|
|
|
Tutor
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 7/31/2008 6:43:44 AM
Posts: 520,
Visits: 43
|
|
Hello all,
I have been amusing myself reading these posts and wanted to offer a little advice for anyone using Iclone.... I am a professional television producer and just finished creating an animated project for Hasbro's Action Man. Here are a few suggestion for what's it's worth.
1. THERE IS NO SOLVE ALL PROGRAM
I think that if users keep in mind the limitations of Iclone and plan their projects arounds those limitations, some very good results can be achieved. I will use Iclone to create an animated television series for air in South America but with the aid of other compositing tools. The lip sync alone will save me about 10 years of my life!
2. WORK IN LAYERS IF POSSIBLE
I create my scenes in Iclone and then save the project. Reload the project after all your camera and actions are completed. REMOVE your characters and render only the background. Then reload the project and REMOVE the background and render only your characters. Then composite the two in some small editing program. After Effects would be better but there are many CONSUMER programs to do the job for under $100. You can add motion blur to your background, defocus, all kinds of things that will really enhance your projects. You will be surprised at how much you can do with just 2 layers!
3. EVERYTHING MOVES!
NEVER maintain a static character and camera at the same time. SOMETHING is always moving. If the camera is static, move your characters.. even if they are just standing there, they will still sway and move. If the character is static, move the camera, even if it's just a little.... a gentle push or zoom will do.. very slow as not to draw attention to itself.. but still there.
4. CUT OFTEN
To get around looping motions in Iclone, cut your shots often. You7 will never see that you changed the motion and it will make creating your story much easier. Aside from that, camera cuts add movement even when there isn't any. Try it!
5. CHEAT! MAKING A 3D SCENE WITH A 2D BACKGROUND
Just map a nice 2D background onto a flat plane. Then add your character in front of it. You can dolly (moving the camera from side to side) your camera, push, zoom and the background will act accordingly to the camera.
6. GLASS IS EVERYTHING! CHANGE THE FOCAL LENGTH OF YOUR CAMERA LENSE
Lenses make ALL the difference in a shot! If you're shooting a vista or landscape, USE A WIDE LENSE! If you want to show the scale of something small next to something big, ZOOM! A tight lense will flatten things out.. Zoom your lense and then pull your camera back to reveal what you want to show in the shot. The contrast between the two will be amazing! Make some tests and see for yourself.
7. PLAN EVERYTHING
It's easy to want to jump right in but your results will look like.. well.. like you jumped right in! When I have to create something, I noodle on it for a while to decide what is the best way to achieve the results I want. THERE IS MORE THAN ONE WAY TO SKIN A CAT! Think about what you want to do, make storyboards! Who cares if you can't draw, simple little sketches will do but it will help your workflow and produce better results by far!
I am new to Iclone and I am just scratching the surface but I see some real potential. I usually work in high end 3D apps like Lightwave, Maya, 3D Studio Max, etc... but after seeing Iclone, I can say that it will allow me to produce ACCEPTABLE results with a HUGE time savings! I will be counting on you power users for some tips! Glad to be here!
Tom
|
|
|
|
|
Tutor
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 7/31/2008 6:43:44 AM
Posts: 520,
Visits: 43
|
|
Great advice here and something everyone should take on board.
I think the key here is understanding the limitations of the software but not at the expense of creativity.
I for one always look for the easiest way to create a scene but I always consider detail. Even if it's an extra just walking in the background, how they walk, what they are wearing, why they are there, are details important to making something look more real.
Even epic scenes of war and carnage should follow the age old formula of KISS (Keep it simple stupid) 
Follow my next projects progress:-
http://www.capemediauk.com/Cinema_The_Disciple_2.htm
|
|
|
|
|
Tutor
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 7/31/2008 6:43:44 AM
Posts: 520,
Visits: 43
|
|
Very nice production tips Tom!
Thanks for sharing these. Great reference points.
|
|
|
|
|
Tutor
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 7/31/2008 6:43:44 AM
Posts: 520,
Visits: 43
|
|
Hi Intelligentlight,
Thank You for helpfull suggesions.
For me, iClone+CrazyTalk is great for quickly productions.
I use these applications to e-courses creation. For typical 5-miutes movie creation I give 5 days only. For looking, I sended question to 3DS Max users: "How long do you make project like this: scene in shopping center; customer and seller talking about a product; lip-sync; cloths; 3d-scenery; walking; questures; camera moving and cuting, etc...". They saw that the project take many months and more money  . I have only 5 days 
Regards
PS. But, Reallusion - remove the 5-minutes limitation...
Arnold http://www.anim3d.pl
|
|
|
|
|
Tutor
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 7/31/2008 6:43:44 AM
Posts: 520,
Visits: 43
|
|
thanks tom, really appreciate the great insight
i especially like the tip on worknig with layers - you just solved my problem for depth of field
|
|
|
|
|
Tutor
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 7/31/2008 6:43:44 AM
Posts: 520,
Visits: 43
|
|
| As I mentioned earlier.. work in layers... 5 minutes is plenty, just create another scene and add to the original 5 minutes... Besides, It will keep your machine from being too overloaded... All those objects, audio, image maps, etc., take up resources...
|
|
|
|
|
Tutor
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 7/31/2008 6:43:44 AM
Posts: 520,
Visits: 43
|
|
Hello all,
In the export setting of IClone, you can select "IMAGE SEQUENCE". You want to select .TGA (or targe format) then select 32 bit. This will add, in addition to the color output of your images, a "COOKIE CUT" if you will... It will allow you to overlay your image sequence onto any background you desire with PERFECT RESULTS (providing you have an editing or compositing program that supports a transparency channel).
This is known as an "ALPHA CHANNEL". It is a layer of transparency embedded in the image. You can't see it when you look at the image but it's there. Many consumer programs support alpha channels. I know that someone is going to ask me for a list! I'll see what I can do! Thanks to all for the great comments.
|
|
|
|