I have a rabbit going through a forest (a 3D-type scene with 2D characters & objects on vector layers).
I want the camera to stay stationary, but follow the rabbit as it hops around.
Can one assign the camera to follow a character on its path?
If so, how does one do it?
Camera to follow a layer
Moderators: Víctor Paredes, Belgarath, slowtiger
The rabbit has to run behind and in front of bushes, rocks, trees, other rabbits, etc, so I don´t think moving the camera while the rabbit sits still would work.
The 3D scene would be similar to what is described in Tutorial 5.8.
But I want the camera to stay in one spot , so I can show the rabbit moving away from and back to the camera as it runs around all the objects - all the time the camera tracking the rabbit.
The 3D scene would be similar to what is described in Tutorial 5.8.
But I want the camera to stay in one spot , so I can show the rabbit moving away from and back to the camera as it runs around all the objects - all the time the camera tracking the rabbit.
"automatically track an object moving along a path like one can do in 3D animation programs"
Personally I think that would look to artificial, we're used to see a camera operator following actors around, it follows the actor but they're not identcial movements. A lot of 3D animations break the real-life traditions and end up looking fake. Following manually will make the animation much more lively. The camera is an invisible actor, not just a method to show on-screen characters. That's why there are awards for best cinematography
Reindert.
www.nobudgetvideo.com
Personally I think that would look to artificial, we're used to see a camera operator following actors around, it follows the actor but they're not identcial movements. A lot of 3D animations break the real-life traditions and end up looking fake. Following manually will make the animation much more lively. The camera is an invisible actor, not just a method to show on-screen characters. That's why there are awards for best cinematography
Reindert.
www.nobudgetvideo.com
nobudget wrote:
Personally I think that would look to artificial, we're used to see a camera operator following actors around, it follows the actor but they're not identcial movements. A lot of 3D animations break the real-life traditions and end up looking fake. Following manually will make the animation much more lively. The camera is an invisible actor, not just a method to show on-screen characters. That's why there are awards for best cinematography
Have you ever sat in one place with a video camera and video taped someone or something running around on the beach, in the yard or where ever? That´s what I want. And that´s artificial? That´s never been done in the movies or cartoons???
Moho allows objects to automatically track the camera´s movements and path. But Moho apparently can´t track an object´s path.
And this ain´t cinematography, it´s cartoons.
"Have you ever sat in one place with a video camera and video taped someone or something running around on the beach, in the yard or where ever?"
No, I'm not that lazy
But seriously, that's my point. You move the camera to follow the object, you do not physically attach the camera to the person, the result is quite different. Look at 3D games, the bad ones have this "absolute" tracking, the better ones are more loose.
I think I understand what you're trying to do, but is it really that much work to follow by rotating the camera? Put keyframes where the object moves to, maybe even adjusting when the camera goes too far. Like I stated before, the camera is just as much a character as anything in front of it.
How long is the shot?
Reindert.
www.nobudgetvideo.com
No, I'm not that lazy
But seriously, that's my point. You move the camera to follow the object, you do not physically attach the camera to the person, the result is quite different. Look at 3D games, the bad ones have this "absolute" tracking, the better ones are more loose.
I think I understand what you're trying to do, but is it really that much work to follow by rotating the camera? Put keyframes where the object moves to, maybe even adjusting when the camera goes too far. Like I stated before, the camera is just as much a character as anything in front of it.
How long is the shot?
Reindert.
www.nobudgetvideo.com
When you have made your Moho animations using the 3D scene as described in tutorial 5.8 "3D scenes", what problems or situations have you run into when placing the camera, moving the camera and making the animation - with all the elements moving to face the camera and such? And how did you solve them? And when is a good situation(s) not to have the elements face the camera as it moves?
And do you have any tips to make the overall cinematography better with this "2D objects in a 3D environment" animation- such as problems at the edge/end of the ground layer, the background, depth sorting, creating a look at night, shadows or placing buildings (or other objects) to get the right angle with the camera?
As I stated in the first post here:
"I have a rabbit going through a forest (a 3D-type scene with 2D characters & objects on vector layers).
I want the camera to stay stationary, but follow the rabbit as it hops around. "
Working with the 3D scenes environment in Moho, you know it can be a bit tricky and time consuming to move the camera by hand (looking through the main view window) to capture the movement of a moving object (the rabbit) hopping around through the 3D forest environment.
Just as Moho can automate the in-betweening process (which can be tweaked after Moho does its thing), I was wondering if Moho also had automated the camera to follow the progress of an object as it moves around the 3D area (then one could go back and tweak camera view (zoom, etc) to one´s taste).
It would also be nice to move the camera along its own path as it also captures the movement of another object moving separately and independantly along its own path.
Maybe when the 3D scene was viewed from a different angle using the Worldspace > Orbit tool if the camera would show with lines the viewing angle the camera sees that would be helpful.
Such as the purple lines in the this top view of the camera in a 3D program is showing (right side):
Thanks for your tips!
And do you have any tips to make the overall cinematography better with this "2D objects in a 3D environment" animation- such as problems at the edge/end of the ground layer, the background, depth sorting, creating a look at night, shadows or placing buildings (or other objects) to get the right angle with the camera?
As I stated in the first post here:
"I have a rabbit going through a forest (a 3D-type scene with 2D characters & objects on vector layers).
I want the camera to stay stationary, but follow the rabbit as it hops around. "
Working with the 3D scenes environment in Moho, you know it can be a bit tricky and time consuming to move the camera by hand (looking through the main view window) to capture the movement of a moving object (the rabbit) hopping around through the 3D forest environment.
Just as Moho can automate the in-betweening process (which can be tweaked after Moho does its thing), I was wondering if Moho also had automated the camera to follow the progress of an object as it moves around the 3D area (then one could go back and tweak camera view (zoom, etc) to one´s taste).
It would also be nice to move the camera along its own path as it also captures the movement of another object moving separately and independantly along its own path.
Maybe when the 3D scene was viewed from a different angle using the Worldspace > Orbit tool if the camera would show with lines the viewing angle the camera sees that would be helpful.
Such as the purple lines in the this top view of the camera in a 3D program is showing (right side):
Thanks for your tips!
Just for the record, is this what you are basically aiming for?
http://www.nobudgetvideo.com/moho/wabbit.wmv
Reindert.
www.nobudgetvideo.com
http://www.nobudgetvideo.com/moho/wabbit.wmv
Reindert.
www.nobudgetvideo.com
That's what I was figuring was being asked for, nobudget. You do that by hand?
If you want an automatic camera follow (easiest to be following a layer origin) it wouldn't be hard to script. Don't know that I have too much use for it myself right now, so It wouldn't be a priority to write for me, but shouldn't be too hard. I'd probably just do it if I wasn't wrapped up in the makeup FX I'm doing for a film right now.
If you want an automatic camera follow (easiest to be following a layer origin) it wouldn't be hard to script. Don't know that I have too much use for it myself right now, so It wouldn't be a priority to write for me, but shouldn't be too hard. I'd probably just do it if I wasn't wrapped up in the makeup FX I'm doing for a film right now.
Yes and no. Your rabbit is going around in a simple circle. Your camera is doing a similar orbit type move. (Scripts > Camera > Orbit camera...)nobudget wrote:Just for the record, is this what you are basically aiming for?
http://www.nobudgetvideo.com/moho/wabbit.wmv
Reindert.www.nobudgetvideo.com
But you made it by hand, you did not use some automatic camera tracking function within Moho.
My rabbit will run/hop/skip/jump through a forest of trees and bushes and animals - not making a simple circular path, but a complex zig-zagging away from, parallel to, back to and behind the camera while moving this way and that around objects, (it does not have to be a rabbit, it could be a rocket ship going through a field of meteors, or a person walking in a crowd or a store) .
I can make the camera do what I described by hand, I have made it by hand. That is not the point. I am not trying to prove if one can do it by hand or not. I know it can be done by manually by adjusting the camera as the object moves on a complex path.
I was just wondering if Moho had a function I was not aware of where the camera could automatically track the movement of an object, so it would save me time and speed up production.
Moho does not have this function.
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7feet thanks for your offer to make a script
- if anyone can create one, it is you! But it does not appear there is any interest in this type function (other than me) or that people think there is a even a need for it when you can do it manually. I would be more interested in a script that can take a folded-out, 2D box and fold it into a 3D object (like a building or a desk or a ???) as we discussed in a another topic
"You do that by hand?"
Well, the computer mouse helped a little
Yep, it's pretty straight forward. Both the rabbit and camera had 8 positions, 4 key positions and 4 to fill it up. I used the first four for the rabbit down and the other for the rabbit jumping (the rabbit was one .png with a simple bone structure). I positioned the camera to center the rabbit. Not precisely, as I stated before I like a more real-life tracking. And I not only rotated to go round, also a bit up/down to keep the rabbit in the center. Just to illustrate the point, nothing fancy. If someone would want to use a camera like Toontoonz suggested you could play with the lineair/ease-in/out settings to make it look more "organic".
It's just a Proof-Of-Concept, it took me about 30 minutes including the photographic material and rendering. You'll have to tweak even with auto-tracking, personally I can't think of a project so big I'd use auto-tracking but everyone has it's own work methods of course.
Watch it too long and get dizzy! Good thing I didn't twirl the background too...
Reindert.
www.nobudgetvideo.com
Well, the computer mouse helped a little
Yep, it's pretty straight forward. Both the rabbit and camera had 8 positions, 4 key positions and 4 to fill it up. I used the first four for the rabbit down and the other for the rabbit jumping (the rabbit was one .png with a simple bone structure). I positioned the camera to center the rabbit. Not precisely, as I stated before I like a more real-life tracking. And I not only rotated to go round, also a bit up/down to keep the rabbit in the center. Just to illustrate the point, nothing fancy. If someone would want to use a camera like Toontoonz suggested you could play with the lineair/ease-in/out settings to make it look more "organic".It's just a Proof-Of-Concept, it took me about 30 minutes including the photographic material and rendering. You'll have to tweak even with auto-tracking, personally I can't think of a project so big I'd use auto-tracking but everyone has it's own work methods of course.
Watch it too long and get dizzy! Good thing I didn't twirl the background too...
Reindert.
www.nobudgetvideo.com
Just wanted to say I wrote my post as a response to 7Feet, Toontoonz was typing as I was it seems, he just hit "submit" a second earlier
Reindert.
www.nobudgetvideo.com
Reindert.
www.nobudgetvideo.com
Heck, I guess everybody could come up with their own list of things they will never use in Moho, that are not useful to them, should be deleted or not implemented, but that doesn´t mean my or your or anybody´s ways of creating animation should be limited because you don´t think that function or technique or method is needed in your own personal use. The more functions in Moho, the better.nobudget wrote:....personally I can't think of a project so big I'd use auto-tracking....