A picture to share...

[Shadow Sovereign]

I created a Pivot file called WOOT. I know, it has nothing to do with Alice, but I thought I'd share it anyways. :D

[Fo_H@wk]

nice, thats cool.

[Shadow Sovereign]

Yeah, I kinda got bored in class while trying to figure out the exercise in chapter 8 with the bunny chasing the butterfly :rolleyes: . Seems to be a common side effect of tiredness in school. :D

[DrJim]

Just needed a blue sky and a slight change of name.:D

[Shadow Sovereign]

Lol... Imported it as a billboard... nice! :p

Actually, Jim, you've just given me an idea. Why not create billboards for a TV and use .GIF to animate the TV, making it look like a TV show of some sort! Thanx, jim. :D

Tripp helped with the idea, too.

[Fo_H@wk]

sweetness!

[just2evan]

I created a Pivot file called WOOT. I know, it has nothing to do with Alice, but I thought I'd share it anyways. :D

That Was Great!!!:)

[Shadow Sovereign]

Thanks, guys. I'll be working on some more for awhile... I took the program home with me. ;)

In the meantime, here's one Trippster shared with me.

Edit: Unfortunately, the animation isn't working for some reason. :(

[Fo_H@wk]

yeah man make more.

[PogoDaMonkey]

Heh...seems like something fun to make...what do you use for it? Looks like flash animation almost.

[DrJim]

I started to find the download site for Pivot and came across the following URL which is definitely worth checking out:

http://www.freewarefiles.com/cat_3_32_Animation.html

Re Pivot - it's really a great program for working out animations of animals and people. Lots of fun as is and you can also use it as a model for setting poses for more complex models such as those in Alice. There was an active MSN group which had lots of reference animations but it seems to no longer be active - does anyone know what happened? :confused:

A couple of comments on two of the other listed programs:

anim8or - Nice 3D graphics program. I'm starting to use it more than Wings 3D. Only exports 3ds and obj files so you still need Biturn to get to Alice.

Tales Animator - very useful script-based program for full movie production - has speech, conversion to DVD format, etc. Ver2.0 is only 2D but 3.0 (now pre-alpha) will do 3D. Complements Alice nicely. :)

The GIF programs also look interesting - haven't tried any yet, however.

Re losing animation for a GIF file - that will happen if you save from any program that doesn't support animation or if you have the option turned off (the usual default) in one that does. :(

[Shadow Sovereign]

Actually, how I made the picture on the first page was by saving that Pivot file as a .GIF. You can create as many GIFs as you want with this thing and use 'em wherever you like: in Alice, on a Powerpoint, using them to show to your boss and make him shake his head, thinking 'What the hell are you smoking?' It's great! :D

[DrJim]

What I was really wondering/commenting on is why the animation didn't show up for the Trippster's file :confused: - it's at least the second time that's happened.

Also congratulations on your new signature - hope you don't get "flamed" by your subjects. :D

[PogoDaMonkey]

Thanks for the info, looks like something worth getting into for a while.

Also:


anim8or - Nice 3D graphics program. I'm starting to use it more than Wings 3D. Only exports 3ds and obj files so you still need Biturn to get to Alice.


A little off topic, but I have Biturn, and am clueless on how to convert from .3ds to .a2c :confused:

[DrJim]

Here are the basic steps for Biturn. Note that this won't get you a texture (apparently .ase import to Alice doesn't support that) :( and that often you get errors - in this case not too bad but the head is slightly goofed up from the original. :rolleyes: Also, there is no hierarchy to this particular model, which is fairly typical.

1. Load your original file (.3ds in this case, .obj tends to work better, .lwo works most of the time.)
2. Preview the file (usually happens automatically).
3. Select the output format -.ase - and the path for the converted file to be stored. Then click on convert.
4. "Conversion complete" will be indicated when the conversion is complete.

The resultant file can then be imported into Alice and stored as an .a2c file. (Both the .ase and the .a2c models are in the .zip file.) There are several other posts in the forum on how to move the output into a gallery or other location.

Sometimes the model will come with a separate texture in .jpg or some similar format - that can be imported just like any other texture. :)

[Shadow Sovereign]

Don't know much about Biturn, so I won't say anything about it. Usually, if I want to create a new object, I just pull several pieces together from different models. Still haven't found out how to save different pieces from different models as a new object, though...

What I was really wondering/commenting on is why the animation didn't show up for the Trippster's file :confused: - it's at least the second time that's happened.

I have no clue as to why his isn't working... If I remember correctly, there was a previous thread in the forums with the same problem (and from the same Tripp, too). I dunno what's wrong... I guess the forums just straight up hate him. :rolleyes:

Also congratulations on your new signature - hope you don't get "flamed" by your subjects. :D

Thanx!:) I'm still thinking of more to add on to it, but it'll do for now. :D

[PogoDaMonkey]

Thanks, DrJim.:D

[Shadow Sovereign]

Nice model... I think I can utilize it if I plan to make a statue in a scene sometime. :)

Here's a Cuotl look-alike of your pavilion...

[Shadow Sovereign]

Another Pivot picture. Enjoy! :cool:

Edit: Somehow, its a .GIF, but it uploads as a JPEG? WTF?:confused:

[PogoDaMonkey]

It saves as a picture? Never knew that a picture could be saved as an animation...and how did you save it, to be used as a billboard?

X D

[Shadow Sovereign]

.GIF files, if the pic has animations, saves the animations and shows it when you open the file. JPEGs and other pic files tend to only show the animation as a single frame image than an animation.

For some reason, these .GIFs are uploading as .JPEGs... not sure what's goin' on here :confused: . Hopefully, Gabe might post something to help shed some light on this.... assuming he's back from vacation. I forgot where he went, but hopefully it was someplace nice or somewhere with snow. I like snow.... :)

[gabe]

Shadow, can you email (mailto:alice-admin@cs.cmu.edu)me a .gif that uploads as a .jpg? I can do some testing.

[Shadow Sovereign]

Here ya go... if that one doesn't work, I'll try to send another tomorrow... more at school PC than @ home. :o

[gabe]

Shadow, this is a .piv file. What do I do with it?