Request for custom animation override

Hello,

I am finaly fed up with the default "hands through hips", "walk like an idiot" and "ugly laugh" animations.

I want to get an animation override so that I act more like the real me.

Since I know nothing about this, this is sort of a general request for information.

I would like to pay someone to create overrides for all the default animations as well as a dozen or so "hot keyed" ones to work off of the function keys as a sort of "gestural puctuation"

Questions that come to mind are:

- How much would something like that cost?
- Is this sometihng I can do myself? (I am script illiterate right now)
- would it make it easier if I already had the animations?
- Are the Lindens lanning something that woud make this obsolete in a few weeks?


What I am looking for is high quality realism also, not a few model poses, so hopefully the person that takes it on would have to be very good at it.

- Depends on how many animations you are talking about, how long and how complicated you want them, I would imagine. Simulating realistic human motion through tweening, is very time consuming, and tedious.

- Scripts would not really be involved with these animations except for the override portion, and there is a freely available low lag override made by Francis Cheung(hope I spelled that right) that is considered to be one of the best. It is highly customizable, can replace all default anims, and can even call animations with a chat command. You could make your own animations of course, with the help of Poser or Blender or some other 3D animation package. Be warned though, they are not cheap, and the learning curve is no walk through the park either.
I don't mean to scare you off from it either, if you get some software , there are plenty of tutorials on the net, and you can IM me anytime for advice if you like too. Also as far as I know, Poser is still the only program that is making a usable BVH file that SL will not choke on, Although I did see something about a converter for Maya, but that program is expensive , to say the least. Not something I recommend spending your money on, unless you plan on making animations or rendering more than just a hobby.

-It would make it insanely easier , as a matter of fact , I would load and configure your Override, and make you some function key-triggered gestures for free, if you already had the animations.

-They are planning on doing lots to improve animations, but as far as a timeline to make the current override customization obsolete, I don't believe it is that close down the road. Someone correct me if I am wrong please.


I am always willing to take on custom work, I would require a detailed description of everything that you wanted, in order to provide an estimate for you, thus I recommend getting a few different quotes from other animators as well in order to make a well informed decision.

Thanks for the detailed response.

I have a copy of Poser but the interface is... original,
and I dont have all the time in the world to learn it.

I am sure I could do something given the time, but I am busy learning building, making clothes and the thousand other things you have to get on top of in the first months.

I do some RL scripting so I am sure I could figure out the AO if there is free code available as you said. It seems like what I am really asking for then is custom animations perhaps. For someone to do the Poser part to my specs.

Given that, ..
Are there people who do this? And how much do they charge as a ball park figure? Also what kind of setches or descriptions wouldbe required to get across what I want? Is there a library of animations somewhere were one could say .. "like that one, but not with..."
or wahtever?

It is a shame that SL does not have a simple shared whiteboard feature.

Apologies for all the questions, but I am still new enough to have never delved into this area at all.

Go have a look at the Emote-A-Rama.

you drop anims and sounds renamed for words (case sensitive) you want it to trigger on - then when you say something it strings them all together.. It comes with nearly 30 anims to get you started and you can replace/rename/delete them to your hearts content.

It doesn't inteferre with gestures, so you can run them over the top if you like as well.

There's a demo machine at Little Rebel in Gallinas that you can stand on and try before you buy to see if it's the sort of thing you may be interested in.

Also there are 2 anim expansion packs available with 10 anims each - and more being made all the time... if you can play the anim and rename it - Emote A Rama run it.

Oh and setup = rez machine, drop in anims, reattach -- done -- no setupfiles or other rubbish.

Siggy.

Thanks Siggy,
This is a definite possibility.

There are also several animation override vendors if you aren't feeling like making your own in Poser - I use Reveries "female AO" pack with some alterations to taste. (I use a somewhat lower-lag version of the common override script though, obtained from the Shelter.)

If nothing else, the "rolling somersault fall with Trinity-style squat landing" when I drop from flight always lets people know it's me.