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[Francesco]

Hi all,
this is a small animation I made while playing around with rigging. Also if some things I'd like to do aren't really easily feasible with the current rigging features of Anim8or (mechanical stuff such as the animated piston I mentioned elsewhere), nonetheless I've been able to make something nice, following the lesson about telescopic bones.

Here below you have a small xvid I put in a zip archive, and also two images, showing four frames from the video and the rigging of the mech arm.

More than a wip this is just a toy project, feel free to comment and criticize, I'm aware of a couple of weird things but I'd like to hear your opinion.

[Steve]

Nice work.  How did you get the lines to appear as the disc is being cut?  Is each segment a different part?

[Francesco]

Thank you Steve, glad you liked it.

The disc and the box with the hole are already there from the start of the animation, I used the technique from the tutorial about how to make a writing pencil, but instead of moving away the hiders one by one I made another figure and animated it. All the covering elements rotate till the last position, and the last one disappears by moving the whole figure out of sight.

I mistaken the timing somehow, in fact the black line appears a bit faster than the rotating cutter, I think I went short of a frame somewhere.

Everything casts and receives shadows except for the hiders, which only receive them - I did it to avoid noticing the border of the hiders, because they raise a bit out from the disc surface.

Of course all these details aren't for you Steve, you don't need them
Just thought that eventual readers would like to know them.

Thanks for dropping in, and thanks again for Anim8or, it's invaluable for people with poor gear like me.

[lynn22]

That's a clever trick Francesco, great thinking !

Also, very nice modeling and animating, great work.

[Steve]

Very clever, Franscisco.  I wish I had as easier way to do things like this.  I have a few ideas but haven't figured out how to implement them efficiently yet.

[Francesco]

Thank you all very much, you're very kind but honestly I didn't do much more than joining together already existing techniques. I do have a couple of ideas about how to make stuff like this easier. These ideas are also about adding some kind of movie-material. I'll make some illustrative stuff and I'll post it as another topic.

[Gus]

Wow, genius...

[Francesco]

Wow, genius...

oh, come on, you are either exaggerating or kidding, pick one... I hope for the first, and in that case, I'm glad you like the experiment - The next time that I will write "looking for C&C" I will mean "looking for cheers and compliments"

Anyway, I've been working on another experiment, a more generic one, and I'll post about it in the preview forum.

[ENSONIQ5]

Francesco:  Nicely done, the effect works very well.  It may be all from existing ideas but you brought them together very nicely, implemented them superbly, and explained the method clearly, so all can learn from it.  Take the credit, you deserve it mate!

Steve:  Never underestimate the power of a work-around!  Obviously there is still a lot of functionality that could be added to Anim8or (and no doubt will be in time) and animatable materials would be great, but figuring out work-arounds is good exercise for the old grey matter, and is (in my opinion at least) half the fun of Anim8ing!  Clicking on a button that takes care of things like IK, physics, particle effects, animatable materials etc. is almost too easy and takes away somewhat from the skill of the modeller/animator.  That's not to say Anim8or should not receive the benefit of these functions eventually, just that it is already way powerful enough to keep us pretty occupied for the moment, and Francesco's work above is evidence that where there is a will, there is a way.

[falloffalot]

Well done Francesco that is a fresh and original animation and it's very nicely done.
I totaly agree with ENSONIQ5; I use 3ds max, maya, Carrara, blender and a few others; but still find Anim8or the most rewarding to use. If you take your time and with practice the results you get from Anim8or can be on par with some of the super expensive sofware.
So...well done francesco and thanks to Steve for his hardwork and dedication.

[Francesco]

Ok ok I'll take the credit but let's cut it otherwise I'll lock this topic!
Eheheh, of course I'm kidding, I am very happy that you all enjoyed my work, and I want to thank you all for your compliments - yes, I played humble, but in reality I'm pleased to roll myself into public ovation - who doesn't? maybe real geniuses don't

But back to serious things, I'm really happy because your ideas about workarounds and challenges match perfectly my thought. It's a pleasure to share this philosophy.
So, have fun challenging the next so-called 'limit', whichever the field, and thanks again for dropping in guys.

[spriter12]

great work Francesco, even after a year of using this prog here and there and full use, it still blows me away good job.

[Francesco]

Thank you Spriter, glad you like it