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PinguinoStudios - all messages by user

2011/2/16 7:47:53
What actions would Muvizuers like to have? You make a good point about hand animation vs. mocap Inlimbo and I agree (mos is also quite correct that mocap doesn't have to "look" like mocap). My point about .bvh is not really about using mocap - .bvh is just a nearly universal format for exchanging skeletal animation between different 3D programs - but rather about making Muvizu a more open platform.

I'm really trying to suggest that opening up Muvizu to more customization by users might attract a much wider user base. This often opens up software to uses (and potential markets) that its creators never imagined. Much of Twitter's success for example has been built on top of the fact that it has always been a very open platform with a good API so it could "talk" to other programs and websites.
2011/2/15 19:16:12
What actions would Muvizuers like to have? This may have already been mentioned in this thread (I didn't read all the way through it) and it's one of those suggestions I'm sure the development team has discussed, but rather than bringing in more animations, I would focus on giving users the ability to import their own animations using a format like .bvh. This would open up possibilities with Muvizu in a huge way, because there are thousands and thousands of .bvh animations available out there and it's compatible with virtually all other 3D software. It also empowers users; for example if someone needs a crawling animation someone else maybe able to provide it and it could be added to the community database that's coming soon.

Most of the platforms that have been successful like Second Life, iClone, etc. have been because they were either open to some extent and allowed for a high degree of customization or were at least hackable. I showed Muvizu to someone today and he immediately loved it, but said he probably wouldn't use it until it supported custom animation or characters and I suspect a lot of people might have that reaction to it.
2011/2/14 15:38:09
Why Realistic Motion & Design Doesn't Work Barry I for one would be very interested in seeing those tests and to know what sorts of approaches you explored and considered!

I am sure you guys are overwhelmed with work, but I do think the poser idea is a good one (and I'm sure you guys have already considered it). I don't think there's really a need for a "walk designer" in software like this; really it would be fantastic to be able to import original characters (which I know is on the list of future features) and the ability to import .fbx files so custom animations are possible. Anyone who wants to go to the trouble of creating a walk cycle can do it just as easily in Blender or Maya.
2011/2/14 13:36:38
Why Realistic Motion & Design Doesn't Work I haven't played around with CrazyTalk Animator, but I have heard some good things about it. It seems like it basically does what AE's Puppet Tool does only it's cheaper than buying AE.

And to be fair to iClone, I think you could get some really good "toon" animation out of it (beyond the cartoon motion pack they sell), but it would take some work and you really need a lot of animation experience and once people get beyond a certain level I think they would just learn 3DS Max, Maya or Blender.

I do like the facial puppeteering tool in iClone. That would be a neat feature to eventually bring in to Muvizu. I especially like the way it supports multiple devices (I tried a hack that let me puppeteer a face with a Wiimote...it would work with the Kinect too, I just don't have one).
2011/2/14 6:49:17
Why Realistic Motion & Design Doesn't Work Hi all, sorry for the shameless self-promotion, but I write a blog about Machinima, real-time animation and digital puppetry (it's all the same thing really) called Machin-X: Digital Puppetry. My most recent post was commenting on an interview character designer Shannon Tindle did with Salon.com that discussed why so many animated movies today have unappealing characters. I took this a bit further and pointed out that one of the things holding back real-time animation (and I would say Muvizu either falls in that category or comes close) is that much of it relies on realistic design and realistic motion.

I thought of Muvizu when I was writing this because the more I play around with it the more I appreciate the fact that it deliberately doesn't try to be realistic and is much more cartoon-y, which I think audiences respond to much better when it comes to animation.

Anyways, I thought would throw that out there for anyone who's interested. I'd also love to hear what other people think about this.
2011/2/12 13:28:32
Sad old man Very well done Kabum, especially for a first video!
2011/2/10 2:49:50
xtranormal no longer free... Going back to this thread's original topic for a moment, I am not familiar with all the ins and outs of the Xtranormal paid-to-free fiasco, but I do kind of sympathize with them and why they changed their service. They are losing money (although they plan to break even in 2011 I believe) and it's impossible to keep a product/service free without charging for something, especially when you're primarily a web-based service that has to scale and buy more servers and whatnot as you grow more popular.

What's terrible is that they seem to have done it in the worst possible way and alienated many of their users; I first heard about Xtranormal because people were upset with them. I did download Slate (the desktop version of Xtranormal) and played around with it, but when I realized I couldn't even render a movie without spending 300 credits buying assets I just quit, uninstalled the program and probably won't try it again. I'm sure I'm not the only person who has done that.

In terms of a business model for products like Xtranormal, Muvizu, iClone, etc. I think it's much better to get users hooked on a free product, then get them to upgrade to a more full-featured program or premium content that you can charge for than it is to suddenly cut them off.
edited by PinguinoStudios on 10/02/2011
2011/2/8 11:32:41
Ghost House Complete series I just wanted to say congratulations on producing such a great series Jon. I think you've taken Machinima with Muvizu to a whole new level. I'm sad to hear that series may not be continued on Muvizu, but excited to see what else emerges from the community.
2011/2/8 8:39:19
Import Muvizu AVI to Pinnacle Studio Your problem really is Pinnacle Studio (Sony Vegas isn't much better in my experience). I am fortunate enough to have access to both Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere and both seem to handle Muvizu files with no issues.

If you're on a tight budget you might want to look in to the light version of Premiere, Premiere Elements. I have not worked with it a lot (and never used it with files from Muvizu), but I used to have a copy I used for editing on an extremely underpowered netbook and it never let me down.

I believe the latest version is more feature rich than Pinnacle Studio or Vegas; I'm not sure about suppoer for 5.1. Mac users could also try Final Cut Express. If you're feeling brave Blender 3D - the free open source 3D suite - actually had a built-in video editor although the interface has a bit of learning curve.
edited by PinguinoStudios on 08/02/2011
2011/2/8 8:30:43
Muvizu is a savior for me I've also not been terribly impressed with iClone, which does have a large dedicated user base, more capabilities than Muvizu (for now at least) and is OK for certain applications.

What I think what sets Muvizu apart is that it uses key framed animation for it's animation library instead of mocap data, which is what similar programs like iClone and Moviestorm rely for the most part I believe (you can buy add-ons for iClone with cartoon-style animation but there are only 40 or 50 actions to choose from).

I also really like the mood-based system in Muvizu. I know it's still being worked on and perfected, but it's definitely the right way to build a program like this in my opinion. By the time this is out of beta I think you'll see a lot of people flocking to it.
2011/2/8 8:17:27
Difficulties sending email to Muvizu Team For the past week I have been trying to send an email to the Muvizu staff to discuss a commercial license, but emails seem to keep bouncing back or not being delivered. I have tried sending from two different email accounts with the same results.

The reply message I keep getting is as follows:

This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification

THIS IS A WARNING MESSAGE ONLY.

YOU DO NOT NEED TO RESEND YOUR MESSAGE.

Delivery to the following recipient has been delayed:

commercial@muvizu.com

Message will be retried for 2 more day(s)

Technical details of temporary failure:
The recipient server did not accept our requests to connect. Learn more at http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=7720


Is there another way to contact the team at Muvizu? Has anyone else had difficulties sending email to them in the past week?
edited by PinguinoStudios on 08/02/2011
2011/2/8 8:11:15
Lock Eyes To Camera / Eyes Track Objects I'm still new to Muvizu and using it right now to work on a video blog-style animation. It's a great program for quickly producing cartoon-style animation and much faster than what I was using before (the Unity Game Engine), but one thing I have found a little frustrating is the lack of precise camera control, specifically so that I can line a character's eyes up so they are looking directly in to the camera. This is key to what I'm doing so I've spent a lot of time painstaking trying to line-up character's eyes and/or the camera properly.

I have a background in TV puppetry (like the Muppets) and in that medium one of the key elements in creating the illusion of a character's thought and focus is the ability to precisely and deliberately focus the puppet's gaze directly in to the camera, at another character, or another object. And while 3D animation is a different medium, I find that the same principle applies.

I think it would be extremely useful to have the ability to "lock" a character's gaze directly in to the camera, or lock it on an object or person so that they automatically follow its movement. There are scripts to this in other animation programs and I think it would fit nicely with Muvizu's "direct, don't animate" philosophy.

(oh and if there is already a way to do this that I have somehow missed, I'd love to know about it).
edited by PinguinoStudios on 08/02/2011
2011/2/8 7:59:56
Output Sync timing I'm somewhat new to Muvizu and the forum and I've encountered this issue as well when bringing movies in to Premiere. I also managed to work around it to an extent by tinkering with the settings for my graphics card and sometimes just re-rerendering a scene, but it's nice to know that the issue has been reported and is being worked on.
edited by PinguinoStudios on 08/02/2011
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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.