Really...?
...you sure about dat?
Just a picture from the upcoming episode #04 of Rational Station.
I'm posting it partly because I like this shot, but also because it was something that went right; the last few days have been comedies of errors that were mostly my own damn fault, and I'm pleased to have a victory--however small--to crow about.
See...making a character have facial expressions that you can animate is accomplished in certain, fairly specific ways; in the case, by specifically creating each expression and then saving it as a morph target. You can mix and blend morph targets together to form new and unique shapes by adjusting how much of each expression you want, etc, etc... But in the end, you do have to make each and every expression, vocal mouth shape, etc, and it can be a pain in the tush.
BUT, in this case, I was able to make winks and eyebrow positions that only happened on one side instead of both rather easily by modifying the existing both-sides expressions and then saving those as new morph targets.
Explaining how I modified the morph targets without having to re-make the original position on the non-animated side would take explaining how 3D Studio MAX's modifier tree is hierarchical and that all I had to do was select in the Edit Mesh modifier only the vertices that I wanted to move in the Morpher modifier that was above it, adjust the percent of the expression in the Morpher modifier which would only change the verts selected in the Edit Mesh below rather than the whole morph-target, then save that new shape in the Morpher modifier as a new morph target...but none of you really give a shit, and some of you are probably not even equipped to understand in the first place; it's a LOT simpler than it sounds, honest.
Even so...sometimes I take what I do for granted and forget that it's a pretty specialized skillset I've got goin' on here. I've combined art and computer know-how into a single discipline and pull it off with what I think is better-than-average success...that's worth at least a little strutting and self-congratulation, neh? Damn right, it is!
Anyway, the fact that it WORKED made me happy; it meant I didn't have to do a lot of tedious and annoying work to make this facial expression happen. Given my ADD (or ADHD; whichever it is...they can't seem to decide) and my subsequent aversion to tedium, this is a Good Thing™. Just sayin'.
Also, the expression on Sandra's face amuses me; it's very Calvin & Hobbes. So, you know...I thought it was worth posting and stuff.
And yeah...Howie's in this one too. *grin* I'm thinking seriously about making him a Rational Station mascot, trying to make Howie a staple of the series that only the in-crowd really grok. You know...they see him in the background of a scene and go, "Hey, look...it's Howie!" and their friends watching with 'em are all, "Huh?", and they have to explain...kinna like the Rational Station equivalent of, "Oh, my god! They killed Kenny!" Heh. You just KNOW it's gonna come up somewhere, people are just waiting for it... I want Howie to be that for RS.
I d'know if that'll happen, or even if I'll make enough episodes for that to happen, but it'd be nifty. :)
Back to animating!
Just a picture from the upcoming episode #04 of Rational Station.
I'm posting it partly because I like this shot, but also because it was something that went right; the last few days have been comedies of errors that were mostly my own damn fault, and I'm pleased to have a victory--however small--to crow about.
See...making a character have facial expressions that you can animate is accomplished in certain, fairly specific ways; in the case, by specifically creating each expression and then saving it as a morph target. You can mix and blend morph targets together to form new and unique shapes by adjusting how much of each expression you want, etc, etc... But in the end, you do have to make each and every expression, vocal mouth shape, etc, and it can be a pain in the tush.
BUT, in this case, I was able to make winks and eyebrow positions that only happened on one side instead of both rather easily by modifying the existing both-sides expressions and then saving those as new morph targets.
Explaining how I modified the morph targets without having to re-make the original position on the non-animated side would take explaining how 3D Studio MAX's modifier tree is hierarchical and that all I had to do was select in the Edit Mesh modifier only the vertices that I wanted to move in the Morpher modifier that was above it, adjust the percent of the expression in the Morpher modifier which would only change the verts selected in the Edit Mesh below rather than the whole morph-target, then save that new shape in the Morpher modifier as a new morph target...but none of you really give a shit, and some of you are probably not even equipped to understand in the first place; it's a LOT simpler than it sounds, honest.
Even so...sometimes I take what I do for granted and forget that it's a pretty specialized skillset I've got goin' on here. I've combined art and computer know-how into a single discipline and pull it off with what I think is better-than-average success...that's worth at least a little strutting and self-congratulation, neh? Damn right, it is!
Anyway, the fact that it WORKED made me happy; it meant I didn't have to do a lot of tedious and annoying work to make this facial expression happen. Given my ADD (or ADHD; whichever it is...they can't seem to decide) and my subsequent aversion to tedium, this is a Good Thing™. Just sayin'.
Also, the expression on Sandra's face amuses me; it's very Calvin & Hobbes. So, you know...I thought it was worth posting and stuff.
And yeah...Howie's in this one too. *grin* I'm thinking seriously about making him a Rational Station mascot, trying to make Howie a staple of the series that only the in-crowd really grok. You know...they see him in the background of a scene and go, "Hey, look...it's Howie!" and their friends watching with 'em are all, "Huh?", and they have to explain...kinna like the Rational Station equivalent of, "Oh, my god! They killed Kenny!" Heh. You just KNOW it's gonna come up somewhere, people are just waiting for it... I want Howie to be that for RS.
I d'know if that'll happen, or even if I'll make enough episodes for that to happen, but it'd be nifty. :)
Back to animating!