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Home ? Characters ? better way to move characters

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04/01/2011 14:16:41

rwtread01
rwtread01
Posts: 16 		hi muvizu, i very much love this program but some issues i have are actor movement, it seems like to me at least, the process is hit or miss because, its kind of tricky to get precise movement direction so i spend a lot of time trying to get it stop or go exactly where i want it to go. i use other programs that use markers, paths that you can draw and so on. I think that most people who have used other software would agree. My other issue is when trying to manipulate the set, the movement controls are extra sensitive, just a minor mouse move can send the set flying way out of workable range, and here i waste a lot of time just trying to manuver the set in the precise position i need tho shift objects around, which is quite annoying. for instace moving objects are fine, but, if im trying to move an object and select the set by mistake, one simple move of the mouse sends the set flying away. any suggestions thanks.(forgive any gramatical errors)
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04/01/2011 21:43:52

DreekoMuvizu mogulExperimental user
Dreeko
Posts: 1257 		This is an age old muvizu gripe and the requests for a waypoints system have been shouted from the rooftops for long and weary .

But wait!

In the latest news flash from muvizu it has been stated that they have been considering an enhanced locomotion system to make object and character control easier and more accurate.(direct quote)

so hopefully this will be what we've been asking for to remedy the problem

cheers
D

PS: personally I would put a facial animation system above waypoints but thats me!
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04/01/2011 21:46:01

mystoMuvizu mogulExperimental user
mysto
Posts: 471 		Dreeko wrote:
This is an age old muvizu gripe and the requests for a waypoints system have been shouted from the rooftops for long and weary .

But wait!

In the latest news flash from muvizu it has been stated that they have been considering an enhanced locomotion system to make object and character control easier and more accurate.(direct quote)

so hopefully this will be what we've been asking for to remedy the problem

cheers
D

PS: personally I would put a facial animation system above waypoints but thats me!



I'd like to see more control in the facial animation area as well.
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04/01/2011 22:40:14

rwtread01
rwtread01
Posts: 16 		that was also big on my list but i have seen many recent post on this, so i think that they were aware of.
facial animation that is. let keep our fingers crossed!!
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05/01/2011 14:57:41

barrys
barrys
Posts: 102 		Hello



Thanks for the feedback on the movement system. The system could be better so I'm thinking about how we can improve it. Now, I'm not going to predetermine the solution by promising way-points, paths or anything like that but there's definitely an in-house appetite for improvement. There was a news article promising a second look at the system.




Through watching others I've found that the enjoyment or frustration associated with Muvizu's movement system is closely related to PC performance. My work PC is a fast machine. As a result the movement of characters is smooth, responsive and predictable. However, my home PC is a dog and makes the movement of characters difficult. Inducing a sprint, for example, is more difficult on a slow PC. So that's one thing we need to address.




Another is dexterity. We've received feedback that young people (under 12 years old, say) have difficulty with the hand/eye control associated with the movement decal. Submerged as we are in the worlds of 3D, Machinima and game engines it's easy to forget Joe Public and their approach to making cartoons.




As usual it will be a balancing act: how to give easy-to-control characters that fit into our established Muvizu-flavoured digital pupeteering approach. Please keep the ideas coming - we really do take stock of them all.




Barry
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05/01/2011 15:12:11

ukBertyMuvizu mogulExperimental user
ukBerty
Posts: 975 		Barrys - I think you're right about PC performance. I am having real issues now with character movement (as well as pretty much everything else) as my sets have become a lot more complex and I am running Win7 32 bit.



I am just ordering a brand new PC (this free Muvizu software is costing me a fortune )




I suspect that a good number of my issues may go away.




However I have a question. What is Muvizu memory. Mine keeps filling up. If I have a 64 bit machine with 12GB RAM do I get more Muvizu memory, or is it capped regardless of the RAM you have. I may be about to waste a lot of money.




Cheers




Berty
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05/01/2011 15:27:23

jonbezMuvizu mogulExperimental user
jonbez
Posts: 201 		I'm not sure if this has been mentioned anywhere on the forum before but using the unlit mode F2 key while editing animations will make life much easyer for people with low end PCs or very complex scenes. It removes dynamic lights which is the culprit that eats the performance of your PC. Just remember to press the F3 key before you do your final video output.

The More lights you add the big hit on performance.
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05/01/2011 15:37:30

NeilExperimental userMuvizu staff
Neil
Posts: 396 		ukBerty wrote:
However I have a question. What is Muvizu memory. Mine keeps filling up. If I have a 64 bit machine with 12GB RAM do I get more Muvizu memory, or is it capped regardless of the RAM you have. I may be about to waste a lot of money.

The current version of Muvizu that is available is a 32-bit application, so it's limited by the operating system to around 2Gb. Adding more memory to this setup is going to be a waste of money. However, with the engine upgrade that we're currently busy working on, we're hoping to produce a 64-bit version which won't have this limit on PCs running 64-bit Windows. On those machines, more memory will certainly help.
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06/01/2011 08:00:38

ukBertyMuvizu mogulExperimental user
ukBerty
Posts: 975 		Thanks Neil,

But what about running Muvizu 32bit App on a 64 bit OS - does anyone have experience of this ?

On a 32bit OS you basically get 3GB addressable RAM, regardless of how much RAM is in the box (as long as there's more than 3GB). As far as I understand the OS will allocate 2GB of RAM to Muvizu, but if other applications and Windows uses more than 1GB RAM then some of this 2GB pool will be swapped to disk. This is what slows the application down (along with processor and graphics speeds).

On a 8 GB box, I would have thought that Windows 64 would allocate the full 2GB to the 32bit Muvizu as before and only swap if other apps and Windows used more than 6GB.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa384219%28v=vs.85%29.aspx

Can anybody confirm that the 32 bit Muvizu runs OK on 64bit Windows ?

Cheers

Berty
edited by ukBerty on 06/01/2011
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06/01/2011 09:43:33

Emily
Emily
(Account inactive)
Posts: 346 		Hi ukBerty,

I'm on Windows 7 64 bit and Muvizu runs very well.

Em.
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06/01/2011 09:46:02

ukBertyMuvizu mogulExperimental user
ukBerty
Posts: 975 		Thanks Em - thought I'd better check.



Even if there is a hit 'cause of the 32bit bit app running on 64 bit OS it'll still be faster than what I have because of the new hardware and I might be able to run two programs at the same time !




Berty
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06/01/2011 10:00:58

NeilExperimental userMuvizu staff
Neil
Posts: 396 		ukBerty wrote:
On a 32bit OS you basically get 3GB addressable RAM, regardless of how much RAM is in the box (as long as there's more than 3GB). As far as I understand the OS will allocate 2GB of RAM to Muvizu, but if other applications and Windows uses more than 1GB RAM then some of this 2GB pool will be swapped to disk. This is what slows the application down (along with processor and graphics speeds).

On a 8 GB box, I would have thought that Windows 64 would allocate the full 2GB to the 32bit Muvizu as before and only swap if other apps and Windows used more than 6GB.

This is correct. The biggest advantage of a 64-bit PC is that the system as a whole can support more RAM, and can therefore support more applications running at once without paging it to disk.

As Emily said, Muvizu works great on Windows 7 64-bit. That's how I use it at home, and many of our in-house testers use it.
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06/01/2011 10:02:24

Emily
Emily
(Account inactive)
Posts: 346 		No problem - all the best with it.

If your next animations are anything like Beware the Pie then we are in for a real treat!!
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06/01/2011 13:27:56

jonbezMuvizu mogulExperimental user
jonbez
Posts: 201 		I am on windows 7 64bit with 4GB ram and have no problems running muvizu efficiently with other programs running at the same time. I often have muvizu and after effect loaded together with no problems.
edited by jonbez on 06/01/2011
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06/01/2011 13:44:52

ukBertyMuvizu mogulExperimental user
ukBerty
Posts: 975 		Thanks everyone - order placed.



Berty
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06/01/2011 14:10:06

toonaramaMuvizu mogulExperimental user
toonarama
Posts: 661 		as a matter of interest who are you ordering from. I'm looking to buy a PC in the next few months so am interested in what you have decided to go for. I was looking at models by Chillblast and PC Specialist
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06/01/2011 14:30:41

ukBertyMuvizu mogulExperimental user
ukBerty
Posts: 975 		Toonrama,



I'm afraid I'll order from Dell as I'm a reseller - I can't usually get much off their web prices on consumer products, bit if I lump it in with a load of servers and stuff for customers I can screw them down on price.




I have a 3-4 year old XPS machine at the moment which has been great so have ordered a high end one of these.




I have ordered from specialist "games" PC providers in the past. The PCs have been fast, but very noisy with all the cooling. This is something to watch out for and why I haven't gone for one of Dell's Alienware beasts (and also whether I'd get that much benefit as I don't actually play games).




Not much help I guess




Berty
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06/01/2011 14:44:54

toonaramaMuvizu mogulExperimental user
toonarama
Posts: 661 		Berty

On the contrary - that's a great help. I'm in the same boat really as I don't play any games either. I'll certainly consider Dell but their PCs seemed to be that bit more expensive- I would be interested to know how you get on with it.

Thanks

Mick
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06/01/2011 16:10:21

rwtread01
rwtread01
Posts: 16 		Hi guys just thought i share, i tried what jonbez said by hitting f2 on complexly lit scenes, made a big deference!! thanks. and on set manipulation i find the (Q,E,W,A,S,D) keys are better than using the mouse, if you have not tried it give it a try and see for yourself. one more thing when shushing and talking those number keys do noting on a laptop any alternative shortcuts?
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06/01/2011 16:40:41

mystoMuvizu mogulExperimental user
mysto
Posts: 471 		I have a 2 year old ASUS "gaming laptop" with an Nvidia 512 mb dedicated graphics chip, 4 gigs of ram and an Intel 2.26mz duel core processor. It's running Windows Vista 64 bit and runs Muvizu really well. I also ran Lightwave 3d and Maya 64 bit with no problems. When I got my new kit a few months ago I gave it to my wife and it's still running like a champ.

It was quite "pricey" when I bought it a few years ago but for what I wanted to do it was worth the extra money. The same system can be had for much less today.

In my experience with graphics and animation programs I have found that having the fastest processor you can afford, a good graphics card with as much on board memory as you can afford, as much ram you can afford and the biggest hard drive you can afford all make a big difference in how your system will perform.

I am no expert with computers by any means but through my years of using them keeping the above things in mind when buying a new system has helped me greatly.
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Muvizu is easy to use 3D animation software that allows anyone to create high quality animations quickly and easily. Muvizu’s animation engine is ideal for storytellers, animators, teachers and businesses looking to engage, enchant and delight audiences with animated content.