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Home ? Feedback ? The new Muvizu and The Garage Band Blues...

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09/09/2012 00:27:05

mystoMuvizu mogulExperimental user
mysto
Posts: 471 		Hopefully episode #5 of The Garage Band Blues will go live sometime next week.

One of the reasons that it's taking so long to complete is that I've been trying to get the same precision and accuracy with the timeline in the new version that I had with the old version of Muvizu (ver 0.16b) and it's just not there. I've been trying and doing everything I can think of to get that same precision but can't seem to do it.

With that said, any future episodes will probably be made using the old version 0.16b. I'm willing to sacrifice the new "bells and whistles" and the "villains and super heroes" to get the precision and accuracy back that I had with the old version.

Don't get me wrong, the new version of Muvizu is really great and can produce really nice animations but there are some functions (in my opinion anyway) that were better executed in the old version.

Anyway, I'm finished "ranting". Episode #5 of The Garage Band Blues is just about finished and I'll upload it (hopefully) next week.
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09/09/2012 07:54:26

ukBertyMuvizu mogulExperimental user
ukBerty
Posts: 975 		Mysto - I have some real sympathy for you here. Are you just talking the head and eye movements, which I agree are not as controllable as they used to be, or are there other things you're missing ?
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09/09/2012 16:11:25

mystoMuvizu mogulExperimental user
mysto
Posts: 471 		Berty - Yes, head and eye movement are a bit harder to control but I was mainly referring to the functions on the new timeline.

Examples:

1. On the old timeline when I wanted to move to a certain point all I had to do was take the mouse, hold the left button and slide the timeline to where ever I wanted to. If I wanted to zoom or out in I click the + or - buttons. A VERY fast and efficient way to do things.

With the new timeline I have to mess with a little "slider bar thingy" and hope that when I click on it the timeline doesn't fly off to somewhere I'm not even working on. If I want to zoom in or out same issue. I can't tell you how many times I "lost" my place while trying to move around on the timeline. I've put quite a few hours into using the new version of Muvizu and have yet to get those damn slider bars to work like I want them to. VERY frustrating.

2. In the old version of Muvizu being able to hit the spacebar to stop an action while recording was really nice. I then move the "action squares" around on the timeline to get all kinds of "new" actions for the characters. Doing things this way allows for some VERY precise "new" character actions. Again, a VERY fast and efficient method of doing things. (for me at least)

In the new version I have to actually move the mouse pointer to the "stop recording" button to stop recording. Pressing the spacebar now just repeats the last action recorded. To try and get the same precision I click the button to record an action, then I hit the spacebar several times and then I hit the stop button. I then go to the timeline, remove all of the unwanted action squares, move the square that I do want to the position I want it, and then repeat the process over and over again until I get the final character action I want. While doing things this way does somewhat work it really adds a LOT of time to the animation process.

I've tried every technique I can think of to try and get the speed and efficiency I had with the "old way" of doing things but again have failed at doing so.

3. In the old version of Muvizu I was able to put down a que point on the timeline and then I was able to "snap" a character movement or action square to that que point. This allowed for some VERY VERY precise and accurate timing of things. If this ability was not built into the old version of Muvizu I would not have been able to produce the musical animations I have with the precision and accuracy that they have. I was able to get my timings down to the "split second" by being able to "snap" things to certain points on the timeline.

With the new version of Muvizu its "hit and miss" at best. I've spent hours and hours trying to get precise and accurate control over character actions and lights and object movements with the new version and all I have been able to come up with so far is "good enough". Now for most projects "good enough" is perfectly fine, but some of the things I am working on require very accurate and precise timings and good enough just isn't "good enough". Without being able to "snap" things to que points there's just no way I can get precise and exact timings of anything.

There are some other issues that I've come across with the new timeline but they are very minor and were fairly easy to "work around". (again, for me at least)

I want you to know that I am by no means complaining about anything. I'm just giving my personal opinion about the new version. Muvizu is one of the coolest pieces of 3d software that I've ever had the pleasure of using and I plan on using it for a long long time. I'm sure the new version works just fine for most of the folks who use it.

For the most part the new version of Muvizu works well for me too but I am willing to give up some of the cool new features of the new Muvizu in order to get the precision and accuracy that I had with the old version (ver 0.16b).

I'll be a "loyal Muvizuer" for a long long time...
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09/09/2012 16:59:27

ukBertyMuvizu mogulExperimental user
ukBerty
Posts: 975 		Mysto, I think we just have to hope these will be addressed in future versions. I know we did take a few steps back with the new interface but hopefully it will allow them to overtake where we were in the not too distant future.
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Home ? Feedback ? The new Muvizu and The Garage Band Blues...

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Muvizu is easy to use 3D animation software that allows anyone to create high quality animations quickly and easily. Muvizu’s animation engine is ideal for storytellers, animators, teachers and businesses looking to engage, enchant and delight audiences with animated content.