Motion Builder

I used the a model from one of my earlier proposals to learn human IK in Motion Builder.

Exaggerated proportions are harder, use more of the tools unique to Motion Builder, and  watching live motion resolve on a cartoon model is more satisfying.

The Model is Rigged

I had some Trouble with the model, so I had to re-rig and texture it. I am going to need to go back and do the specular layer again, and he needs an apron, but is seems to make all the positions I need.

The facial rig is quick and dirty, but it works.

Poor John Luna... He is a vegetarian.

Head Fixed Retopologizing

The head came out a little skewed, so I added a lattice deformer.

 I am cutting out the eyes to use spheres, so I am not worried about how they look, just the position of the opening.

I was smoothing out the features, but I thought he looked a little better for the part with a few sharper angles.

I have the facial shape, color map, and specular map. Now I just need to retopologize, create a body, rig it, do the background, and animate the scene.

Motion Builder's Character Functions

I have been learning motion builder's character functions in the last week. It is very powerful, and it is nice to see something render that I don't have to struggle to explain. The model is something I made a year or two ago, that is not in my thesis project,, I chose it because it has all the qualities Motion Builder character rigging uses (i.e. biped with 2 arms, hands, a head, and over sized proportions for re-targeting)

Making a new Model for the Dolly-Zoom Shot

The prototype of the Dolly-Zoom shot is not rough, so I have been having trouble discussing my concept because the psychological effect I am trying to describe is ineffective in the draft. To get the shot to have an impact on the viewer, I am going to have to raise the quality to a level near production. I do not look right for a butcher, so I got John from the dance department to pose for a 3D capture using Catch 123D. He is very good at standing still for the capture, but the software did not produce a quality model. I got something I could use when I cropped the pictures down to the head, but it is going to seen a lot of work to be usable.


After a few hours in Maya:

Epic Rap Battle: Dr. Seuss vs. Emmenem

Anapestic Tetrameter

Eminem's "The Way I Am" is in anapestic tetrameter... except the chorus. 

I like Dr. Seuss' lyrics a bit more. 

On the far-away island of Sala-ma-Sond,
Yertle the Turtle was king of the pond.
A nice little pond.  It was clean.  It was neat.
The water was warm.  There was plenty to eat.
The turtles had everything turtles might need.
And they were all happy.  Quite happy indeed.

They were... untill Yertle, the king of them all,
Decided the kingdom he ruled was too small.
"I'm ruler", said Yertle, "of all that I see.
But I don't see enough.  That's the trouble with me.
With this stone for a throne, I look down on my pond
But I cannot look down on the places beyond.
This throne that I sit on is too, too low down.
It ought to be higher!" he said with a frown.
"If I could sit high, how much greater I'd be!
What a king! I'd be ruler of all that I see!"

So Yertle, the Turtle King, lifted his hand
And Yertle, the Turtle King, gave a command.
He ordered nine turtles to swim to his stone
And, using these turtles, he built a new throne.
He made each turtle stand on another one's back
And he piled them all up in a nine-turtle stack.
And then Yertle climbed up.  He sat down on the pile.
What a wonderful view! He could see 'most a mile!

"All mine!" Yertle cried.  "Oh, the things I now rule!
I'm the king of a cow! And I'm the king of a mule!
I'm the king of a house! And, what's more, beyond that
I'm the king of a blueberry bush and a cat!
I'm Yertle the Turtle! Oh, marvelous me!
For I am the ruler of all that I see!"

And all through the morning, he sat up there high
Saying over and over, "A grat king am I!"
Until 'long about noon.  Then he heard a faint sigh.
"What's that?" snapped the king
And he looked down the stack.
And he saw, at the bottom, a turtle named Mack.
Just a part of his throne.  And this plain little turtle
Looked up and he said, "Beg your pardon, King Yertle.
I've pains in my back and my shoulders and knees.
How long must we stand here, Your Majesty, please?"

"SILENCE!" the King of the Turtles barked back.
"I'm king, and you're only a turtle named Mack."

"You stay in your place while I sit here and rule.
I'm the king of a cow! And I'm the king of a mule!
I'm the king of a house! And a bush! And a cat!
But that isn't all.  I'll do better than that!
My throne shall be higher!" his royal voice thundered,
"So pile up more turtles! I want 'bout two hundred!"

"Turtles! More turtles!" he bellowed and brayed.
And the turtles 'way down in the pond were afraid.
They trembled.  They shook.  But they came.  They obeyed.
>From all over the pond, they came swimming by dozens.
Whole families of turtles, with uncles and cousins.
And all of them stepped on the head of poor Mack.
One after another, they climbed up the stack.

Then Yertle the Turtle was perched up so high,
He could see fourty miles from his throne in the sky!
"Hooray!" shouted Yertle.  "I'm the king of the trees!
I'm king of the birds! And I'm king of the bees!
I'm king of the butterflies! King of the air!
Ah, me! What a throne! What a wonderful chair!
I'm Yertle the Turtle! Oh, marvelous me!
For I am the ruler of all that I see!"

Then again, from below, in the great heavy stack,
Came a groan from that plain little turtle named Mack.
"Your Majesty, please... I don't like to complain,
But down here below, we are feeling great pain.
I know, up on top you are seeing great sights,
But down here at the bottom we, too, should have rights.
We turtles can't stand it.  Our shells will all crack!
Besides, we need food.  We are starving!" groaned Mack.

"You hush up your mouth!" howled the mighty King Yertle.
"You've no right to talk to the world's highest turtle.
I rule from the clouds! Over land! Over sea!
There's nothing, no, NOTHING, that's higher than me!"

But, while he was shouting, he saw with suprise
That the moon of the evening was starting to rise
Up over his head in the darkening skies.
"What's THAT?" snorted Yertle.  "Say, what IS that thing
That dares to be higher than Yertle the King?
I shall not allow it! I'll go higher still!
I'll build my throne higher! I can and I will!
I'll call some more turtles.  I'll stack 'em to heaven!
I need 'bout five thousand, six hundred and seven!"

But, as Yertle, the Turtle King, lifted his hand
And started to order and give the command,
That plain little turtle below in the stack,
That plain little turtle whose name was just Mack,
Decided he'd taken enough.  And he had.
And that plain little lad got a bit mad.
And that plain little Mack did a plain little thing.
He burped!
And his burp shook the throne of the king!

And Yertle the Turtle, the king of the trees,
The king of the air and the birds and the bees,
The king of a house and a cow and a mule...
Well, that was the end of the Turtle King's rule!
For Yertle, the King of all Sala-ma-Sond,
Fell off his high throne and fell Plunk! in the pond!

And tosay the great Yertle, that Marvelous he,
Is King of the Mud.  That is all he can see.
And the turtles, of course... all the turtles are free
As turtles and, maybe, all creatures should be.

http://www.spunk.org/texts/prose/sp000212.txt

Structure of Humorous Communicative Effect

It includes a map of the role of emotions in information processing.

E = N (I − I0)

"E is the emotion strength, N is a strength of some need, I0 is the quantity of information demanded for the satisfaction of this need, I is the quantity of information the subject has at his disposal (both informations are estimated subjectively). An emotion is positive (E > 0) for I > I0 and negative for I < I0."


Computer Model of a "Sense of Humour". I. General Algorithm. , n.d.. Internet resource.
http://arxiv.org/abs/0711.2058

Dr. Seuss

Anapestic tetrameter is the rhyming pattern of Dr. Seuss.

Theodor Geisel wrote Green Eggs and Ham because of a bet with his publisher (Bennett Serf) that he could not write a book using only 50 words.
He wrote The cat in the Hat with 225 words from a 1st grade vocabulary list in an attempt to "kill off the tedious Dick-and-Jane primers of the 1950s" (Kantrowitz 68). Suffering from creative block, he started with the title, which came from the first two words he found that rhymed.


A Reason for His Rhymes
Kantrowitz, Barbara. "A Reason for His Rhymes: the Real Dr. Seuss Wanted Children to Love Reading Books." Newsweek. (2000): 68. Print.

more about Dr. Seuss' method in Dr. Seuss: Rhymes & Reasons

"Dr. Seuss: Rhymes & Reasons." Biography. Writ. Peter Jones and Brian Tessier Dir. Mark A. Catalena and Brian Tessier A&E Television Networks. Peter Jones Productions, November 2003. 

Motionbuilder Physics

I have the goose rigged so the head translation stays still while moving with the body and the aim direction follows the hat. I have started using Motion Biolder's Physics, but there was no tuba present for the capture, so the feet go through the loop, and the weight and other variables are difficult to emulate.

Sokumenzu Generator (Side-view Generator)

http://en.genzu.net/sokumen/?n=Tuba
A method of manipulating/integrating 3D interactive media and text.

MoCap

The motion capture is expressive but the tuba has been impossible to match to the goose. As soon as I use physics, the tuba bounces around on the goose and flies off the body. This might be fixable with variable constraints and some tweaking of the physics, if not, I might have to recapture with a big ring around my neck for the tuba.

Square Shirt

I started with a cube, instead of a cylinder, and the arms are at 90 degrees instead of 45. It is much better, but I am still having trouble getting the sleeves to bend properly, but it looks like a problem with the dynamics, not the geometry. The polygon count might be a little low(the geometry is apparent when the sleeves bend, but it takes a lot of time to process as it is, so I am not sure if I want to increase it.

Butcher Smock: Cylinder Construction

I thought I would start as a cylinder because fabric is more cylindrical. It did not work out very well. The inside of the cuff kept falling out, and the polygons on the seem were just a mess. 

Modeling Cloth

I have not been able to get Mudbox and Maya to cooperate in the lab, so I have been putting together a model at home.
I started modeling using methods I have tried in the past, but I thought I would try using the fabric dynamics I learned this year.
I have been having trouble figuring out the technique Fran from Pixar demonstrated; orienting the geometry so the hypotenuse is perpendicular to the line of stretch. The approaches I know all wind up with the quads along the x and y axis, and the hypotenuse at 45 degrees. I think she started out with costume patterns laid over a plane, and I guess they applied the fabric dynamics to the pieces to get them into the right shapes, but I can't figure out how they sewed them together.

 am having an error with the nDynamic Cloth 
// Error: line 1: Coding error: Undo of command 'doDelete' caused re-entrant call to undo manager /
I can't paint the variable thickness.

I Finally Got a Prototype

I remade the scene from scratch to get it to render. It still crashes every time I try to send the model to Mudbox, so the butcher (me) is not edited or posed, but I think it functions as a proof of technique. If it was moving (the butcher was actually stuffing the bird in the foreground), and the background had a meat slicer, a doorway, and a bunch of carving knives, I think it would probably be a pretty good shot.

This is the final frame before the kinetic text.
First Frame (before the zoom)

Last Frame (After the zoom)

The composition is a little rough, but I think the modified final image reads as well as the rendered composition. I will re-frame it and elaborate the interior later, but I need to get Mudbox working, so I can get a good model before I rig it.

Kinetic Text

Maya has been crashing

I started over several times, deleted my preferences, imported the file, I am out of ideas. I sent an error report to Autodesk. It might be a problem swapping 2016 with 2015, and using Mudbox, but I am not sure. I think the problems with Maya started getting really bad when I started using 2016. I tried switching back to 2015, but it is not working. Right now, something that would not normally have taken very long, has taken 3 days.
I can't fix it tonight.

More Maya Glitches

I started over with a new model, but I am getting another error. I have never seen this one before:

Error: file: C:/Program Files/Autodesk/Maya2015/scripts/others/performFileAction.mel line 434: File contains unknown nodes or data.  To preserve this information, the current file type cannot be changed.

I am just going to delete my preferences, and try to re-import the model again.
I can't even save my work right now


The script editor error:
// Error: source "DeadlineMayaClient.mel"e`;
 //
// Error: "z:/maya/scripts/userSetup.mel" line 1.31: Syntax error //
file -f -new;
// Warning: file: C:/Program Files/Autodesk/Maya2015/scripts/startup/rememberViewportSettings.mel line 43: Active stereo does not work with Aero enabled. Active stereo has been disabled. //
// untitled //
commandPort -securityWarning -name commandportDefault;
file -import -type "mayaAscii" -ra true -mergeNamespacesOnClash false -namespace "Recovery" -options "v=0;"  -pr "//south/deadline/Projects/Maya/JWelch/DollyZoomTest/scenes/Recovery.ma";
# mental ray for Maya 2015
// Mental ray for Maya: using startup file C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015//maya.rayrc.
# mental ray for Maya: setup
# mental ray for Maya: initialize
# mental ray for Maya: register extensions
// mental ray Node Factory: loaded
# mental ray for Maya: successfully registered
# mental ray for Maya: loading startup file: C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015//maya.rayrc
// parsing C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015/shaders/include/abcimport.mi
// loading C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015/shaders/abcimport.dll
// generating Maya nodes...
// parsing C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015/shaders/include/AdskShaderSDKWrappers.mi
// generating Maya nodes...
// parsing C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015/shaders/include/architectural.mi
// loading C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015/shaders/architectural.dll
// generating Maya nodes...
// parsing C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015/shaders/include/base.mi
// loading C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015/shaders/base.dll
// generating Maya nodes...
// parsing C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015/shaders/include/basehair.mi
// loading C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015/shaders/basehair.dll
// generating Maya nodes...
// parsing C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015/shaders/include/bifrostMR.mi
// loading C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015/shaders/bifrostMR.dll
// generating Maya nodes...
// parsing C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015/shaders/include/bifrostphenMR.mi
// generating Maya nodes...
// parsing C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015/shaders/include/builtin_bsdf.mi
// generating Maya nodes...
// parsing C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015/shaders/include/builtin_object_light.mi
// generating Maya nodes...
// parsing C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015/shaders/include/contour.mi
// loading C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015/shaders/contour.dll
// generating Maya nodes...
// parsing C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015/shaders/include/layering.mi
// loading C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015/shaders/layering.dll
// generating Maya nodes...
// parsing C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015/shaders/include/layering_phen.mi
// generating Maya nodes...
// parsing C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015/shaders/include/mrptex.mi
// loading C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015/shaders/mrptex.dll
// generating Maya nodes...
// parsing C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015/shaders/include/paint.mi
// loading C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015/shaders/paint.dll
// generating Maya nodes...
// parsing C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015/shaders/include/physics.mi
// loading C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015/shaders/physics.dll
// generating Maya nodes...
// parsing C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015/shaders/include/production.mi
// loading C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015/shaders/production.dll
// generating Maya nodes...
// parsing C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015/shaders/include/subsurface.mi
// loading C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015/shaders/subsurface.dll
// generating Maya nodes...
// parsing C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015/shaders/include/surfaceSampler.mi
// loading C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015/shaders/surfaceSampler.dll
// generating Maya nodes...
// parsing C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015/shaders/include/userdata.mi
// loading C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015/shaders/userdata.dll
// generating Maya nodes...
// parsing C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015/shaders/include/useribl.mi
// loading C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015/shaders/useribl.dll
// generating Maya nodes...
// parsing C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015/shaders/include/xgenMR.mi
// loading C:/Program Files/Autodesk/mentalrayForMaya2015/shaders/xgenMR.dll
// generating Maya nodes...
updateRenderOverride;
// Warning: file: //south/deadline/Projects/Maya/JWelch/DollyZoomTest/scenes/Recovery.ma line 1899772: Unrecognized node type 'nodeGraphEditorInfo'; preserving node information during this session. //
// Warning: file: //south/deadline/Projects/Maya/JWelch/DollyZoomTest/scenes/Recovery.ma line 1930050: ':miDefaultOptions.message' is already connected to ':mentalrayItemsList.options'. //
// Warning: file: //south/deadline/Projects/Maya/JWelch/DollyZoomTest/scenes/Recovery.ma line 1930051: ':miDefaultFramebuffer.message' is already connected to ':mentalrayItemsList.framebuffers'. //
// Warning: line 0: Errors have occurred while reading this scene that may result in data loss.

Please check the Script Editor for details. //
// File read in  25.4 seconds.
// //south/deadline/Projects/Maya/JWelch/DollyZoomTest/scenes/Recovery.ma //
updateRendererUI;
setAttr Recovery:Turkey.precompTemplate -type "string" "";
setAttr Recovery:jwelch_20160229_2002:layer1.precompTemplate -type "string" "";
setAttr Recovery:jwelch_20160229_2002:layer2.precompTemplate -type "string" "";
setAttr Recovery:jwelch_20160229_2002:layer3.precompTemplate -type "string" "";
select -r Recovery:jwelch_20160229_2002:Mario2 ;
select -r Recovery:jwelch_20160229_2002:Mario1 ;
editRenderLayerMembers -remove -noRecurse Recovery:jwelch_20160229_2002:layer2 Recovery:jwelch_20160229_2002:Mario1;
// 1 //
select -cl  ;
// Error: file: C:/Program Files/Autodesk/Maya2015/scripts/others/performFileAction.mel line 434: File contains unknown nodes or data.  To preserve this information, the current file type cannot be changed. //
select -r Recovery:jwelch_20160229_2002:pCube1 ;
select -r Recovery:jwelch_20160229_2002:Mario2 ;
// Error: file: C:/Program Files/Autodesk/Maya2015/scripts/others/performFileAction.mel line 434: File contains unknown nodes or data.  To preserve this information, the current file type cannot be changed. //
file -force -options "v=0;" -type "mayaAscii" -pr -ea "//south/deadline/Projects/Maya/JWelch/DollyZoomTest/scenes/Recovery2.ma";
// Error: line 0: File contains unknown nodes or data.  To preserve this information, the current file type cannot be changed. //
select -r Recovery:jwelch_20160229_2002:Mario1Shape ;
doDelete;
select -r Recovery:jwelch_20160229_2002:Mario2 ;
select -r Recovery:jwelch_20160229_2002:TileWall1 ;
select -r Recovery:jwelch_20160229_2002:Mario2 ;
// Undo: select -r Recovery:jwelch_20160229_2002:Mario2
// Undo: select -r Recovery:jwelch_20160229_2002:TileWall1
// Undo: renderLayerEditorOnSelectionChanged RenderLayerTab
// Undo: renderLayerEditorOnSelectionChanged RenderLayerTab
// Undo: select -r Recovery:jwelch_20160229_2002:Mario2
// Undo: doDelete
// Undo: select -r Recovery:jwelch_20160229_2002:Mario1Shape
// Undo: renderLayerEditorOnSelectionChanged RenderLayerTab
// Undo: renderLayerEditorOnSelectionChanged RenderLayerTab
// Error: file: C:/Program Files/Autodesk/Maya2015/scripts/others/performFileAction.mel line 434: File contains unknown nodes or data.  To preserve this information, the current file type cannot be changed. //
file -f -new;
// untitled //
file -import -type "mayaAscii" -ra true -mergeNamespacesOnClash false -namespace "Recovery" -options "v=0;"  -pr "//south/deadline/Projects/Maya/JWelch/DollyZoomTest/scenes/Recovery.ma";
// Warning: file: //south/deadline/Projects/Maya/JWelch/DollyZoomTest/scenes/Recovery.ma line 1899772: Unrecognized node type 'nodeGraphEditorInfo'; preserving node information during this session. //
// Warning: line 0: Errors have occurred while reading this scene that may result in data loss.

Please check the Script Editor for details. //
// File read in  11.9 seconds.
// //south/deadline/Projects/Maya/JWelch/DollyZoomTest/scenes/Recovery.ma //
setAttr Recovery:Turkey.precompTemplate -type "string" "";
setAttr Recovery:jwelch_20160229_2002:layer1.precompTemplate -type "string" "";
setAttr Recovery:jwelch_20160229_2002:layer2.precompTemplate -type "string" "";
setAttr Recovery:jwelch_20160229_2002:layer3.precompTemplate -type "string" "";