BigWhirl2012 - all messages by user

2015/2/6 23:21:30
Question about Play* and Watermark I upgraded to Play Plus recently and expected to not deal with the Watermark again. Whenever I work on a project in Muvizu, I do not see the watermark. However when I go to render the file to video, I still see the watermark tab in the options and I'm asked whether I want to remove the watermark and lists the credit card options along with a box "Remove The Watermark".

I've been unable to Make a Video thus far in three attempts. I previously had no trouble with the free version of the software. I'm not sure if the two issues are related or not at this point.
2015/2/5 3:59:38
Sketchup to Muvizu I'm running into a couple of problems. The first is that the "Make Components" function is grayed out in Sketchup 8. I can click on an object and Sketchup will highlight it with the blue box around it but when I go to the EDI menu at the top of the screen "Make Component" is grayed out.

I'm also getting the toto error. I'm not sure if it's related to the first issue or not because it's telling me the file isn't found.
edited by BigWhirl2012 on 05/02/2015
2015/1/4 8:17:43
Question About Beefy template After working with it for hours with no luck, I figured it out moments after posting the question to the board.

It never fails.
2015/1/4 8:07:36
Question About Beefy template I'm doing some superhero work and need the heroes to have symbols on their spandex costumes. The Beefy character is perfect for superheroes but I've run into a real problem. I have downloaded the UV map for beefy and imported it into photoshop. I then added the custom symbol I want on the character's chest and saved it to a .png file. When I try to edit the Beefy character, I'm only seeing a choice for a custom texture for the head. The other characters have a custom texture choice for their chest and back under the decal tab. Why would the Beefy character only have one for his head since superheroes typically have a symbol or something on their chests. It seems odd to me that the one character type that would benefit from this the most doesn't have it.

Is there any way around this? I've seen videos online where others have done this so I know it can be done. What am I missing? I tried to import the changes through the custom texture for the head but it placed the symbol on the character's face. I recently upgraded to Plus so I could use the product for commercial purposes without watermarks so I'd appreciate any help I could get.
2013/12/1 12:15:15
I've had a couple of weeks with the product now... ziggy72 wrote:
Prepare Character properties + animate Expression slider = Range of emotions


Thank you very much, Ziggy. After reading your reply I remembered seeing that in the tutorials but it slipped my mind. I re-did a scene I created and it looks much better without one character pouring out his heart while another is grinning from ear to ear.
2013/11/30 11:47:53
I've had a couple of weeks with the product now... I downloaded Muvizu a couple of weeks ago and have thoroughly enjoyed it! I had an issue with navigation at first but an uninstall/reinstall corrected the problem immediately. The first download must have been corrupted or something. Since that time I've worked on small scenes just to get the hang of things. I often distract myself after discovering some new trick and lose too many hours but I can't blame the creative team for my ADHD.

My first recommendation to any new users is to go through the tutorials and follow along carefully, The learning curve is minimal but the tutorials are very informative and packed with information that will have you up and running in no time. My second recommendation is to practice. I'm far from an expert at this point but have noticed a marked improvement in my skills since I first started. Another recommendation is to make sure your computer has plenty of power and a decent video card. I'm fortunate that my own machine is also used for high-end audio production so it was powerful enough to handle the demands without tweaking it. I could see where some older machines or laptops may struggle to keep up though, particularly with longer scenes. If you wish to do a longer scene it may be helpful to break it down into smaller chunks then use the video joiner or another program such as Sony Vegas to join them together.

For the creative team, I'd like to thank you for a product that's wildly exceeded my expectations thus far! I have no professional aspirations as a film-maker but have always been intrigued by the thought of animation. However, I struggle to draw even stick figures so animation was out of the question for someone like me. Now it's not only possible but I'm having a blast with it! There are no hours of painstakingly drawing character movement, no 3D skeletons to move, etc. Just have fun bringing your ideas to life! It's hard to ask for more than that!

I have some questions and a few recommendations however. First the questions. I noticed my menus sometimes don't match up with those in the tutorials. For example, in the tutorial about dialogue it shows three empty slots in the sound effects screen. I don't have those empty slots. It's obviously not a big deal since I have both Vegas and a full-blown audio production studio at my disposal but I couldn't help but notice the difference. Also, I'm unable to change the duration of an event on the timeline. For example, if I place a character action event on the timeline, let's say a character waving his arms wildly, and I'm a dork and forget to reset the character to an idle state. I can right-click on the event and choose edit and it opens a box that tells me the exact spot on the timeline when the event takes place and the duration of that event. I can change the place on the timeline in which the event occurs but I'm unable to affect the duration at all. I've tried clicking into the box, highlighting the numbers in the box, everything I can think of, but cannot alter the duration. Again, nothing a second pass can't cure but it would be nice to change this without having to record again. Is this a function that's disabled in the free version?

Now my recommendations. It would be helpful to have a list of character actions that are more serious in tone. There has to be a range of emotion represented somewhere between "I just scored with a supermodel!" and "I'm so depressed I want to blow my freakin' brains out!". For example if a character is talking to a second character who is sad it would be helpful to have a concerned expression available, or at least a lesser-degree of contentment than the above supermodel-induced euphoria. It would also be great if the edit options weren't character-specific. Let's say I wanted to put a cape on just a regular Boy or the Fat Guy, or even the Blobs. Why should the superheroes have all the fun? Also, I'd love for you guys to make a version of the software with less cartoonish characters in order to tell more weighty tales.

All in all, it's a terrific product though and I'm enjoying the heck out of it! I look forward to using the product for years and plan to upgrade to the full paid version as soon as possible.
edited by BigWhirl2012 on 30/11/2013
2013/11/16 20:10:44
Navigating in muvizu My specs are 3.2 ghz quad core processor, 8 GB RAM, my machine has a video card although I'm not sure about the specs on it. I wasn't really thinking video when I bought the machine. I use it for high-end audio production and have never had an issue. The problem for me seemed to be a bad install. Once I uninstalled and re-installed everything cleared up right away. I can now navigate freely. A slight nudge of the mouse doesn't take me miles above the character's head or deep inside someone's eyeball.
2013/11/16 10:17:26
Navigation problems Just to follow up with this topic. While dealing with some system crashes (fatal errors) I uninstalled the program and re-installed it from a fresh download. Not only did it clear up the fatal errors, but the navigation issues I experienced earlier were gone as well. It worked for me and may help someone else.

You never know when dealing with new software. My own first assumption was that it's new software with an obvious learning curve and that I had to be an idiot. While all that may be true, I discovered in this case there was more to it than that.
2013/11/16 9:59:35
Navigating in muvizu While looking around the various areas here on the forums, I discovered I wasn't the only one experiencing this issue. No doubt it has been explained away as new user error or learning curve or whatever. I was inclined to chalk up my own difficulties to the learning curve inherent with new software and then I made a discovery.

My software started crashing while creating objects. Each time, I would receive a fatal error message was was forced to shut down through an Alt-Ctrl-Del. After several times of experiencing this issue, I uninstalled the software completely and subsequently re-installed it.

Not only did it solve my fatal error issue, but the difference in navigation is like night and day. I can move around in small increments now, twist, turn, rotate... whatever I need to do. I'm not sure if there is a bug somewhere in the software or in compatibility with Windows 7 or what the issue is, but I'd recommend anyone experiencing extreme navigation issues to uninstall the software and then re-install from a fresh download. It worked like a charm for me!

My thanks to everyone who tried to help and offered suggestions. I do appreciate your generosity and patience.
2013/11/15 22:43:15
Transparent Windows? I have a scene I want to do that takes place in a spaceship. The passengers need to be able to see outer space whizzing by. I've created a super-wide backdrop and imported a cool star field onto it and I've animated it to get the right feel I'm looking for. In front of that I created a mirror-wall. What I want to do is to create portholes along the mirror wall that allow the passengers to see out. I've looked through several topics but either haven't found them yet or they don't exist. Any help would be appreciated!
2013/11/15 22:16:50
Navigation problems I feel your pain! I'm new to the program as well and have gotten the hang of just about everything but the quirky navigation system. If you have any success please let me know.
2013/11/14 0:56:55
Navigating in muvizu I downloaded the software and am thrilled with the creative possibilities. I've figured out how to load characters, objects, scenes, etc. and how to edit them. What I'm having a hard time with is navigating around the screen. One moment I'll be looking head-on at a character but if I move the mouse even a little, I'm somewhere deep in the background or looking at the top of my character's head from a bird's-eye view 1,000 feet up.
I've tried to follow the on-screen prompts but if I left-click to "Move and Steer the View", it begins moving at the slightest touch and I'm suddenly so far away from my character or scene that I can't even see it. I also have a mouse wheel and was wondering how that effects things. I can't rotate the screen at all.

Are there any tutorials on basic navigation available?
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