Melanin

[Noggin]

Waaaaaaayyyyy Coool!!

[Bas Mazur]

Tried everything but there must be something wrong for Mac-users. Any other mac-user who can open this movie? I use the latest QT 7-pro

[Webhead]

I'm on a Mac with QT7 and I couldn't get it to work. I usually don't have a problem - and didn't have a problem with the last one Joe_Seig made.
Rats!... I wanted to see it too.

[Bas Mazur]

I had this problem before with another movie, after a short magic of the maker it worked. Joe, do your magic

[joe_seig]

Bas so sorry, posted early this morning, then was away from the machine all day, and now just seeing the replies...

I use discreet's Cleaner to compress, for this .mov file I tried the Intel Indeo Video 4.4 codec
Big mistake since apparently Macs can't read that (intel?)
Recompressing now using the H.264...noticed the last Zmapper video uses that.

Give me a moment to finish that and upload to the server.

[joe_seig]

Again my apologies to the Mac users (Bas and Webhead).
I edited the post on the previous page... with the link to the Mac compatible (I hope) file.
Also you can download it HERE - 26.5 Mbs...
Doesn't stream (sorry Frenchy), so save to disk.
*Edit* just clicked on link and it crashed Firefox (dammit), but will download by right clicking. I'll look into the crash thing...

Facial thanks for the crits... very clear, you're right.
Key frame lip-synch, especially fast, is hard and always needs tweaking - tweaking - tweaking, or a complete rework.
I tried a different strategy with this by using as few morfs as possible (mixed with the jaw joint rotation).
The morfs I used are shown below, not many, as well as the jaw rotation (open, closed, and to the side) :

Animated

I'll need to go back and make more where needed, and edit/blend the movement into the face as you suggest.
The blue color scheme is just an experiment, perhaps worth exploring further.
Always great to hear from you my friend! Thanks for your great insight. I'll keep pushing it.

Noggin hi Thanks!!! (I like that name of yours Noggin)

aminuts lol yes this can make one go nuts... Hey didn't realize the double entendre with 2.5 (minutes) there really is 2mins 30secs left.
Good to hear some feed back on this before investing in the rest. Glad you like it so far.
Was asking myself if we stare so much at people's mouths in real life, dunno, maybe just the virtual ones.
Weather: we live on a corner so I've been shoveling lots of snow (front and side of property). YaY!!!
Sad to think it will just melt after all that.

Yainderidoo how about some groovy 60's go-go dancers to the side, I think I could dig up some footage of that.
I like your idea for a more retro-look. Glad his attitude is coming through, didn't want him to show every facial expression possible.
Then he would go out of character. But Facial DeLuxe has given me more to consider.
Thanks so much Jeen, I always enjoy your input!

[Bas Mazur]

Pump-it!
Hahahah you dude, got it!!! Thanks, you made my day!
I hope my turn will come soon. Still wrestling how to put the bones in C4D.

[Frenchy Pilou]

...all was perfectly loading even under Firfox
Just take the time to load this "movie Clip"
Is there somewhere the text of this hectic song ?
Because all that is too speedy for my poor english level
Thx by advance!
Pilou

[aminuts]

Frenchy....

your wish for once is my command

Blackeyed Peas...Pump It

ps.....took me a long time to figure out the lyrics myself...and after reading em....i got 30% wrong hahahaha

[aminuts]

hey joe,

for fun, i decided to play the original with the new at the same time.

what i really liked about the original was his seemingly wasted self kinda coming alive when the song came on....i see this kinda thing all the time in the crap neighborhood I work in...but could identify more i think with this version....cuz he is so different from others and wears that like the letter A. What are you saying nuts? I am saying that he could be wasted out of his mind, and if he was anyone but who he was we wouldn't even notice him but because he does not look like anyone we can identify with in our small little worlds we take notice and pity him whether he wants it, deserves it or not. This is what I like about the indifference in his facial movements , gestures whatever in the first video......he was doing it for himself....cuz he knows.

in the new one.....he is too "out to make a buck"...well that's not quite the look but he is too aware of us the folks who pity him.....which would be ok if it made us ashamed of ourselves for walking by kind of thing but don't feel that here, I wanna keep feeling like I shoulda dropped a buck in his hat, always wondering how he came to be there, all the while feeling ashamed that I kept on walking by and did nothing to help him.

I kept trying to figure out what I thought was missing from A to B....I think that was it.

[facial deluxe]

Thank's Seig for showing your morphs.
Hope I wasn't too rude in my previous message, because it's a real cool work your doing
Watching your morphes I still believe their action should be propagated more all other the face. That's all really.
I don't think you need more morphes, mixing those all together should give you enough combinations.
Perhaps, just check out you can do the "Mmmm" "Ffff" and "Sssss" mouth positions with what you already have. Perhaps playing with negative Morph values.
That's all, keep it up my friend

[Abyssis]

Pump-it!
Hahahah you dude, got it!!! Thanks, you made my day!
I hope my turn will come soon. Still wrestling how to put the bones in C4D.

I don't need to say any comments, Bas said it 4 me

[Webhead]

Thanks for making a Mac version; that was mighty nice of you!
Just watched it. I think your creation has lots of character. Good job!

[Frenchy Pilou]

I will translate all that with attention !

[joe_seig]

Shouldn't there be an expiration date on this thread somewhere?
After the last problem with the Mac- PC encoder compatibility issue, and large file size, (my fault) I decided to try and resolve it.
Spent most of any free-time last week learning and running many tests with the Quicktime 7 encoder - H.264.
And wow what a joy it is!!! Mac or PC? No problem. This encoder is absolutely amazing! (hehe, a commercial).

The 30 dollar QuickTime 7 Pro Version is required, but that's money well spent to use this encoder.
The three sites linked below were a great help.
If you're interested in encoding animation or video for web delivery on your site, they're a must read.

1.This H.264 thing is going to change everything ...just great info.

2.Apple's H.264 Tutorial ...thanks Apple!

3.How to Encode H.264 with QuickTime7...some good info at bottom of page.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cut the file size in half this time, yet the resolution is larger, and the image quality is not too bad for 13 MBs. No superfine z-details though.
We're at 1 min 18 secs now, and those familiar with the tune will notice I've edited the first chorus out...(is that cheating?)

Also there's some questionable Language in the song here and there a couple of times...
Some of it was obvious when I started this lip-sync undertaking, PG-13-ish speak, but some I only recently realized.
So I can delete these downloads (or I suppose the mods will) if this becomes problematic.

: Download Animation - 13MBs : Mac or PC, just click.

(Not set to stream automatically, so let it load 3/4 through, then start).

Some frames below. Tried to tweak a few glitches from before, but you may notice he gets more lively closer to the end of the sequence.
Still playing around with layers in after effects, but if I could do it in ZBrush I would.





Some overdue replies to your posts 2 weeks ago...

baz lol Thanks, I always enjoy your feedback. Hey how's your C4D rigging coming along? Can't wait to see something from that.

Frenchy Hopefully this one will load faster for you. For the song, next time I should try to do a french song. Any requests?

aminuts Lyrics, "and after reading em....i got 30% wrong". 10% wrong for me, I never really read the text before starting...
Hey I really enjoy the insight you posted about comparing the initial animation with the latter.
The very first unrendered one is different in that the camera isn't moving back. Other than that there was no change to the face or gestures.
They're exactly the same, so the camera movement back then forward must have changed the feel, and apparently it does .
You mentioned he seems more aware of the viewer in the more recent one, yes that was intentional, maybe I should reconsider that.
I never thought of him as 'out to make a buck', but he looks like he could use one, at least to get a shirt. Great feedback man!

Facial thanks for the crits, no it's not rude to say what bothers your eye...
I wasn't able yet to fully rework the morphs, some, but not all, maybe it shows more towards the end.
I'll need to rerender everything eventually. I think I'm still missing the widening of the face and tighter lips for "mmmm".
Hope all is well for you these days.

Abyssis hey thanks for stopping by and leaving a note. You have some crazy-great work going on these days!

Webhead Hi again, appreciate your feedback, let me know if you have any problems in downloading this time. I don't have a Mac.

To be continued, lol...