Productivity & Graphics Site

Macintosh

Windows

StuffIt

Graphics

Utilities

Aquazone

Mobile

Content Paradise

Quick View Other Tutorials    Anime Studio Tutorials     Frame by Frame Animation     Hippo Tutorial     Carlos Lopez Gonzalez, In depth 3D video tutorials on Anime Studio     Rigging An Image In Anime Studio     Creating A Custom Color Swatch In Anime Studio     Bone Tutorial     Importing Poser OBJ's into Anime Studio Pro     DK's Easy 3D Head Rotation Using Scale Rotate     The Animation Process     Drawing Characters in Anime Studio -------- Manga Studio Tutorials     Creating Color Logos in Manga Studio     Manga Studio Debut - Creating Word Balloons     Manga Studio Getting Started: Video Tutorials     Manga Studio EX - Importing 2D Images     Lincy Chan, TOKYOPOP Artist, In depth tutorials on Manga Studio     Manga Studio EX for Poser Users - Importing 3D Objects     Getting Started with Manga Studio - Adding Effect Lines     Getting Started With Manga Studio - Adding Colors     Getting Started With Manga Studio - Pasting Computones     Getting Started with Manga Studio - Using Screen Tones -------- Shade Tutorials     Use MagicalSketch to Edit Shade Objects     Renaming Browser Entries     Area Renders     Beveling a Polygon Edge     Shade's TextEffector Tool     Using the Spiral Line Tool     Use Sounds In Shade Animations     Move Items Quickly     Use Line Fit to Match Surfaces     Close the ends of Curved Surface objects     Resize your Renders     Add Spotlights And Cameras     Set Center of Rotation     Import Poser Files     Beveling Edges In Shade     Hidden Shade Features     Export Double-Sided Polygons     Use "Switch" To Edit Curved Surfaces     User-Defined Shortcuts In Shade     Add And Delete Control Points     Mirror Copies of Curved Surfaces     Create Polygon Meshes Quickly     Q&A- How can you use caustics easily in Shade?     Q&A- How can you make a regular heptagon? -------- Vue Tutorials     Working with Layers     Poser Import Demo     Text Editor Demo     Replicate with Variation Tutorial     Basic Material Editor Demo     Advanced Illumination Settings     Multi Object Ecosystem Demo     Simple Ecosystem Material Demo     Mixed Ecosystem Material Demo     Global Illumination Baking Demo     Image Based Lighting Demo     KickStart Tutorial     Multi Layer Rendering Demo     SolidGrowth Demo     Metablobs Presentation     File Synchronization Demo     Object Replacement Demo     Foreign Objects in Ecosystems Demo     Rubber Plant Creation Demo     Radiosity Demo -------- MotionArtist Tutorials     Creating a new Photo Album Template Using an Existing Template     How to Import a Poser Animation into MotionArtist     Creating Rollover Effects Using Variables     Using MotionArtist to pan across a picture     Creating a Smooth Looping Slideshow     Creating a Digital Photo Album     Integrating MotionArtist SWF files with Yahoo SiteBuilder     Build a Pop-Up Menu Using Variables     MotionArtist Variables Explained     Embedding MotionArtist Projects Into Web Pages     Creating an Animated Banner     Integrating MotionArtist SWF files with VCOM's WebEasy Professional     Create SWF, MOV and AVI Files From Image Sequences     Creating a new Website Template using Existing Templates -------- Poser: Talk Designer     Introduction to Talk Designer Expansion Kit -------- Poser: HairTutorials     Making Curly Side-Parted Hair     Making Windblown Hair     Creating a Beard in Poser 6 -------- Poser: Figure Creation     Bad to the Bone - Creating Your Own Poser Characters     Getting Acquainted With The Face Room     Setup Room Tutorial     Using Magnets in Poser     Creating Conforming Clothing For Poser Figures     Using Poser 7's Morph Brush     Building a Morphing Prop     From Sketch To Posing- Creating a Simple Figure using Shade and Poser     Making Conforming Shoes For Poser In Shade -------- Poser: Animation Tutorials     Poser Animation 100- Getting Started     Poser Animation 101- the Keyframe and Graph Palettes     Digital Sleight-of-Hand: Changing Prop Parenting in Animations     That Matrix Thing You Do     Introducing Actions In Mid-Walk     Quick Tip: Smooth Looping Animation     Using Poser 7's Animation Layers to Create a High-Heeled Walk Pose     Animating a Guitar Strap     Making Windblown Hair     Animating Material Room Textures     The Animation Process -------- Poser: Lighting Tutorials     Make Your Own IBL Images On The Cheap     Adjusting Depth-Mapped Shadows for Best Results     Atmospheres Underwater     Using Python to Parent Infinite Lights in Poser® Radiosity     Setting Up Specular-Only Lighting     Setting Up Toon Renders     Advanced Material Room- The Alternate Channels     Image Based Lighting -------- Poser: Content Management Tutorials     Managing Your Runtimes to Increase Performance     Transferring Files from Shade to Poser     Installing Figures That Use Encoded Geometry Files     Installing New Content Into Poser     Installing Items from the Poser 5 Content CD     An Overview of Poser Content -------- Poser: Third Party Integration Tutorials     Building a Morphing Prop     Tip for aligning a Poser figure to a path created in LightWave.     Using Poser Pro's PoserFusion Plugin with Autodesk Maya     Using Poser Figures In Mimic     Using PoserFusion to export a camera pose from Maya     Integrating Poser Figures Into LightWave     Using UVMapper to Generate Templates     Serializing and Activating VirtualFashion Basic for Poser     Poser Import Demo     Creating a Scene Using Poser, Vue and Photoshop -------- Poser: Materials and Rendering Tutorials     Making Flash Animation Movies     Material Room 101- Working With Image Maps     Shading Polygon Groups In Poser     Stupid Node Tricks Volume 1-4     Rendering with Depth of Field     Firefly Rendering Tips     Ambient Occlusion In Reverse     Applying Displacement Maps     Wetlook Eyes and Lips     Node by Node Vol. 1 Color Ramp     Simulating Isometric Cameras     Animating Material Room Textures     Getting Acquainted With The Face Room     Using UVMapper to Generate Templates     Setting Up Toon Renders     Advanced Material Room- The Alternate Channels -------- Poser and Photoshop Tutorials     Creating a Scene Using Poser, Vue and Photoshop     David Ho- How To Create "Block Figures"     Brian Haberlin- Creating the "Hair" Image Using Poser And Photoshop     Using the Poser 7 Content Exporter with Adobe® Photoshop® CS3 -------- Poser: Posing Tutorials     Brent Rodenhiser's Pieta Tutorial     Grouping Objects in Poser     Quick Tip: Auto Balance and Posing     Posing 101- Getting Started     Quick Tip: Controlling a Figure's Eyes     Getting Acquainted With The Face Room -------- Poser: Cloth Tutorials     Dynamic Cloth and the Walk Designer     Introduction to Dynamic Cloth     Explanation of Cloth/Collision Parameters     Wrap it Up! Cloth Tutorial     Animating a Guitar Strap     Dynamic Halter Top Dress     Cloth Parameters and Their Effects     Making Poser 4 Clothing Work In Poser 5     Creating Conforming Clothing For Poser Figures

MotionArtist Variables Explained For MotionArtist 3 and 4 MotionArtist's variables are extremely useful, but actually setting them up can be a bit intimidating. This tutorial takes users behind the scenes a bit to describe just what's going on in all those dialog boxes.MotionArtist's variables are managed and applied through a series of dialog boxes that allow you to set values and define conditions under which certain things will happen. These dialogs typically appear in a particular order, and although their use has been discussed in and others, a bit of detailed explanation may be in order. 1. When you first click the Variable button in the Properties dialog for an object, you get the Variable Settings dialog. Any item in the page can control variables and also be controlled by them; this dialog allows you to choose from several options to determine how the current item interacts with any variables that may be present. These options include- A. Have a variable take on a value when the item appears in the Timeline (you can use any variable and assign it any value; this can be useful to control when options become available or when actions occur.) B. Have a variable take on a value when the item disappears from the Timeline (same theory here, but in reverse) C. Have any variable take on a value when this item is clicked (that's pretty self-evident) D. Have a variable take a value when the user mouses over the item- this is very useful for subtly controlling SWF activity or the visibility of things. E. Have a variable take a value when the user mouses off this item- see above. F. Show/Hide by Variable Value allows a variable of your choice- which may or may not be controlled by this item; the chosen variable may take values based on other activity in the page as well- to control whether this particular item is visible or not. Using Show/Hide by Variable Value in conjunction with one or more other options allows the current item to be controlled by a variable as well as to control a variable or variables. 2. Clicking the Settings button for any of those options allows you to choose exactly what happens when the chosen activity occurs. For the value-assigning functions (A-E above), this brings up the Variable Settings dialog, which lets you specify which value gets assigned to what variable when the chosen activity occurs. The first thing you'll see is a drop-down menu/text field with the current set of variables- by default in MotionArtist 4 you get 5 variables named Variable1, Variable2 etc. You can rename these to whatever you like, or click the List of Variables button to bring up yet another dialog that allows you to create and manage all the variables used in the scene (I'll get to that in a second.) The Action section allows you to specify what happens to the variable's default value when the action that you specified in A-E above occurs- you can have it assigned a fixed value, have its current value multiplied or divided, added to or subtracted from, or set randomly. Finally, the Value setting at the bottom of the Variable Settings dialog lets you set an explicit value to be assigned to the variable (if you chose the Set Variable Value radio button above) or to be used for addition, subtraction, etc.; that can be any value you like- you can even set it to use a different variable's current value, by clicking the Variable button there. For option F, Show/Hide By Variable Value, the Settings button allows you to specify under which conditions the item is hidden or revealed. The button in this case brings up the Conditional Settings dialog, which looks a lot like the Variable Settings dialog in that it allows you to choose which variable affects the show/hide behavior, and lets you set the specific conditions under which the chosen item is hidden or revealed. The Variable Values section allows you to specify what range of values will trigger the activity (value is equal to a given number, greater or less than a threshold value, or between two given limiting values) any of which can also be taken from another variable by clicking the Variables button next to the selected option. The entry at the bottom of the dialog lets you specify when exactly to show or hide the item- if you choose the Show radio button and select 'when the conditions are true', the item will be hidden until those conditions become true, and only appear while they are true; if you select the Hide radio button and choose 'when the conditions are true' the item will only be hidden while the specified conditions are true, otherwise it'll show up, and of course the reverse is also true. This option would seem to be overkill but it can allow you to very precisely control exactly what conditions trigger which behavior- you can have an item hidden or shown unless a particular event occurs, or while a particular condition applies, and it's all based on variable values. 3. Clicking the List of Variables button brings up the List of Variables dialog (logically enough); this dialog allows you to edit the variables already used in the project, and to create and edit new ones. Clicking an existing variable allows you to edit it- the Edit button then brings up the Edit Variable dialog, which lets you change the name and the default value that the variable will have. Clicking the Add button brings up that same dialog, but with a new variable rather than an existing one. If your MotionArtist 4 project uses five or fewer variables you may never need to use the List of Variables dialog, but MA3 users will need to get familiar with it since MotionArtist 3 requires you to create all variables from scratch. 4. Closing the Conditional Settings dialog brings up the List of Conditional Settings dialog, which lets you view and edit all the conditional settings that the current item uses- and a given object can apply different values to different variables depending on whether it appears in the scene, vanishes, gets clicked on, moused over, etc., and can in turn be affected by different variable values. Usually unless there's another event you wish to add, or unless some existing event is incorrectly triggered by this item, you'll just use this to review, but it does provide a useful overview and allows you to quickly get to any event managed by the current item.