They cameras can move...

I'd like the lights to move as well.

Good one EEF - the scene is the interview room here :.

Speed controllers on the effects with smoke! And by that I mean...well, just that. The smoke textures rise way too fast for anything other than a raging fire. I'm trying to use the smoke effect to get steam rising from a coffee cup and it's just too fast. Might have been requested before, but I've gotta gripe somewhere

I'd like to know if it's possible to create a character with no background or green screen. I am using Vegas Studio 9 to create a music HD video and would like to add just one of the characters to my footage.

Thanks D - that request may seem quite picky, but it's because I'm working on a set with the characters scaled up as big as they'll go, which makes (for example) the Ground Fog effect into a little patch of fog, so I have to use a lot of them edge-to-edge to achieve the same effect...and it's really quite tricky to do when you can't really see the edge.

HD Skies! By that, I mean allowing a higher resolution for the sky dome picture. At the moment, the sky squashes, smears, and distorts the image like so :



Doesn't kill it, but it hardly enhances the scene, dontcha think?

Also the ability to move two steps forward, or in any direction.

At the moment you can only move one step then another, rather than a natural two steps. Using the drag or click to point methods seems to have a minimum of around 4 steps. Consequently movement in a confined space is difficult and I have to avoid it.

a simple character turning movement of 90 degrees would be nice, instead of taking two steps to get there just one step

HD Skies! By that, I mean allowing a higher resolution for the sky dome picture. At the moment, the sky squashes, smears, and distorts the image like so :



Doesn't kill it, but it hardly enhances the scene, dontcha think?

The only thing that really bugs me about the "dome" sky as is is the clearly visible verticle seam(or line) that defines where the two ends meet. Othre than that I try to work around it, and sometimes the existing distorted effect works....it'd be nice if we had the "choice" of which to use I think, like Ziggy's HD skies or the original....just my opinion, and there's probably more important things going on at Muvizu like how to GRASP objects maybe? lol just kidding!

I have been using Muvizu for only a short time but I would LOVE to see the ability to color code cue points. I use cue points alot and to be able to color code them would be awsome in timing.

If we are contemplating adding auto-animating the door closing , could we not auto-animate the door opening?

In either case you're talking about determining the movement type(rotation), the amount of movement, speed and, in this case, the axis of rotation.

Are we thus heading towards a more generic object animation feature? Maybe the first step to waypoints and camera programming - whey hey!

Sorry - calmed down now.

Simon

Door springs! By that I mean that when you animate opening a door (or any object ideally), there would be a check box on the Prepare dialogue to enable the Spring. This would mean that the door would spring back to it's starting position automatically once you let go of the key(s) you're pressing to animate it. This is necessary, I believe, since it is completely impossible to do it manually. You can never get the bloody door to look shut again, it's always a little bit out (at best!).

On the subject of eyebrows, could we please have the option to turn off shadows on Brows? Pretty sure my eyebrows don't cast shadows over my face... I'll go check

On the subject of eyebrows, could we please have the option to turn off shadows on Brows? Pretty sure my eyebrows don't cast shadows over my face... I'll go check

This was created by using a scaled down backdrop positioned on the characters forehead on to which was placed a variety of eyebrow shapes with transparent backgrounds switching from image to image by animating the backdrop object image properties.
The raising and lowering of the eyebrows can be created by animating the movement of the backdrop up and down. If a single eyebrow movement is required then you would have to have two separate backdrops.
Please note though that the eyebrow backdrop is not going to move with the character as it is not attached. For this reason I haven't really used this technique much.
I have a sneaky feeling that the facial morphs used on the new characters may pave the way for a facial animation system

...it's only a feeling though!

Hope the above helps!

Cheers
D

Yes zig I concur ...as you may have gathered




I'm sure something is in the pipeline..
edited by Dreeko on 11/05/2012

Jamie wrote:


Absolutely. They could be the same size as the bin icon (for deleting the track data), along the line of each track - one for direct, one for prepare if appropriate. There's tons of grey to play with, y'know!

I'm Interesting idea Dreeko - Ziggy are you sure there's enough space to add more buttons on the timeline?

I'm pretty sure that Dreeko means a button on each timeline track which corresponds to it's special menu - clicking on the button for Eyes Look At would take you straight to the Direct Eyes menu, or a button on the Actions track for Direct Actions, etc. Great idea, and there could also be a Prepare button next to Direct where appropriate too.

I'm pretty sure that Dreeko means a button on each timeline track which corresponds to it's special menu - clicking on the button for Eyes Look At would take you straight to the Direct Eyes menu, or a button on the Actions track for Direct Actions, etc. Great idea, and there could also be a Prepare button next to Direct where appropriate too.

Buttons...

Well how about a direction button on all lines in the timeline editor?

MrDrWho13 wrote:



The 'Make Oscar Winning Masterpiece that kicks Pixar's Butt' Button...of course this would involve a super secret Easter Egg and could only be used by one Muvizu user per year on a strict rotation.

MrDrWho13 wrote:


Specifically, I'd vote for a Import Object button. I import a lot of external objects, probably not for everyone, to be fair

Actually, how about a Create Character button, which would create a default character (random types? selectable in options?) so you could populate a scene quickly.

I agree with the new camera and camera 1 buttons, what other easy access buttons should we have?
hmmm.....

MrDrWho13 wrote:


Specifically, I'd vote for a Import Object button. I import a lot of external objects, probably not for everyone, to be fair

Actually, how about a Create Character button, which would create a default character (random types? selectable in options?) so you could populate a scene quickly.

I agree with the new camera and camera 1 buttons, what other easy access buttons should we have?
hmmm.....

First request of the day! (will it be my last?)

Camera window with a "+ " button for adding new cameras and a "-" button deleting a selected one.!

Ta muchly!

Dylly wrote:


Me too!

Right click on any object. Perhaps a Edit Properties item and Prepare and Direct menu items with cascading menu appropriate for the object.

Dreeko wrote:



Keep your eyes peeled, you might find something like this appears in the next release

I'll add my vote for a right-click context menu (configurable of course).

I go one better i right click on the character in the camera window all the time.. derp .. YaY Muvizu .. lol

You're not the only one Dreeko! And another one...What about 'Edit environment' under Edit instead of create? I'm forever going to edit to edit the environment instead of create.

Another request! Set thumbnails!
When I'm sifting through .set files trying to find the right one to load it can be a bit time consuming trying to find the right one. Can we have (just as windows explorer has) a preview thumbnail showing the selected file...Ta!

Am I the only one who regularly right clicks on a character to try and set up the character actions and then realises that the right click is only for changing a characters appearance.

I don't know why I do this so often?
It could be that it feels natural to have all character options available from right clicking.

(hint hint!)

cheers
D

Could I request that we have a number of file location trackers within Muvizu. Let me explain.

I keep all my assets in a directory (C:\UT3 and below)
I have all my scenes in another structure (c:\project\scene1 etc)
I output my videos somewhere else (C:\project\scene1\vids)

At the moment when you import ab object it defaults to the last location you did anything - open a set, make a vid or whatever.

I would like the import object dialog to default to the last place I imported an object from, the make movie to default to the last place I made a movie and the open/save set to default to that last place I opened/saved a set.

It's just a little thing, but over time it gets quite annoying.

Dylly wrote:


Me too!

Dreeko wrote:

You're not the only one Dreeko!

And another one...What about 'Edit environment' under Edit instead of create? I'm forever going to edit to edit the environment instead of create.

Am I the only one who regularly right clicks on a character to try and set up the character actions and then realises that the right click is only for changing a characters appearance.

I don't know why I do this so often?
It could be that it feels natural to have all character options available from right clicking.

(hint hint!)

cheers
D

Am I the only one who regularly right clicks on a character to try and set up the character actions and then realises that the right click is only for changing a characters appearance.

I don't know why I do this so often?
It could be that it feels natural to have all character options available from right clicking.

(hint hint!)

cheers
D

At the moment, when you click on it, it jumps to somewhere else. As long as it stops doing that, it could be useful. Actually, could it just be attached to the timeline like a handle, and use it to drag the timeline about like that? Just a thought

Yeah, it's a bit fiddly to use. What if it was consistent? Rather than it automatically trying to adjust for the "recorded" area or zoom level, it always stayed the same?

There is that black bar, yes, but it always sits at the beginning of it's 'range', and as soon as you click on it you jump back to that point, meaning you now have to drag it back to where you were in the first place, negating it's usefulness completely (especially when zoomed right in). Pulling the timeline left and right is intuitive and simple, and if you want to keep it easy for people, it's the way to go I think.

On the red bar thing, there is a bar to do this, but it's black. It sort of appears and disappears depending on how much "recorded" time there is. How do you guys feel about it?
edited by Jamie on 05/06/2012

Jamie wrote:


Being able to drag the timeline with the red bar, rather than the play marker. I don't need to the animation to run when navigating the timeline, just to be able to find where I am is enough. And, as everyone and their dog has requested, the timeline marks to give you some sense of scale and placement. Can't believe you still haven't put them back in! We need them, really we do.

What would you keep from the old one and change on the new one?

Bow tie!

There are a variety of neck attachments, but no bow tie! It would be handy for james bond type movies and alike.

cheers

D

Knock it off with the puns you boneheads...

OH GOD I HAVE BECOME EVERYTHING I HAVE EVER HATED

ukBerty wrote:


I've got their album - Boned To Death.

(Inferior Skeletons - great 70s band).

Yes, that's pretty much how it works. So you would be using the 'pose' animations, or any animation that doesn't return to the idle position at the end.

Thanks for having a look. I've had a little play and basically that would mean doing a "pose" action and letting it play through which would keep the character out of idle ?

This would allow me to do what I want so yes please.

Ideally it would give us much more control if you could take it off "idle" as the character would always have to be is a pose to be dead, which may look a bit unnatural - but I'll take what I can get !

I'm assuming (hoping) this is still all fine and dandy?

You have to run characters through a pose animation and then just leave them there at the end and they won't move

ukBerty wrote:


I've done a quick test and it looks like it would be pretty easy for us to add an option to disable this second layered animation - would that do the trick?

Didn't I see a Drychalice clip where he'd managed to get Muvizu characters to stand stock still like statues? Or was it a trick of my eye?
edited by Dylly on 08/02/2012

Please,please, please can we have a tick box on a character to stop them breathing. There is quite a bit of death in my latest creation, or at least there would be if the characters would actually die!

Just been out in the snow with the Beagle and I've been thinking...yup thats what that strange crunching noise was...

What we could do with is a version of each character, male, female etc as an .obj file. then we could import that character into 3d application of choice, Sketchup, 3ds Max, Maya etc...we could then create any number of stiffs etc, for want of a better word. Perhaps it may lead to the creation of new characters for Muvizu based on the existing rigs.

And it's not only death that the no breathing option would give us - statues and toys too.

I have hit a couple of issues which if changed would make Muvizu even better - one old, one new.

• Please,please, please can we have a tick box on a character to stop them breathing. There is quite a bit of death in my latest creation, or at least there would be if the characters would actually die !
• I am having a problem with the "pose" positions (lay down etc). I have a character "relaxing on front" - which is all going well until I try to move their head and it all goes a bit exorcist. I can keep their heads still for the moment, but it would be nice to be able to bring them more to life.
  
  Berty

Maybe the developers can get Muvizu to distribute a nice frosty beverage while we are animating? Milk and cookies for the younger folks? I mean if they can do dragons...

Maybe the developers can get Muvizu to distribute a nice frosty beverage while we are animating? Milk and cookies for the younger folks? I mean if they can do dragons...

ziggy72 wrote:


I haven't checked Muvizu yet (I'm a n00b) but in some applications you can create a mirror effect by scaling in the negative direction and for some you scale to -1 which results in a mirror effect. Is that a possibility here? Just allow scaling in the negative direction?

Object Mirroring! By that I mean, um, mirroring the object. So it's opposite. Y'know.

.where's Dreeko's Dragon when I need him?

Glowing! I mean, you can't have candles or lightbulbs looking like, you know, candles or lightbulbs because we can't have a visible light source, like a glowing ember or star or what have you. It would be nice to show the source of the light, not just the result.

How about some headphones for the DJ?

Well, sorta...you can aim the effect, yes, but I was meaning bending the effect, so that it's path (eminating from the effect box) can be a variable arc. Smoke doesn't go straight up forever - it will always be affected by the wind, however slight. Also, bending effects (like the laser) could produce some interesting stuff, I think.

ziggy72 wrote:


Muvizu already has this. Click on "full rotation" and then you can point the effect in the direction you want it to go. It can be a pain since they don't rotate "normal" for lack of a better word. Some trail and error it can be figured out.
edited by RightURKen on 13/08/2011
edited by RightURKen on 13/08/2011

Directional effects! ...:

Directional effects! By that I mean being able to 'blow' the effect in whatever direction. I was just watching a vid and a dust storm was blowing across the scene, and a fire effect sat there burning straight up - hmm... Having the option to influence the direction of the effect using a head motion style control could allow you to bend it's course, and make it look better when interacting with the environment/other effects. And where's my guns?!

Wizaerd wrote:


oh,I have faith in the crazy coders that beaver away at Muvizu HQ

D

Not saying it's a bad idea mind you, I just thing it's be a real bear to implement.

Dreeko wrote:


I had this and worked round by filming a wider view than required. Then in after effects I zoomed in past the shaking Logo and applied a static logo via chroma key on top.


Obviously you lose a bit of quality thisway, but once it's on Youtube it doesn't really matter.

Berty

A popular technique used by a lot of users to workaround various problems is green screen (chroma key) . So is it possible for this feature/filter to be built into Muvizu?

Cheers
D

Dreeko wrote:


I had this and worked round by filming a wider view than required. Then in after effects I zoomed in past the shaking Logo and applied a static logo via chroma key on top.


Obviously you lose a bit of quality thisway, but once it's on Youtube it doesn't really matter.

Berty

....but the Muvizu logo leaps around aswell obviously.

Colour coded cameras! They can be hard to see, grey as they are, among the other objects and it would be good to associate them by colour rather than just number alone.

Boots!

Dreeko wrote:


Is this some sort of attempt at blackmail?

I have a few character based cartoons from my back catalogue which will have to stay there until these options appear im afraid!