Steadicam

Wow!!! I know its still far fetched, but even the idea of that made my day. Let us know what we can do to help either with the cloning, or the wealthy part.:)

Thanks Ian. I liked your tutorials alot. I think you're probably right about the Maya route. I'll keep you all posted. Michael

Thanks guys. I'm thinking after a little more research that Vehicle Tools IS probably my best bet and I'll likely just have to suck it up and get a seat of MAYA and figure it out enough to do basic proxy animation using Craft Animation tools for exporting to EI. Atleast that way I've got a pipeline that any VFX house can work with regardless of whether EI does the final steps.

I need to do a test for some vintage racing shots (animated). I'm on my own for the tests but the final shots will probably be outsourced under my supervision. So I need to develop a workflow that is flexible and can be expanded upon. I'm extremely comfortable with the flexibility and strategies of an EI + AE workflow but have concerns about the car animations. The only obstacle I can see in keeping a EI workflow is the realistic vehicle movement/simulation. Based on the types of shots we need I have to rule out manual animation and rely on physics simulation for the car, suspension, and track geometry. There used to be that great program Reel Motion which may of been perfect, but my understanding is that it is no more and the software is unobtainable. If I could create the physics simulations separately in another program and marry movement to models in EI than I would be in business. I just don't know what is currently available. I'm convinced that EI would probably be the best option for rendering these large Poly scenes with realistic projection maps etc. The new lighting tools seem promising in my tests for matching other apps for realistic rendering. But, if I can't find a solution for the physics than I'm gonna be stuck with a bunch of teenage kids dictating what I can and cannot do in MAYA.:dodgy: Any thoughts?