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Description

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NOTE: This is a large animated GIF file, which may take a while to load.

Because the GIF lasts more than a minute at full speed and is close to the size limit on DA, I had to render it at a lower framerate and resolution than my usual sequences. It should still be watchable, but you can zoom in with your browser (CTRL +) if it’s too small. Although I don’t think DA supports flash video, I have a higher quality version of the animation in .FLV format as well. Unlike this .GIF, the >FLV can be paused as well as rewound or fast-forwarded, which preferable for a tutorial. I’d like to use Flash for this and future animations, but I have to figure out the logistics.

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Several people have asked me how to make transformation animations like the ones I’ve posted in my gallery. I usually try to answer one-on-one as best I can. But I’ve also been thinking for a while about creating some tutorial videos. I put these tutorials on my “official” list of stuff I plan to work on, and actually got pretty far in creating the first one before getting frustrated with tedious video editing issues. Given the recent interest in WWTF2 however, and several questions people have asked me about its creation, I decided to take a bit of a break from The Mascot (which is the only new animation I’m working on, but is nowhere close to done) to finish up the first tutorial.

This tutorial shows some the key full-body morphs I use to make werewolves. It assumes basic familiarity with DAZ Studio or Poser, and does not attempt to illustrate the mechanical step-by-step process of loading a figure and applying morphs. There are plenty of other tutorials on that. This one is more of conceptual guide with an example recipe. I hope that it will be useful, because I’d love to see someone else create transformation animations. Sometimes, it’s fun to spectate rather than create.

All the shapes in the video were made in DAZ Studio 4.5 or 4.6 using DAZ’s Genesis figure.

For reference, the full-body werewolf morphs shown in the sequence are:

    ·         RawArt’s Garoul, Lycaon, Wolfman, and Manwolf (RawArt makes great creature morphs);

    ·         Midnight Stories’ Lycan;

    ·         Sunlight Studios’ Wolfhound; and

    ·         DebraR’s Anubis.

There are far too many generic full- and partial- body morphs (over 1000) and scaling parameters mixed into my two custom werewolf shapes at the end of the tutorial for me to list here or in the video. In any case, a comprehensive list would miss the point. The takeaway from this first tutorial should be that after you have a basic werewolfy shape like the example the video shows you how to make, you can tweak the hell out of it using generic morphs, and achieve a much more realistic and interesting end-result. That’s what I try to do. Think of the example shape only as a starting point for whatever you’re trying to create. DAZ’s Genesis morph bundles and any of the ones from Zev0 or HFS (HellFish Studios) are a great place to start your own experimenting.

If you have questions about this specific tutorial or about how to create animations more generally, feel free to pose them in here in comments thread. I’ll try to respond as regularly as I can. In the future, I plan to make more tutorials on other animation subjects—such as texture transitions, making use of mesh smoothing and collisions, how to create transformation poses and shape transitions, and various other little tricks I’ve picked up while pursuing this hobby.

Description

================================================

NOTE: This is a large animated GIF file, which may take a while to load.

Because the GIF lasts more than a minute at full speed and is close to the size limit on DA, I had to render it at a lower framerate and resolution than my usual sequences. It should still be watchable, but you can zoom in with your browser (CTRL +) if it’s too small. Although I don’t think DA supports flash video, I have a higher quality version of the animation in .FLV format as well. Unlike this .GIF, the >FLV can be paused as well as rewound or fast-forwarded, which preferable for a tutorial. I’d like to use Flash for this and future animations, but I have to figure out the logistics.

================================================

Several people have asked me how to make transformation animations like the ones I’ve posted in my gallery. I usually try to answer one-on-one as best I can. But I’ve also been thinking for a while about creating some tutorial videos. I put these tutorials on my “official” list of stuff I plan to work on, and actually got pretty far in creating the first one before getting frustrated with tedious video editing issues. Given the recent interest in WWTF2 however, and several questions people have asked me about its creation, I decided to take a bit of a break from The Mascot (which is the only new animation I’m working on, but is nowhere close to done) to finish up the first tutorial.

This tutorial shows some the key full-body morphs I use to make werewolves. It assumes basic familiarity with DAZ Studio or Poser, and does not attempt to illustrate the mechanical step-by-step process of loading a figure and applying morphs. There are plenty of other tutorials on that. This one is more of conceptual guide with an example recipe. I hope that it will be useful, because I’d love to see someone else create transformation animations. Sometimes, it’s fun to spectate rather than create.

All the shapes in the video were made in DAZ Studio 4.5 or 4.6 using DAZ’s Genesis figure.

For reference, the full-body werewolf morphs shown in the sequence are:

    ·         RawArt’s Garoul, Lycaon, Wolfman, and Manwolf (RawArt makes great creature morphs);

    ·         Midnight Stories’ Lycan;

    ·         Sunlight Studios’ Wolfhound; and

    ·         DebraR’s Anubis.

There are far too many generic full- and partial- body morphs (over 1000) and scaling parameters mixed into my two custom werewolf shapes at the end of the tutorial for me to list here or in the video. In any case, a comprehensive list would miss the point. The takeaway from this first tutorial should be that after you have a basic werewolfy shape like the example the video shows you how to make, you can tweak the hell out of it using generic morphs, and achieve a much more realistic and interesting end-result. That’s what I try to do. Think of the example shape only as a starting point for whatever you’re trying to create. DAZ’s Genesis morph bundles and any of the ones from Zev0 or HFS (HellFish Studios) are a great place to start your own experimenting.

If you have questions about this specific tutorial or about how to create animations more generally, feel free to pose them in here in comments thread. I’ll try to respond as regularly as I can. In the future, I plan to make more tutorials on other animation subjects—such as texture transitions, making use of mesh smoothing and collisions, how to create transformation poses and shape transitions, and various other little tricks I’ve picked up while pursuing this hobby.