Tango

Hi David, I acquired the plug-in a few years ago. Back then I had to go back to EI v5.5 to run it, a bit of an inconvenience. I have been waiting for the UB version since then. The Konkeptoine site claims they have been porting it to UB for years. I emailed them directly but never got a response. No feedback either from posting on this site or the older EI site. A few months ago a bought MFORGE from them. They are still around and the plug-in works on Intell processors even though the site claims they are porting.... Maybe the site is not up to date. I know other people are using Northernlights's Placer Deposit for fur, you may wan to check it out. It us UB ready. I'll keep an eye on this thread in case the FiberForge UB version surfaces... Christian

Bounjour Richard, Yeah, Tomas is right, you are amazing. You earn the right to wear your super hero costume. This will definitely get me going in the right direction. Thanks, Christian

I have to animate a flag and I started playing with the "Flag" plug-in (v2). It's simple but after working with the many variables I feel like I can go at it a long time before I get what I need. Has anyone done a flag with this plug-in? I would appreciate if someone could give me a better starting point than the default values, that would speed-up the process. Thanks, Christian

Bonjour Richard, I guess I removed everything, even lights before I collected the files. Sizing has been an issue for this project, we are using all kinds of models, either purchased C4D, 3DS or OBJ (converted to FACT) and some we created in MAYA. We prepare them in individual scripts with the proper grouping and texturing and merge them into a larger scene. Is it better to export the models and import then into the bigger scene as models rather then merging scripts? What should be a good target size for models? I have to pay more attention and get them to be closer in size rather then scaling later. Thanks, Christian

Hi Tomas, I'll do it after my rush. I tried to remove the problem geometry as it did it last night but the views did not come back. Not that I was expecting it. I'll get back to you on this one. Christian Arghh.... It did it again. I quickly removed the other material, left the new geometry in there and collected. I am attaching it, but I'm not sure if this is the way to get it to you. Let me know. Christian Viewer_problem.zip

Following Fantomaz advice, I went back to a previous version of the script and started re-importing the models, just as I was doing the first time. I eventually found out that a .3DS model triggered the problem. I changed the grouping in the model and it came through fine. This was a pain but at least, I got back on track. Christian

Hi Alex, Yes, the windows are blank, nothing in there. There is an "infinite" sign in the top left corner of the rules, I don't know if it's always there, I never noticed it before. I may have to do the re-import process starting from my last save before it happened. I should have taken notice of what I was importing when it happened. We always hope for a quick fix, a buffer size to adjust or something like that... Thanks, Christian

I am working on a large project and I lost my top, face and profile views while importing/merging different models. All I have left is the camera view. I know I have around 240MB of geometry in there. Did I overload the viewer? I looked for preferences to change so I can regain my views but I have yet to succeed. Any pointers would be appreciated. Thanks, Christian

Hi Richard, I am animating my camera and also using a low res. video clip as source for the animation of the extrusions, it's working well. I'll send you a collected script shortly. I am attaching a sample clip. Christian PixelGrains_bg.mov

Allô Richard, I would say, yes and yes. The geo is the child of PixelGrains and the shape sits at 0,0,0. It works very well with cubes. "Custom" gives me the same result as using "Plane". All I am trying to do is create the same effect using rectangles with round corners and a flat top, a straight extrusion. Unfortunately the "rounded cube" option does not generate a flat top. Thanks, Christian

I have waited a while for an opportunity to use PiexlGrains. You can do pretty cool stuff with it. My current problem is that I can't make it work with a custom shape. The shape Is a simple .fact model built in the XZ plane with Y pointing up (as per instructions). It generates flat rectangles in the XY plane. I tried a flat extrusion instead of a 2D shape and got the same result. Am I missing something? Has anyone successfully used custom shapes with PixelGrains? Thanks, Christian

Great site, very well design and easy to navigate. I really like the integration of the video clips in the tutorial section. It's also nice to see the gallery. Good work! Christian

There we go, I knew it would be something stupid.... I am doing a lot of fog passes to animate my depth of field. Obviously, the World object is where the fog master switch is, and each camera has options for either displaying fog or not. That was it. Sometimes the most obvious solution is too close for you to see it. Stepping away from it while taking lunch is also a good idea. Christian

I have never seen something like this in my 10 odd years of using EI. I went back to a script to add a new object only to discover that every model I import is showing up as a mask object. I checked the material, reversed normals, anything else I could think of... the object is invisible and the alpha shows a whole where it should be. The strange thing is that it gets reflected in the other objects. To make it stranger, some of my cameras see the new geo fine others as a mask. All of them are set-up the same way. A new camera sees the new geo as mask. I tried an Ubershape and got the same result. It has to be something simple I am not thinking of, something stupid. But for now I am running out of options and I am loosing my mind. Has anyone ever ran into a similar problem? I collected a simplified version of the script to show what happens: http://www.tangomediagroup.com/MIX/Mask_objects.zip Any word of advice would be appreciated, thanks. Christian Mask_objects.zip

Hi Brian, I don't use Modo and consider Polytrans to be the swiss army knife for geo conversion. It is good and expensive. I model with Silo which exports FACT format geometry. When I need to convert, I do it with "Transporter" (which comes with EI or "OBJ2FACT" (from Ramjac, but they may not be in business anymore). You should also check "Meshlab", it's free and can handle a lot of formats. Unfortunately it won't export FACT, but it is useful. Christian

Very nice cape done with SimCloth, it looks quite natural. What is the current version of the plug-in now? I am using v1.0.0. Is a newer cut available, and where? Thanks, Christian

Merci Richard, You're right, there is always light at the end of the tunnel... and it's nice to feel supported by the EI community. Christian

Here is some work for documentaries. The first one is from a project on Oceans that will air on Nat. Geo. soon. This is the almost finished version with the guide track, no music or FX. The biggest challenge was the marine floor, it's size and detail. The base displacement map was done with Bryce, then the exported geo was finalized in Zbrush. The texturing was done in EI. The scenes (globe, transition and marine floor were done separately. The particles are from Particular. http://www.tangomediagroup.com/CBC/Mariana_Arc_06_LR.mov This next one is an older project. It was a challenge to build and render with the right look ( Silo for modeling and EI ). http://www.tangomediagroup.com/CBC/comet_dust_particle.mov That's it for now. Christian

We always have fun doing what we do for a living and we pride ourselves in having no style of our own. The style comes from the design, the message is king. Here is an example of a show for teenagers. The producer wanted something different. This clip has the show open followed by two bumpers (there are many more). All material was animated with EI. http://www.tangomediagroup.com/TFO/VOLT.mov Thanks, Christian

Ok, Ok... So, here is our contribution to this section following Mark request for more postings. We do a lot of work for television, these clips are from a network re-branding we started a year ago, we are now in phase 2. The following links are for 2 of 5 IDs we created. The flowers and clouds were pre-animated with Anime Studio pro, mapped onto flat surfaces and rendered with the whole scene in EI. The logo model was built in Silo. http://www.tangomediagroup.com/TFO/ID_MINI_nuages2.mov http://www.tangomediagroup.com/TFO/MINI_ID_fleurs_rev4.mov The following one is a compilation we put together for a staff presentation before the launch last fall. The "Panorama" material was done in Maya, everything else is EI. http://www.tangomediagroup.com/TFO/TFO_BRAND_08.mov Enjoy! Christian

Hi, Is anyone aware of Konkeptoine's plans regarding the UB porting of Fiber Forge? Christian

Hi, I have run into problems setting-up Mforge with v8 on a MacBookPro osX 10.5.8. The main issue had to do with the lack of installation info, although Mforges ships with lots of documentation and tutorials. I reported rendering black frames, Ian suggested that it may be encoded for the wrong dongle. The Igors got me a different build and I can now render with the shader. Nice, but there are still some issues specially using the preset materials. With some materials, Camera reports an error, it can't find "RampBase.shd". I don't have such a shader and don't know if I should try to get it or just forget about the materials using it. Not such a big deal. Sometimes, a preset material will render black. I can get it to render properly by adjusting the diffuse color. Just a wiggle, it seems to (wake it up) allow it to render. Another one is the missing "Reflection/Blur" map. If I locate it, it fails to render, but if I select a different map, like "Reflection Image", it works fine. As if it didn't like the blurred image. Both files are "EIAS animation files" but when I toggle the "Native Image/Shader Files" option, the requested file is greyed-out. The reflection maps used in the creation of the preset materials, were located in a specific volume. The program loses the path to these maps when I use the preset materials. It's a small annoyance, is there a way to fix this other than selecting each one, re-assigning the map and re-saving the file? Presets are not necessary but they are a great way to get up to speed. I am getting there, slowly but getting there. Christian

Hi Joe, We do a lot of work for broadcasters in Canada and the U.S., which share the same broadcast standards: HD- 1920x1080 @ 29.97 fps (drop frame) HD- 1920x1080 @ 30 fps (non drop frame) Some production houses will work at a frame rate closer to film rate: HD- 1920x1080 @ 23.97 fps (drop frame) HD- 1920x1080 @ 24 fps (non drop frame) You should ask the editor what format they want the deliverables in. This also includes codec information. Every edit system uses a specific set-up. Most editors will take Animation codec, but for best quality you want to go uncompressed. Editors usually dislike working with 30 or 24 fps since most edit systems are using drop frame rates. Animations should match their frame rate. Christian

Good point, I'll try to test this as soon as I am out of this mad rush... We have to trouble shoot with method. Christian

This is interesting, unfortunately I am already running 10.5.8. So my problems may not be related to OS. Last night I ran a bunch of renders from home on my MacBook Pro. Renderama worked but the camera crashed. I completed the renders at the studio this morning on a MacPro 8 core system, running 6 cameras. The cameras crashed but I got everything done, just lots of baby sitting. I had 3 main renders broken into sections (workaround the 2GB stitching issue). Two of the scripts rendered fine, the crashing one was using shaders. It seems to me that plug-ins and shaders are part of the problem. All camera errors are MCIO, Mac specific. I hope next time I contribute to this thread will be to bring some solutions rather than questions. Christian