highlights and shadows simple technique

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Abdul.Int
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highlights and shadows simple technique

Post by Abdul.Int »

i have always noticed in alot of videos of professional designers that they spend time in drawing highlights and shadows for each part of the caracter, and after the rigging when they manipulate the parts , those highlights move solidly with the pones . i dont know i cant find it dynamic or realistic specially for amateurs like me who dont know shading rules .. so an idea came to me that i can draw the highlights or shadow for the whole character in one single layer and mask it to the body inside the bone layer . i tested it in two simple shapes circle and star and i found it good and fast at least for me , specially when i know the shading rules in the future.

here is the tests ( sorry for the bad walk cycle) :)

circle shadow test
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13GeHaMnQk8


star shadow test
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TneDHkqn8og

here is the moho files for further explaining

http://www.mediafire.com/file/ax2adj65w ... hadows.rar

thanks and i hope any one makes it useful and built on it
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synthsin75
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Re: highlights and shadows simple technique

Post by synthsin75 »

Layer shading for the group layer, especially with the inverted option, is easy and more detailed.
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Abdul.Int
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Re: highlights and shadows simple technique

Post by Abdul.Int »

synthsin75 wrote:Layer shading for the group layer, especially with the inverted option, is easy and more detailed.
but it confines you to certain wayr and not more realistic for exapmle if the character is in shiny place it will be the same as in the dark . other wise you will have to enter your character setting every time and change the setting , but suppose if you simplified the nature around in one simplified layer and move it , i think it will be easier
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Greenlaw
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Re: highlights and shadows simple technique

Post by Greenlaw »

Yes, I wish Moho's lighting tools controls were more accessible and interactive. Sometimes I have to nest a bunch of FX within the character to get a certain look but it's a pain when I need to change the lighting direction or color, or animate all the Light FX together. I guess maybe I could tie some controls to Smart Bones that's really too much trouble to do for every character.

My feeling is that Moho's lighting tools work well with simpler characters and animation, but you quickly to run into problems with more complicated character designs and animations.

What I've been doing lately is setting up Layer Comps for each character to make it easier to light in After Effects. For example, splitting the arms from the body so I have masking elements that allow me to light the arms across the body, or to withhold lighting from parts that should be occluded in 'shadow'. This needs to be set up on a scene by scene basis but it's pretty easy to do, and a whole lot easier to work with once you have it set up. Technically, you can replicate this in Moho but it's a lot easier in AE because you can see the effects live while adjusting them. (In other words: no endless Ctrl-R tests, it's all WYSIWYG.)

There are a number of tools available to AE for getting different lighting looks. There are Styles like the ones found in Photoshop, which you can tie to a global setting, and there are native and third-party fx plugins you can use for simulating light wraps, direction lighting, etc.

Most of the time, I'll just duplicate body part layers in AE, apply Set Channels to make the layers solid black or white, and then construct lighting masks from them by combining, blurring, and offsetting them. Then I can use that element to shade the characters. This gives me the most control over the look and animation of the shading effect, without using plugins and using only the direct output from Moho.

Sometimes I'll be asked to create a lighting effect that looks more organic, and the 'cheap' masking tricks in comp aren't cutting it. In this case, I might draw the lighting as shapes in Moho and use a reference of the whole character as a mask to cut out the light and shadow shapes. (I could do this in AE but in Moho I have the option to use bones to deform the lighting elements with the character.) This can look really cool but I try to reserve the approach for special cases because it takes more effort to set up and animate.

Anyway, there's are many ways to light Moho animations besides using just Moho. Just tossing out a few ideas. :)

(BTW, I only mentioned AE in the above examples but I've used Fusion with Moho layers the same way. The set up process is different but the ideas are the same.)
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Abdul.Int
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Re: highlights and shadows simple technique

Post by Abdul.Int »

Greenlaw wrote:Yes, I wish Moho's lighting tools controls were more accessible and interactive. Sometimes I have to nest a bunch of FX within the character to get a certain look but it's a pain when I need to change the lighting direction or color, or animate all the Light FX together. I guess maybe I could tie some controls to Smart Bones that's really too much trouble to do for every character.

My feeling is that Moho's lighting tools work well with simpler characters and animation, but you quickly to run into problems with more complicated character designs and animations.

What I've been doing lately is setting up Layer Comps for each character to make it easier to light in After Effects. For example, splitting the arms from the body so I have masking elements that allow me to light the arms across the body, or to withhold lighting from parts that should be occluded in 'shadow'. This needs to be set up on a scene by scene basis but it's pretty easy to do, and a whole lot easier to work with once you have it set up. Technically, you can replicate this in Moho but it's a lot easier in AE because you can see the effects live while adjusting them. (In other words: no endless Ctrl-R tests, it's all WYSIWYG.)

There are a number of tools available to AE for getting different lighting looks. There are Styles like the ones found in Photoshop, which you can tie to a global setting, and there are native and third-party fx plugins you can use for simulating light wraps, direction lighting, etc.

Most of the time, I'll just duplicate body part layers in AE, apply Set Channels to make the layers solid black or white, and then construct lighting masks from them by combining, blurring, and offsetting them. Then I can use that element to shade the characters. This gives me the most control over the look and animation of the shading effect, without using plugins and using only the direct output from Moho.

Sometimes I'll be asked to create a lighting effect that looks more organic, and the 'cheap' masking tricks in comp aren't cutting it. In this case, I might draw the lighting as shapes in Moho and use a reference of the whole character as a mask to cut out the light and shadow shapes. (I could do this in AE but in Moho I have the option to use bones to deform the lighting elements with the character.) This can look really cool but I try to reserve the approach for special cases because it takes more effort to set up and animate.

Anyway, there's are many ways to light Moho animations besides using just Moho. Just tossing out a few ideas. :)

(BTW, I only mentioned AE in the above examples but I've used Fusion with Moho layers the same way. The set up process is different but the ideas are the same.)
you are right , thanks :)
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