Mass CG Animation

[Brianw76]

Anyone out there interested in doing some animations, or atleast donating your models for animations? Depending on what the animation will be, we may need lots of models. I'm willing to put my vf models to the side and make objects to fill whatever environment we choose as the setting.

My first thought would be for a CG version of the Max/Millia, VF-1a vs. Queadluun-rau dual using Rodavan's killer Queadluun-rau model. Anyone up for it? Any ideas?

[Rodavan]

Count me in !!!

Edited May 10, 2004 by Rodavan

[DatterBoy]

I'm no good at animating, but you can sure as heck use my model!

:Dat

[Brianw76]

Good to see that you guys are interested. How does the max millia dual sound? Or should we do something else? Space battle or urban battle maybe? What enemy models do we have? Mechmaster has an SDF-1 model that looks good but could use some higher rez textures if he's willing to join in. I think he also has a battlepod.

[Rodavan]

Got a gaulg too if you like -

A space battle will be a nice start ! We need somebody to help with the animation ?

Edited May 10, 2004 by Rodavan

[Brianw76]

Yeah, i'm sure we'll need all the help we can get. I'm not that great of an animator, I can do your basic ship flying, missile chasing it stuff though. Hopefully Doc will get in on this and help out.

And another thing, how should this look? Should we spend a long time trying to get it to look like recent cg stuff out there like Star Wars or Battlestar Galactica? Or should we just go with what we got?

[Mechmaster]

I have no skills as an animator but I'll be happy to donate any of my models to the cause.

Afraid I only have half a battlepod though, I never got round to building the legs and so refitted it to use as a wrecked battle casualty.

On the overall look I would say do the best we can with what we already have and see what that gives us, once we actually have an animation we can then work on refining it. I think that one of the things that has slowed down the poster project is that people are worrying too much about minor details that won't even show in the finished image ("should the bolts on the undercarriage be imperial or metric?" sort of thing)

Get it scripted, storyboarded and produce the basic animation, if it really sux we can all change our usernames and pretend we had nothing to do with it, if it has promise we can work on bringing it up to industry standard quality.

Edited May 10, 2004 by Mechmaster

[Brianw76]

Get it scripted, storyboarded and produce the basic animation, if it really sux we can all change our usernames and pretend we had nothing to do with it, if it has promise we can work on bringing it up to industry standard quality.

haha, I couldn't agree with you more about going into hiding if the animation sucks.

I do a gree with you about not caring how it looks at this point. although, the reason I brought it up was becuase I thought since it might take awhile getting models converted to whatever animation package we choose to use, others can be doing tests with particles for engine exhaust and missile trails and simple lighting tests if they wanted to. That way once the animation gets rolling some people could do the animating, then hand it off to the next person to add particles, then the next person for lighting, and so on.

I spoke with >EXO< about this project, he seams to be interested it doing some storyboards for us. As for the script, any idea? Should we take the easy way out and recreate a battle from the series or come up with an entirely new battle/story?

[Doktor Gonzo]

I'm definitely in.

One suggestion though: this poster we're working on in the other "Mass" thread was always intended to be a "dry run", preparatory to doing more serious, involved stuff. Maybe we ought to bang that one out finally, "clear the deck" for this bigger project?

[Mechmaster]

On the subject of the script, recreating a section of the anime in CG would certainly be a lot easier since most of us who have replied to this thread so far have admitted to having little or no experience as animators, having a ready made action sequence to follow would be useful as we learn. However if someone comes up with a clearly visualized original script that isn't going to tax our abillities too greatly then theres no reason why we shouldn't be a bit more ambitious. Perhaps we could start out doing a few short (20 to 30 second) anims based on the original show just to help us find our feet.

Dok... Pushing the poster to completion is a sound idea, from what has been posted in the other thread recently I think most of us have models sufficiently "finished" for that purpose. I suggest we bully everyone into finalising basic models and textures to the point where we can have a go at the poster and then they can sort out other stuff in their own time. When I worked in the theatre one of the prime rules of set building/dressing was "if you can't see it from the audience, don't build it, don't paint it, don't worry about it" and while I confess to breaking this rule as often as anyone else when building CG models I think everyone is at the stage where they can produce a decent shot of their models for the poster. Sorting out transformation sequences and landing gear retraction isn't really relevant in the context of a still image such as this.

[EXO]

a script would no more mean, splicing out the characters and other stuff that would be impossible to do on a volunteer basis and still have a good linear sequence to watch. Not exactly writing a whole new story.

I can also volunteer a reneder farm-type set up that me and my friend can put together.

[DatterBoy]

Maybe the poster can be a Movie Promo.... Hollywood style!

:Dat

[Brianw76]

ok, lets get a list of everything we've got that we could use. From there we can see what we can do and what we might need. just cut and paste and add to it.

1 Vf-1J

1 Launch Arm

From what I remember, nobody has any big Zentradei ships. Don't know if we'll need them or not, just a thought.

[Brianw76]

Perhaps we could start out doing a few short (20 to 30 second) anims based on the original show just to help us find our feet.

that sounds like a great idea.

[Rodavan]

I like it , let me know what you need from me and in what format .

[DatterBoy]

I call MAX-1S when you do the DYRL MAX vs MiLLIA Q Rau fight!

Hey RODAVAN, what say you and I make a composite for the hell of it recreating one of those scenes? Specifically the one where they flyinto the bay on that ship and have a close quarters shoot out...

:Dat

Edited May 11, 2004 by DatterBoy

[Rodavan]

I am game Dat , it might help , once we get a story board togetherfor the animation. I have no idea how a bay would look - post something and I will start creating a "bay" for a test run .

Are you going to put the final render/compisition together ? If you do what will you be using Maya ?

[Brianw76]

I guess you guys can send anything you got ready. I'd say send it in whatever format it was created in and also .obj format if possible. Most programs will open .obj format right? i'll make a page for the files on my server so the others can download them. I'll also make it so you have to log in to access the files. email the stuff to mastershake@anime3d.net . also email me the username and password you want for logging in.

[lparisek]

Sorry for the lack of time on the forum guys/gals. Life has been really busy.

I agree with Mechmaster, we really need to get this poster done. I have a nasty habit of losing interest with time. Besides, an animation sounds cool...

I know nothing about animation but I am willing to donate models if you need destroids.

Great idea Brian.

Les

[Brianw76]

I got Mechmasters SDF-1 yesterday. Nice model Chris! Too bad the U|V and material info was lost in the import or export, not sure which. So I had to repaint it myself, Not done though. Here is a render.

I started to add a little detail on the front, hope you dont mind Chris.

[Mechmaster]

Feel free to make any changes/additions you wish Brian, I never seem to have time to take my models as far as I would like and having seen your texture work it can only be an improvement on the basic texturing I had done.

I had hoped to make this model transformable some day, or at least produce a storm attacker mode version from it, but again I never found time.

[Rodavan]

excelent SDF-1 Mmechmaster

[Brianw76]

Here's Mechmasters Prometheus after 2 days of modifying it. Haven't started texturing it yet.

larger image Here

Edited May 20, 2004 by Brianw76

[AncientAngel]

Well, I am willing to help out where I can ..but most of my work is low-poly and I have no animation skills..or computer able to chug out an .avi etc...

[DatterBoy]

Holy crap, check out the tiny valk on the SDF-1...

:Dat