AnimatedCatTailAv.148

[Moderator]

01:05, 14th Oct 2012
Kwaliti:

A rather useful model with a lot of effort placed in it.

 

[Matarael]

Damn it, I really thought and hoped this would be a cat tail, not a cattail.

 

[DESTROYER123]

Damn it, I really thought and hoped this would be a cat tail, not a cattail.

Even though it's not a cat's tail sad it's good.

 

[Sin'dorei300]

Smexy.

 

[JollyD]

cewl)

 

[InfernalTater]

Could be useful to some, looks well enough. 3/5.

 

[kellym0]

thank you all! I know its not great, its just a simple small Ward. anybody think I should upload the 2 other variations just yet? or should I wait to see if this gets approved?

 

[InfernalTater]

thank you all! I know its not great, its just a simple small Ward. anybody think I should upload the 2 other variations just yet? or should I wait to see if this gets approved?

Since the variations are just going to be slightly different from one another, a bunch of models that look the same won't be desirable in the front page of the model section for users.

I suggest that you upload two variations in one model, with the additional variation as the portrait.

Also, I suggest that you do a bit more work on the animations. Right now you just shake the whole thing left and right like a stick in a hand. They should bend left and right; the bottom should not be wagging around when it's rooted into the ground.

Basically, what I'm saying is you need to animate the cattail in segments.

 

[kellym0]

hmm, to make different variations into 1 model would make its size a lot bigger if i try to fit 6 cattail variations into 1 model--the variations share the same custom texture particle, but use different in game textures and have different particle emitter colors, using ''stand alternate -1 or stand alternate -2 or 3,4,5,6 seems bad on file size when I tried that. not to mention each plant variation has 2 particle emitters--so instead of 2 it would have 12, which increases a model like this's size like this by alot.

I know it just wags back and fourth, but I couldn't figure out how to have a Stand - Portrait plus a ''Stand-2, Stand-3'' ect ect without having errors in the portrait its self-such as jagged shifting back and forth in the unit portrait screen. other wise I would have added more variation in its wiggling.

its meant to be in water bumping into others of its kind thats why it only causally sways back and forth in a small circle. too much more movement causes the plant stalks to penetrate each other a lot.

the bottom doesn't move its not connected to any thing, the very bottom row of vertexes are not even connected to the bones that do the swaying. not sure exactly what you mean by
''They should bend left and right; the bottom should not be wagging around when it's rooted into the ground.''

as this plant is meant to appear semi floating in water--and being drifted by river currents. hence drifting while still rooted to the river bed. I Didn't add boat water ring effects just encase you wanted to use it on land, as a wind blown plant.

how ever you're point that the plant should bend in segments is valid--and in attempting to do that I found each of the 3 prongs would need their own array of at least 3 bones to wiggle each plant stalk individually because they are of different heights. I had a plant variation that did that but it was 20 kbs instead, is 20 kbs over 10 kbs worth segmented animation? this isn't counting all 6 variations.

my figuring is that not everybody will want all 6 variations, so if each variation was 10 kbs then the texture is 2, they could have a 12 kb package instead of 1 model that weighed a lot. as file size is important. Thank you for your Comment TLI-Inferno! I will work on the stand portrait a bit.

The ''Stand - Portrait'' may seem monotonous but I couldn't figure out how to make it much better. perhaps I could work on it a tiny bit more. This Models entire purpose is to be able to die with flashy particles, wiggling around was just an add-on.

 

[InfernalTater]

hmm, to make different variations into 1 model would make its size a lot bigger if i try to fit 6 cattail variations into 1 model--the variations share the same custom texture particle, but use different in game textures and have different particle emitter colors, using ''stand alternate -1 or stand alternate -2 or 3,4,5,6 seems bad on file size when I tried that. not to mention each plant variation has 2 particle emitters--so instead of 2 it would have 12, which increases a model like this's size like this by alot.

I know it just wags back and fourth, but I couldn't figure out how to have a Stand - Portrait plus a ''Stand-2, Stand-3'' ect ect without having errors in the portrait its self-such as jagged shifting back and forth in the unit portrait screen. other wise I would have added more variation in its wiggling.

its meant to be in water bumping into others of its kind thats why it only causally sways back and forth in a small circle. too much more movement causes the plant stalks to penetrate each other a lot.

the bottom doesn't move its not connected to any thing, the very bottom row of vertexes are not even connected to the bones that do the swaying. not sure exactly what you mean by
''They should bend left and right; the bottom should not be wagging around when it's rooted into the ground.''

as this plant is meant to appear semi floating in water--and being drifted by river currents. hence drifting while still rooted to the river bed. I Didn't add boat water ring effects just encase you wanted to use it on land, as a wind blown plant.

how ever you're point that the plant should bend in segments is valid--and in attempting to do that I found each of the 3 prongs would need their own array of at least 3 bones to wiggle each plant stalk individually because they are of different heights. I had a plant variation that did that but it was 20 kbs instead, is 20 kbs over 10 kbs worth segmented animation? this isn't counting all 6 variations.

my figuring is that not everybody will want all 6 variations, so if each variation was 10 kbs then the texture is 2, they could have a 12 kb package instead of 1 model that weighed a lot. as file size is important. Thank you for your Comment TLI-Inferno! I will work on the stand portrait a bit.

The ''Stand - Portrait'' may seem monotonous but I couldn't figure out how to make it much better. perhaps I could work on it a tiny bit more. This Models entire purpose is to be able to die with flashy particles, wiggling around was just an add-on.

You're misunderstanding what I'm saying. I'm not asking you to make it move more. I'm asking you to make it bend.

Right now you have the entire thing simply wagging around like it's a stick incapable of bending. That just doesn't look right at all; it needs to bend, which means you'll need to create bones and turn the stick into segments, with each segment bending.

 

[kellym0]

hmmm ok il Attempt something


EDIT: ok the 3 stalks of the plant bend and sway around accordingly in a segmented fashion hope you like it more now Inferno! =D

 

[InfernalTater]

hmmm ok il Attempt something


EDIT: ok the 3 stalks of the plant bend and sway around accordingly in a segmented fashion hope you like it more now Inferno! =D

Something about it still looks a little weird, but alright, it's better than it was before. It's definitely good enough to be useful to many people now.

 

[LaMorte]

Damn it, I really thought and hoped this would be a cat tail, not a cattail.

me too lol

 

[Misha]

neatly done keep it up, mate

 

[RiotZ]

I recall there was a model pack with a ton of Blizz models animated. Can't remember where it was.

Anyway, this is alright I suppose, only a small edit.

 

[kellym0]

ok Inferno, I think I made the animation look less weird by making the spin 5 pointed instead of 3.

and to RiotZ, I found some of those and was inspired by them to go further, for they are not centered on there origin, have no collision spheres, and are built to be very detailed doodads, yet very difficult to use as wards, this models much easier to do that with, how ever you are correct, this is a simple edit. thank you for your compliment =D

and thank you too misha



im contemplating ways to make this have variations, how would I most efficiently go about doing that? if I have the 3 UV Wraps of the original blizzard CatTail plus my 3 in game textured custom ones? any body smarter then me go ahead an shout

 

[InfernalTater]

ok Inferno, I think I made the animation look less weird by making the spin 5 pointed instead of 3.

and to RiotZ, I found some of those and was inspired by them to go further, for they are not centered on there origin, have no collision spheres, and are built to be very detailed doodads, yet very difficult to use as wards, this models much easier to do that with, how ever you are correct, this is a simple edit. thank you for your compliment =D

and thank you too misha



im contemplating ways to make this have variations, how would I most efficiently go about doing that? if I have the 3 UV Wraps of the original blizzard CatTail plus my 3 in game textured custom ones? any body smarter then me go ahead an shout

It's starting to look better, but I've realized what the biggest issue is. They're spinning in circles. They need to look like they're being softly blown about by a breeze, not spinning in the center of an undersized cyclone. (I'm not saying this to exaggerate or insult it, cyclone was just the first spinning wind that came to mind) They should bend back and forth from one corner to the other. For example, if the corners in order were 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, then having it move from 1-4-2-5-3 would look a bit less odd.

Spinning in circles will simply look kind of weird.

Anyway, you're making it look better with each update, and let's hope it continues to get better.

 

[kellym0]

So, you think more erratic shaking would be better then doing an infinite circle loop?

Because my goal was to make discovering when the animation begins and when it ends impossible, hence point A-B-C-D-E-back to A-without any breaks just constant smooth circular floating.

Another goal of mine was to make it so the plant when placed within close proximity to another plant while wiggling dos not collide painfully with other plants, which is very hard to achieve with erratic movement. yet easy with circle movement, as I can always just make them lean less further out to refine the circle into a smaller one.

Remember, its primarily water around or underneath doing the motion hence fluidic circles, but the plant is rooted so its meant to move around like a circle, without really going any place, hence a cone. this is how the video I saw of cattails moving around looked to me.

how ever I guess I could achieve that from erratic movement, at least from the segmented stems any way, Il try something.


thank you Inferno


EDIT: well i tried my best, even using your 1-4-2-5-3 stepped order, but I could not make one that looked very good. the erratic movement dos not look very organic, the smooth constant turbulence of slowly turning looks more organic to me, how ever I did randomize the 3 prongs jiggle more. hopefully that is enough erratic movement for ya!

 

[FRENGERS]

Nice 5/5 + REPT!!

 

[kellym0]

thanks frengers!

 

[InfernalTater]

So, you think more erratic shaking would be better then doing an infinite circle loop?

Because my goal was to make discovering when the animation begins and when it ends impossible, hence point A-B-C-D-E-back to A-without any breaks just constant smooth circular floating.

Another goal of mine was to make it so the plant when placed within close proximity to another plant while wiggling dos not collide painfully with other plants, which is very hard to achieve with erratic movement. yet easy with circle movement, as I can always just make them lean less further out to refine the circle into a smaller one.

Remember, its primarily water around or underneath doing the motion hence fluidic circles, but the plant is rooted so its meant to move around like a circle, without really going any place, hence a cone. this is how the video I saw of cattails moving around looked to me.

how ever I guess I could achieve that from erratic movement, at least from the segmented stems any way, Il try something.


thank you Inferno


EDIT: well i tried my best, even using your 1-4-2-5-3 stepped order, but I could not make one that looked very good. the erratic movement dos not look very organic, the smooth constant turbulence of slowly turning looks more organic to me, how ever I did randomize the 3 prongs jiggle more. hopefully that is enough erratic movement for ya!

You nailed it. I wasn't asking for erratic movement, but a waving motion, which is what you achieved when you made them move separately while turning. Waving looks nicer than spinning, just my opinion.

I'm increasing my original rating from a 3/5 to a 4/5.

Just look at your original version, if you still have it, and compare it to what you have now after many updates. It looks so much more lifelike, now. I still have all of your versions in a folder.

 

[SlayabThoR]

Looks fine.

 

[kellym0]

thank you inferno! im glad you like it now, makes me feel much better and much more vindicated -- you're comments are appreciated


and thanks to you too SlayabThoR

Im Debating on starting my next UV wrap soon, I think you guys will like it =)


EDIT: ok iv added a new particle emitter texture--this texture is white instead of green making it more compatible to my needs--this means you need to use a new texture that comes with it now which is called GrassParticlesV015.blp

if you still have GrassParticlesV011.blp then discard it its out dated.

 

[FRENGERS]

5/5 Always because i can't made like that
Nice GG GJ Keep the skill up But i hope you could be next B2M

 

[xorkatoss]

hmm i could swear i saw this on hive before, there was that guy that edited most of the wc3 environment models and made them like they were being blown by the wind in an attempt to make an "alive environment" although i don't remember his name >_<

ontopic:
this could be useful for terrainers and breaks the monotony and bored-ness of the normal wc3 enviroment models, gj!5/5

 

[kellym0]

not sure xorkatoss, I dont remember seeing that -- if you can show me an animated cattail that is around some where then il feel silly because I made this model out of lack of finding something to use. believe me I looked hard.

how ever, thank you for your compliment.

and thanks frengers! =D

 

[HappyCockroach]

greetings, young grasshopper.

long ago, i once dared venturing into the fascinating universe of the animated doodads.

and here you can see the broken remains of my ambitious, but frustrated attempt.

nevertheless i will share the little knowledge i acquired with you.

beware the linear animations. they will tempt you, but they won't reproduce the beauty of the wind softly blowing on the fields.

the short road is always the most uncertain...

and, bear in mind:

 

[kellym0]

hahaha thanks HappyCockroach! Im not that good at animating yet! iv never seen those before, had I found them I would have been really happy a long, long time ago. in a map editing atmosphere far, far away.

when you say linear, you mean horizontal movement? oh and ya your cattails animated way better then mine. Im almost afraid to try and copy you're type of animation. its alot more complex then mine is.

Thanks for the yoda picture--makes me feel less old and more encouraged!

 

[HappyCockroach]

hahaha thanks HappyCockroach! Im not that good at animating yet! iv never seen those before, had I found them I would have been really happy a long, long time ago. in a map editing atmosphere far, far away.

when you say linear, you mean horizontal movement? oh and ya your cattails animated way better then mine. Im almost afraid to try and copy you're type of animation. its alot more complex then mine is.

Thanks for the yoda picture--makes me feel less old and more encouraged!

welcome you are.

now, cutting off the drama
everything in animation is numbers. linear is a kind of animation controller that can interpolate your numbers in a certain manner.

first graph shows linear interpolation - it is pointy.
second graph shows curved interpolation - it is smooth.

if you ever had calculus it would help you understand now... linear controllers form a curveless graph across time. curved animations form curves.

imagine a function that expresses displacement of an object across time. each second, it moves 2 meters, constantly - in a linear variation. then, suddenly, it starts to move -1 meter each second (move 1m back/second). it will change its variation instantly, in a jumpy way. in a graph, that is the pointy corner. if that point was a soft transition curve, it would deaccelerate through time and smoothly change direction.

get it?

i don't know many modelling software to wc3 that deal with curves, except 3dsmax7-2010 + NeoDex or 3dsmax5 + Art Tools... but the quality gain is enourmous.

 

[kellym0]

ok so you mean smooth out my animation paths or add more variant frames, ok.

I have the lacking math ''skills'' (for lack of a better word) of a grade 4, and the social studies/history and Earth science of a grade 12--so I never did calculus but can under stand what you're saying in theory thanks to the graph.

I have no idea how to do that to be honest, as my only 2 programs I use are MDLvis editor and MAGOs. I could never get other things like oinkerwinkles or war shape or benders to work.

im not sure where I could grab the tools of which you speak of, perhaps I shall work to grabbing some of those.

thanks for you're input--and thanks for the complement!

EDIT: added frames to slow rates of acceleration for the plants grass and stalks independently of each other

 

[jonbon29]

I need this too tnx dude I guess this is for the ruins.