Moho Forum

Very cool tutorial! I want to give it a try myself now! Thanks for posting this!

Hi All.
Just thought I should post this link to the tutorial at Smith Micro as I am not sure if I want to renew my website this year.

So now you can also find the tutorial here:

http://anime.smithmicro.com/tutorials/t ... ollar.html

Cheers
D.K

Hello all

I Know this subject is almost a month old now,

But, I was messing around with this and found it does not work on images(photos).
I know DK was using an image fill, But I was trying to use an Image(Photo of me and the dog), Just for fun.
When I created all the pieces like DK did in his example and then fill them with my image(Photo of me and the dog) I would for each and every piece resize the images and try to make them look like one photo. Is there a way to keep the software from resizing the image to fit into each piece from happening?

I also tried to just break up into small pieces the image(Again the photo of me and the Dog) in Photoshop. But, when I tried to use all the separated images in a physics type of setup I found you cannot use images in physics.

This was all just for fun, But now It has become a Quest.

Anyway, later. Mmmm I got some work to do.

HammerJammer

Images do not work with physics unfortunately.

I see two options for breaking up images with physics.

Option 1
Use the broken up image pieces/layers and simply bind each layer to a bone.
The tricky part is that bones are "one shape". So the broken up image pieces could have non uniform shapes but bones are just "straight". The physics "region" defines the interaction area. So you can adjust the bone strength to cover each image as much as possible. It's not a perfect solution but it gets the basic job done with out a ton of effort.

Option 2
Another option would be to use an image fill on a whole bunch of vector shapes as you already tried. As you noted, the image fill will scale differently based on the size of the vector shape. The "trick" here is to adjust each vector fill handle so they are all the same size and position. It's a bit tedious but not impossible and works pretty well. Don't use individual images for each vector shape fill. Use the exact same full size image but offset.

Fill shape effects when using the exact same "full image" will always line up if the fill effect "handles" are lined up exactly the same. This is fairly easy to do on one layer. All the fill texture handles are visible and you can zoom in and line them up so they are exactly the same.

You could also have a single non broken up image fill shape on another layer that you "hide" just before the physics starts. This gives you a perfect image. Then just before the physics starts you set that layer's visibility off, showing the broken up physics shapes. This would hide any imperfections.

Nice solution Vern. Sounds like a script might do the job of lining up all the image fills for such a task depending on the amount of pieces involved. What do you think?

Cheers
D.K

Hey Heyvern

what you described in your option 2 is exactly what I did. just after I posted my question from above I figured that one out. Matching texture fill lines isn't to bad. Just a little time consuming if you have lots of shapes.

You could also have a single non broken up image fill shape on another layer that you "hide" just before the physics starts. This gives you a perfect image. Then just before the physics starts you set that layer's visibility off, showing the broken up physics shapes. This would hide any imperfections.

Now that part is just a great idea. Then you don't need to have each and every piece line up perfectly.

I didn't try the bone method cause It just sounds more complicated than it has to be.

Thanks for the reply

HammerJammer

DK wrote:Nice solution Vern. Sounds like a script might do the job of lining up all the image fills for such a task depending on the amount of pieces involved. What do you think?

Hmm... have to check the scripting reference. The image texture "handles" don't have numeric input in the application and I don't know if it's available to change with the script reference. If it is, a tool AND a script would be possible. If the parts are on different layers there is no way to visually line up the shape fills. If you had numeric access with a tool you could simply type in the values. It's quite annoying not being able to type in or copy values for texture and gradient fills.

hammerjammer wrote:what you described in your option 2 is exactly what I did. just after I posted my question from above I figured that one out. Matching texture fill lines isn't to bad. Just a little time consuming if you have lots of shapes.

Yes, it's a bit of a pain if you want to change the fill after splitting up the layers. I even tried creating a named style, but the image texture location is not saved with the style.

I did something like this (to, I think pretty good effect) in my "Galactic Gecko" animation when the Space Bug breaks through the wall around the 4:24 mark. It was done with a complete overlaid Jpeg, that goes invisible, while underneath it an exact replica has an added whole. All the broken vector pieces of the wall were color matched and put in a bone layer. Each piece was bound to its own bone that just got translated to the Space bug's movement. You can see it a bit in the thumbnail of the video.

Hello

Very nice animation Little Yamori, I'm sure that it took some time to finish. Im not sure if you posted this in the forum before or not, But it was my first time seeing it. Good Job!

Anyway,
I seen what you did with the wall, it worked very well and looked convincing too.

"GPS" = Gecko Positioning System -- Cleaver and funny.

You can only see it for a second or two, but I noticed that the land mass was in the shape of a gecko when he was falling from space.

The liked all the camera movements too, I think it adds to the drama.

Very well done Mate.

HammerJammer

Thanks Hammer Jammer,

I posted it originally when I put it on Youtube back in July, so it was a while back now. I was learning the software as I worked on it, it took about 8 months working roughly 2 hrs into the evening most nights, so it worked out to about a minute of animation per month.

Yeah, the Island's in the shape of a gecko (good eye).

I was watching tutorials (Chad Trofgrefen's stuff mostly in the beginning) as I worked, but came up with the broken wall solution on my own. This software is really such a bargain with everything it offers. Next time I'll try the other technique (thanks for the breakdown Vern!) when I pick up pro, so I can play with physics and smartbones.

Thanks,

LY