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From: [e-mail] (Dan J. Rockwell)
Subject: Re: mechanical movement
To: [e-mail]
Date: Fri, 2 Sep 1994 08:56:51 -0400 (EDT)
In-Reply-To: <[e-mail]> from "Kevin Bjorke" at Sep 1, 94 10:44:00 pm
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>
> Dan Rockwell writes:
> >
> > Well I'm not sure how the experts would do it, but in my mind, mechs aren't
> > known for being very flexible.   So bones are out as far as movement goes,
> > for the critical walking, swiviling etc.  A mechs motion should be very
> > analog, very blocky, no emotion type movement....
>
> ?? Even VOLTRON had significant emotion and symbolic resonance in its
> posing. Even old Gigantor, or the highly "realistic" Patlabor. There are
> usually people driving these critters, after all (Most extreme case: probably
> "Gunbuster"). I have a great old poster (at least 10 years old now) of a
> "Dougram" Roundfacer broken-down in the desert. With its anthropomorphic
> design, it can't HELP but look very sad, sitting there abandoned, even if it's
> only a machine. "Emotion type movement" is absolutely required to lead the
> action and make the animation worth watching!

Yeah but what I'm talking about is that every movement must have a joint
that relates to it.  You just can't have a mech bend it's knee, with no
joint present.  I'm sorry, but in my mind that doesnt look real.  Bones are
great, but mech's makeup shouldn't be displayed like it was organic, or
grown like a human form.  Meaning that a human form is one peice, were like
one big rubbber band, where as a mech could have a form of a human, but it
should still be very basic, and so advanced as a human form.

In the eyes of the viewer, people see mechs as these huge, unstopable, war
machines.  Sure there is some one inside giving it life, but there sould be
a limit to what they can do with it, and the blocks, and the joints have to
be there.  In my mind at least...

Dan Rockwell
Industrial Video


>
> > I'm currently modeling two mechs from the Gundam series ( japanese anime )
> > with a friend.  So far they're pretty cool.  Where making really mangled
> > morph targets so we can simulate so cool combat scenes.
>
> Back around '84, Digital Productions did a Gundam for Bandai -- who went
> running with their tails curled down tight when they found out what 1984-era
> CG cost. But it looked great. What I liked about it was the depth of detail in
> its movements -- all the little subassemblies and such that you could drive
> by macros or whatever, to give this very complex hunk of metal a real sense
> of "life."
>
> k "any cartoon, any time" b
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
>   Kevin Bjorke         |  If you draw a picture, and then draw more and
>   Animation Scientist  |  more pictures, and put them on TV, then dino-
>   Hi Tech Toons        |  saurs will turn into birds! - Rebecca
>