This is an archive of CompuServe forum messages from 1985 to 1995, as saved in transcripts by John Foust.
Search Results (88 messages)
The time it takes to make believable, moving characters with polygons is very time intensive from what they tell me…this includes human, animal, alien and robotic characters with personalities. Seems many "cheat" and use models you can buy for objects like cars, furniture, etc. just to save time. Also, I…
I was talking about this to thread to Joe Krause, a friend of mine who has had Lightwave for some time now. He says Lightwave didn't always have the neat special effects like lense flares, etc. The stuff had to be developed first. What you have with Lightwave is the…
Jim…that's the neat thing about the Animation SIG…no membership bull…you just show up and add what you can to the group. I've only been to 2 more meetings than you! Granted, they're a bit more familiar with me, but you could become familiar real fast with some of your work.…
Steve…It is a great CD-ROM… Re: the tape.. feel free to send me the copies to distribute if you'd like. There's generally around 20-30 people at each meeting and they'd all probably love to see it. My experience has been that the two hours of the meeting fly by so…
Yeah, it is great about A:M being on the CD-ROM…and this seems to be the busiest section of this forum. The meetings are always the third Thursday of the month…so, mark down 11/17! See ya there, Jim! Kevin
You're more than welcome! Thank you for taking computer animation to a new level! Kevin
Ooooh..I gotta try that…I was just wondering how to do that and was going to watch the tapes over again to see if there were tips in decal. BTW, Joe Krause tells me that Dale Myers finally got excited about A:M. Seems somebody got him a video demo or told…
Adam– No problem, sit as long as you want. I've found that the more information you can get, the better off you are with this stuff. If I had gone with early advice I would've blown $200-$300 on a new video card that I don't really need at this point…
Adam, The MultiPro CTV is a VGA to NTSC or PAL converter. It does a pretty good job for the price. Be forewarned that there is color bleeding with intense colors, especially reds and greens (blue doesn't seem to cause problems for me yet) and larger fonts are a must..like…
Graphdev is probably your best bet. I do know the guys at Hash use the PAR board. I'm happy right now loading what little I've done to video tape using AI Tech's MultiPro CTV. It does a very decent job for the price. I was pleasantly surprised by it. Kevin
Thanks, Doug, for the update. I was just relaying what I had been told..that longer times required more compression and thus more loss. The guy telling me uses it a lot and is picky about his pictures, so that could explain the disparaging comments from him. He set the 6…
Hi, Jim– The Animation SIG is held at 7PM every third Thursday of the month at Slipped Disk in Madison Heights, in a shopping strip around the corner from K-Mart, at 12 Mile and John R. Mostly Amiga guys attend, but there's more interest in PC programs, etc. since the…
I have no personal experience with the PAR board, but I know about it a little from monthly Animation SIG meetings held here near Detroit. I've been told that there is some loss due to the compression techniques involved. If you're only doing about 6 minutes of animation with very…
Steve, Thanks for the recommendation for the cache. I'm hoping it will help with render times, too. I downloaded a different player from the Playmation BBS, playflc.exe and found no tearing on a few animations that I'd seen tearing on before (mousetrp.fli for instance, the ears would tear…they don't with…
#Rod's Head
Message #1108
Steve– I was wondering if your computers use 256KB cache? The reason I ask is because that's one of the last things I can add to my computer before I give up on my factory installed Cirrus Logic card and go out and buy a new one. I'm having trouble…
Steve, Prayers you'll have and if the tapes are ready in January, you'll have my money, too! I can hardly wait. 🙂 Kevin
Ditto, I'd buy any further instruction material. I already have the Playmation demo tutorial and the 5 tapes they sell. Any tips would greatly help! How 'bout it, Steve? Are we close on a new A:M instructional video? Kevin
I agree, it's excellent. I hope to do as well when I finally figure this program out!:)
I thought Bob was a mannequin. I've been altering him a bunch of times! Thanks again! Kevin
Thank you for uploading the primitives. They are definite time savers and idea starters! Now what was this about mannequins you used to have that somebody was telling me about. They'd be neat to have, too, since they're not in A:M, unless that's Bob he was telling me about. Kevin
Their main program of preference is Lightwave, because it comes bundled with the Toaster. But the ones who have the money or work for companies who do like to use the higher end stuff. I'm showing them the Playmation demo at the next Animation SIG at a local Amiga store.…
Wow! SoftImage is what the Amiga guys I run into are saying is one of the best. Thanks for the info! Kevin
Yeah, I liked Megabyte, too. I thought Bob was too stiff and I'm in LOVE with Dot Matrix. Bob is blue, Dot is green. I liked the way they gave her some nice animated movement. I only saw about the last 15 minutes. Someone over on AOL suggested it's polygon…
I thought Reboot was great. It came as a surprise to me, too, as I had fallen asleep in front of the TV last night and woke up with it already on. I rolled tape on the last 15 or 20 minutes. It's probably good to introduce this style of…
Great stuff…but do you mean also that you modeled them as complete figures in Sculpture, not just in sections that you pieced together?
Hi, Kevin…I downloaded both CCHALL & CCDEMO.MOV and they are very good. Maybe I missed something in a previous message, but did you model the characters as one piece or in parts?…Especially good job on the women! And loved all the motion and dissolves, etc. in the movie. It's amazing…
Another Disney article
Message #466
Also, check out the article on Disney Villains in the new Fall '94 issue of Imagi- Movies, on newsstands now. It mentions a new book by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston in an interview with them and other real interesting stuff. The new book is "The Disney Villains" (Hyperion). They…
I can help you with one question as I'm still learning how to use it. There is only one camera…but it and its target can be moved all over. Think like a movie crew using one big Panavision camera and you get the idea. You can't shoot it like a…
Hey, I'll take a beat up copy from one of the hole-in-the-wall places I know. Guess I just don't want to seem too desperate! I'll let you know in the days ahead if I turn one or more up. Thanks for the warning!
I just ordered a set of fonts from Branded Research. The flyer came with my Animation Master software. They're 100% spline based and come in 3 styles including serif and sans-serif. Each font includes the complete set of upper and lower case letters, numbers and punctuation…they also provide glass lettering…
Thanks! I'll have to pick up a copy. I think that movie's great! The dog is somethin else…makes you wonder if they animated him from time to time..great reactions… and the digital work looked pretty darn good!
Thanks for the tip! The search now goes to the used book stores! There are a bunch of them here in the Detroit area. BTW, you will really enjoy the Shamus Culhane book. He really gives a ton of information on how to bring animated characters to life. He even…
Shamus Culhane refers to it in his excellent book "Animation, From Script to Screen" (1988, paperback "A Thomas-Dunne Book", St. Martin's Press, which I recently picked up at Border's) "Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life" by Frank Thomas & Ollie Johnston, New York: Abbeville Press, 1981 I haven't been able…
Good ISA graphics cards?
Message #335
Any good suggestions for a good ISA graphics card? I'm stuck with this computer for at least another 2 years and I'm forced to go the ISA route (I can't afford to rebuild everything…). Anybody have problems with any specific models? Which are better? Will one of the newer cards…
Also, Shamus Culhane's book, Animation, Script to Screen is excellent and can be found at books stores. I'm still having a devil of a time locating the Disney Animation: Illusion of Life book.
The bouncing hammer is great, especially if you've seen the Will Vinton Studios "Hammer" on the demo tape! It's awesome. Animation at its best.
#Characters included!
Message #108
Hey, Steve… I must've missed something 'cuz much to my surprise I discovered ready made character skeletons and figures when I was just trying out the Animation Master software. Holy Cow! What a neat aid!
Welcome to CompuServe! I'm very happy you're here now. I dial in to a 14.4 node here and much prefer that speed for downloading. Have tried the BBS lately with no answer and the last time I got thru I couldn't access the free file area. Will Pickering still has…
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