Blender New Innovative 2d Animation "GP Tools"

A place to discuss non-Moho software for use in animation. Video editors, audio editors, 3D modelers, etc.

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exile
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Re: Blender New Innovative 2d Animation "GP Tools"

Post by exile »

Hey guys,

I have the impression that your dark depictions of retired life are a little more than just a joke. I know that political comments do not belong in a forum like this, but it seems you don't expect too much from the champion of the dispossessed who just got elected. I expect a lot, just nothing good. But cartoonists and satirical collage makers are already having a field day. Probably game creators from both sides of the political divide will soon be flooding the market with challenging adventures.

Going back to another theme of this hopelessly off-topic thread, there is actually an animation program based entirely on programming. The way they present it, it wouldn't be that hard to learn enough code to work it, but the movements of the programmed characters are pretty hilarious. It might be a way to learn C++, I don't know, but the animations are really nothing to crow about. http://www.webcartoonmaker.com/
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Re: Blender New Innovative 2d Animation "GP Tools"

Post by dueyftw »

exile wrote:Hey guys,

I have the impression that your dark depictions of retired life are a little more than just a joke. I know that political comments do not belong in a forum like this, but it seems you don't expect too much from the champion of the dispossessed who just got elected. I expect a lot, just nothing good. But cartoonists and satirical collage makers are already having a field day. Probably game creators from both sides of the political divide will soon be flooding the market with challenging adventures.

Going back to another theme of this hopelessly off-topic thread, there is actually an animation program based entirely on programming. The way they present it, it wouldn't be that hard to learn enough code to work it, but the movements of the programmed characters are pretty hilarious. It might be a way to learn C++, I don't know, but the animations are really nothing to crow about. http://www.webcartoonmaker.com/
I got one more year and then I'm done with normal work. I have gold, silver, platinum and cash just in case. Yes, I'm paranoid about hyperinflation.

Here is another animation program that teaches programming.
http://www.alice.org/index.php

Dale
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exile
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Re: Blender New Innovative 2d Animation "GP Tools"

Post by exile »

dueyftw wrote:
I got one more year and then I'm done with normal work. I have gold, silver, platinum and cash just in case. Yes, I'm paranoid about hyperinflation.

Here is another animation program that teaches programming.
http://www.alice.org/index.php

Dale
That's pretty interesting - I watched the demonstration and other videos. And the website flaunts my favorite 4-letter word: free. Looks like you can only work with pre-made materials and actions though, and only in 3d. But after learning all that programming, we'll be such nerds that we can break through all limitations, right?

I was done with normal work, went back for a post-retirement 2-year stint, and hope that was really it. It's a defensive battle to keep from slipping into old-age poverty on a fixed income.

Hope for all thinker-tinkers: A New Zealand couple has solved the housing problem in this incredibly creative way: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnHGKUh-5O4
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Re: Blender New Innovative 2d Animation "GP Tools"

Post by Psmith »

Now Steve:

I love tiny homes and would love to be able to build one and live in it . . . successfully.

This link you sent paints a realistic picture of the kind of extravagance people are capable of and WHO such people are. Let's examine:

1) YOUNG (I challenge you to find any article with a title like "Old Codger Builds His Own Tiny Home" or, if you prefer "Old & Broke - Man Builds Tiny, Stylish Home". Just look at the couple featured - their age, where they live, and their state of physical fitness (for crying out loud - the woman is an acrobat).

This slide show reveals how "older" folks end up living in Tiny Homes (successfully?): http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/arti ... to-9698855 Image

2) AFFLUENT. To build a Tiny Home with those materials and those accoutrements would run a fellow close to $100,000 U.S. Those two KIDS don't look like they needed to be in any kind of hurry, either (rich parents and Trust Fund is my guess).

3) NEW ZEALAND. Where it looks like they tolerate and encourage living in this fashion. Try finding anywhere in Germany where they would let you undertake such a living experience (and guess how much paperwork they would require you to file). In the U.S. you would find yourself living in a mobile home park - about 6 feet from your neighbors - every one of them blasting you with toxic microwaves from their multiple phones, extra strength wireless routers, TV's, and "satellite" dish transmitter/receivers.

Image A lot of fun that would be.

All of the best places to try this in style are found outside the U.S. New Zealand does not want us. Canada does not want us. I wouldn't suggest trying to live like this in Mexico or any 3rd world nation, either. You wouldn't last long.

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Re: Blender New Innovative 2d Animation "GP Tools"

Post by Psmith »

continued . . .

https://www.thrillist.com/lifestyle/nat ... -nightmare

I love this guy's article. And, especially, this quote:

"My guess is no one cooks because they're afraid that if they eat that they'll have to use the compost toilet." Image


I guess if you choose to live as depicted, above, it will become the ultimate RECYCLING experience. Quite easy for "Waste Management" technicians to haul you and your domicile away.

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exile
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Re: Blender New Innovative 2d Animation "GP Tools"

Post by exile »

Can't argue with you on that: the paperwork would use up more wood than the house. Plus: Germany has a real winter sometimes. Nevertheless there are people who live in makeshift housing (tolerated by Berlin authorities in designated places), old train cars and heated construction worker shacks.

The tiny homes remind me of Hoovervilles in the 30s. But compared to sleeping under a bridge, I suppose it's better than nothing. The idea that the residents take responsibility for upkeep and agree to abide by sensible rules isn't bad, IMO.

But none of this is getting us any closer to our first million. How is the quest for the ultimate game software coming along?
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Re: Blender New Innovative 2d Animation "GP Tools"

Post by Psmith »

Steve:

To let just the head of the Cat out of the bag - I have had extensive conversation with Jose Moreno of Spain - the author of GameFlow for Unity (Free). GameFlow is really cheap at $20 right now.

After seeing my training videos - he has made me an offer I cannot refuse - (no money, of course) but the best referral I could receive plus as much non-monetary stuff as he could afford to give. He proposes an ongoing relationship and an Official Usage Pipeline. I dare not say more.

The Sky is the Limit.

Version 1 of GameFlow is about to be released (next week, tentatively) - with a major focus on in-dept tutorials and documentation. After version 1 is released, this is when my work begins.

Some initial FREE video training will be added to my YouTube Channel featuring Natural Media Characters through "Revelle" (I got my copy for $19 from Smith Micro). Complete and powerful rigging of 2D Characters (Full Bones & Actions) using Blender. Possibly, also, "2D Environments with Revelle".

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exile
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Re: Blender New Innovative 2d Animation "GP Tools"

Post by exile »

Exciting news, Greg. Would it be a good idea to get GameFlow now or wait till 1.0 comes out? I passed up Revelle because although it looked interesting, Moho put me over my software budget. Since I have Clip Paint, which was also a super deal for $20 last year, I wasn't sure why I would need Revelle. Minor points.
You're going to be an even busier man, and I hope to reap the benefits.

For the kind of interactive quiz project I did with Construct, it looks like a much maligned program, Motion Artist, would be sufficient. The user makes a choice and lands in another scene. The only advantage over the game software is that the interactive links are easy to put on the timeline so they don't get in the way while an animation is in progress. Admittedly it's not a game software, it's presentation with a couple of extras. So I'm off-topic... what was this thread originally about?
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Re: Blender New Innovative 2d Animation "GP Tools"

Post by Psmith »

Steve:

I really don't know whether recent purchases will be given a free entry to version 1.0 or not. I wish I knew how to steer you on this one.

In my up-coming videos - the point of using images made in Rebelle isn't primarily to chain people to that pipeline - but to demonstrate that images which look as though they were created with "real" media (watercolor, pastel, pencil) can be animated with excellence in Blender using Bones - with very little distortion. You may choose to use any program which exports in the .png format.

I was quite impressed with Blender's automatic "Bone Weights" and how they move images in a most fantastic and quality preserving way.


Hoovervilles. Yes, there was a prior "Tiny House" movement that spread like wildfire all across the U.S.

Image Image

Life could be a good one in some Hoovervilles. A new "American Dream". Image

Image

But, eventually the Fad fell out of fashion . . . Image

Now, order having been introduced, we have Zoning Restrictions.


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Re: Blender New Innovative 2d Animation "GP Tools"

Post by Psmith »

Motion Artist.

I've never examined it. In principle I feel nobody should ever use an application that is significantly over-powered for what they need to do. I'll bet that Motion Artist probably is all you needed for the application you described.

GameFlow is really a total, interactive application development system - focusing on game-like behavior. It excites me a bit. And that would take a lot, these days.

I love to keep things as simple as they can possibly be. That's why I love the concept of the Tiny House. The practice of the Tiny House seems to exist only in one's dreams, however.


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Re: Blender New Innovative 2d Animation "GP Tools"

Post by exile »

Thanks for those historical photos. When I was growing up we thought of those conditions as the distant past as far as the developed world was concerned.

So we're back into bones, are we? :wink: Today I was repairing and reconstructing a character from a discontinued project - it wouldn't have taken much longer to draw every frame, if I was a little better at that. But now it has the mandatory body and head turn - might not need it, but what did I watch all those AS tutorials for since version 9?

If it ever gets finished, grammar teaching (at least, questions that start with Do and Does) will never be the same again. Hoovervilles full of laid-off teachers will sprout up all over the world.

If a program has a little headroom for more functions in case you need them, that isn't a bad thing. But when I used Construct 2 for my project, it actually took some smarts to dumb it down enough for my purposes. Our perpetual search for the El Dorado of software ...
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Re: Blender New Innovative 2d Animation "GP Tools"

Post by Yadoob »

Hi guys,

I'm also digging into the new Grease Pencil features by using Freestyle:



And since few tools were missing, I'm currently working to put them as an add-on:



Thanks to Greg for his tutorials, hope to see more tests from this community !
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Re: Blender New Innovative 2d Animation "GP Tools"

Post by herbert123 »

Upcoming 2.8 Grease Pencil new and improved features! Simplified GUI for artists, and Grease Pencil drawings behave like regular objects. And other goodies :D

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Re: Blender New Innovative 2d Animation "GP Tools"

Post by Psmith »

Herbert:

Grease Pencil, indeed, seems to be the application with the brightest future for 2D animators. Really good initial concept and a brilliant execution of that concept

Too bad we cannot use it as shown in that video, RIGHT NOW.

Maybe you can deduce something for me: since Grease Pencil drawings now behave and actually "are" Blender objects - do you think this means that a Grease Pencil character, as a whole, can be controlled by a complete 2D skeletal rig? (i.e. a single character drawing being able to be distorted by a skeleton of many bones vs. the current paradigm of one Grease Pencil drawing, or layer, being subject to control by a single bone, only).

This capability will determine the short term success of GP in version 2.8., I think.

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Re: Blender New Innovative 2d Animation "GP Tools"

Post by dkwroot »

Psmith wrote: Maybe you can deduce something for me: since Grease Pencil drawings now behave and actually "are" Blender objects - do you think this means that a Grease Pencil character, as a whole, can be controlled by a complete 2D skeletal rig? (i.e. a single character drawing being able to be distorted by a skeleton of many bones vs. the current paradigm of one Grease Pencil drawing, or layer, being subject to control by a single bone, only).
Do you mean using bone influence to control how a grease pencil drawing is manipulated? If that's your question, then I'd say no. The bones exist in 3d space, while each grease pencil object is locked to a 2d plane. This means the bones will likely manipulate the layers at the object level. It shouldn't be a huge issue, since you just have to break your character into parts and rig the sections separately.
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