New Unit Series: Sten Gun

Gary Childress

Student for and of life
Joined
May 11, 2007
Messages
4,466
Location
United Nations
First, to kick off the Sten gun series is a British paratrooper (European theater). As some may know I already did a version of the British Red Devil several months ago, however, this new version of the British Paratrooper has many improvements over my first tentative attempts using Poser. Hopefully this paratrooper will serve as a better substitute for my first unit.





EDIT: As of December 7, 2008 this unit has been updated and improved and the file in the DL database has been replaced with a new one. If you downloaded the old version before December 7, please download the new version to get the improvements. Thanks.

DOWNLOAD RED DEVIL II HERE

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Next installment: Another Brit paratrooper, this time with a beret instead of a helmet. The run animation has been improved to better blend in with the default animation. The death animation is also improved so that the unit doesn't inch forward in the last few frames. The Attack sound is also cropped so that it doesn't continue to play after the unit is finished attacking.





DOWNLOAD RED DEVIL III HERE

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Latest edition to the sten gun series added 12/14/08, a new improved Royal Marine Commando. My first version was a bit sketchy in the animations so this one should be an improvement over it.





DOWNLOAD ROLYAL MARINE II HERE

EDIT: As of 12/17/08 a drop animation has been added to the Royal Marine. If you want the drop animation simply DL the unit from the DL database.
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One more unit, a French partisan as requested by Steph.





DOWNLOAD FRENCH PARTISAN HERE

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Another unit requested by Steph. Another Royal Marine, this time with the distinctive wool cap instead of a beret.





DOWNLOAD ROYAL MARINE III HERE

EDIT: As of 12/17/08 a drop animation has been added to this file. It's available in the DL database inside the regular unit file now. Please download the file again if you are interested in the Drop animation.

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12/17/08: This is a Pacific version of the British paratrooper wearing jungle battle dress. It's based upon a couple pics I have in one of the Men-at-Arms color plates. I know someone will give me a hard time because I admitted I haven't been testing Units32s in game. Well, EVERYTHING, including the Units32 of this unit has been tested and seems to work well.

Sten gun sound is from Ares de Borg as usual.





DOWNLOAD UK PACIFIC PARATROOPER HERE






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Beautiful Brit there! :goodjob:
 
Maybe it's just me, but gun aside he looks rather....German.

Helmet and shirt/parka wise. Not to say he doesn't look good, he looks great.

It's probably me though.




I think he's ok and also useful for Canada.
 
Well Done Gary... Clean/natural moves and sharp detail :goodjob:

...probably the most difficult areas to animate where they work exactly as wanted are the transition from the Run to the Default without a "snap to position" and the Death Fall.

I recommend using a larger frame size and having him move back more before and after he hits the ground so his body does not abruptly stop in position and his feet don't slide forward after he hits. This is done very slightly but will show the force of his being knocked back better.

The Easiest way to have the Run Blend into the Default is to Copy the First Frame of the Default in Poser and paste it two frames after the end of the Run. Copy the Frame that Poser generates that is between those frames and use it as the last Frame of the Run. Some times this requires doing this several times to gain what you want. After this you can also adjust the First frame of the Run to the last frame of the Run so they Loop smoothly for the Run animation after adjusting the Run to blend into the Default animation by placing a copy of the First Frame of the Run two frames after the End Frame of the Run and using the generated frame that poser makes to replace the First Frame.
 
Spoiler :


I think he's ok and also useful for Canada.

Curse camoflage! I do agree they work good, but the similarity between British and German camoflage is quite striking.
 
Well Done Gary... Clean/natural moves and sharp detail :goodjob:

...probably the most difficult areas to animate where they work exactly as wanted are the transition from the Run to the Default without a "snap to position" and the Death Fall.

I recommend using a larger frame size and having him move back more before and after he hits the ground so his body does not abruptly stop in position and his feet don't slide forward after he hits. This is done very slightly but will show the force of his being knocked back better.

The Easiest way to have the Run Blend into the Default is to Copy the First Frame of the Default in Poser and paste it two frames after the end of the Run. Copy the Frame that Poser generates that is between those frames and use it as the last Frame of the Run. Some times this requires doing this several times to gain what you want. After this you can also adjust the First frame of the Run to the last frame of the Run so they Loop smoothly for the Run animation after adjusting the Run to blend into the Default animation by placing a copy of the First Frame of the Run two frames after the End Frame of the Run and using the generated frame that poser makes to replace the First Frame.

Won't that break up the natural rhythm of the run though if I put frames in between it? For instance if the unit is used in a mod to run two squares instead of one, won't it look funny to have the modified run/default pose thrown in to the middle of the two frame run?
 
Won't that break up the natural rhythm of the run though if I put frames in between it? For instance if the unit is used in a mod to run two squares instead of one, won't it look funny to have the modified run/default pose thrown in to the middle of the two frame run?
Gary, that is not what I mean... The Run should remain as the Run with No hesitations as it Loops so one or many squares will not matter. The Key is to find the position that "Leads" to the default on the last frame of the Run yet allows the Run animation to loop in a natural way.
The Default is not placed into the Run at all...just the last Run Frame "Leads" to the First frame of the Default so the Run Smoothly goes to the Default position more naturally.
An example of what I am saying is IF the Right foot is headed towards the position of the Right foot in the Default position on the last frame of the Run, the Right foot will naturally appear to move to the Default when the run is finished...same for many body positions in subtle ways. IF you obtain this and it looks good but the Run gets a "Hiccup" from altering the Last frame of the Run, you can adjust the First frame of the Run to loop better with the last frame so all will be smoother. All VERY Subtle but it helps to try for it.
 
OK. I tried the method above but am now getting a MAJOR hiccup between frame 15 and 1. I have no idea how to get rid of it without somehow deleting the first frame. How do I delete the first frame only? :confused:
 
In Poser, Just select ALL Frames by clicking above the frame and holding the left mouse button down as you move down all frames then across to the End Frames. Start the selection with Frame 2 and select the remaining frames after it then Move them all as one Block to the Left so frame 2 is now frame 1.
IF you want to alter frame 1 rather than delete it, either Copy the Frame you want to replace frame 1 with and paste it for frame one or Drag the New Frame 1, after selecting all of its components, to the Frame one position.
 
Well Done Gary... Clean/natural moves and sharp detail :goodjob:

...probably the most difficult areas to animate where they work exactly as wanted are the transition from the Run to the Default without a "snap to position" and the Death Fall.

I recommend using a larger frame size and having him move back more before and after he hits the ground so his body does not abruptly stop in position and his feet don't slide forward after he hits. This is done very slightly but will show the force of his being knocked back better.

The Easiest way to have the Run Blend into the Default is to Copy the First Frame of the Default in Poser and paste it two frames after the end of the Run. Copy the Frame that Poser generates that is between those frames and use it as the last Frame of the Run. Some times this requires doing this several times to gain what you want. After this you can also adjust the First frame of the Run to the last frame of the Run so they Loop smoothly for the Run animation after adjusting the Run to blend into the Default animation by placing a copy of the First Frame of the Run two frames after the End Frame of the Run and using the generated frame that poser makes to replace the First Frame.

OK. I think I have the death fall fixed for the next unit installment. I have the unit falling back more in the final frames instead of inching forward.

However, making the run the way you are talking about is really giving me a LOT of problems. I don't think I'm going to be able to do it and stay sane at the same time. Introducing the deafult animation into the equation really causes a lot of hiccups between frame 15 and 1. In order to iron them out I practically need to do the entire run by hand again, like I was doing before I started using the walk designer. :crazyeye:

EDIT: The best I can do is take the point in the normal run where his feet are closest together and make that the ending point of the run instead of the middle. That makes it a little less of a snap into place when he stops. But putting the default animation into the equation is really hard to do and make it look right.
 
Gary...yes it can be tough to go from the Run to the Default so the point is just to get something you like best. No need to pull your hair out...that happens all too soon anyway :lol:
The main idea is just to have the Run headed naturally toward the Default position so it appears "normal" when the unit gets there...not a Big Deal to be "perfect" :)
Strong differences are the problem such as when we have the unit move past the default position and snap back to the Default. Anything that leads towards the Default and looks "normal" will be fine. Any technique you use to get there is ok too... all just additions for your bag of "marbles" to use when you are wanting to accomplish such a task. No Worries and Always please yourself :)
 
Here's a pic of the improved run. There should be less of a snap into place since the feet end the run reasonably close together.



And in slower motion....

 
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