CompuServe Thread

Richard, I don't have all that much experience as an animator, but I try to keep in mind that although the computer can do a lot of things that are not feasible or possible on a live set, it is still only a tool. With that in mind, when I create something, say like the current project I am working on, a spacecraft in the Chris Foss style, I try to think about how someone in a special effects lab would do it. If you watched how they made the Nightmare Before Christmas, for lipsynching a character, they had a number of heads, each with a different facial expression, and then used stop motion to animate them. On a computer, it isn't necessary to do that, but having different models can help in rendering times. When this ship I'm designing is done, it will have a canopy that opens, a working cockpit, retractable landing gear, etc. Something like the landing gear need only be rendered during take offs and landings, so when I create the landing gear, it will be saved as a separate figure. Then I can actually put the ship together in CHARACTER using figure substitution. I'll have one model with no landing gear, and one with. Then as a choreography is created, it will be saved as two different names; one with the ship figure without landing gear, one with the ship figure with it. Then I can render frames to the point that I need the landing gear, switch to the second choreography and render the frames starting at the next consecutive number. This way I am not rendering unneeded .segs. You might try approaching the scale problem in the same fashion. How does a special effects shop set up a set like the one you want? Do they have different size sets for different shots? I think that the best way for you to create the set, would be to make modeling as easy as possible. Model each figure at the scale you feel most comfortable with, and when it comes time to choreograph it, use the figure channel to scale your buildings. That way, you have only one actual model of each figure, but you can have a number of choreographies with different scalings. Michael S. Flynn