In Praise of Cartoons - Open GL movie?

[Anonymous]

Recently we've been taking client groups on a real-time "walk throughs" of projects using a digital projector and laptop.

A recent presentation was a resounding success - everyone realized our model was not perfectly resolved but the movement through the spaces made the project more "real" for our clients than some previously "perfected" still renderings did. People preferred the quick-and-dirty-and-dynamic OpenGL cartoon to the time-consuming still shots.

We had a nice philosophical discussion about the tendency to find flaw with rendered images that in their attempt to come across as perfect suffer because everyone notices - and pays attention to - tiny technical flaws of material texture or lighting rather than *thinking* about the project.

So here's our question and need - what is the best way - meaning most time-efficient - to capture an Open GL walk-through? Is there some sort of "screen-capture" technology out there that will record a movie of a manually-navigated walk-through? Or would it still be best to set up a path and generate a movie automatically?

We have some experience in the office creating various Quicktime VR scenes and stills with Artlantis Studio but have almost zero experience with packaging a movie.

Of course - and this may horrify most of the readers of the Rendering forum - the advantage to us is that there will be *no* special lighting at all - just get the materials and textures almost OK and we're up and running.

The idea is that this movie can be burned to disc and played as a loop at an upcoming building fund-raising event.

Thank you so much for your recommendations.

[Ted Taylor]

Check into QuicktimePro and Apples iMovie if you are on a Mac. Recently, I was able to put together a short animated walk through for a presentation at a trade show which was looped for continuous play. It combined a couple of animated sequences done with Lightworks from paths created in Archicad along with still photographs of an existing site. The path was rendered as a series of tiff files and animated in Quicktime. iMovie then allowed me to splice in the still shots with transitions, edit and split the animated sequences and in spots insert a still from the animation series to hold a view a bit longer for emphasis. It also allowed editing out any awkward parts such as clipping walls in the walk through path.

One other thing that iMovie did was allow the "Ken Burns Effect" to be used on the still photos and renderings. I could see where several selected renderings could be given a sense of movement with out having to set aside the hours required to do a series of renderings in Lightworks. Of course rendering out with the Internal Rendering Engine is quicker then Lightworks, but the control that the stills allow on focusing attention where you want it focused has its uses.

Given that I had never opened iMovie until the morning of the day I was committed to have the walk through done, it went surprisingly well and my client was pleased. My Son who is in the animation/ illustration business would and could throw a number of rocks at it, but for an Architect trying to present something quickly and inexpensively and not have it look like a complete kludge, the tools are and were available.

[Dwight]

Like many posters here, you short-change the advice you might get by NOT posting your system in your signature.

If you are Mac-based, as you should be, the utility "SnapzPro" lets you record animation including screen events like a mouse-driven walkthru.

Otherwise you will need to place cameras and save an animation from the 3D window. With Archicad 11 representing transparency in OpenGL, it gets another step closer to supplanting meticulous and difficult renderings. Keep ambient light high to avoid sinister darkness. Just don't give them textures. UGG-LEE.

[Dwight]

Aside from processed movies as Ted describes, looping a movie is simple in any playback application: Loop the movie and present full screen.....

But this is going to look amateur.

As Ted implies, a proper presentation should always tell the story with movement, quality stills and overlaid captions. We always forget that while we know the project, most people start from zero. To be effective rather just show off that you can do an animation, a multi-media approach is paramount.

Working on Mac, I would also recommend the application "Still Life" that makes interesting effects with stills.

[Aime]

Dwight said If you are Mac-based, as you should be, the utility "SnapzPro" lets you record animation including screen events like a mouse-driven walkthru.

I know this may sound basic but is there any advantage the Mac has with regards to animations.

[Dwight]

That is just my well-known and oft-expressed prejudice.

"SnapzPro" is a tool that many trainers use to record screen activity at high quality with microphone input for narration... and is a good solution to record OpenGL live walkthrus.

http://www.ambrosiasw.com/utilities/snapzprox/

I am sure competing PC applications are there somewhere.

I operate several PC only applications on my MacPro with a utility called VWWare Fusion. This combines the best of both worlds: Mac Interface and PC variety.

Mac has some applications that make editing video simple. As Ted outlined, the iMovie, etc, are user-friendly. Not that similar apps aren't found on PC, but we don't know them. I am using Adobe After Effects that is cross platform for above-average video processing.

[Aime]

Dwight said That is just my well-known and oft-expressed prejudice. ...I am sure competing PC applications are there somewhere.

Okay understood. Thanks

[Anonymous]

This is very helpful, thank you. Good advice from all.

- Dwight: what advantages and features are offered by After Effects over the other tools you mentioned?

Signature updated. We're running OS X.

[Stig Bengtsson]

Another great tool for recording on the Mac: iShowU

http://www.shinywhitebox.com/home/home.html

Stig

[Dwight]

After Effects is the top-of-the line professional application that lets you put a broadcast quality project together. It is like photoshop for movies. Other applications might not have the same features, but you certainly don't need AE for tiny Quicktime movies.