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animated people


STRAT
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im looking for animated people...i'm using marlins range which are great, but i need allot more to fill a shopping mall im doing.
Animation of a mall with people = nightmare! I hope you have enough time in your project schedule to do a good job. I keep getting work to do that only has enough time to barely get it done, tweeking or testing or trials are not possible, nor is much sleep.

 

Good luck!

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How about making a movie after a false firealarm in the Mall, so you don't have to fiddle with people. Otherwise you will have a nice time moving your few animated people only when visible in cam view. But if you want to show the mall in a wide perspective, forget about XMas ;)

 

Aaaaah, the benefits of freelance work, simply saying NO to the client :p

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it's an ongoing job i started in january this year. the client's requested various 'stages' of work for me to complete.

 

we're nearing the marketing stage now, so he wants to see this mall i've done full of people. ANIMATED PEOPLE!!!! (i hate clients).

 

so luckely the modelling is more or less done, all i need to do is add 'cosmetic' bits to it and tart it up in general.

 

the crux will be animating - im animating it at 30 fps for 2200 frames @ a res of 640 x 480.

 

so proper gi is a no no at the mo. even faking it the anim will take close on 10 days to render on my poor xeon.

 

i'll try post it up when i finish:)

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How about a day in the Mall, go out and study what you see.

You only need a small percentage of animated people, most people can be static people. So in the end its a mixture of good camera moves and views and some moving people, otherwise i recommend giving that job to a third party. In the end the client gets what he pays for.

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ingo - i think ur right. the test i did over the weekend looks ok, but more ppl needed.

 

what i'll do is put in a whole load of static ppl that look natural - ie, ppl looking in windows, ppl on mobiles, ppl standing round chatting.

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if you've got the time and a little money, go out and buy Poser, and some clothing/object libraries. Cheap, quick to set up, and easy to customize the behavior of your models. (I doubt too many people libraries make realistic mall behavior - looking into windows, walking with shopping bags).

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Originally posted by Ernest Burden:

quote:
the 3d app im using for the project hasn't an rpc interface :(
I'm not fond of the RCP content, but the product has some advantages, and this project calls for them. Can you out-source the animation rendering to someone who uses MAX or Maya and can put in the RCP people?

 

You are using C4D, right? yup. c4d. and sourcing it out? unfortunately no, for a number of reasons. shame, because i'm an rpc fan :(

 

no probs chad, thanks for the concern :)

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Strat, I'm with Rick. Check out Dosch for sure. I think one or two CDs combined with the other suggestions should put you in the gold.

 

Additionally...think about trying out the renderking. If thats not an option, gimme a shout. I may have my C4D farm built in time.

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Strat,

 

Since you're using C4D...

 

I figured out the mechanics of numbered frames with a C.O.F.F.E.E. expression by either camera position or timing using Xpresso. If you can get (or have) the image sequences of the people, I can send you an example scene with the setup, so you can modifiy it and replace the image sequences with new people.

 

Let me know and I'll set up a download site for you.

 

I've been planning to share this with the C4D users but I haven't had time to finish it.

 

Originally posted by STRAT:

yup. c4d. and sourcing it out?

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thnx guys

 

Rick, tried them but they're still ppl clips. i need animated.

 

frosty - rendering isn't a problem, i have my 2 xeons dedicated to it. thank you for the offer :)

 

Ace - can you explain further pls? only finding the animated image sequences of people in the first place is my problem, not animating them in c4d.

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Originally posted by foxlee:

I know this is not a solution to your problem STRAT,but I think looking at the results that Lowpolygon3d are getting with animated 3d people It will definitely be something to look at in future. they're not available yet. Have a look at it on lowpolygon animated people

funnily enough i saw those this morning. they look good, except in this anim im doing the camera passes extremely close by to the person, and those low polly people look a bit pastey for this job redface2.gif

 

here's a qucik still out of my animation so far.

 

filepush.asp?file=sjl.jpg

 

btw, after talking to Dosch, they will be producing animated 2d ppl clips by january 2004 :)

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Don't take this the wrong way, but I would have to agree with you on needing more people in the space. Looks real good otherwise. So all those people are the marlin people? I downloaded a sample person and it seemed a little bit of a hassle to setup-was this your experience?

 

-Chad

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yeah, i really do need more ppl.

 

all those ppl are marlin ppl too. set up was real easy. no hastle atall. the only work on my side was to gauge the walking distance to give a natural looking walk and to make sure they dont 'sink' below or 'hover' above the mall floor surface, which is inclined.

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the marlin ppl come as sequentially numbered images, both in colour and b/w (alpha).

 

i first save the images as colour .mov and a alpha .mov files, then just apply these mov's to the luminance and alpha channels in the mat editor.

 

this material is then applied to a 2d face, which is then animated over the length of the animation in question.

 

i'm animating at 30 fps at the mo, so as long as the time controller in c4d is set to 30 fps and to loop exact frame the animated clip animates perfectly in my anim.

 

as i say, the trick is to make sure the 2d mapped plain is keyframed the exact distance to give the map a natural looking walk -

 

too much or too little and the animated map doesn't marry up with the movement of the plain, the clip looks like its just sliding along.

 

i'll post up the anim when it's done.

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Hi strat,

 

Why not 'simulate' a crowd, instead of every single person?

 

Remember the 'making of star wars' where the people in the background were but animated sticks to clean your ears with? This might be a good way of thinking... Animated basic forms, blurred,... Think like a painter: don't paint every leaf on a tree, go for the overall feeling...

 

rgds

 

nisus

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