Many thanks to Ammo.Digital for helping us out.
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Quidam followup
Lately I’ve been pushed for time on all fronts, I did managed to get some more time on Quidam recently when a client in London was in a bit of a fix. Tony, can you create a poster for an event, I kinda need it tommorrow! Quidam turned out to be the perfect tool for creating a Dancer element. I find the program very good for customising and then posing a character. The ability to add props and paint textures is quite well implemented. For my renders I chose the cell shader look which was quite nice. The poster turned out quite well, although it wasn’t used it the end!
On the Antics side of things, I’m currently in R&D on a concept requiring an animated crowd presented in a timelapse style. The tests are looking really cool and the pipeline will probably include Antics and Quidam to build elements for Maya. The job is for later in the year so I’ll post some images once it’s gone to air. Antics is being used for previz on this job also.
For my day job I’ve been fortunate to have worked on around 20 shots for a feature that’s just about to be released. For our part the project was completed at 4k which was something new and way cool.
Truebones is proud to present a brand new website! Key features of the new Truebones website: A HUGE Variety of high quality Motions in BVH format Free Motions in BVH and FREE animation software. Informative monthly newsletter Animation Video channel gallery. Fast motion search and ordering system. Online Store with instant downloads of products. Full discussion and customer support forum. Full previewing of for sale motions, Try before you buy! (via FREE Animeeple Software) Please feel free to Join Truebones today by registering at our brand new website. http://www.truebones.com Join today and you will receive over 50 Free BVH Motions, In addition you will get a 50% discount for the New MonsterBones MegaMotions 2400 Pak just by signing up.
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quidam3 25% discount offer
The Q3 demo version has just been released, check it out.
Also have a try of Animeeple for character animation!
It is new, it is very intuitive and it lets you:» Apply animations onto characters» Layer and sequence the animations» Edit animations using procedural modifiers» Render images and movies» Animate your Second Life™ avatar» Export content as FBX, Collada, BVH and XMLExporting from QUIDAM to Animeeple requires the COLLADA export plugin (included in QUIDAM Studio, this plugin can be purchased separately by QUIDAM users).
If you are interested in markless motion capture, drop by my other blog, PREVIZPOST I think it’s pretty exciting technology.
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FrameForge Previz Studio 3
The wait is nearly over! While the new version will be released to the public shortly, you can be among the first to preview the powerful features soon to be available in FrameForge Previz Studio 3, the software that’s redefining storyboarding and previsualization.
At upcoming events in Seattle and Paris, Ken Schafer, Lead Program Architect at Innoventive Software, will present an exclusive look at the latest edition of this ground-breaking program. He’ll demonstrate how every filmmaker can benefit from translating a script to an optically accurate previsualization, complete with a three-dimensional scale location stocked with actors, props, wardrobe, set dressing, basic lighting and backgrounds. Check out this page for a rundown of new features.
At upcoming events in Seattle and Paris, Ken Schafer, Lead Program Architect at Innoventive Software, will present an exclusive look at the latest edition of this ground-breaking program. He’ll demonstrate how every filmmaker can benefit from translating a script to an optically accurate previsualization, complete with a three-dimensional scale location stocked with actors, props, wardrobe, set dressing, basic lighting and backgrounds. Check out this page for a rundown of new features.
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History of 3d Animated Films
Thanks to ArianeB for this History of 3d Animated Films.
Have a read through, I’d like to hear which ones are your favorites and why?
t.
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Dan Tindell
Dan Tindell is my “Focus On” artist on my PrevizPost blog!
You just have to check out his reel!
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Scene Systems – Brad in a suit!
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Quidam3 first look
Well I got my copy of Quidam3 along with the 3ds max plugin and some packs. I went for the studio version thinking that the low poly feature would serve my needs better in the long run.
Quidam is a very quirky app. I think I will enjoy it more when it gets to version 5. I suspect they’ll have animation controls by then. In any case it is built to build characters and you certainly get that. Unlike Poser, Quidam gets you quick results that are easily modified. The use of gestural modelling techniques and “on model” painting means you don’t need to venture outside of Quidam very often. You can select a base character, add some imported props and then adjust the shape of the mesh a bit like clay. (similiar to mudbox, z-brush and modo).
The base model allows for materials to be adjusted or you can paint direct onto the mesh (like bodypaint, silo & modo paint). A really nifty feature is the ability to paint an imported image onto the surface interactively. They have some tutorials on the n-sided site.
Quidam is a very quirky app. I think I will enjoy it more when it gets to version 5. I suspect they’ll have animation controls by then. In any case it is built to build characters and you certainly get that. Unlike Poser, Quidam gets you quick results that are easily modified. The use of gestural modelling techniques and “on model” painting means you don’t need to venture outside of Quidam very often. You can select a base character, add some imported props and then adjust the shape of the mesh a bit like clay. (similiar to mudbox, z-brush and modo).
The base model allows for materials to be adjusted or you can paint direct onto the mesh (like bodypaint, silo & modo paint). A really nifty feature is the ability to paint an imported image onto the surface interactively. They have some tutorials on the n-sided site.
The best news for antics users is the ability to get the characters from Quidam into Antics whilst keeping the skinning and texture maps. 
I’ve worked on getting a mesh skinned and then weighted in Max before and it takes an awful lot of time. You have to line each bone up to the middle of each limb and then apply skin weights for the skin to be driven by each bone in the skeleton. Invaribly you then need to go through and tweak the weights until the mesh behaves like it should. There are two ways to skin a cat, sorry bone a mesh, hmm …. there’s the skin modifier and the physique modifier. Youtube both to get familiar.
I’ve worked on getting a mesh skinned and then weighted in Max before and it takes an awful lot of time. You have to line each bone up to the middle of each limb and then apply skin weights for the skin to be driven by each bone in the skeleton. Invaribly you then need to go through and tweak the weights until the mesh behaves like it should. There are two ways to skin a cat, sorry bone a mesh, hmm …. there’s the skin modifier and the physique modifier. Youtube both to get familiar.When you bring in a Quidam creation you’ll see it’s the skin modifier that’s invoked.
What I worked out was that if you rename the bones on the newly imported Quidam skeleton so they match the naming convention of a Max Biped. Then it’s possible to copy the skin weights across. (drop me a line if you want to learn how to do this). Then you can export the character out of max into Antics (yipppeee!).
So now with Quidam I can make previz with any characters necessary, and with any facial expression I want.
