I can launch the animated camera, timeline and edit and can do key frames and move forward etc so all is good up to a point but then the whole thing collapses around me as I try to navigate around a corner of the hallway.

It seems (by the way I'm new to iClone) that the camera is a WYSIWYG set-up and that's fine so you always know what the camera is seeing but I don't actually ever know the camera's so when I try to turn a corner I have to estimate where the camera is and I bang into a wall or end up going through the wall. I have tried rotating the model at 90deg and leaving the camera alone but that doesn't seem to solve the problem. I also tried turning in small increments with equal lack of success.

I'm sure there's an easy answer as the stuff I've seen by iClone is magnificent. At the moment I give myself a -10 but I am hoping to get a whole lot better.

You may find the following topic useful. Visconti described a simple way of controlling camera movement through a scene.

http://forum.reallusion.com/Topic1459-11-1.aspx

Also try making use of the keyboard shortcuts when using cameras as this can help a lot. You can find all the keyboard shortcuts at the end of the help guide within iClone. (Press F1)

 

Peter Edwards
Community Manager

iClone Daily Blog

Anyway thanks again much appreciated.

Incidentally I had a look at how the Pros do camera animations through houses on several YOU TUBE videos and the answer to 'How do they turn a corner of a hallway' is actually very simple, THEY DON'T. They move the camera adjacent to the room and then in the next scene they are panning around the new room and so on, like in the real movies.

Well I can't even get into the next room at all because every time I try to get into the new room the camera gets lost, bangs into a wall and then flips as if it is physically 'too big' to manouver into the room any case.

Anyway I'm open to suggestions from anyone who's knows more than me and that would be most everyone. 

Neill......(not Neil as I think that 'Neil' is an expert although I can't actually remember where I've seen his iClone work.)

I would break the shot into 3.

1. Have the camera move towards the position of the turn.

2. Then have the camera move in the new position.

3. Shoot the turn, 90 degrees from the last position of the first shot to the start position of the second.

Finally edit the 3 shots into one.

I always go for the easiet way to do things, so if this is not what you meant, sorry

Capemedia UK

'The Forgotten Children' - Promo Video

Follow Progress Here

The camera templates provided i iClone eg 'circle and dolly' are all presets. So if you have a scene and choose a preset that's what you get (that particular circle and dolly) and the movement  begins from the origin (although we don't know where this is) but it's not necessarily where I would like it to be. So if I move the camera using the Camera Movement Offsets in the camera modify menu I get the exact same 'circle and dolly' but this time beginning from the newly set origin which I have chosen.

So getting back to my rooms off the hallway all I had to do was use a preset animation template that turned the camera in a 90deg arc. Well there isn't one in iClone for a left or right turn so I made one using the custom tab to save it.

So continuing on with your scenes. Scene 1, move down hall.Cut. Scene2. Choose the 90deg camera template from the custom menu and 'Bob's your Uncle.' Now that the turn is saved it can be used for each room and each and every scene that needs a turn. I have to make a right turn as well.

Strangely enough when you use the camera preset templates (or your own) the camera doesn't flip or bang into the wall as it does when you try to move the camera with the camera move tools. Rather it just goes right through the wall and this aberration is the piece that can be edited out. It was the latter case that was causing all the problems with the camera crashing and flipping. Someone may be able to explain this. Well, I'm not as far as editing yet either but I'll keep at it.

Am I excited. You betcha!

Neill

Thanks for sharing your experiences with the cameras. This will help others facing similar problems enormously. iClone is growing software and feedback such as yours helps improve it for everyone of us.

I have always found that experimentation and a little creativity go a long way and as you have found there is normally always a way to achieve something if you persevere.

Well done.

Pete

 

Peter Edwards
Community Manager

iClone Daily Blog

To be honest I've never used the preset camera animations, as you have experienced, they drive me nuts .  Like you have found, I create all me camera shots from scratch, every shot having a unique camera animation.

Glad that I helped in some way.

All the best

Capemedia

Capemedia UK

'The Forgotten Children' - Promo Video

Follow Progress Here

I have avoided buying programs in the past on the basis of their forums (not animation programs as I am quite new to it). I believed that if the program's forum showed no evidence of helping (especially Newbies who get stuck on the most simple problem) and sharing that it would be a waste of my time buying the program as I could be ensured of the same treatment.

Anyway thanks again.