Swift 3D V4 for the Mac is currently in the final stages of beta testing. Swift 3D Xpress for the Mac is also being finalized and is expected to be released simultaneously with Version 4. Realistically, we're looking at a mid-October release of these products.
We apologize for the short delay and we'll be sure to post another progress update next week. Thanks for your patience.
This Bureau is a beautifully crafted model with exact detail that could compare to a real life model. Arlene also took advantage of setting up her Bureaus hierarchy to allow for smooth and seamless animating of the doors and drawers.
This overview of the humaniod run cycle animation is a continuation of the Walk Cycle setup and animation. If you haven't reviewed the Walk Cycle setup yet please do so as it has vital information to setting up your humanoid that is needed for this run cycle overview. You can find the Walk Cycle Setup and Animation HERE.
Before we begin, you should have some form of a humanoid character modeled and your humanoid should have the pivot points and hierarchy setup correctly as demonstrated in the Introductory Walk Cycle Setup.
With that said, lets animate a run cycle! As you may have noticed it is pretty easy to animate a walk cycle. So you would assume that animating a run cycle is pretty easy as well, well, it is! If you simply adjust your characters limb positions and body position a little you'll end up with a smooth walkcycle.
Using the following diagram as a reference, position your humanoid as shown, at the specified frames on the timeline (Be sure to depress the animate button first).
The walk cycle setup should be done in the Left and/or Right viewports only.
The only items you will need to animate your humanoid are the Hierarchy window and the Rotation trackball. The Move tool will only be used to animate the pelvis (aka: entire humanoid figure) of your character up and down – as the red lines show.
(Note: If you get the upper torso to rotate a little around the Y axis it will emphasise the effort the humanoid is putting into the run and add an even more human-like movement.)
Give it a shot and feel free to submit your run cycle to submittals@erain.com. If you want to step up your animation to the next level, animate your character going from a walk cycle to a run cycle and then back to a walk cycle!
Swift 3D V4 for the Mac went beta on Wednesday and we've had two active days of testing. The engineers are working to fix bugs as fast as possible to keep us on schedule for our September launch. I will check back in next week with another update to let you all know where we are at.
The Three Point Lighting System consist of, you guessed it, three lights. The Key Light, Fill Light and Back Light. This is the basis for the classic Hollywood lighting scheme called Three Point Lighting.
Setting up:
Remove all lights from your scene so that it is absolute dark.
Add a single Spot Light. This light will serve as your ‘Key Light’.
The Key Light acts as the main source of light in your scene, producing the brightest light points and the darkest shadows (similar to how the sun acts in real life).
The Key Light should be positioned 15 to 45 degrees to the left or right of the camera and 15 to 45 degree above the camera.
Example rendering:
Add another Spot Light. This light will serve as your ‘Fill Light’. The Fill Light softens and extends the light produced by the Key Light. The Fill Light is a secondary light source that produces light from its surroundings (such as Ambient, Refracted and Reflected light). The Fill Light is roughly half as bright as the Key Light (Note: No light should brighter the Key Light). Having the shadows on or off for the Fill Light are at your discretion (I turned mine off).
Adjust the brightness of your Fill Light by selecting it and then double-clicking on the Color Sample in the properties panel. The darker the color = the darker the light. The Brighter the color = the brighter the light (Note: A black light wouldn’t produce any light at all).
The Fill Light should be positioned 15 to 30 degrees to the left or the right, opposite of the Key Lights position and it should be 15 to 30 degrees above the camera.
Example Rendering:
Add another Spot Light. This light will serve as the ‘Back Light’. The Back Light creates a defining edge around the contour of your model to help separate it from the background. The brightness of your Back Light can be as bright as it needs to be to create the highlights on the back trim of your model. Shadows for the Back Light should be turned off.
Adjust your Back Light’s brightness as needed and preview the results.
The position of the Back Light should be placed behind your model, opposite of the cameras position (Adjust the position of the Back Light 15 to 30 degrees to the left or right of your model as needed for the best results). The Back Light should also be raised 15 to 30 degrees above the model.
Example rendering:
Render your scene and view the final results (Adjust your lighting as needed).
Here is a look at the final lighting set up (with all lights and camera position).
And that is the Three Point Lighting System method. Use the Three Point Lighting System for illuminating anything from a character to a prop. Feel free to send us your outstanding models / lighting setup at submittals@erain.com
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