Struggling

[MrX]

Ive had Virt-a-mate for a number of months now and really struggling on creating animation.
The video tutorial doesnt help because with all respect to the creator I struggle on what he is saying on key words.
Please tell me I'm not the only one because no matter what different models I create i'm starting to get frustrated and very bored.
Sorry for the moan and negative post

 

[motorcityclimber]

full blown animations are hard dude, what i focus on are small animations with say cycle force or something like that, i cant grasp the timeline so i just dont use it. i know my shit aint like a timeline animation but it works and looks good so. baby steps dude,, baby steps

 

[dorkd]

Same here. In the beginning I watched tutorials, but then I just started VAM and figured it all out on my own.
Trust me, the System (or VAM at all) is not very complex, the problem is currently the code (specially the behaviour of VAM) & control of VAM (probably straight from hell ), this was harder for me to learn.

Just play arround like you want, without setting a goal, it helps learning VAM

What are you struggling at for example? Just Keywords?

 

[DarkFantasy]

Ive had Virt-a-mate for a number of months now and really struggling on creating animation.
The video tutorial doesnt help because with all respect to the creator I struggle on what he is saying on key words.
Please tell me I'm not the only one because no matter what different models I create i'm starting to get frustrated and very bored.
Sorry for the moan and negative post

Yeah, there is a *steep* learning curve. Are you using the standard built in animation tools or Timeline? If you arent using Timeline I would suggest learning that and then start learning how to weave other plugins in like Logic Bricks which is where I am at now. For Timeline, I am not sure this is the best way but I start with a basic high level framework from beginning to end... meaning I start with the big moves 1 sec apart, then go in and refine and add smaller movements and such.

Also, if you arent using VR to build your animations instead of the desktop I would suggest that as well. It is a LOT easier under the hood.

 

[X6CB1080]

Just learn timeline. Cycle forces and built in animation tools aren't very good or are overly complex to get the same results. Play with timeline and don't worry about messing anything up. It's easy to delete/fix anything.

 

[VamBlaster]

Like others said, baby steps. I'm no expert and just learning animations myself. I found that the built it canned animations are an excellent tool for learning, and very easy to get started with.

- Start up any scene with at least one character
- Go to the person in edit mode and choose "Animation" (not animation preset)
- Check the box for activate (the character will go into a T pose)
- Under Animation selection dropdown, choose any of the canned animations
- Click 'Add' and watch the person do the animation

You can chain together a series of animations to make some really good animations.

It's limited, but a good learning tool before jumping into the more complex animation systems like Timeline or motion capture.