BSKYB Health & Safety video

agentdurden · Post by **agentdurden** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 8:06 am

here is link. i hope author does now get mad for me hosting it for a bit. just trying to give everyone a chance to view it.

H&S_Lesson3.mov

it wont be up long. so grab it while you still can

i would like to see higher resolution version of this, if possible thank you.

if author would like me to take it down. no problem i will take down ASAP.

Barry Baker · Post by **Barry Baker** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 12:37 pm

agentdurden,

I'm not mad at all, in fact I'm grateful. I hope it doesn't get you into trouble with your web-host like I did...

I'd like to upload a higher resolution version somewhere too, but I can't see any possibility of that until I solve the bandwidth problem.

kdiddy13 · Post by **kdiddy13** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 5:04 pm

Thanks for the still! Just like I suspected, even better in person!

Is there an outline on just the forearm? I'm grappling with the idea of outlining a character or not. Aesthetically, I could go either way. Outlining adds another dimension to keep track of while you work. Without outlining though you run the risk of the character just looking like an anamorphic blob.

You're animation doesn't have that problem, but you give the impression of no outlines. If I'm reading the still right, I think your idea of the subtle outline color to give defiinition to the shape is top notch.

Could you post a pic of the full kitty (maybe where she's climbing off the desk)?

Thanks again for sharing your inside tips. It's continuing to give me great ideas!

Banterfield · Post by **Banterfield** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 7:31 pm

I just finished watching it. What a terrific bit of work!

Until I read your explanation, I couldn't figure out how you managed the paper. Really wonderful.

I have to say, in my mind, the limitations of Moho's 3d environment lend themselves to storytelling and easy animation in a way that the full blown 3d programs never have. I don't know if it's the easy-to-use controls, or that simplicity is, to some degree, foisted upon you. Regardless, what a fantastic example of what is possible.

Most sincere congratulations,

bupaje · Post by **bupaje** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 1:16 am

@Barry - I sent you a PM with information to upload your file.

Barry Baker · Post by **Barry Baker** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 5:30 pm

kdiddy13 wrote:Thanks for the still! Just like I suspected, even better in person!

Is there an outline on just the forearm? I'm grappling with the idea of outlining a character or not. Aesthetically, I could go either way. Outlining adds another dimension to keep track of while you work. Without outlining though you run the risk of the character just looking like an anamorphic blob.

You're animation doesn't have that problem, but you give the impression of no outlines. If I'm reading the still right, I think your idea of the subtle outline color to give defiinition to the shape is top notch.

Could you post a pic of the full kitty (maybe where she's climbing off the desk)?

Thanks again for sharing your inside tips. It's continuing to give me great ideas!

Here's a couple more stills. Sorry they're not full resolution like the previous one, but the renders have all been archived off the network here at the studio, so I took some grabs from medium res quicktimes of individual scenes. At least they're bigger than the quicktime you've been viewing.

To outline or not... Outlines are certainly easier now in Moho than in previous versions, as they can be added along with the fills. It's now just a question of look. We went for the solid colour look, but found we had to add outlines in places so that parts would not get obscured by going over other parts of the same colour.

I haven't actually tried this, but now that you can draw on any frame, it should be possible to dynamically show and hide outlines throughout the animation. If I'd had more time, this is what I would have done.

Barry Baker · Post by **Barry Baker** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 5:41 pm

Just a general word to all of you who have been giving such positive feedback. Thanks very much, I'm very happy to have received so much comment about the job, and I'm pleased it seems to be so well regarded.

I do think that Moho has come of age as a serious production tool, and much of the recent work shown here bears that out. I love that 2-and-a-half D look, and I look forward to seeing how others will push the software to realise their visions

sdtv · Post by **sdtv** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 7:10 pm

Thanks very much Barry for sharing your great work! It genuinely demonstrates a coming-of-age for Moho. Big Kudos.

It's also generous and gracious of you to take time to share your techniques and experience with this forum.

Thanks a lot!!

-sd

foundmarble · Post by **foundmarble** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 7:48 pm

I agree with you about Moho becoming a serious tool.

Also, a side note.....I notice that a lot of forum users complained about Line width being to thick (myself included). (Black lines)

For some reason, I thought all animations needed have outlines.

Looking at your work and the animations I have been working with I have used outlines REALLY sparingly. This makes for a better looking animations. my 2 cents

Thanks for the inspiring work!

bupaje · Post by **bupaje** » Sat Jan 08, 2005 2:46 am

@Barry I PM'd you but since the weekend is coming I'll post this here before I go ...

File is online here

http://barrybaker.stormvisions.com/HSLesson3.mov

Didn't post the zip as it was only 0.5MB smaller than the whole thing so you can view it or right click and 'save as.' Feel free to post some high resolution renders or even a web page with info on how you did it, contact info and a link to lostmarble.com. (of course)

Definetly post a link on cgtalk.com after you post any related material as I am 100% positive it will generate visibility for you and for moho.

Barry Baker · Post by **Barry Baker** » Sat Jan 08, 2005 1:44 pm

Thanks to bupaje, you can download the file again from the new link.

kdiddy13 · Post by **kdiddy13** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 7:19 am

Sorry they're not full resolution like the previous one

Don't sweat it! There's actually a little more convenient to look at. Which brings up another question. What resolution was your final output? The first image you posted was HUGE! Are you working in HD?

For some reason, I thought all animations needed have outlines.

Looking at your work and the animations I have been working with I have used outlines REALLY sparingly. This makes for a better looking animations. my 2 cents

If you like the minimal outline (or no outline) look, you should check out Bill Cosby's "lil Bill". It's on Nick Jr. on Saturday mornings on CBS by us. That type of animation could easily be accomplished by MOHO.

Barry Baker · Post by **Barry Baker** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 3:33 pm

kdiddy13 wrote:Which brings up another question. What resolution was your final output? The first image you posted was HUGE! Are you working in HD?

It's actually PAL widescreen, 1024 X 576. That's the resolution we work at. For the final output, the frames are taken in squashed to normal PAL resolution (720 X 576), which is called anamorphic.

Note for those unfamiliar with broadcast standards (and they confuse nearly all of us most of the time!): At this stage everything looks squeezed in vertically, but your TV senses that this is actually supposed to be widescreen and stretches it out again back to normal. I don't know the ins and outs of how this happens, but it works!

That's why the widescreen broadcasts we see on TV so far are cheats; they are not actually a higher resolution than normal 4:3 pictures, but because we are used to a fairly soft focused picture, and because it moves, we don't notice the stretched pixels. When true HD television becomes more common, I suppose this form of widescreen will suddenly look as archaic as 16mm film.

Barry Baker · Post by **Barry Baker** » Fri Jan 14, 2005 3:06 pm

Since there's been a fair bit of discussion on this forum on the subject of storyboarding, I thought some might be interested to see the animatic of this piece, so I've uploaded it to bupaje's webspace:

http://barrybaker.stormvisions.com/HSLe ... imatic.mov

I drew all the frames on paper, scanned them into the computer and they were synced to the track in Avid. You don't need to have access to an Avid for this, though. There must be a hundred and fifty ways of putting an animatic together on a computer. For those with Windows XP (and service pack 2), you already have a free video editor in the form of Windows Movie Maker. I'm sure Mac owners have an equivalent (or better) in the form of iMovie. On my own, I like to put animatics together in Flash.

jorgy · Post by **jorgy** » Fri Jan 14, 2005 10:29 pm

Thanks so much for not only posting your movie, but also all of the tips and techniques! I especially appreciate seeing the animatic and then the final work.

Wonderful job! Keep us appraised of your future work.