E-mail me and let’s talk shop.

fvan@shaw.ca

Well if all you’re looking for is adding motion to a model then that’s something that I’m not really interested in and not the kind of project I’m looking for. Granted that doing motion for the sake of motion is not all that difficult and anyone with, and with all due respect, a bit of software knowledge could pull off a pre-vis effort in a “very” short period of time..

As for some of my stuff.

NOTE: this is stuff I did six years ago (I really need to update ;) ).

http://www.3d-frankiev.com/MyStuf/My_Stuff.htm

I “might” be interested but that all depends on just how much work your willing to put into it yourself.

After listening to your example I can hear that you guys are a bit more than just wishful thinking want-a-be’s and a rock animation is something that I’ve wanted to try. The only question is how much in to this project you guys will be.

Right off the top what are you looking for? A performance piece or something stylized?

Before even beginning you need to have a concept to set the direction and the development of the assets.

Can you supply me with all and any video references required? I could freeform the piece but then it would not be you and the band but rather my interpretation of the music.

Also keep in mind that 3 minuets of animation, even in a performance piece, can take “months” to produce and I already have enough real life commitments that such a project will defiantly be a hurry-up-and-wait proposition.

But

To get things started I would first want to see a video performance of the piece you wish animated. Sorry for being bottom line about this but.

 1)      There are “TONS” of go nowhere projects out there that just up and disappear.

1. If your not able to supply proper and quality references from a hardware point of view then there is no point of even starting in the first place.  I’m talking quality and not something taken with a cell phone.

Ahhh I see where you’re going. What you’re talking about is cutting edge stuff.

I can’t speak for the other programs that you mention but recently a couple of tools have been add to Max that will make body dynamics possible, for that program, in the near future.

Skin Morph Modifier:

Is a modifier that allows the deforming of a mesh based on the rotation of a joint controller and the set position is morph based on the position it is set and the completion of the rotation. Of course we are back to the “but” of the morphing idea.

But.

Skin Wrap Modifier.

Is a modifier that allows a mesh to be bound to a sub-surface object that overrides the skinning solution that has been applied or even driven by a sub-surface skin as you mentioned.

With the skin morpher you can now build highly accurate muscles at the element level that behaves as by design with out having to depend on the limited ability of the rig. Once you have all your muscles behaving properly as individual groups you can “wrap” your skin around the entire frame.

 Between the two it is now very possible to create a muscle system that has the same dynamics as a human being that has been rejected in the past as it was to complicated and expensive a process that really had no audience impact.

If you’re interested I did do a tutorial that demonstrates a very basic muscle design using Max.http://www.3d-frankiev.com/maxtuts/max8_video_tutorials.htm

But if your really interested in the roll of human dynamics in a production environment then the person to watch in that area would be Paul Neale at PEN Productions.

http://paulneale.com/3Dimages/ogre/ogreRig.htm

He has been doing some amazing work in the area of accurate character development and has a list of film and television credits that you might want to check out. I’ve seen his work on the Dresden Files and it’s amazing stuff. 

Also another place to check out.

http://www.cgcharacter.com/

A rather limited solution based on the technical factors to pull off a complete solution but it does demonstrate the possibility of human dynamics becoming a standard rather than working with a limited control system and then fixing the problems for the shot afterwards.

How does this affect Poser? Well I don’t what to get into that Dodge verse Ford argument but it “seems” to me that Poser is a platform that is used by those that don’t want to be involved in the technical aspects and requirements yet want to produce visually appealing images. For them it’s just a matter of time before human dynamics is included in the box as CG graphics as a whole has always been driven towards a realistic and accurate real world representation inside a world of fantasy.

And of course:

There will always be the but. ;)

Hi RorrKonn

Been hanging around a bit and I believe that you will probably get your wish sooner than you think.

I picked up Daz Studio and the FBX export a while back and I’ve been running a few tests to see how useful it would be to me.

Based on your notion that its not possible to get a rigged and properly deforming character out of Poser here are a few examples of Victoria 4 animated in Motion Builder and rendered in Max.

There are a few issues that I’m not ready to comment on but the results so far have been very positive.

The specification was to take a Daz3D model as purchased and move it through a pipeline with out modification and maintain the original usability. Very primitive work but from Daz Studio to Max to Motion Builder and Back to Max took a total of 45 minutes or less excluding rendering time.      

http://www.3d-frankiev.com/OutBox/vic4test.rar

http://www.3d-frankiev.com/OutBox/vic4test2.rar

Also I did a key frame morph test as well once again based on the same specifications. Total work time 8 to ten hours excluding render.

http://www.3d-frankiev.com/OutBox/havefun.mov

Every thing was done using a base three point lighting set up and the scan line render.