Animating creatures in Bryce... possible?

[venom1138]

Hi,

I run a small (emphasis on small) graphics design company, and have recently been contracted to do some work on a low budget film to do creature animations. I have several programs at my disposal, but the one that I am personally best with is Bryce 5. I know that there are many new features available in Bryce 5 that I've yet to explore, but my main question is 'Can Bryce 5 successfully animate creature characters?' I know there is other software available to do this, but I love a good challenge, and it'd be nice to show that the ol' boss still has what it takes instead of passing this off to someone else.

Can anyone help me out on working this problem, or at the very set my feet upon the correct path for finding how to do so? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Andini]

Hey there, there Bryce is fairly limited as far as animation goes but what you're looking for IS possible. Although I've never tried it, I have heard that you can link the body parts of the character to cylinders to create a simple skeletal system. When moving between frames, you want to change the position of the character by rotating the cylinders on a hinge. Because I haven't tried it before, I can't give you too many details but you might want to play arounf with it.

 

[DBSSP]

This seems a little late in the coming, but for future reference, get something like Curious Labs Poser 4 or 5. This program is reasonable in price and can do exactly what you want as it is designed for that. You can then import a Bryce scene so that you can make your characters interact with the environment. The dynamics used in the software are worth the couple hundred dollars by themselves. Plus, you save alot of time and still have the "professional" results.

http://www.curiouslabs.com

The site will give you a better understanding of what it can do. My explanation, alone does no justice to this software.

Jay
"If the words up and down were reversed, would you trip and fall or trip and fly?"

 

[DruidofSystems]

I agree with DBSSP. I do a little Bryce work for a hobby, and I have found that with any animal, it is much easier to use Poser. The controls are not unfamiliar if you use price.

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