The great WIP and feedback thread. - Games

Need constructive criticism? Post your shots here and we'll judge them based on your body-weight.

I was hoping something like this would pop up. I really can't stay mad at Facepunch, I guess. [t]http://i.imgur.com/PBpYSD8.jpg[/t] Now, I know it doesn't look very good, but I did it to prove a point. If you look at those models, the shadows on them are just [I]super[/I] grainy. How do I get rid of that, and have the high-quality shadow-work that one would see in a Mtt flick?

[QUOTE=Imasargent;40437599]How do I get rid of that, and have the high-quality shadow-work that one would see in a Mtt flick?[/QUOTE] If you rightclick your viewport and click the top option, you'll notice some quality settings. Set those to max and experiment with ambient occlusion in the camera settings. You'll see the changes in the clip editor.

[QUOTE=Imasargent;40437599]I was hoping something like this would pop up. I really can't stay mad at Facepunch, I guess. Now, I know it doesn't look very good, but I did it to prove a point. If you look at those models, the shadows on them are just [I]super[/I] grainy. How do I get rid of that, and have the high-quality shadow-work that one would see in a Mtt flick?[/QUOTE] For the grain, you need to select your camera in the Animation Set Editor and change the settings to something around this (really just mess with em and find what you like best) [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/f2r3TuY.png[/IMG] I may be completely wrong, but I think that should help fix the grain. The default camera settings for SSAO are not very good. Also, [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oM7OVemJ7us"]this tutorial may help you as well[/URL] Also your field of view is way to large, try using the preset lenses for your camera.

[t]http://i.imgur.com/E4YmTZI.jpg[/t] Okay, I [I]think[/I] I got the shadows improved, but with my crappy 1280x1024 monitor, I really can't tell. I also think I improved the FOV, but I really just sort of zoomed in. If any of you have better monitors, and it looks good to you, let me know. What's next?

It seems really bright, unless thats how you want it. On the camera you can turn down the toneMapScale and then add your own lights to make it look better, I suggest learning about [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-point_lighting"]3-point lighting[/URL] which is an easy way to make your scenes look good. Also the scouts feet should be angled downwards some instead of being flat, considering he's being held up he wouldn't really hold his feet level. Also move the focus of the scene along the[URL="http://digital-photography-school.com/wp-content/images/200605022117.jpg"] rule of thirds [/URL]. Its an easy way to make a scene look much better.

Don't know if videos are allowed but I made this little scene here and I need some more feedback than just "what did he put in the cup?" questions [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8QKRjZhaLs[/media]

Towards the end the camera starting 'drifting' to the right and there was a lot of empty screen space, I personally would move the camera in more and get the characters more in shot. Other than that it was pretty good, how long did you spend animating?

[QUOTE=krailyx;40446635]Towards the end the camera starting 'drifting' to the right and there was a lot of empty screen space, I personally would move the camera in more and get the characters more in shot. Other than that it was pretty good, how long did you spend animating?[/QUOTE] 5 days. I'll keep that in mind, I'm still learning with the camerawork and lighting. Thanks :)

[t] http://i.imgur.com/V3VZPGg.jpg [/t] Tried my hand at three point lighting. I will admit... It does make him look very shiny.

[IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img707/2164/post7jp.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img405/7047/post6jp.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img849/7024/post2n.jpg[/IMG] Made a sfm compatible drum set. Any opinions before I send this to the workshop? It's fully rigged. You can control the cymbals, the hardware, adjust the height of the snare and the chair, and the position of the stands and the toms. May be useful in making music videos.

[QUOTE=aln447;40465669][IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img707/2164/post7jp.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img405/7047/post6jp.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img849/7024/post2n.jpg[/IMG] Made a sfm compatible drum set. Any opinions before I send this to the workshop? It's fully rigged. You can control the cymbals, the hardware, adjust the height of the snare and the chair, and the position of the stands and the toms. May be useful in making music videos.[/QUOTE] It's very nice! But I feel like the texture of the cymbals can be improved. They should look more metal-ish. They look a bit like plastic now.

[QUOTE=powback;40466577]It's very nice! But I feel like the texture of the cymbals can be improved. They should look more metal-ish. They look a bit like plastic now.[/QUOTE] Thanks. I tried, trust me, but most things dont work. Increasing the phong doesn't help much.

[QUOTE=powback;40466577]It's very nice! But I feel like the texture of the cymbals can be improved. They should look more metal-ish. They look a bit like plastic now.[/QUOTE] Looks fine to me. It blends in with TF2 rather well, IMO.

Successfully uploaded to the workshop. Feel free to share: The Drum kit: [url]http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=142320594[/url] The drum sticks: [url]http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails?id=142323654[/url]

[QUOTE=aln447;40476502]Successfully uploaded to the workshop. Feel free to share: The Drum kit: [url]http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=142320594[/url] The drum sticks: [url]http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails?id=142323654[/url][/QUOTE] Really, really sexy!

[t]http://i.imgur.com/qZmQRM8.jpg[/t] lighting is not final, i'm planning to do separate lights for the blue and red scout, who'll be greenscreened out, and the other non-focused shit in background, plus there's still fire on the cars and smoke to add via particles(have no idea on how to do it without having particles clipping all through the goddamn polygons in an ugly manner though). Posing is not perfect, but seems pretty ok to me, not gonna change it unless i get some good tips/get big errors spotted. I also wanna know if you think the aperture is fine, the slider was all the way to the right before, but even if it made the little posing errors fade, it made facial emotions worthless and the scout near the camera had some weird issues with dof, the high samples and aperture made it look kinda weird at the edges. oh, and the scout looks to the camera, yes, but if it was looking to the other scout, it would have messed up the eyes, the pose itself was made supposing the scout would have looked to the camera, so... it stays like this, i'm not gonna adjust the whole body pose just for that, sorry. any feedback will be appreciated :D P.S. : just noticed there's also a clipping with the carl miscellanous item and the heavy, already fixed it.

[QUOTE=davixx;40479071][t]http://i.imgur.com/qZmQRM8.jpg[/t] [/QUOTE] I would move the camera to the left a bit (or move red scout to the right), get the red scout on the thirds line and fill up that empty space between the two scouts. Great work so far though.

New WIP shots for a short film. [IMG_thumb]http://i.imgur.com/o5EvpbQ.jpg[/IMG_thumb] [IMG_thumb]http://i.imgur.com/rqY02cd.jpg[/IMG_thumb] [IMG_thumb]http://i.imgur.com/AkcFei4.jpg[/IMG_thumb]

[QUOTE=TheSoupNazi;40485789]New WIP shots for a short film. [IMG_thumb]http://i.imgur.com/o5EvpbQ.jpg[/IMG_thumb] [IMG_thumb]http://i.imgur.com/rqY02cd.jpg[/IMG_thumb] [IMG_thumb]http://i.imgur.com/AkcFei4.jpg[/IMG_thumb][/QUOTE] I can't really see what you can improve. Those are great!

Hello :] I was wondering if you guys could give me some input on how to adjust the camera properly when two characters are talking to each other. I have some WIP video here but camera work IMO feels messy :/ [video=youtube;9D5fcfYae9w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9D5fcfYae9w[/video]

[QUOTE=Harbi;40519053]Hello :] I was wondering if you guys could give me some input on how to adjust the camera properly when two characters are talking to each other. I have some WIP video here but camera work IMO feels messy :/ [video=youtube;9D5fcfYae9w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9D5fcfYae9w[/video][/QUOTE] Looks great so far, your animation is very nice. I'd try to align the characters more with the rule of thirds, and make sure your camera isn't crossing the line of action, or else the viewer can get disoriented. Also it was hard to tell, but maybe for some shots you should use smaller field of views, maybe the 50 - 85mm Lenses. Also maybe move the camera in more on some shots. Also I'm curious about your workflow from what I saw, is that the "blocking" technique? I only ask because I have no workflow technique and it is not very helpful.

[QUOTE=krailyx;40519258]Looks great so far, your animation is very nice. I'd try to align the characters more with the rule of thirds, and make sure your camera isn't crossing the line of action, or else the viewer can get disoriented. Also it was hard to tell, but maybe for some shots you should use smaller field of views, maybe the 50 - 85mm Lenses. Also maybe move the camera in more on some shots.[/QUOTE] ^ Thanks :] I really appreciate your help. It will be difficult to adjust the camera location now because I animated without taking the camera position into consideration :/ I'll look into the rule of thirds & tweak the camera lens right away. [QUOTE=krailyx;40519258]Also I'm curious about your workflow from what I saw, is that the "blocking" technique? I only ask because I have no workflow technique and it is not very helpful.[/QUOTE] I had zero animation experience before starting SFM btw. I'm working on my video for about 2 months now & I have never used this "blocking technique" I was very very new to animation. When I found out about this blocking technique, my animation time was slashed in half & I began to produce great animation IMO & take risks & work on complex animations that were intimidating to me before. All thanks to Thomas Larson blocking tutorial [url]http://www.youtube.com/user/tomcrazyOMG5[/url] For this specific dialogue scene in the video above, only the Engineer's entrance animation & the scout second shot where he puts his sandwich down that I used the blocking technique. The rest I animate on the fly because they're standing still & only doing small body language moves that I can picture it in my head. Here's the same video with the blocking technique. After the blocking I just switch the keyframes & voila, like magic! and then I add little stuff here and there & adjust keyframes. [video=youtube;ZH-xwF_dpa4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZH-xwF_dpa4[/video] Right now I'm pretty much video recording my self for about 75% of my project & then use the blocking technique to animate. like this video below of the scout opening the gate for the vehicle to enter & the soldier moving. I recorded my self with the same exact angel, I'm really proud of that :] [video=youtube;a54bXEYR03A]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a54bXEYR03A[/video] Still... I can't do a FREAKING WALK CYCLE!!! it's so annoying!!

[QUOTE=Harbi;40519954] Still... I can't do a FREAKING WALK CYCLE!!! it's so annoying!![/QUOTE] [URL="http://cyberdog.wikispaces.com/file/view/WalkCycle_Side.jpg/30505746/WalkCycle_Side.jpg"]This may help[/URL]. I'm currently working on my walk cycle, and this picture is of great help (you've probably already seen it) but[URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE-jakm9mcQ"] there is also this tutorial[/URL]. Is the blocking tutorial in the "Into the Graph Editor" series by Thomas Larson? (If so, do you remember which part/video?) Also with using that picture as reference, tone down the dramatic arm/leg movements, as thats more for a exaggerated cartoony walk.

^ I've already seen your tutorial a month ago :] and I've just seen your walk cycle V2, very impressive! My problem with Walk Cycles is that after the first cycle, I don't know how to redo it for the next cycle :( It just turns into a complete mess! see the last video I've uploaded where the scout opens the gate, skip to 0:17 and look at the heavy's walk. I trimmed the length of the video because I couldn't do the next cycle :/ wasted hours to no avail. As for Thomas Larson's tutorial, it's part 3 ( [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04NrYE8sVYI[/url] )

[QUOTE=Harbi;40520677] My problem with Walk Cycles is that after the first cycle, I don't know how to redo it for the next cycle :[/QUOTE] Looping the cycle seems to all be based off if you're actually moving where the model is. Like in my v2 cycle, Zer0 isn't really moving anywhere so I can just copy and paste the keys from before and it loops back. With that I would just need to animate the root transform and voila. But if you're doing it where you actually use the rig_pelvis to move the model, I don't think you can copy and paste the keys because the model will jump backwards to where it was first keyframed.

[QUOTE=krailyx;40520720]With that I would just need to animate the root transform and voila. [/QUOTE] OMG! why haven't I thought of that before! I can copy & paste the body animation & animate the root! Thank you so much Krailyx!

[QUOTE=Harbi;40520775]OMG! why haven't I thought of that before! I can copy & paste the body animation & animate the root! Thank you so much Krailyx![/QUOTE] A very quick version of animating the root, just to show it works. It can definitely be done, much better than this, which was thrown together in a couple minutes. [video=youtube;mCUiGtwqJf8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCUiGtwqJf8&feature=youtu.be[/video] [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/4T4pzxL.png[/IMG]

I just started making my first SFM poster today now that I've somewhat got the idea of how SFM works. Also, could someone please explain to me how to let Pyro rotate it's wrist without twisting like that? I'm using the "rig_biped_simple" IK rig. I'm going to change the map later and use rule of thirds, but right now I'm focusing simply on how to pose characters. [URL=http://imgur.com/8cRkiS9][IMG]http://i.imgur.com/8cRkiS9l.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

^ You need to adjust the " Rig_elbow "... twist it till the hand is positioned correctly, also try not to move the hand back anymore, that will cause the arm of the model to glitch.