Gary's Poser Unit Creation Thread and Workshop

[Vuldacon]

I like his left hand staying on the Rifle as he raises it...much more natural

His right foot still moves in an arch as if he is standing on a turn table. Keep the heel of his right foot stationary and slightly rotate the rest of the foot... or better yet, have him step back slightly with his right foot first into the position you want it, then step forward with his left foot as you now have it only just a bit faster for a more natural movement.

Because we are all scrutinizing this unit with personal opinions...I believe it would also be better to have the left foot and leg move faster into position before the attack...looks like about one or two frames less to get there would do it. As it is, it is a little slow motion if you see what I am seeing.
Coming along very well Gary

...as for Victory Shout and Gun Shots, those are no problem and I would send you the sounds to fit the animation when you complete it. I would use the same shot sounds that the Unit uses for the attack so they match the Rifle the same but alter them for the number of shots fired and add the Shout before, after or during the shots...what ever you want the animation to do.
...So don't let a lack of sounds prevent you from making the animation as you want it to be.

Along the same thoughts for your unit concerning sounds, you will need to look at the unit you are using the sounds from and keep the Flc Speeds, Number of frames and the actions that take place on each of the frames basically the same in order to have the sounds fit perfectly with good timing...unless you want to alter the sounds to fit your unit animations that differ from the existing unit in which you intend to use the sounds from.

 

[Gary Childress]

I'm going to scrap what I have and start all over again. I've been looking at the run animations in game and he looks like he's sliding across the ground. The attack animation is OK looking. The Death animation is acceptable, I think. The default animation has too much twist to it. And all the animations are off key with the sounds. Oy Vei...

On the bright side, in all this I did manage to come up with a good working palette for once in my life even with all the anti-aliasing of the white clothing.

 

[ShiroKobbure]

If you will start over, why not try using paperdoll?

 

[BadKharma]

If you will start over, why not try using paperdoll?

I second this proposal.

 

[Vuldacon]

Gary... before you scrap the Run, note that you can set the .ini speed so the map moves slower or faster. example... for a Walk animation, if the Normal and Fast speed in the .ini file are set at the normal 225 speed, the unit will appear to slide because the unit walk is slower than the map movement.
Try lower speed settings until the map movement fits the run speed (foot movement) for your unit. Change both the Normal and Fast .ini Speeds to the same speeds.

 

[Gary Childress]

I second this proposal.

Sorry guys but I'm not partial to the paper doll and besides I've already invested in and scrounged up a plethora of clothing for the Michaels and Apollo. I really would like to make units using the Poser figures. I'm trying to model them after NavyDawg's excellent units. I think his units are some of the best looking out there. Even the more I look at some of the original Firaxis units some of them just look too short and squatty. I've been comparing my figure to the generic Firaxis Infantry unit and I think my unit looks a lot more like an average human being. (except of course in the US where we're all overweight! )

 

[Micaelus]

Sorry guys... I really would like to make units using the Poser figures.

I say more power to you...keep at it!

If you want to have more realistically proportioned units, then that's what we'll come to expect from Gary's units Just ensure that this does not come at the expense of in-game compatibility. From the previews you were showing, the main issues I was seeing was in the shins/ankles/feet and forearms/wrists/hands (as well as the rifle itself). Once things get down to a single pixel (or a pair of them), it's dang hard to see in-game, and doesn't look very good to boot. I'd say pay attention to those parts especially and judge how much they need to be 'beefed up.'

In all, I don't see much reason to scrap the current unit you're working on, especially if there is a way (like Vuldacon said) to make that cool march work out in-game.

 

[Gary Childress]

Thanks Michaelus, I'll try to beef things up a little. I have tried my unit in game and it does look pretty good I think. I tried him on a desert background. I'll give him a try on some others to see how well he appears. I'll also give Greg's advice a try and see about changing the movement speed. That would be preferrable to scrapping the whole animation.

 

[Quinzy]

I really think the unit is great, and just needs a little thickening in places. Don't scrap it!

 

[Vuldacon]

After all the Work you have done...keep your Unit work and "tweak" what you like. The Run Speed and Sounds you are concerned about, etc... can be worked out.
By the way, I totally agree with your assessment of the Paper Doll. It does lend itself to easier unit making as far as size but lacks a great deal by comparison to many other Models.

 

[Steph]

I'm trying to model them after NavyDawg's excellent units. I think his units are some of the best looking out there.

Personnally, I think Balou's are still the best (although NavyDawg is not far behind). Unfortunately, Balou made only a few units, and I don't think he released any prop.

 

[flamescreen]

Let's not forget Balou's own words:
"There are many other great units out there.
We are not competing with eachother here who does the best units. Art is never competition, at least that´s how I look at it."
So anyone will have a preference. I'll always be partial to Kinboat's units.
However all the creators that we know of added something useful to this game.
Which is why we still play it over the CIV version.

 

[Gary Childress]

OK. I did a new attack animation, this one incorporates a wrist motion as though he's sliding the bolt open to his rifle and back again. This is a completely hand made attack. The attack I used before used a special pose I purchased off Renderosity. This one is my own pose.

The new default pose has the swing of the hip toned down a little to look more natural.

Kept the same fidget I had before.

The new fortify incorporates the new hand made shooting pose I created for the attack. Both hands pull the gun up to the firing position AND the steps are more natural. No more rear leg sliding in an arch across the ground.

Brand new victory animation as well. This one finalizes into his default pose which I think is what the victory is supposed to do. My prior attempt at a victory pose ended back in the attack pose.

 

[Quinzy]

Far far better. Much more realistic an attack!

 

[TopGun]

Very nice attack and default anim!

 

[Gary Childress]

OK. I did a second run animation. Up top is my original run and on the bottom the new run. Not sure which to use They're just a little differen't, not necessarily an improvement upon the other. I'll leave it up to popular opinion as to which run looks better. Let me know which run looks the best.

OK. Just noticed there is a kind of quirk in the second run animation. I think I'll stick with the first one on top. It looks a little more fluid.

 

[Micaelus]

Heyo!! Great improvements! I really like the attack animation, the way he holds the rifle, the bolt action, everything. The other ones are much better too. (And did you thicken his forearms a bit, or is that my imagination?)

Only two comments for (very minor) improvements, both dealing with the right foot. 1) In the fortify animation, the highest part of the foot's step seems to be right at the beginning...move the peak of the arch a bit later so the step is more natural. 2) In the victory animation, it looks like the foot is going in slow motion, since it takes the full framecount to move into position. Feel free to have him begin to twist forward without moving the foot for a few frames, then step (taking 5ish frames) and finish the twist with the foot in the new position. Experiment with the exact timing, amount of body twist, etc until you get it to look like what you want. All in all...awesome!

 

[Gary Childress]

I'll give the Victory and Fortify flcs some tweaking on the right foot.

In the meantime; two possible death flicks. Let me know which one everyone likes most.

First my original one...

And my newest creation...

EDIT: As far as the right foot in the Fortify animation, the right foot starts out on the ground in the Default position before raising up and then stepping back to get into the shooting position. This happens quickly but it does start out on the ground and even with the left foot.

 

[Gary Childress]

Here it is...African Colonial Infantry v. 1.0

Run/Default/Fidget/Default/Fortify/Attack/Victory/Default/Fortify/Attack/Death

And here he is compared to some other units in game:

Spoiler :

 

[Vuldacon]

Looks very Good Gary...I really like the Adjustments you made to improve the animations. Especially the Attack and Fortify.
It appears that the Victory is a few pixels off from the Default. Just a little upward and to the Left abrupt Shift.
The Last Frame of the Victory is meant to go into the 1st frame of the Default as you know. It need not be the same frame, just a frame that will lead smoothly to it.

You can Copy and Paste the 1st Frame from the Default after the last frame of the Victory...skip 1 frame between them and that frame will be inbetween the two frames for use as the start of the Victory.

In this case, I believe you may need to pick his left foot up and place it back to the Default position, much the same way as you started the Fortify only the reverse.