Angel

[bobakabob]

Here's a test scene from a music animation I'm working on using mocap data. No textures as yet... Should it stay that way? Suggestions / crits appreciated...
http://www.invisibleray.co.uk/animation/angel_gif.gif

[scoober]

i really like this!! I'ts quite a nice model...the only c&c that i can give is on the rightmost picture, there seems to be something wrong with her whole mouth area...its a little bit too inward...maybe its just me...other than that...GREAT job...And i don't know if i would like it textured....its great how it is!! good job! oh and REALLY great job on that animation!!!

[lone]

sweet - i kind of like the untextured look, too. only thing i'd suggest is maybe making the default texture a little brighter - make her look a little more like a marble sculpture?

[riki]

It looks impressive, but I don't like the pose at the end, too pretensous. Other than that looks good.

[bill0287]

Just a nitpick, but her feet are passing through each other...

[drclare]

Yeah, i noticed her feet and calfs passing through each other. But i think it looks great. I think the untextured looks good as well. As far as the last pose, i think it looks fine as im sure you posed her that ways with intention. The blue smoke is very cool.

[Jimzip]

Very nice animation, although, yes, the legs go through each other. Very natural movement though as far as I can see. Also, I agree with Riki, that pose at the end seems a little out of place, but of course, we don't know what this Angel's personality is like do we?

Jimzip :)

[[hjd_uk]]

It would be natural - its MOCAP :).
I think the head reclines too far back at the end.
Good job on the wings. And the model in general.
Although you definitly need to change from the default LW material.
It looks good minimalistic - just need a creamy marble or white pearl surface.
A white bg would be good too.

[bobakabob]

Thanks for the constructive crits and suggestions... much appreciated. bill0287, drclare and Jimzip, you're right about the feet; I'd not noticed the extent this was happening, the mocap needs more editing... Thankfully this is easy to do in Lightwave using the graph editor which also leaves a lot of room for creativity and experimentation. The toes also need to curl up more, so aditional bones need to be added to the feet.

riki and Jimzip, yep the pose at the end is perhaps a little extreme and could be more subtle, so it needs more work too.

The character's supposed to look icy and vain, not like you'd expect an angel to be, (fallen angel?) hence the ciggie. The smoke was done with hypervoxels... it took some tweaking and the disolve function came in useful.

lone and [hjd_uk], thanks for comments on the textures... Texturing isn't my strong point so think a subtle marble look using procedurals may work, though I might try painting a marble surface. Haven't figured on a background yet :)

Rob

[Zarathustra]

I'd like to see it, but there's a big "?" in my browser. What type of file did you post?

[bobakabob]

What browser are you using? It's a gif... albeit, a slightly big one!

[Zarathustra]

Sorry, now I can see it. I don't know why I couldn't earlier.

It's not that noticeable with the feet. If you look for it, you see it but if not, you wouldn't.

The end pose isn't as bad as how abrupt it is. Maybe the push should start before she stops and end just before she stops or just as she stops.

[Doran]

I don't have too many crits about the human side of the model. It's the wings that bother me. You need to examine some wings. The shape is nice but they are not articulated the way real wings would be... they're too stiff.

[mega maniac]

very nice clip, dont know why you chose gif??

but the one thing that bugs me is the black shadow on her groin in the ending clips, it looks like she has a slit running up her left hip

[bobakabob]

mega maniac, yep, you're right about that... the mesh is a little distorted and needs some 'holding bones' to keep it in place. The model is weight mapped throughout but there is still a need to use extra bones.

I used a gif because I wasn't sure how to present an avi or mpeg 'window' which would be ideal...

What's the most effective way of presenting short animations like this on the forum? Downloading for some people can be a bit of a drag.

It was generated in Premiere. Is there a special ('streaming'?) file format most people can see?

Rob

[mega maniac]

if you go for streaming you sacrifice quality, i mean a gif is fine, but to be honest downloading it as an avi or mpeg or mov would have been somewhat quicker than waiting for each picture to download seperately so i can watch the whole thing smoothly, and it also means i cant move away from the topic when its downloading, i gotta stay here.

[marvin]

I think the model looks great, as well as the movement (yes...even the last pose). It gives her attitude. I especially like the wings, even though they are stiff. I like them that way. They move well with the model.

marvin

[Hervé]

Hey this is great work... just remove the cigarette..... and give her a good joint at least... ha h a ha....

Keep posting updates please....

[riki]

Has there been any updates??

[bobakabob]

Nice one Herve... There's no telling what they smoke on high ;)

Riki, thanks for the interest... I'm steeped in work at the moment so it won't be just yet. It needs quite a bit of work... The crits and suggestions have been really helpful. There's an earlier test animation you may have seen a while back on the forum...
Angel flight test animation DIVX [4MB] (http://www.invisibleray.co.uk/robpics/animation/angel_13_high_divx.avi)

Angel flight test animation Quicktime [4MB] (http://www.invisibleray.co.uk/robpics/animation/angel_13_high_QT.mov)

http://www.invisibleray.co.uk/experiment/angel6055.jpg

Rob

[riki]

Thanks bob I'm getting "The page cannot be found" error on the QT. The still looks good, different kind of feel altogether.

BTW not sure if it helps but here's a photo I took at a museum in Berlin a few years ago. It gives some good referencefor building angel wings.

[Hervé]

nice reply Bobakabob, great render, you should maybe put something on her head, maybe an ancient hemet (antique Rome style) or maybe some fluidy hair, ... dunno, but for me something's missing in that area....

Hey Riki, nice one, could you show me the cage model ?? (just kidding) he he....

[Hervé]

BTW, I am getting the page not found either...

Later, Hervé

[bobakabob]

Oooops... Riki, Herve, thanks for the suggestions guys... the animation should be working now. It features an early incarnation of the model and I've since reworked the wings, though perhaps still need to spend more time in that area.

Angel flight test DIVX [1.5MB] (http://www.invisibleray.co.uk/robpics/animation/angel_13_high_divx.avi)

Angel flight test Quicktime [1.5MB] (http://www.invisibleray.co.uk/robpics/animation/angel_13_high_QT.mov)

Herve, longflaming hair might be an option. Riki, the photo is nice reference and I've seen some stunning models elsewhere on the web that put mine to shame. Have you used this pic for your own work?

I might have another go modelling the wings, but still messing with the animation. 'So little time...!'

Rob

[riki]

No my modeling skills aren't up to that level yet. It's just part of a series of B/W photos that I started about 13 years ago.

[Hervé]

.... Long flaming hair, that's a good idea !

Come on Riki, so simple, just a couple of splines, patch here, patch there, and voilà !! tah dah....!!

Well I think (just think) I could model it with good ref.... but a model like that would be maybe easier to model using photogrammetry with realviz automatching features.... but it would still be a long job....

Later

[Hervé]

Oops forgot about anim critics.... he he

Well two things that bother me a little... she got wings, so why is she pushing on her legs to start flying...? and when she starts flying, the wings need to be more on the side and they have to look they are carrying her, not just decor... make her flap wings in larger movements and have a body react to those wings movements.... in your anim, it seams to much like the wings are here for no reason....

Watch a bird in slow motion... he's really pushing on his wings to lift his body in the air.... (note I dont say yours should be like a bird, but a little more convincing...)

keep updating....

It's like that dragon film I saw, where the dragon weights 5 ton , yet with small wings that could carry 5 kg at the max.... and the worse, he flapping two times his wings and he's already at 100 miles/hour and 2 miles high in the sky... he he

Cheers, Hervé

[riki]

I guess it all depends on how faithful to the original you want to be.

[Hervé]

Hello Riki, what time in Australia ?? here is 7:50 AM, I am an early type of guy....

[riki]

Friday avro about 3.50pm, just about 'beer-o-clock' :)