CompuServe Thread

#CNN-Mitchell Murder Mesh

9 messages in this thread
#10270From: John WrightMar 7, 1992 5:07 PM
Gary, HI, I saw some discussion about the Porn Kings/Mitchell Bros. animation done with Alec. We have renamed our man mesh in the 3D studio ANATOMY collection to "The Mitchell Man". As you know, Alec bought the collection (including the skeleton, woman, heart, etc.) from VIEWPOINT for $395.00. I remember several years ago we priced a model for a Man for a big $$ animation for another litigation case. The price was $8500.00 !!! Thanks for growing the market ….. To order the VIEWPOINT COLLECTIONS call 800-748-4170.
#10273From: Yost GroupMar 7, 1992 9:17 PM
John, that model of the man which Alec used has gotten alot of use at Autodesk as well. We used him (as a mountain climber scaling our logo) on our 3DSr2 launch tape. Of COURSE Viewpoint got a credit (as usual). You guys are great. The pricing on the "collections" is truly amazing. Thanks again! – G
#10276From: ROBERTO LACAYOMar 7, 1992 11:49 PM
Hello, Hate to poke my nose in ,but I gather this is an anatomical mesh program for 3ds –We'd love to know where to check it out– I know of 3d people & humancad ,but may have some need for skeletal details especially of the head. Is this program this detailed?? Have a good evening Kimberly
#10286From: alec jasonMar 8, 1992 6:15 PM
John, You're going to call it the "Mitchell Man" ? I call him "Artie" or "The GHMF" (pronouced "gumpf") for Generic Human Male Form. I did buy your anatomy collection for $395 and I thought that was expensive. After briefly (very briefly) attempting to create one myself, I ordered one from you guys the next morning. It worked well. I do wish your hierarchy extended down to the finger joints. A new project I'm working on requires me to show a close up of a hand holding a pistol and pulling the trigger. Good work you guys, and thanks. Alec Jason
#10291From: MARTIN G FOSTERMar 8, 1992 9:21 PM
You can create seperate objects of the finger joints in the 3D Editor by "selecting" the faces you want for that part of the finger, doing the CREATE,FACE,DETACH operation, with the SELECTED button ON. This creates an object which you name. Then do the hierarchy link operation in the KEYFRAMER starting at the lowest joint and linking to the next higher. An alternative way of doing it is MORPHING. You make copies of the hand for your morph stages. You then bend the individual faces of the finger to the appropriate part of the finger bend in the 3d editor. You then morph from one hand to the next in the KEYFRAMER. I hope I have been clear. If you haven't already done so, I strongly recommend completing the 3dstudio tutorials. You may find you will be able to build your own models after some practice, or definetly customize other peoples models.
#10301From: alec jasonMar 9, 1992 1:46 AM
Thanks for your suggestions, Martin I've got a lot to learn, I know. But I am not an artist and I had a hell of a difficult time trying to create (draw?) even the simple beer bottle I used in the animation. I realize that a real artist or draftsman can create almost anything with 3DS but I'm not one of those and I don't think I have the time to learn to become one. No one will come to me with an animation project because I'm a great artist, but because of my technical expertise in forensic matters. My value in this business is (I hope) in analyzing the evidence and then establishing a visual representation to present the evidence in a meaningful and effective manner. What I want to do is simply to manipulate objects and determine the camera's POV. I really feel that I should no more have to create my own meshes than a film director should be required to build his own set and his own props. Creating meshes is — to me — the drudge work. It's difficult to communicate via computers as it is easy to be misunderstood so I want to clearly state that I am in no way contemptuous of nor do I feel "superior" to you mesh-builders, you artists. I admire your skill very much but I know what my strengths and weaknesses are. I think that perhaps I am one of the first non-artist, nonarchitect/draftsman, non-animator, 3DS users. There may be an analogy between current 3DS users and the early automobile owners. To run a car in the early days before mass-production, you had to be very handy with tools and have a strong understanding of how the engine worked and you had to be able to fabricate some of your spare parts. Things changed and it quickly became possible for anyone to own and drive a car without any mechanical ability (and without any understanding of principles of internal combustion.) Martin, you are one of the highly competent, adventurous "mechanics" of these "early days" of computer animation.
#10303From: Craig Sharp [Mem TM]Mar 9, 1992 4:33 AM
Alec: Well, Stephen Spielberg isn't known for his acting, either. The way that Autodesk has latched on to your stuff, you should be able to get plenty of help from them! <G>. You should just hire out for a modeler… and then you can do the directing without being 'bothered' with the details <g>. C#
#10318From: MARTIN G FOSTERMar 9, 1992 1:16 PM
I know what you mean, Alec. Mesh building can be tedious, so there will probably always be a market for ready-made or custom mesh building companies, like Viewpoint and Technical Designs. I certainly have and will buy stuff from them, also. Sometimes, however, my client's budget does not extend to buying that stuff or the kind of thing I need is not available. I think Viewpoint will build a mesh of anything you like. BUT, if it's a custom job, as apposed to something currently in their library, your talking THOUSANDS of dollars not $395! In that light, being able to build meshes seems, although tedious, a pretty useful skill. Also, bear in mind that you can avoid complicated geometry, sometimes, by using a texture map (typically of photo) of the object mapped onto a flat object. This can be a very handy way of avoiding the I_hate_mesh_building_syndrome.
#10332From: alec jasonMar 9, 1992 4:35 PM
Good points, Martin. BTW, I don't we'll have to be building as many meshes as we used to now that r2 is here. I couldn't say anything about the CD last night but when I first learned about it, it was to me a very, very welcome feature. "Clip art" (or "Clip MESHES") will make life better. Thanks again — I really do appreciate and value your comments. Alec Jason