I've been playing around with animation for quite awhile in P4. With a recent RAM upgrade to 1gb, I can now take animation seriously in P5. Thing I'm wondering is, when I do a clip using lipsyncing from Mimic3, should I clear the sound before making the movie and then edit it back in with a video editor? I'm wondering if this will help speed up P5's movie exporting process. I've already learned about removing geometry from the scene that is not in view of the camera. Not to mention turning off bump maps and cast shadows. P4 moved a lot quicker but, P5's material room is too cool to ignore for added effects! Also, a tip for 'frozen' renders/animations: When my computer seems to be froze during rendering, sometimes if I just click ONCE in a grey area of the screen then after about 20 seconds the render will continue. Note: this might not work for everyone but, it sure beats resetting the computer/Poser and losing data! Sad to say, it's usually just about being patient, my most lacking attribute ;)

I bring audio into Poser so I can time everything, of course, including lip synch. But I render out to individual frames. When I make the film from the frames, I have never had any problem re-timing to the audio. cyberscape, have you ever considered rendering your animation out to individual non-lossy frames and assmebling you movie in another application? There is a list in my head at least 10 items long why I do it that way, we can discuss if you wish. ::::: Opera :::::

Opera Sounds good to me. I've considered doing individual frames but, wasn't sure about the ease of lipsync timing. I know that individual frames will allow you to stop/start the animation rendering process at any point. Thing is, I really need to start learning more about Adobe Premiere - which I have. All of the codec stuff that AP deals with is quite confusing. Do you know of any good recommendations for tutorials on Premiere or animation assembly in general? My main focus lately has been experimenting with the light and camera movements in Poser for added dramatic effects. Not to mention getting V3/S3 to behave properly. If you got any more good advice on animation, I'd be glad to hear it - not to mention the other noobs out there. Later

I always render out to single frames and then re-combine them with the audio using VirtualDub (a freeware program). In order to get the timing right and in synch with the audio one does have to re-combine the bitmaps at the correct frame rate - this is JUST as good as rendering out to .AVI, but safer (and if you make a minor change you can just re-render the frames that it affects, not the whole clip). Cheers, Cliff

cyberscape, For simple assembly, including audio synch-up, I use Quicktime Pro ($29.99) avail. for Mac and PC. You open Quicktime, then 'Open Image Sequence' and point it to your the first frame in your folder of frames. It will ask you for the framerate, then assemble a completely non-lossy video. That means if each of your frames is a 1MB TIFF image and you import 300 frames, you will have a 300 MB Quicktime file with NO loss of detail. That is your master. You then open your sound file in a new Quicktime window, copy/paste (various ways to 'fit' it in place and sync properly) it on top of your master; it resides there as a separate editable track. Then you can export using various compression schemes and codec, including Sorensen3, avi, etc. Now, this is by no means a full-blown video editor, but you can do quite a bit, suprisingly, with this fine utility. Even though it is published by Apple, I use it in editing mode all the time on WinXP. I use Quicktime at this point because I am not ready to go on the learning curve of Final Cut Pro or Premeier or even as who3D mentioned, VirtualDub. By all accounts, Premier is pretty cool, though! ::::: Opera :::::

By the way, cyberscape, welcome to the Poser Animation Club, a small but intense subculture here. You are finding us at the right time....prospects for animators in Poser have taken a big leap forward this week. Welcome aboard, ::::: Opera :::::

The FAQ in the animation forum was updated recently. You might consider checking it out!

VirtualDub is incredibly simple to use, especially for this type of operation (partly because it has comparatively few functions, so there isn't a huge list of abilities to search among for what you want). I've had Premiere users complain to be that fps settings have to be made in more than 1 place and results can be variable, but I cannot confirm this of direct experience :( Cliff

Hey, glad to be a part of the club! I've bookmarked the FAQ that you mentioned Bobasaur, thanks! I'll go check out VirtualDub and see what it's about. QuicktimePro sounds good but, until tax returns come back I really can't afford anymore 3D stuff. Heck, I'd like to get the P6/Shade deal but again, lack 'o' funds :( Besides, I need to start working with what I already have - Premiere, After Effects and P5/P4. I went totally nuts with my tax return last year and have barely used Premiere or After Effects. Kinda pathetic considering the money I blew :P Later, Chaps!