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aniMark
About Truespace Archives
These pages are a copy of the official truespace forums prior to their removal somewhere around 2011.
They are retained here for archive purposes only.
Post by frank // Apr 3, 2006, 4:13pm
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frank
Total Posts: 709
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I have decided to go ahead and release this simple little thing I call aniMark.
The idea came to me during a discussion in the #truespace channel regarding the fact that many animators still use dry-erase markers on their monitors for planning character movements and the like.
I decided to try and write a program to basically accomplish the same thing.
http://www.frankladner.com/animark/animark_full.jpg
It simply allows you to place markers over your workspace to be used as guides for planning movement and ensuring object registration.
http://www.frankladner.com/animark/img_01.jpg
http://www.frankladner.com/animark/img_02.jpg
This is a standalone EXE so it can be used in trueSpace or most any other application.
Q: Isn't it easier to just use null objects in trueSpace?
A: There are little problems like having to select the null, switch from Scene to Object playback, reset the current frame to 0, move the null and then switch back to Scene in order to place the object in a new location without setting keyframes for it. Yes, there are also ways around that but in my mind it is easier to keep the markers 'over' and outside of the application.
While I have worked with aniMark on actual sequences - and can verify its usefulness - I have not given it a thorough testing. Thus, there are bound to be little "quirks" and things that you guys will discover.
For more info and to download aniMark, follow this link:
http://www.frankladner.com/animark.php |
Post by TheWickedWitchOfTheWeb // Apr 3, 2006, 4:21pm
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TheWickedWitchOfTheWeb
Total Posts: 858
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Wow! Thanks Frank. This really is a useful little tool, especially for those of us just getting into animation.
You is da man! :-) |
Post by frank // Apr 3, 2006, 4:50pm
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frank
Total Posts: 709
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Wow! Thanks Frank. This really is a useful little tool, especially for those of us just getting into animation.
You is da man! :-)
I wouldn't consider myself "da man" but I really appreciate the feedback! :)
Also, I wanted to go ahead and list the shortcut keys here, as they could be easily overlooked (they are hiding under "Help").
N - Add New Marker
Del - Remove Marker (deactivate, actually)
Up - Set Window Top
Down - Set Window Bottom
X - Constrain X
Y - Constrain Y
...and most important:
Shift + Drag - Move All Markers
To use the shortcut keys, either the main window or one of the markers must have the focus (be selected/active). |
Post by Tiles // Apr 3, 2006, 9:50pm
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Tiles
Total Posts: 1037
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Sounds very useful. Unfortunately it refuses to load ...
Component Mscomctl.ocx or one of its dpendencies not correctly registered: a file is missing or invalid
Win XP Home German, SP 2, up to date
AMD 64 3200+ |
Post by Humdinger // Apr 4, 2006, 2:44am
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Humdinger
Total Posts: 319
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Dry erase markers...?!?!?
Who the hell does that!
lol
anyway..cool idea...
I would like to see an 'onion skinning' feature in 7.5.
For those of you not familiar.... 'onion skinning' usally displays a few frames before the current frame and a few frames after the current frame...usally at 50% opacity...so you can better see how the model/object/character moves over a series of frames.
Appears a few 3d app have this feature...Blender...Lightwave (plugin)...XSI..
I use this feature in 2d Macromedia Flash...can really speed things along. |
Post by Humdinger // Apr 4, 2006, 2:59am
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Humdinger
Total Posts: 319
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This is what it looks like in flash...
One would assume that such a feature would really be limited based on resources and scene complexity.
http://www.meobeco.com/odds/onion.jpg |
Post by Délé // Apr 4, 2006, 3:02am
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Délé
Total Posts: 1374
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Interesting, thanks Frank. :) |
Post by Délé // Apr 4, 2006, 3:07am
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Délé
Total Posts: 1374
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You know Humdinger, I wouldn't be surprised if onion skinning could even be done with some scripting. Perhaps I will look into this a bit, though it may be a little beyond my current abilities. |
Post by frank // Apr 4, 2006, 3:22am
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frank
Total Posts: 709
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Interesting, thanks Frank.
You're welcome!
Sounds very useful. Unfortunately it refuses to load ...
Component Mscomctl.ocx or one of its dpendencies not correctly registered: a file is missing or invalid
Win XP Home German, SP 2, up to date
AMD 64 3200+
Sounds like you just need the VB 6.0 Common Controls. You can get that here:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=25437D98-51D0-41C1-BB14-64662F5F62FE&displaylang=en |
Post by LazeeGazzz // Apr 4, 2006, 6:20am
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LazeeGazzz
Total Posts: 55
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Hi Frank,
re: tools page of your website; what are aniTime and VD2TS? No mention of trueSpace here. Did you accomplish all your test clips using only aniMark???:p
Love your ani clips by the way:cool: , even if they all are very short, fast and grey. I'm intrigued as to how someone with your dynamic ani.style might animate sedentary motion, say for example, a man sleeping. Just a thought. |
Post by TheWickedWitchOfTheWeb // Apr 4, 2006, 7:05am
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TheWickedWitchOfTheWeb
Total Posts: 858
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Just found out something cool with this little tool (purely by accident!)... You can have more than one instance of it running at the same time, each having different coloured markers. Handy if there's more than one object/character to animate. Or one colour for feet, one for hands, etc.
If anyone fancies using it this way, when you double click the exe, it'll open a new toolbar at the top, over the existing one unless you've moved it, so you'll have to move it down a bit to see them both.
Could come in very useful....... |
Post by frank // Apr 4, 2006, 7:19am
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frank
Total Posts: 709
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Hi Frank,
re: tools page of your website; what are aniTime and VD2TS? No mention of trueSpace here. Did you accomplish all your test clips using only aniMark???
Love your ani clips by the way , even if they all are very short, fast and grey. I'm intrigued as to how someone with your dynamic ani.style might animate sedentary motion, say for example, a man sleeping. Just a thought.
VD2TS is the tool I wrote for getting VooDoo camera matched data into trueSpace. I just haven't migrated it over to the new site yet. Here's the old link for it: http://70.147.193.182/vd2ts/
aniTime is an animator's stopwatch application I'm planning to re-write. The original one I did can be found here: http://forums.caligari.com/discus/messages/74/9691.html?
With regards to sedentary motion. Hrm.... maybe I can animate Mr. Lowercase "i" sleeping. Yeah? :)
Just found out something cool with this little tool (purely by accident!)... You can have more than one instance of it running at the same time, each having different coloured markers. Handy if there's more than one object/character to animate. Or one colour for feet, one for hands, etc.
If anyone fancies using it this way, when you double click the exe, it'll open a new toolbar at the top, over the existing one unless you've moved it, so you'll have to move it down a bit to see them both.
Could come in very useful.......
This is true. Way to go for discovering it! I had planned to eventually set up a type of grouping for the markers w/ diff colors & sizes but now I think I have an excuse to not update it for a while. :) Thanks for sharing that! |
Post by LazeeGazzz // Apr 4, 2006, 7:43am
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LazeeGazzz
Total Posts: 55
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Frank,
you are one very very very busy man. Where do you find the time for all this? I hope you aren't neglecting anything/anyone important for the sake of tS.;) |
Post by hemulin // Apr 4, 2006, 8:00am
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hemulin
Total Posts: 1058
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Nice tool, I like the simplicity. What did you use to create it? |
Post by frank // Apr 4, 2006, 10:03am
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frank
Total Posts: 709
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Frank,
you are one very very very busy man. Where do you find the time for all this? I hope you aren't neglecting anything/anyone important for the sake of tS.
I guess it's just the nature of working behind a computer. I've gotten used to multi-tasking. I'll often be programming or doing web-design stuff for work, answering replies in the #truespace channel, checking posts here, etc... bouncing back and forth. I have a computer here at work or at home up and running constantly so it's easy to just pop in and reply (like I'm doing now). :)
As far as neglecting important stuff, I don't do that. I have lots of fun with my family! Now, I'll admit my wife is used to saying "Start your render and get washed up, dinner's almost ready." :)
Also, I like to do physical hands-on work:
http://www.frankladner.com/shedproject/
Nice tool, I like the simplicity. What did you use to create it?
Thanks! It was done in Visual Basic 6. I had a very standard interface with generic Windows-style buttons at first but decided to use bitmaps w/ mouseovers (done in Photoshop) for the fun of it. :) |
Post by oroe // Apr 4, 2006, 10:22am
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oroe
Total Posts: 21
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Hi Frank,
that is simple a very very good, usefull and helpfull idea!!!!
Thanks for sharing it!!!!
Oliver |
Post by frank // Apr 4, 2006, 10:39am
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frank
Total Posts: 709
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Hi Frank,
that is simple a very very good, usefull and helpfull idea!!!!
Thanks for sharing it!!!!
Oliver
Oroe! Nice to hear from you!
Thanks for the feedback! |
Post by frank // Apr 4, 2006, 1:07pm
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frank
Total Posts: 709
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I'm intrigued as to how someone with your dynamic ani.style might animate sedentary motion, say for example, a man sleeping. Just a thought.
I've attached a loopable sequence of Mr. Lowercase "i" laying on his back, snoozing. Ok, so it's not a man but still, you get the idea. :)
This is the simple model I use in the MotionStudio tutorials. I took the existing rigged model and added a floating "chest bone" to simulate the breathing. |
Post by LazeeGazzz // Apr 4, 2006, 11:05pm
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LazeeGazzz
Total Posts: 55
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mrlowercaseissleeping.wmv. I like it Frank:p
I'm following your MoStu toots series and and looking forward to the next 3 installments regarding animation proper. Then I can post my own mrlowercase.
As unofficial ambassador for MoStu and a tS7 Beta testing rep, can you reveal anything about the newcharacter animation tools? Is it a development of the existing toolset, a MoStu-hybrid, a complete rethink, or just totally top-secret? |
Post by frank // Apr 5, 2006, 3:03am
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frank
Total Posts: 709
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I'm following your MoStu toots series and and looking forward to the next 3 installments regarding animation proper. Then I can post my own mrlowercase.
Thanks! I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with, LazeeGazzz!
As unofficial ambassador for MoStu and a tS7 Beta testing rep, can you reveal anything about the newcharacter animation tools? Is it a development of the existing toolset, a MoStu-hybrid, a complete rethink, or just totally top-secret?
I can't comment on those details so I'll have to pick your fourth choice - "totally top-secret". :) Maybe Roman will share that info. |
Post by Alien // Apr 6, 2006, 6:08am
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Alien
Total Posts: 1231
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Also, I like to do physical hands-on work:
http://www.frankladner.com/shedproject/
It's funny, but I pictured you as more of a go-to guy than a goatee'd guy. :) [thought you were older, too]
Cutting 4" deep by what, 3-3.5"? slots in 8x8 posts - with only hand tools? :eek: Rather you than me. Not that anything in my rather meager power tool collection could handle a cut that deep anyway. :( Cool hole drilling jig though, never seen 1 like that before.
While I have worked with aniMark on actual sequences - and can verify its usefulness - I have not given it a thorough testing. Thus, there are bound to be little "quirks" and things that you guys will discover.
It's a cool idea, though I do have some feedback.
I've noticed that I can't drag a marker onto my secondary screen & get it to stay there, it just snaps back to the edge of my primary screen.
It would be useful if there was an option to link horizontal & vertical size of the markers, so that you could move the size sliders to either min or max, turn on linking, & then only have to move 1 slider & it would stay square. Also, having some way to remember the marker size so that it doesn't reset each time you reopen the prog would be cool.
<edit>
Just had another idea - transparency setting for the markers would come in handy.
</edit>
A way to save sets of markers, so that they can be used again at a later date?
The only other thing I can think of at the moment is could you please make it either remember the last position of the toolbar, or at least include an option for it to start up anywhere else other than top of the primary screen?
Oh, I almost forgot, it's a bit on the long side for a floating bar, especially with all that empty space, could do with being a bit shorter.
Good idea though, lots of potential. :) |
Post by frank // Apr 6, 2006, 6:55am
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frank
Total Posts: 709
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It's funny, but I pictured you as more of a go-to guy than a goatee'd guy. [thought you were older, too]
Cutting 4" deep by what, 3-3.5"? slots in 8x8 posts - with only hand tools? Rather you than me. Not that anything in my rather meager power tool collection could handle a cut that deep anyway. Cool hole drilling jig though, never seen 1 like that before.
LOL! "goatee'd guy".
Yeah, we're actually doing it with mostly chisels and mallets for the experience. (My wife and I want our next house to be timberframed.....but I will have help from a pro timberframer with more tools like mortisers and such when the time comes. We do want it built before I reach 30. LOL! :) )
That drilling jig is the cat's whiskers. I wouldn't attempt to drill a plumb/perpindicular hole without it.
I've noticed that I can't drag a marker onto my secondary screen & get it to stay there, it just snaps back to the edge of my primary screen.
Hrm. I'm pretty sure I know what the problem here is. I call a function at initialization to get the screen width and apparently it only expects single-screen setups. Maybe I could have an option for dual monitors that would ignore the pixel width and just let the interface slide anywhere you drag it (ie. to your second display).
As far as remembering the last screen position, that would be easy to add. Saving/Loading marker positions wouldn't be tough either.
Oh, I almost forgot, it's a bit on the long side for a floating bar, especially with all that empty space, could do with being a bit shorter.
What I did there was have it auto-size to the width of your screen with a stretched gradient across the middle. BUT, it would be no problem to have it be a fixed width.
Thanks for all the suggestions! Not sure when I will get to do another update but these things should be in it. |
Post by Alien // Apr 6, 2006, 8:01am
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Alien
Total Posts: 1231
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Yeah, we're actually doing it with mostly chisels and mallets for the experience. (My wife and I want our next house to be timberframed.....but I will have help from a pro timberframer with more tools like mortisers and such when the time comes.
I'll never understand why timberframe houses are so popular over there, especially as your weather can be so much more brutal. :confused:
We do want it built before I reach 30. LOL! :) )
Bit late for me to do anything before I'm 30, over a year late. :(
That drilling jig is the cat's whiskers. I wouldn't attempt to drill a plumb/perpindicular hole without it.
I have a thing that clamps onto my drill for drilling perpendicular to stuff. Comes in handy when putting up shelves. :)
Hrm. I'm pretty sure I know what the problem here is. I call a function at initialization to get the screen width and apparently it only expects single-screen setups. Maybe I could have an option for dual monitors that would ignore the pixel width and just let the interface slide anywhere you drag it (ie. to your second display).
I wouldn't have the faintest idea where to find the info, but I'm pretty sure there's some variable or function somewhere [in windows] that stores the total screensize, i.e. 2048x768 in my case. I'm sure I've seen it mentioned somewhere.
As far as remembering the last screen position, that would be easy to add. Saving/Loading marker positions wouldn't be tough either.
Cool. :cool:
What I did there was have it auto-size to the width of your screen with a stretched gradient across the middle. BUT, it would be no problem to have it be a fixed width.
Thanks. :)
Thanks for all the suggestions! Not sure when I will get to do another update but these things should be in it.
Cool. I just thought of another thing - would it be possible to have a button on the toolbar to toggle locking the position of the markers? That way, if you're using the markers as reference points to move stuff in a different prog underneath it, there'd be no possibility of accidentally moving the markers when trying to align stuff in the other prog [eg trueSpace]. |
Post by frank // Apr 6, 2006, 8:15am
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frank
Total Posts: 709
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I'll never understand why timberframe houses are so popular over there, especially as your weather can be so much more brutal.
The majority of the houses here are traditional stick-built (2x4 / 2x6 stud walls). Timberframe (some refer to them as "post and beam") homes are heavier and stronger so they should withstand the weather better. We're going that route for the strength but also the look of big exposed beams on the inside of the home.
Cool. I just thought of another thing - would it be possible to have a button on the toolbar to toggle locking the position of the markers? That way, if you're using the markers as reference points to move stuff in a different prog underneath it, there'd be no possibility of accidentally moving the markers when trying to align stuff in the other prog [eg trueSpace].
If you want to do this now, check the Constrain X and Constrain Y options. This will effectively lock the markers. However, a Lock/Unlock feature won't be too hard to add later.
Thanks again! |
Post by Alien // Apr 6, 2006, 8:26am
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Alien
Total Posts: 1231
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If you want to do this now, check the Constrain X and Constrain Y options. This will effectively lock the markers.
D'oh! Didn't think of that. :o
However, a Lock/Unlock feature won't be too hard to add later.
Cool, thanks. :cool: |
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