether. it takes time and patience, but it works quite nicely.

23rd December 2007, 08:29	#1 (permalink)
Couerl Polygurbs Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Denver Posts: 1,295	Basic NLA in C6 This is an introduction video on how to setup a simple NLA using Carrara-6. The figure is just a stock Aiko-3 for simplicity, but you can use any charecter you like. I suggest you just right click and "save target as" so you can start and stop where you like on your own machine. Hope it helps someone, Steve http://files.polyloop.net/tutorials/couerl/NLA.mov - 90Mb Attached Thumbnails Last edited by Thomas; 23rd December 2007 at 17:29.

28th December 2007, 14:39	#2 (permalink)
Tartiflette Bob dans Monsters, Inc Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Lussan, Gard Posts: 1,897	Thanks a lot Couerl ! I'm downloading the Quicktime right now. And again thank you for taking the time to explain how the NLA works in Carrara 6, as i'm sure a lot of people are a little bit lost with the relatively poor documentation about this great feature. Cheers, Laurent aka Tartiflette Last edited by Tartiflette; 5th January 2008 at 14:47. Reason: spelling mistakes...

10th February 2008, 22:10	#7 (permalink)
Gary_P Forever learning Join Date: May 2006 Location: New Jersey Posts: 123	That is truly amazing! Thank you so much Couerl, from a Carrara newbe. I'm loving this program more and more. How would you overlay one track onto another for separate control of the head and body? __________________ I had a case of the tesselated nurbs once. The doctor cured me, and I'll not be eating there again.

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30th December 2007, 17:05	#3 (permalink)
mi2mi Box modeling Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Roncq, France (juste au nord eud'Lille) Posts: 333	Yes, thank you very much for showing us how it works !!!

5th January 2008, 14:50	#4 (permalink)
Tartiflette Bob dans Monsters, Inc Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Lussan, Gard Posts: 1,897	Wow, actually i'm amazed that nobody except mi2mi has looked at that ! Probably people don't even know or undertand what NLA is ? Anyway it's a great addition to Carrara's animation arsenal and i hope that people will realize that. Cheers, Laurent aka Tartiflette

5th January 2008, 18:55	#5 (permalink)
John M. Vertex Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Manchester, NJ Posts: 26	Thanks Couerl! I'm fairly new to Carrara and haven't fully investigated the animation features yet. This will be a big help for me. John (former west slope inhabitant)

5th January 2008, 19:04	#6 (permalink)
Couerl Polygurbs Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Denver Posts: 1,295	It's very basic, in fact the simplest possible scenerio. There is a lot more one can do with NLA if they get a little creative, for instance you can create more than one animation group and use one to control facial morphs and the other to control body movements and so forth, but Carrara seems to be only able to handle around 20-30 different clips at any one time so you still need to break down your animating in "chunks" and do some experimenting. It actually is pretty cool if you like to animate and eliminates the need to micromanage keyframing.

22nd February 2008, 20:49	#8 (permalink)
EricD Extrusion Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Rhode Island, USA Posts: 156	Thanks Couerl. This is great. I suppose this can also be used with Carrara-generated characters and poses. Can you also reuse animation, like a walk cycle, or just static poses? Eric

22nd February 2008, 21:10	#9 (permalink)
Couerl Polygurbs Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Denver Posts: 1,295	Yes and no.. You can use NLA on anything, "content" or not. You cannot transfer NLA clips to other figures/charecters, whether you use canned or make your own. You also cannot transfer clips to new tracks created in other scenes as far as I know, but there might be an exception to this rule if you are using the same figure. I have not tried it myself, but it can trash the file if you try and transfer clips to animation groups/tracks created in oher scenes. For something like a BVH import, I imagine you could try to apply it to something else, but again, I'm not really sure. You can create a walkcycle and save that as a clip and apply it anywhere on the correct track and anywhere on the timeline, but to me anyway, the significance of NLA is that one need only create static poses and stitch them together and allow the NLA feature to blend these altogether. it takes time and patience, but it works quite nicely.