Animating

We're going to explore a LOT of topics in this section. Animation is what CG filmmaking is all about!

We all know how much I love animating in Carrara, but there's a LOT more to do! We'll be animating in PD Howler, in Fusion and HitFilm, and we'll also be discussing topics that we need to know about animating in general, so keep your eyes peeled on this space!

Current Articles

There is a Lot to cover on this topic so I will be presenting hybrid articles/videos on various subjects as we go along.

Although we'll be doing a lot using Motion Capture files, I cannot express enough importance of getting experience with animating by hand using key frames. Knowing how to do this is vital to being able to properly express our visions through our digital characters on the screen.

Being a Carrara user, I'll also present many useful tips on how we can create effects in motion using the incredible, powerful and simple features incorporated into this amazing software. We'll address animated effects like fog, fire, rain, etc., animated textures on our figures or their environment, animating the time of day, particles, physics simulations, cloth simulations... we'll really dive in.

My aim is to take away some of the fear of animating. Yes, it requires practice and a bit of patience - test renders are our friend here, but I want to illustrate how fun and powerful it can be, and to show how accessible these techniques can be to anyone with a computer!

Need to get Poser Formats out of Daz Studio?

DUF files can take forever to load in Carrara and, sometimes they might not work at all, depending on what it is.

Solution?

Poser Format Exporter!!!

This script provides the ability to generate Poser format Pose (.pz2), Face/Expression (.fc2) and Hand (.hd2) files from directly within DAZ Studio. Use DAZ Studio to pose or animate your figures, then use this script to transfer that information to Carrara or Poser.

NOTE: PFE supports both DAZ Studio 3 and 4

Check out How to use the Poser Format Exporter by Mattymanx

DanceForms

My buddy, Wendy, just reminded me of a cool software solution for animation retargeting for Carrara: DanceForms.

Here's a cool video on the subject by Conrad 3DC:

I haven't tried this in a long time. Here's where yu can get DanceForms software and BVH files if you're interested: Credo Interactive Downloads

What's Included and Features

Features

  • Create Poser format Pose(.pz2), Face(.fc2) and Hand(.hd2) files

  • Include the root node or selected nodes

  • Limit inclusion to only selected nodes or recursively include their children

  • Create poses of the Current Frame or of an Animated Range

  • Choose the starting and ending frame of an Animated Range

  • Include/Exclude Transforms (rotation, translation scale); per axis

  • Include/Exclude Morph Targets (targetGeom)

  • Include/Exclude Numeric Properties (valueParm)

  • Include/Exclude Node Visability state

  • Include/Exclude Node Bending state

Check out How to use the Poser Format Exporter by Mattymanx

A video I made up of animation test renders to try out Sony Vegas for the first time - a long time ago