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Home ? Your Videos ? Quick & Dirty Quadraped workaround...

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26/12/2015 10:22:11

PatMarrNCMuvizu mogul
PatMarrNC
Posts: 1738 		Maybe someday we'll have Dragons and other quadrapeds in Muvizu... but until then, here's one way to simulate dogs and cats using the Blob character with face masks and extended bodies.

It's not perfect by any means, but it's not all that far removed from the potato head paradigm.

Set with characters and the modelled attachments will be uploaded to the store as a free DL when I get a chance.

Using this concept, now somebody who is a much better modeller than I am needs to come up with a dragon. ;-)


edited by PatMarrNC on 26/12/2015
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26/12/2015 10:25:01

MrDrWho13Muvizu mogulExperimental user
MrDrWho13
Posts: 2220 		I'll have a watch of these later.
The forum embeds automatically with youtube URLs so you don't need to paste the embed code.
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26/12/2015 11:14:05

drewiMuvizu mogulExperimental user
drewi
Posts: 298 		Wonderfully inventive Pat
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26/12/2015 13:20:24

Phil7newbie
Phil7newbie
Posts: 25 		what a cool idea!
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26/12/2015 17:54:23

PatMarrNCMuvizu mogul
PatMarrNC
Posts: 1738 		I was kind of surprised and pleased to note that , even though the legs don't move, they are attached to a very squishy and movable blob (as WAIST attachment).

Because the legs attachment stays normal to the blobs centerline vector. it introduces movement to the legs... at times looking like the legs are propelling the body (when in fact the legs are just responding to the blob's ever-changing centerline)

I was hoping that a lower jaw attachment (used as a beard) would follow the movement of the character's jaw when he talks , but so far my tests along those lines haven't yielded anything to report. A lower jaw that is the same length as the snout (and moves when the character talks) would be highly desirable for a dragon character.

If I can find the magic combination, however, it would allow the creation of animals with elongated faces whose mouths still respond to dialog. Until then, my workaround is to model the face mask so that it leaves the potato head mouth visible. As cartoons, I figure it doesn't have to be real-looking, it just needs to convey the dialog.

Ideally, a separate mouth object that could be placed wherever we need it (like the eyes and ears etc) would open up a lot of potential to make face masks usable in stories that require the character to lip synch dialog.
edited by PatMarrNC on 26/12/2015
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26/12/2015 21:17:06

clayster2012Muvizu mogul
clayster2012
Posts: 645 		Very nice, getting the attachments to work is one of the things I always have a hard time at, but with a lot of tweaking and extra time, it always comes out good, I never thought of using the blob character for anything, but you seem to be getting the attachment thing down nicely, great work man!
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27/12/2015 15:50:36

PatMarrNCMuvizu mogul
PatMarrNC
Posts: 1738 		clayster2012 wrote:
Very nice, getting the attachments to work is one of the things I always have a hard time at, but with a lot of tweaking and extra time, it always comes out good, I never thought of using the blob character for anything, but you seem to be getting the attachment thing down nicely, great work man!


Clayster, you are the MASTER of attachments and character design! An inspiration to all of us, I would guess! (you certainly inspire me)
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27/12/2015 15:59:00

MrDrWho13Muvizu mogulExperimental user
MrDrWho13
Posts: 2220 		I just got round to watching the video. Amazing work! I'd never have thought of using the blob, and it does look rather good. Keep up the good work!
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27/12/2015 20:58:28

clayster2012Muvizu mogul
clayster2012
Posts: 645 		PatMarrNC wrote:
clayster2012 wrote:
Very nice, getting the attachments to work is one of the things I always have a hard time at, but with a lot of tweaking and extra time, it always comes out good, I never thought of using the blob character for anything, but you seem to be getting the attachment thing down nicely, great work man!


Clayster, you are the MASTER of attachments and character design! An inspiration to all of us, I would guess! (you certainly inspire me)


Thanks, I'm glad I could past that down to everyone,all I can say is, if you put your heart into everything you do and never give up, then you can achieve anything.
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28/12/2015 16:22:30

PatMarrNCMuvizu mogul
PatMarrNC
Posts: 1738 		I uploaded a set containing characters only, which I guess can be added to other people's favorites list for future quick addition to your own projects. The set contains 11 animals:

2 different dogs
2 different cats
1 squirrel
1 rabbit
1 unknown beavery-looking animal that started out to be a squirrel
1 reindeer (I noticed the Christmas pack has a sleigh, but no reindeer!)
2 white tailed deer bucks (all the deer are based on Fat Man, not the blob)
1 white tailed deer doe

as usual, the basic characters can be copied and changed with the different eyes and color

Later I may post the attachments in a zip file. Or not. I figure that people who don't make their own models only want the characters, and people who DO make models would probably want to make their own better versions. My modelling skills are rudimentary.

More animal packs to come! especially ones based on the blob! The fact that the blob offers a movable head with facial expressions, the ability to lip synch and get sized appropriately makes it the perfect basis for all kinds of modelled bodies and face masks. It is the one truly generic character, able to be morphed into just about anything else!

as I write this, the animal pack has not yet been moderated and added to the store. I figure the Muvizu team is short-staffed during Christmas week. It should appear in the store as soon as it is approved.
edited by PatMarrNC on 28/12/2015
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03/01/2016 03:14:25

PatMarrNCMuvizu mogul
PatMarrNC
Posts: 1738 		The "not-quite-quadrapeds" character pack I uploaded about a week ago still hasn't been approved and made available by Muvizu... but here's a promo video for my next set of blob-based characters. This set is all birds. It contains one each of the following birds:

bald eagle
rooster
hen
hawk
duck
mallard
blue jay
cardinal
robin
swallow
grey gull
hummingbird
parakeet
plus a cage for the parakeet








They'll be available in the store as a free DL too, as soon as MUVIZU releases it

Nothing to write home about modelling-wise, but they fit the Muvizu character pardigm, and work better than static models imported from sketchup when you need background creatures in a video.
edited by PatMarrNC on 03/01/2016
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03/01/2016 10:23:05

artpenMuvizu mogulExperimental user
artpen
Posts: 362 		Excellent work, love em
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03/01/2016 11:31:42

drewiMuvizu mogulExperimental user
drewi
Posts: 298 		Splendid creations.Cool
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03/01/2016 13:27:57

ziggy72Muvizu mogulExperimental user
ziggy72
Posts: 1988 		That works! They look best when they don't 'walk', but yeah, stick them up a tree and you've got reasonably convincing birds. Nice job Pat - all they need now is feather textures...

(btw New Year lasts about 3 days in Scotland, so HQ should be sobering up around now... )
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03/01/2016 15:58:07

urbanlamb
urbanlamb
(Account inactive)
Posts: 1786 		lol those are great and hilarious nice work. The walking around isn't that jarring either
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03/01/2016 16:04:09

MrDrWho13Muvizu mogulExperimental user
MrDrWho13
Posts: 2220 		That's incredible!
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03/01/2016 17:06:20

clayster2012Muvizu mogul
clayster2012
Posts: 645 		Great job man, I give you 5 Stars,Keep up the good work!
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03/01/2016 20:28:07

PatMarrNCMuvizu mogul
PatMarrNC
Posts: 1738 		I really appreciate such kind words from people whose work I hold in high esteem... thanks for taking the time to encourage a relative newbie!

Regarding the textures: I'm a cartoonist, and for my uses flat colors and cartoonish looking creatures achieve the look and feel I want.

However, I know that a lot of you have figured out how to make your muvizu scenes very lifelike and authentic, right down to a level of detail that I'd never be able to achieve. That's why I encourage anybody who finds this idea useful to expand on it and improve it. I don't even care if you implement these or your improved version in asset packs that you sell. I tend not to be protective about my ideas... I just put it out there for any kind of use or abuse.

The interesting thing about the movement is that birds DO hop! In fact, analyzing the blob's movements is what inspired the idea of a bird character set. Of all creatures, birds are not that far removed from the blob.

The point about using these characters in non-moving scenarios so they can respond to the environment... what a great idea! That opens the door to a whole new set of larger animals that aren't intended to walk, but which could be shown standing or in partial view in order to take advantage of animated faces!

What a great community of people who encourage one another, share ideas and just generally have a lot of fun with the same software!
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03/01/2016 20:33:51

PatMarrNCMuvizu mogul
PatMarrNC
Posts: 1738 		I also think that 99% of Muvizu's users are NOT power users, and they just want simple solutions for their presentations. These birds and mammals partially address a void that has been present in Muvizu from the beginning, and they work exactly like all other characters, so there is no learning curve.

For the casual user, I'd guess that both of these downloads are a no-brainer.

For the power users... I look forward to seeing any and all improvements to the idea of blob-based characters!
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04/01/2016 09:14:48

toonaramaMuvizu mogulExperimental user
toonarama
Posts: 661 		Very very clever - they look great!
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