Moho Forum

I've learned a lot from the generosity of other forumites, so I thought it might be nice to give back some. I articulated this model using switch layer based point interpolation for the eyes and mouth, and started work on a full head rotation. It's not much, but I thought this might be cool to share:

1) A recording of myself sketching the initial design:

http://darthfurby.ifastnet.com/wendy.html



2) The model(created in Anime Studio PRO)::

http://darthfurby.ifastnet.com/wendy.anme (right click "save as").

3) A minor test:

http://darthfurby.ifastnet.com/wendymusic.html



And some general tips about building a model for traditional animation in Anime Studio Pro:

With point interpolation you have to be anal. Make sure each point matches it's corresponding position between keys. If a vector point is the tip of the chin in the front view, then it should be the tip of the chin in the 3/4 and side view as well, else face the consequences. Also make enough vector points to get the job done but be economical in their creation: you'll be micromanaging every one of them.

That said, I LOVE point interpolation. It's the most rewarding part about Anime Studio Pro, and easily kicks cutout-style animation in the nuts.

Well, hope someone gets a kick out of this, and not in the crotch.

How did you do that glowing blue dot with the trail behind it? Was this one scene exported as an SWF from Anime Studio?

I agree that point iinterpolation is the key to taking AS out of the realm of cut out and into stunning possibilities. Can't wait to see more of Wendy in action.

Thanks for sharing. Fascinating to see someone else's working methods.

Thanks a lot! I especially liked the sketching video.

About the sketching video. I noticed it locked FireFox (Mac OS X) for a couple of seconds, while my cpu went to 100%.

Interesting and fun work!

Transfat terrorist...heh. Good one. But then, I am a sucker for alliteration.

Thanks for pulling back the curtain and telling us how it was done. Thanks.

Thanks for sharing the file. It helps to look under the hood.

I loved that "sketch" animation.

I was laughing my arse off when the eyes and mouth kept "vanishing" and "reapearing"... moving and changing... That is just like the way I "sketch" or draw in Photoshop!

Glad to know I'm not the only who works that way.

Try doing that on paper! Saves a fortune on sketch pads and tracing paper... plus the electricity to vacuum up all the eraser crumbs!

-vern

artfx: The blue dot was created in Adobe After Effects using something similar to Anime Studio's particle system, but it's a raster effect and has a lot more power. I used 3 different programs to create the test: Anime Studio Pro(Wendy), After Effects(blue dot), and Flash(exported swf). That pretty much describes my general workflow: Anime Studio for character animation, After Effects for special effects, and Flash for compositing.

jahnocli: I'll post updated files as I go, including the head turn. Right now I'm stuck trying to draw the most difficult angle in the world: The front view of a cute female character. Luckily it only hurts once.

Rasheed: That sketching video is actually a Java program that re-executes all of my pen strokes(it even tells you the total number of strokes in the progress bar.) That might explain some of the performace issue, aside from the hit the cpu takes when Mozilla actually opens up Java.

CartoonMike: Thanks for looking! Maybe I'll post more videos. I've been thinking about doing a tutorial one at some point.

bupaje: Glad to share. I generally prefer to post completed work, but I remember how cool it was seeing you update your mudskipper animation, so I decided to do the same.

heyvern: You're not alone! That "sketch" took over 2 hours. Mostly on the face. I wanted to rip my eyeballs out. And now that I have a tablet, I don't miss pencil and paper one bit. Thank god for digital. I've been drawing a lot more ever since I got my tablet.

Just had a look at your demo reel. I liked that Matrix-y thing that you did!

DarthFurby wrote:artfx: The blue dot was created in Adobe After Effects using something similar to Anime Studio's particle system, but it's a raster effect and has a lot more power. I used 3 different programs to create the test: Anime Studio Pro(Wendy), After Effects(blue dot), and Flash(exported swf). That pretty much describes my general workflow: Anime Studio for character animation, After Effects for special effects, and Flash for compositing.

BLAST! I knew you were going to say something like that. So am I going to have to invest in Flash to really do cool stuff for the web? I really don't want to!

Fortunately, there are enough alternatives for Flash on the Windows platform.

Most the things i can do in flash i can do in Moho/AS animation wise.

I think he just exported his .moho file to a .swf(flash file)

That's right! I hadn't considered that with proper planing one could do raster elements with alpha and being them into AS for compositing if the need to export everything to SWF was an issue.

hmmm... hmmm.. ideas ideas....

Did some work on the headturn. The file is a bit cluttered but I did my best to keep it organized. The model is designed specifically for swf vector output. Here's a preview animation:
http://darthfurby.ifastnet.com/wendyturn.html

and here's the Anime Studio Pro file(right click "save as"):
http://darthfurby.ifastnet.com/wendyturn.anme