(a bit of a technical) Animation blog: March 2014

Sunday, March 30, 2014

New Page: Downloads

I've just added a new page in the blog called "Downloads". It basically collects all the scripts I've done in one place, just for easy access.

I already have the "Download" label in my posts, but I've just realized that some of the posts where I explain what the tool does had the label missing, so it was a bit hard to find them. In addition, they are all nicely separated by program, so I think it's better that way.

If you have any suggestions on how to make the site better, just let me know.

Cheers!

Friday, March 28, 2014

CGTarian - Behind The Frames

There is a new series of videos in the CGTarian Youtube channel called "Behind the Scenes" that explain the different problems animators have to face when doing their shots. I believe the first one (by Jalil Sadool) is pure gold!

Here are the first two videos, but I'm sure there are more to come.

Monday, March 24, 2014

Links, enlaces et liens

http://spence-animator.co.uk/scripts.php
Arc tracker for Maya. Equivalent of DTools for 3ds max.

https://docs.unrealengine.com/latest/INT/Engine/Content/Tools/MayaRiggingTool/index.html
Rigging tools from Unreal Engine.

http://www.ianimate.net/podcasts/item/interview-with-animator-ken-fountain.html
Great podcast with Ken Fountain and his beginning as an animator.

And finally, I found this really good tip on Twitter.

#animtip The lower lid has no muscle to pull it DOWN, but it does have one that raises it. It only moves down when the eye pushes it down.
— On Animation (@DanOnAnimation) March 23, 2014

Sunday, March 23, 2014

3ds Max tips and tricks: Cheating your Animation with Procedural Noise

Great little video on how to cheat animation using the procedural noise.

Cheers!

Chuck Jones Gallery

I recently found a link on LinkedIn that took me a Chuck Jones gallery.

http://bluemonkeysfrommarz.com/modelsheets/chuck-jones-gallery

It's just amazing. The clarity of the drawings, line of action, poses... But most of all, the memories that each drawing brought back. I confess myself a HUGE Chuck Jones fan (for instance, my favorite animation of all time is One Froggy Evening), so these images are just pure gold for me.

Here are a couple, but be sure to click on the link and look at all of them!

3ds max scripts to modify the timeline start and end values

I created a couple of scripts that allow me easily control the start and end of the timeline. They are fairly simple and will save you a couple of seconds each time you want to change your timeline.

I would normally use the CTRL + ALT + Mouse buttons to change the values or move the timeline (with the middle button), however, when working on long scenes, it can be a bit of a pain to a frame as start or end.

So this little scripts will do the job. Here's a brief description so you know what each script does:

UpdateStartZero: It will reset your timeline start value to Zero.
UpdateStartTime: It will update the start value of your timeline to the current position of the slider. So, let's say your timeline goes from 0f to 500f and you want it to start from 333f. Just place the timeline slider to frame 333 and run the script.
UpdateEndTime: Same as StartTime but for the end value.

I'm planning to create some other scripts to update the end value further from the current value (i.e., to change it to 500f if your timeline currently goes to 400f) and to offset the whole timeline by a certain value, but I'll see if I need them.

If you want more control, you can also try the timeline script that is part of the JJTools package. Actually, I recommend to install the package regardless, it has some REALLY useful tools, like the Clever Move and Rotate.

Installation

As with most of 3ds max scripts, just drag-n-drop the files into the viewport. I would recommend you put them in one of your Quad menus for easy access.