linking and posing workflow

I have been linking my Ebil files using the import>link command and it has its limits, but I am getting use to them, or learning how to use them. I have Ebil modeled and rigged for this project (may revamp for a later episode.)
workflow:

1. Open my current ebil .blend file with my rigged and skinned Ebil.
2. Select all of the elements I want to pass down the chain (model, rig ,rigify bones and custom shapes)
3. Create a group for all of these objects(CTRL+G) name it something useful.
4. Open new .blend file
5. import>link the group from the current ebil.blend
6. import>link or append the rigify script for the U.I.
7. select the rig and create proxy
8. Create pose library for the rig.
9. Select the proxy rig and the mesh and create a new group name it something_poses
10. save file
11. Now I can link that group into my scenes and animate

If I need to update the model or rig I edit the current .blend. If I want to add or edit poses I edit the *_pose.blend

Quick render of the current Ebil rig.

Animatic Workflow (After Effects vs Fusion 7 vs Blender)

Shiny Shiny New Toy! Software!

Recently Blackmagic software made Fusion 7 free with only a few restrictions. This excited me as a free motion graphic alternative to After Effects (AE). I have been trying to stay focused on Ebil, I have been avoiding new software so as not to take away from my production time with Ebil. I figured I would use Fusion to build my animatic as a learning project and get my animatic done. It took me a lot of hair pulling to get the swing of things. I could have done this in about 30 mins or less in AE. I've never used a node based compositor before. The user community on Fusion seems tight lipped. I guess all the pros using it are busy being pros. Whatever the reason (a hot topic on the forums) there is a huge lack of free Fusion tutorials online. You can easily find the basics if you want to do VFX compositing or 3D importing. But I failed to find any tutorials I could follow to give me the skills to load a sequence of images (storyboards) and time them out to an audio file. After many hours of struggle I did manage to load the files into nodes and chain them together. However Fusion 7 lacks the ability to display the audio clip alongside my visual clips in realtime (or I could not find it).

Animatic Fusion 7 comp

After a week of struggle I decided to pass on Fusion 7 for the time being.

Back to Blender (Bender 3D 2.73a)

So it hit me. Blender has a sequence editor already built in. So I took my frames into blender, and I was able to create a sequence in a matter of minutes. Granted I do have years of experience with Blender, but I have never used the sequence before. I did need to watch a few tutorials on the ins and outs. These were very easy to find, and there were dozens more available if I need them. 

Animatic Blender comp

It was a very simple matter to import my audio file and sync it with my storyboard renders.

So for now I will continue to work within Blender.

Project notes:

Making progress on Fart Demon using volumetric texture. Decided to avoid physics sims for this short. I will cheat and use censor bars to comically melt my crowd. This should take a huge amount of time off production (R&D, simulation, Render overhead...)

Conflict with Layer Manager and Rigify Possible BUG

Not sure if this is a bug.
When I use the layer manager and rigify together my feet and hand bones vanish.


1. generate a rigify rig
2. in layer manager set the "all objects on layer to draw wire" beachball button on.
3. toggle draw wire off
4. select rig, enter pose mode. Feet, hands, and finger bones vanish.

The missing bones are still there. You can select them in edit mode or in wireframe view.

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

WORKAROUND

I have found that in pose mode with the missing bone selected (wireframe display) turn on wireframe on the display option under the bone tab, where you assign the custom shape.

Click to enlarge

Storyboards or Animatic

MOVING ON

I have been finalizing the rigs and I think I have most of what I need for Bus Stop working. So I'm blocking out the shots. I have gone about this backwards in a way. I have a dozen rough storyboards that have been reworked a bit over the years. I was creating a polished storyboard to make my animatic from. But...

old storyboard image

I can see this in my head for the most part (I think). I have most of my assets completed. I started staging my assets and rendering shots to place in the polished storyboard to build and animatic from... Redundant? I rendered shot1, 12 frames. Then I layed them out in Photoshop, but I think I should just go ahead skip the polished storyboard and just create the animatic. I am learning Fusion 7 which is free now. It will be a great learning project. Could do it much faster in AE since I already know that program....

Anyway here is my shinny page 2 storyboard I am unlikely to ever print.

New Redundant storyboard

NOTES:

setup storyboard set using linked assets

blocked out shots for shot 1 and shot 2 rendered for storyboard,

figured it would be redundant to make the storyboard from renders since I'm not likely to print them. layout animatic Fusion/AE if fusion is too much to figure out.

Parenting objects in Blender 3D Child stops following parent

Parenting Snafoo

I learned today that if an object has physics on it, it will not work as the child of another object. At some point while modeling the body of my Van, I somehow added a rigid body property to it. When I would parent the body to an empty for rigging it would follow the parent once, then it would stop following. The parent child relationship showed up properly in the outliner, however the child would not follow the translations of the parent. This stumped me for about an hour. I was searching the web and finally found a short paragraph somewhere that mentioned the physics issue. Hope this helps someone else.

Once I removed the rigid body node, The parenting works fine.

Back in the saddle again

Out with the old

I took a break from Ebil mid year to work on a pro bono project :

graveyard

I started working on Ebil again a few months ago and have been reworking old assets.

I lost a good bit of work when my computer crashed. I recovered my project files from the cloud and other backups. In the process I decided to rework some of the things I never really felt 100% about. Mainly the characters. I've spent a little time retypoing Ebil's mesh and I plan to re-rig him. I'm not very good at the rigging process. I'm using rigify with a few custom tweaks I have watched a half dozen tuts on how to use the rig, but I can't seem to get it to just poof parent perfect to my mesh. Still getting weird tears an bends in the mesh. I'm not getting a full animatable range. For the Bus Stop sketch I think it is adequate. There is not a lot of complicated animation. I want to get the project done. I have to consider some things good enough. Scope creep is a thing.

I have been updating the traffic fleet. Hard surface modeling is much easier to me. I could make cars all day long.

Ebil Fitness Camp Day 008

And more walking

yet another walk cycle. 24 frames, 24 Frames per second. Stride, strike, pass, stride.

I do like the timing of this one better. Less popping and jerking. I think the other one was using fewer frames. This is still rough, but I need to understand these basic poses better before I start breaking it down more. Made more sense today.

Ebil Fitness Camp Day 007

Licensed to kill?

I have the fitness camp surrounded by vast array of columns. I have to keep Ebil contained.

Ebil Fitness Camp Day 006

Walk Revisited

I looked at a few walk cycle tuts and redid a walk from a clean rig. Again only 3 poses here: Stride, Pass, Stride. Not much to say about this. I did play a bit with tweaking the pass pose with interesting results, but I did not keep any of that.

 Push Ups

Ebil was not sweaty enough from his was, so I made him do some pushups to round out the day.

Ebil Fitness Camp Day 005

Walking

Quick and dirty walk cycle. I have looked at break downs of walk cycles for years. Done a lot of different tuts and exercises. I still can't seem to get it right. This is one of the basic animation skills, a walk cycle. One of the main goals I hope to get out of this whole fitness camp is a decent walk cycle. Again it takes time, and repetition. Starting from a blank rig (no keyframes) The cycle I have here is rough. about 30 mins of work. Just a few keyframes positions. Stride, strike, pass, stride. It is still very twitchy, has no soul. Need set up my camera and do a motion study.

  

Ebil Fitness Camp Day 004

Ok, this is not really a day to day thing. I have issues with keeping focused on personal projects. The fitness camp is an exercise for me to get to know my rig (blender rigify plus a simple face rig). I'm not worried about accurate motion or timing yet. I'm still getting a better understanding of the rig and making Ebil move. Seeing where the model breaks.  The only guideline I have set for myself with this is I start with a clean rig each time. I have a base file I start each session with. I then save as day00x_funoftheday. All of the animation is from scratch each session. I believe the only way to improve is to repeat it, A LOT.


Day 004 Situps

Made several model and skinning changes and reanimated the the situps.

Fixed most of the tearing along the waist. Still need to tweek.

Ebil Fitness Camp Day 003

Running

Running 3d Ebil through his paces in blender 3D. 12 frame loop 24 fps. I like the results on the front view. I'm not happy with the side view. Very twitchy, Need to tweek in graph editor.

Found the old 2d Ebil rig, thought I'd play with him a bit. Considered reviving the 2D project for about 5 seconds. I am really enjoying the soft renders in cycles. I believe I can do this, just takes doing.

Ebil Fitness Camp Day 002

Shape Keys and Drivers

Progress but not as rapid as I had hoped it would be. These things take time to master. I have to keep trying and doing it until it becomes firm in my skill set. I adjusted the verts on the wasitband of the pants and add shapekeys to expand the front and back of the shirt.  I have the drivers attached to the spine control handle (local -x rotation). Still needs tweeking.

Computer crashed last month. My primary backups have failed. My secondary are out of date. Right now I am missing all of the 3D modeling work I have done for this project. I still do not have a workstation at this point so I have not tried to recover my data. I should be able to recover the data, but it will take a little work.

Ebil Character Sheet

Ebil turn around

The Bus Stop

Rough storyboard set

Bus stop soryboard shot 4

Set in Illustrator

bus stop illustrator 2D mockup

Blend 3D

2D Illustrator planes.
Characters rigged in Blender for 2D animation

Blender 3D

bus stop scene mockup

Cycles materials, no textures, single light.

Dog

Rough draft walk cycle of dog. 1 of three characters for this project. Dog might have the most acting in this scene...

Dog motion study1

Needs more snap and bounce. secondary animation on tail, eyes, and head.

Timmy

Timmy is constantly causing Ebil trouble. Where did this kid come from? Why is he always in the way?

EBIL

Mythology and legend through out history is filled with the vile deeds of the mighty off spring of  the Mother of All Evil.  There are countless tales that speak of the havoc cause by her spawn. Such as the: Kracken, Hydra, Chimera, Harpies, Giants,  Dragons, and various demons. But little is said about her youngest, not so mighty, child: Ebil.