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PatMarrNC - all messages by user

2016/12/16 0:20:29
Poser 11 for 49.00 US Sale Price I agree that as a complete animation system it would be too much hassle. Muvizu is much easier. But, as a tool to make the occasional scene that Muvizu can't make, it has a place in my toolbox. Everybody needs to make that decision for him/herself.. No software works for everybody.

It's not a software that I find intuitive...its method of navigating is different than anything else (why don't software vendors stick with industry standard interfaces?) but there are TONS of tutorials on youtube that explain how to use it.
edited by PatMarrNC on 16/12/2016
2016/12/15 22:39:46
Poser 11 for 49.00 US Sale Price I didn't get that email... it might have contained this overview video. But if not, here it is:



In light of Muvizu's new ability to import OBJ, it might be worth mentioning that everything in Poser can be exported in OBJ format. Hair assets for example can be directly exported from poser and used in Muvizu (must convert to FBX in oprder to use as attachments)

And unlike iClone which requires a special (and expensive) license in order to import your own models, that's part of the standard Poser package.
2016/12/15 22:24:39
HATS OFF TO MUVIZU MARKETING! MrDrWho13 wrote:
I got the reverse email and hadn't considered that they'd do it this way round. I gotta agree that this is potentially their best marketing move in years and I hope it goes well!


reverse email??
2016/12/15 22:00:45
HATS OFF TO MUVIZU MARKETING! I just got this in my email from Smith Micro, the makers of other animation software such as Poser and MOHO (Formerly called Anime Studio)

http://marketing.smithmicro.com/50-off-muvizu-the-fun-and-easy-3d-application-that-lets-anyone-make-animations-for-windows?ecid=ACsprvuGdIEJMq7vRxme6RkXlKwL_vd30enbqD8kX24UfMCBAjLgitBybw7d-WaqfTSxD0c4ReMF&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8P6zxSEc4zn2eN7c0XdeRS-TN4dg3plp5QZoe6RG4aM5d2qRJL5CHXZ8h9gb8O9dmooznxM3JQYIOmqB31rvE9ppnDYA&_hsmi=39297087


This kind of directed marketing gets straight to the demographic that's interested in your product! This is also how I learned about the modelling software I use. (Silo made a promotion through Smith Micros mailing list about a year ago, and I liked what I saw! )

I don't know what they charge to advertise your product through their mailing list, but I hope this approach pays off very well for you! I'd guess that just about everybody on their mailing list is a potential customer! Plus, they're all used to paying a LOT MORE for animation software, so the deal you're offering should be very enticing!
2016/12/15 21:19:17
CHRISTMAS CONTEST 2016 Ha! Its not easy to use a short time period and make a point that works as well as that one does! I love it!

Your inner manager did a great job of delegating all the right tasks to others so you could actualize the idea!

"Direct... don't animate!"
2016/12/15 20:18:08
New release update: Static lighting and OBJ import primaveranz wrote:
Pat I have just spent 5 fruitless minutes trying to find the thread where you and Ikes explained how to edit a file to allow transparencies in a .ASE file? Can you find it? I just wondered if there was anything there that might help with the .OBJ file.

Ta.


I tried what works in FBX files, but it doesn't work in this case.
The solution was to add another parameter in the .mtl file:

d 0.50 (added at the end of the glass material definition)
2016/12/15 20:14:02
New release update: Static lighting and OBJ import Tangledbliss wrote:
You know what guys? - I dont think i am going to bother with .obj models and muvizu - I just havnt got that much spare time


It's only time consuming until you figure it out. We're saving everybody else the trouble ;-)
2016/12/15 20:12:28
New release update: Static lighting and OBJ import hmmm.. that time I texture mapped the object before applying the texture and Muvizu imported it without an error

2016/12/15 19:20:19
New release update: Static lighting and OBJ import primaveranz wrote:
PatMarrNC wrote:

Weirdly for the cube with the window in it, even though the window is not visible if you lift the block above the ground the shadow shows that thre is a hole in the cube. However the window is only in the top and the shadow suggests it goes right through the cube. This is the same behaviour I have seen with .ASE files.


seeing the same thing here.

I'm getting mixed results

size-wise, Some cubes that are larger than other cubes that will import are still failing with the error that the object is too small.

Sometimes when the OBJ imports I can select it and move it around, while other times I can't... and I don't know what determines the difference


OK.. based on your input I was able to get a cube with texture to load ... but i still got an invalid file format error, and the texture didn't show up on the model until I edited the property diffuse texture (which was empty, even though the MTL file clearly showed it)

After getting the cube into Muvizu I was then able to apply BMP, PNG and JPG textures to the diffuse texture box
edited by PatMarrNC on 15/12/2016
2016/12/15 18:43:11
New release update: Static lighting and OBJ import primaveranz wrote:

Have you tried a milkshape3d model with two materials? One using an image texture and the other using a transparent .png or .dds file?


I've tried both. Adding an image texture here on my machine causes Muvizu to throw an "invalid file format" error when I try to load it.

If I add transparency to the .mtl file, muvizu will load the model, but the transparency is not supported.

Open question to the forum: has ANYBODY been able to successfully load an OBJ file with an image texture assigned to a surface?

also, my last import is a cube with a different color on each side... 6 in total.... but when I edit the properties, the box shows one color plus some of the modifying colors for that one material.



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edited by PatMarrNC on 15/12/2016
2016/12/15 16:33:08
New release update: Static lighting and OBJ import Continuing my efforts to load an OBJ...

So I UVMapped it this time, and added an image as texture. Got the following error when trying to load it:



removed the image texture and got the original error again



this suggests that the contents of the .mtl file influence the model's loading.

update: I just exported the same cube from Milkshape, and it imported OK.... but I notice that milkshape did not create a .mtl file for the cube. Deleting the .mtl file for the other cubes generated by other modelling programs resulted in a "mtl file not found" error, because the OBJ file must have had an internal reference that the milkshape file did not have

update 2: I added a color to the cube in Milkshape, then exported as OBJ... this time Milkshape created a .mtl file, and the resulting model successfully imported to Muvizu. So apparently, these various modelling programs address the OBJ format differently, and Milkshapes version appears to match the format that Muvizu's importer is looking for.

update 3: primaveranz wrote:
I'd be tempted to scale up the model by a factor of 10 and not create any collision mesh as I suspect the Muvizu import will take care of that anyway, then try again.

I had previously tried this, but apparently I wasn't making my object large enough. I Imported the Milkshape cube into Silo, and it was huge compared to anything else I'd tried to get into Muvizu... and when I exported it from Silo at that huge size, it came into Muvizu! Cool!
That tells me I just need to work to a different scale when working with OBJ files

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edited by PatMarrNC on 15/12/2016
edited by PatMarrNC on 15/12/2016
2016/12/15 16:05:27
New release update: Static lighting and OBJ import Speedking5 wrote:
I can import an obj object but I can not import an obj attachment for a character therres not even an option showing up for it.


but that sure would be useful!

(hint hint!)
2016/12/15 15:51:20
Poser 11 for 49.00 US Sale Price Rocque wrote:
Hi Everyone,

Did you get this in your email for Muvizu users? What are the advantages to this program? Does anyone use it, and if so is it compatible with Muvizu?
If anyone has any information about this product and wants to share, Thanks!!


I use it, and I think it's a good companion tool for Muvizu. Here's why:

1) Like Muvizu, Poser lets you import your own models to create scenes. So you could theoretically have the same scene in Poser and Muvizu, and use Poser to create the actions that aren't possible in Muvizu

2) Poser comes with a bunch of fully rigged and 100% animatable characters... including animals!

3) Poser characters can be animated down to the level of positioning each finger on a hand... so you could use it to create close-ups of dialing a phone, or swiping a tablet...

4) any kind of action is possible because you create actions by posing the characters joints, then moving ahead on the timeline to make a new pose... and then Poser moves seamlessly from one pose to the next

5) you can save the actions you create and use them again later... even with other characters!

6) Poser comes with a large library of pre-defined commonly used poses, such as a variety of sitting, standing, walking poses that can be dragged onto a character. You could literally animate just by dragging these predefined poses to different places on the timeline, one after the other! Very cool!)



One of my goals is to create Poser versions of the potato head characters. Once that's done, anybody who has poser will be able to use those characters to create one-off actions that aren't possible in Muvizu.

(There are already cartoon characters in Poser that resemble some of the Muvizu characters, and if you dress them the same way as your Muvizu character and frame your shot in such a way that the face is not seen, you could use these characters right out of the box to create special poses and actions that aren't possible with Muvizu. For example, if you need your character to dig a hole with a shovel... that's possible in Poser, but not in Muvizu. Animate it in Poser from a rear view of the character and the audience would have no idea that the scene was created in a different software package)

On one level its easy to use. There are dials for every joint, and you can literally "dial in" a pose. Creating animations is easy, and there is a built-in green screen setting that lets you export character animations with a solid background that can be removed in a video editor. This would be a good way to add animals to a Muvizu scene.

However once you get past the obvious stuff of posing and animating, the other features aren't very intuitive to me. For example, I've been trying to rig my own model for months and haven't figured it out yet. But most Muvizu users will never want to do that. The stuff that makes it useful with Muvizu is all fairly easy to learn.


Also, how well do you have to draw to use this? My drawing skills are very dusty, but once upon a time I could draw.

You don't need to draw at all in order to use poser. All of its characters are pre-made. You just have to animate them.


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edited by PatMarrNC on 15/12/2016
2016/12/15 14:00:05
Problem with lip synch and audio recording in the meantime, you can keep your animation momentum going by recreating your scene and avoiding the use of SHUSH. I find it useful to work in short scenes anyway, because that gives me more opportunity to combine a bunch of shots at different camera angles
2016/12/15 13:54:55
Scaling an object Most video editors allow keyframing of a clip's location and size... both of which will need to change in order to do what you're talking about. Since you have to put it all together in an editor anyway, you might consider leaving the plane out of the muvizu scene and then add it back in the video editing environment.

If you use Hitfilm Pro, you can actually import a 3D model of a plane into your editor and animate it in full 3D space.

But the simplest approach would be to find a still image on a plane/jet whatever that is oriented in the direction you want, then keyframe the image in the editor.

If you can't find an image that's oriented the way you want, you could put a model of a plane in Muvizu, orient it it as needed, then take a screen shot of it. (Make the background transparent so it can be superimposed over existing footage in the video editor)

Another approach would be to film the plane in Muvizu on its own layer, and export the keyframed plane by itself WITHOUT any change in scale. Then when you superimpose the plane layer in your video editor you can easily keyframe the scale smaller as it moves away from the camera
2016/12/14 20:43:47
New release update: Static lighting and OBJ import primaveranz wrote:
PatMarrNC wrote:





That looks like some sort of confusion over the path name, notice the forward and backward slashes after the drive name? Was the model on a USB stick? If so, save it to your PC before trying to import. Also make sure the .OBJ file (mesh) and any associated .MTL files (materials) are all in the same folder.


it was on my secondary hard drive (not a USB drive) and the supporting files were indeed in the same directory. Since I didn't have this problem with the output from any other modelling program, I'm attributing the weirdness to the Sketchup LIPID OBJ exporter plugin. Paths must get encoded in the OBJ file, because the .MTL file contained no path references.

Since the last post, I tried importing OBJ files from two other modellers (Curvy3d and Poser) and got the same error as in my original post (the one about being too small or a problem with collision)
2016/12/14 18:26:35
New release update: Static lighting and OBJ import let's use process of elimination to minimize some of the possible variation between different people's efforts to import an OBJ.

If you have successfully imported an OBJ, what modelling program did you use to create it? (maybe there's a difference between programs)

how large was the item? Was it textured? Did it include collision geometry?

I tried exporting a simple cube about the size of a car in muvizu.. with another simple cube inside, named UCX_Test (filename was Test.Obj)

Exported it from 3 different modelling apps and Muvizu rejected it each time with the error shown in my previous message

exporting from Sketchup using the LIPID OBJECT EXPORTER plugin, I get this error:


2016/12/14 17:48:12
Problem with lip synch and audio recording Hi Soldlocal... I can reproduce that problem here after the latest update.

With a clean set, lip synch works as usual... but as soon as SHUSH has been activated one time, it will never switch back to TALK.
(well, it does switch in the PREPARE dialog, but as soon as I switch to DIRECT, it immediately reverts back to SHUSH)

Problem persists until I exit Muvizu and reload it.

I also notice that the SHUSH and TALK events aren't being saved to the time line. I don't usually use TALK or SHUSH, so I don't have any prior knowledge about whether they normally create timeline markers... but it seems like they should.
2016/12/14 5:21:45
New release update: Static lighting and OBJ import Has anybody successfully imported an OBJ file yet? Every time I try, I get this error. First time I hadn't added any collision... next several times I did exactly what works when I export an OBJ for conversion to FBX (which works) in the FBX, but not for the same OBJ before I convert it to FBX



edited by PatMarrNC on 14/12/2016
2016/12/14 5:01:05
Can Someone Explain The New Lighting? speaking of STATIC LIGHTING... when I click the menu option to Build Static Lighting, Windows Firewall blocks it. Swarm Agent.

Can I assume it's OK to let Swarm Agent thru the firewall?
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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.