#anim begginer
10 messages in this thread
Is there a good mag. or book to read about getting started in animations? I
just got my a1200 and a little souped up so I am ready to start. I've been
reading all messages here and have found quite a bit of talent. What I'm
interested in is making anims but do not have $5000.00 to spend. Doing
everything on my budget requires timing and penny pinching. Any suggestions as
to what is best/easiest as far as Imagine/Vistapro/DCTV,etc.etc… and anything
else that might be needed to go with the above will be certainly appreciated.
Like I said, I am a home AMIGA user scince '85.Have not been disapointed yet
but am getting tired of viewing others creations and want to creat some
myself.Leave any info and any prices you can regardless of $$$$$.never know,
might sell un needed ibm to further enjoy AMIGA.As it is to ME the only way to
go!!!!!! PLease help if you can. MANY THANK in advance for all replies
MARK T DAVIS
Mark, for info on Animating and Video in genereal take a look at Amiga
Video Grafix(formerly Avid), AV/Video, Video Toaster User, Videografix
Today Video Tape Subscription and of course ALWAYS ask here when ya get
stuck.
Thanks Peter,
Will check them out.Hope to be animating SOON.
Good Luck and remember START SMALL. trying to make a 3000 frame anim as
your first attempt would be insane. fiddle around till you get the hang of
it. BTW there's also a mag called "Animation Magazine" not abou compter
Animating but just animation in genereal.
Peter,
I agree about starting small! My first two DPaint animations were variations
on the NBC logo easing in or opening up with flower-like petals. I learned a
lot from those first tests, and what's more important, did them the first night
or two, so I didn't get discouraged.
Mark, I would recommend buying a back issue of Amiga World, October 1991,
which has several short articles from different animators dealing with
animation techniques that can be applied to all forms of animation. In
addition, I recommend their 1992 Animation & Video Special; it's chock full of
informative articles and comparisons on most any type of hardware and software
you need to do animation. Call their 1-800 Subscription Services number.
Blaq!
For a Begginimg Animator their Animation Basics Video tape isn't bad
either. Another Good idea is buying the Book, Disney Animation:The
Illusion of Life
I don't know of any good books or magazines for beginners to get started
in animations, but are you talking about 2D or 3D animation? (or landscape
animation packages?)
If we are talking about 3D then I could recomend any of the following:
Aladdin 4D, Imagine, Real 3D or Caligary 24.
Imagine is supposed to get a major upgrade soon and so is Real3D which
looks like a winner.
As far as HardWare goes, this ALL DEPENDS ON HOW SERIOUS YOU WANT TO GET.
You already have a nice display and capable of animating in HAM8 (don't
use Anim-5, use Anim-7 or -8, when available). Some find that to be a VERY
nice set-up others find that to be unacceptable. DCTV as a display device
won't help you since you already have AGA, but DCTV has a good digitizer.
I would suggest you determine your goals and you can then decide the
equipment to satisfy your needs. I'll ask a few questions to try to define
your goals:
Will anim lengths of 5-10 seconds be enough or do you NEED anims 30 secs
or more? What video format will you be recording to
(VHS,SVHS,HI-8,BETA-SP,ect…), if any?
I haven't used the A1200 much but I think you have chosen a nice machine
and can use a number of programs to do the animations you want.
#1 Rule: Have Fun!!!
<<< Tony D. Tracer >>>
Thanks for the info.I do plan on having fun!To me that is what it is all
about(fun&imagination) I would like my anims to be around 15 secs or so,and
plan on recording to vhs. My main prob is my machine consists of A1200/mbx1200
w/25mhz 68882,120meg h.d.,4meg ram and 1960 monitor,and was wondering am I
going to have to buy additional hardware or will software suffice? I know that
I will have to buy items to record to vhs and will need info on it to. I'm a
novice when it comes to configurations and appreciate all help and even
personal prefs. Thanks Again, Begginer Animator Mark T Davis
>I would like my anims to be around 15 secs or so,
Animations, as you already know, is simply a series of pictures displayed
fast enough to create motion. For every second of animations there is 30
frames so the total amount of anim time is limited by the amount of frames
you can hold in ram. Ways around this is to slowdown the playback of the
anim so that it playsback at the amount of time needed but then you can
get alot of jerky motion since there isn't enough frames for smooth
motion. You'll probably have to play around and decide for yourself the
fps rate.
>My main prob is my machine consists of A1200/mbx1200 w/25mhz 68882,120meg
>h.d.,4meg ram and 1960 monitor,and was wondering am I going to have to
>buy additional hardware or will software suffice? I know that I will have
>to buy items to record to vhs and will need info on it to.
I thought the A1200 already had a Composite Color output? If it does and
you aren't going to do any overlaying then you wouldn't need any more
Hardware, just a cable.
Although more ram is never a bad move.
<<< Tony D. Tracer >>>
Thanks. (sigh a bit of relief) Mark T Davis