#making it possible to pose them like that with custom poses and rigs | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

simplyanjuta · 1 year

Text

Making dynamic poses/animations that adjust to a sims body with Animation Tools by thepancake1

Made this short guide after talking to thepancake1. I haven't seen many people use this feature yet and felt like it might be worth sharing? There are some limitations to be aware of, but I think it's a useful option (for poses as well as animations) 😊

Many thanks to thepancake1 for the tools and for the helpful explanations he provided for this guide.

1. Background and in-game mechanics

The way TS4 handles different body shapes and clothes in animations (for example, in order to avoid clipping) is basically by putting markers (“slots”) on the surface of a sims body that can be then used as (IK) targets with the in-game IK system.

As you probably know, IK (Inverse Kinematics) – as opposed to the default FK (Forward Kinematics) – is a set-up where bones in a chain are influenced backwards. So, for example, when you move a hand, the arm will follow.

In a similar way, what in-game IK does, is assigning a bone or slot to animate relative to. For example, if your sim is posed with hands on the hips, you can assign the hands to the hips slot and the game will then process the pose/animation and perform IK in real time to change the position of the arms and hands relative to the hips.

Note that there are limitations to this system, though, as only hands, feet and the root bind can procedurally target other bones/slots.

Hereby, feet targets and root target are mainly used in interactions with objects, in particular in sitting animations (where, for example, the root is targeting a chair slot).

Hand targets are mainly used for adjusting a pose/animation to a sims body shape and clothes.

The in-game IK always influences the complete arm/leg (chain: foot-calf-thigh/hand-forearm-upperarm).

You can find an article that provides some background information here: https://simsvip.com/2014/08/20/community-blog-the-sims-4-animations/

2. Using the feature in custom poses/animations

Per default, when you make custom poses/animations with Blender and S4S, the relevant information that the game requires to apply in-game IK is not included. And so, you will notice that while a pose might look good with the base rig in Blender, it might not fit other sims with a different shape in game, in particular causing clipping.

You can use TS4 SimRipper to fine-tune a pose for a certain sim, but this might not be the solution you’re looking for, if you share your poses and/or want them to be compatible with different kinds of sims.

The animation tools now include a feature that makes it possible to use in-game IK with custom poses/animation as described in part 1.

Disclaimer:

The animation tools are in development and subject to change.

Currently TS4 SimRipper sims are not properly supported. (Although, imo for the purpose of the task, it doesn't make much sense to use them as models.)

As you can see in the comparison below, there might be some accuracy loss for the flexibility gained. (The position of the arms in the version without IK targets matches exactly the pose I made in Blender but doesn't work at all for the heavier sim causing extreme clipping. At the same time, the version with IK targets deviates a bit from the pose I made, but works for any sim.)

Below a short guide on how to set it up with the example pose I made.

1) You can download the tools HERE. Make sure to check the installation guide and tutorials in the wiki tab for the basics. (Note: The tools were originally made for Blender 3.0 but also support newer versions, in particular Blender 3.3.)

Some additional tips for poses in another post of mine HERE.

After you set up the tools in Blender and have made your pose:

2) Go to the S4AnimTools panel. Fill out rig name, clip splits and clip name as described in the tutorials linked above (also make sure to select “Allow Jaw Animation”).

3) Find & click “Create World IK channels”.

This will create 5 IK channels for the afore mentioned hands, feet and b_ROOT_bind bone. You can also add channels either by cloning the existing ones or clicking “Create World IK channels” again. To get rid of unwanted channels click “Delete”.

4) Set up the targeted bones/slots based on the type of pose you made.

In my example, I created a pose where a sim has the left hand on the hip, and the right hand close to the thigh. Therefore, I added IK channels targeting the “b__L_frontBellyTarget_slot” and “b__R_ThighFrontTarget_slot”.

The slots are marked blue in the picture below. Some notes:

The slots are hidden by default, I made them visible for the picture. You can unhide all bones/slots available by pressing Alt+H. But I recommend doing this on a separate rig/in another blend file or undo it directly afterwards if you don't want all the (unneccessary) bones/slots blocking your view.

The selected slots worked well enough for my example, but you should figure out what is suitable for you. (Fo example, the HandDangle slots seem to be commonly used when the arms are hanging near the body.)

As orientation you can also look up clip files for EA poses/animations via the S4S Game File Cruiser and see what bones/slots are used as targets ("Warehouse" tab -> "SlotAssignments"; IKChainIndex: 0 - left hand / 1 - right hand / 2 - left foot / 3 - right foot /4 - root). On that note: The Clip Pack export loses/resets the slot data, but you can use it to find an animation and check its Instance ID to then search for in the Game File Cruiser. (If you know the name of an animation you can also determine its Instance ID by converting the name with the S4S Hash Generator.)

5) To ensure an animation works properly and, in particular, blends with other animations in game, each IK channel should (also) target b_ROOT of the rig.

The bones are marked green in the picture below. This set up was recommened to me by pancake. Another experienced creator mentioned though that it's only necessary to target b_ROOT at the start and end of an animation, in his experience.

Also note that this seems to be a restriction for animations that are made as in-game interactions and might not be necessary for poses or animations used with Andrews Pose player.

6) The start and end frame is set according to the length of the pose/animation (I want to use the pose as a CAS trait pose and set the duration to 150 frames = 5 seconds), except for the b_ROOT target for hands where the end frame is set to 0 in my example, since they are also targeting the slots “b__L_frontBellyTarget_slot” and “b__R_ThighFrontTarget_slot” during the animation.

Note: My example is a static pose. In animations, however, you can also target different slots at different times by setting up multiple IK channels and specifying the start frame and end frame respectively.

7) Bake the animation by pressing “Bake IK”.

8) Export the clip and create a package with your pose/animation as described in the linked tutorials above.

@ts4-poses @thefoxburyinstitute

#TS4 poses #tutorials #tutorial #poses #animations #TS4 #sims 4

693 notes · View notes

madebycoffee · 4 months

Note

you make such wonderful deco sims (and thanks for taking requests right now!) I was wondering what your process is on making them? Idea down to actual deco sims in game being made.

༼ つ✿ ◕_◕ ༽つ This is so sweet!!! ;__;

As far as process goes, I did learn how to make them by reading thru this tutorial. It did take me a couple of times reading through and following along with a sim to make one! (After I did successfully make one I went through again and wrote out the important steps on a piece of paper. Just to solidify it, and to have a cheat sheet for later in case I forgot) Under the cut because lmao I am chatty today.

As far as idea -> actual decosim being in game. Most of the sets I've made stem from needs I have. Prom sims, High schoolers, audience sims etc. All of these sets I made b/c I needed to fill out scenes in my legacy @madebysimblr lmao. AND as I've gone along making sets, and all the sims I made last year for the 11DoD I've gotten pretty efficient!

I start in CAS first, make a single sim that will be turned into a deco sim. I save them to my library, and then to make 'swatches' I add that same sim to the household. There are other ways to make swatches, but I find this easiest.

Here's a household of clones I made 🤸‍♀️ I change their skin tone, hair, clothes swatches. Add/take away tattoos, and change up skin details. I find this process fun tbh, though it can be a little time consuming. Sometimes I make all the sims I have an idea to make in CAS before moving on to make the decosims themselves, other times I do them in smaller chunks. Really just depends!

OH and the clones/households are the reason I name all my deco sims. I work on them and remember them by name lol. (Above is Plasma! She'll be shared with the vampires i've made :) )

Once I've got sims ready to be exported tho, I then start working in my folders. After the 11DoD last year I really figured out a good system that works for me. I like things organized, and this also serves as a very loose step by step for me. -I export DAEs first, naming them 'Plasma1, Plasma2, etc' I usually do 4 swatches per sim. And yes I export each DAE, but I think that's less time consuming than recoloring after the fact lol. -Then turn 1 of the DAEs into a poseable rig. Save that rig. -Then I make a pose for said sim. It's faster for me to simply make all the poses for the decosims as I go, vs using poses I've already made. -Export OBJ -'asucc' is the base game succulent the above tutorial lists. It's my base for every deco sim I make. So next is save out all LODs. and then I take the sim into s4s.

-At which point I do a lot of things in S4S. I made sure to rename it, I include the name of the sim, my username, and the set of deco sims this is. A little fun blurb in the description, and change the price to 1.

-I change the decorative tags to be 'clutter, decoration (misc), and sculpture, and make sure to uncheck plant. I uncheck everything in the 'Function' tag EXCEPT for 'never receives snow' so you can use the deco sims outside in the snow.

-I add in swatch thumbnails, I eyedrop colors from the sim and the swatch thumbnails are 'hair color, skin color, and shirt color' usually.

-The only extra thing I do is then go into the Warehouse tab and change the slotting behavior to 0 unless I think the deco sim would be useful having a bigger slotting behavior. 0 makes it so they will not snap to any surface (and it's what most of my decos now have)

-Once I've done all of that I can take the sim in game. I check to make sure that all the swatches look right, that all the LODs are imported etc. If everything looks good I can then export the thumbnail to make a custom one for in game!

And once I've done that, I'm done. Usually what I do is work on multiple sims at once. So I'm posing a bunch of sims at once, then exporting all their OBJ etc.

It's a long process, and that's partly b/c I want these sims to be as good as possible to share out. BUT I really love making deco sims. And I've found that you really can never have too many, and they can be used in such a variety of ways. SO I'm happy to spend a bunch of time making them :D if you read all that ily thank u

#Anonymous #asks #it's a wordy one lol #but i have a lot to say about decosims apparently!!#oh and if you'd like to know how LONG a single deco sim takes me #probably about 45 minutes??#from making the sim in CAS to it being ready to be tested in game??#sounds about right

4 notes · View notes

ro-botany · 4 months

Note

Can I ask what you used to make your marlear piece? It looks so much like the intake cutscenes its actually insane!

Aw shucks, thank you!! I tried SO hard to get them as close as possible to the game's look, and I'm super pleased with how it all came together. :]

There was a whole saga involved in making those, hoo boy. The short version is:

I ripped the character models, rigs, & textures direct from the game

Imported the models into Blender

Used Blender to put the models back together...

...and to recreate the game's shaders myself (it tooks HOURSSSS of work anon it was so many hours it's so hard to do)...

...and to pose and render the two lovebirds - I used some face animations from the game to get me started on their expressions, but it was 90% customized by the end anyway.

Then I used Clip Studio Paint to touch up a few things, and to fake the emblem particle effects, since I couldn't figure out how to do the particles in blender in a way that wouldn't light my poor old laptop on fire. Though you could reasonably do that step in any art program lol.

I should stress again how fucking difficult it was to make my Engage shaders in blender. I almost can't stress ENOUGH how hard that was to do. Like I'm stoked about the results and all but holy mcfuck. It's not an endeavour for the impatient, I'll tell you that.

And that's even before you get into the fact that the character rigs look like THIS

And if you want to use ripped animations to help with posing, you can't really edit the rigs at all. I just separate things into bone collections so I can see what I'm doing and then rotate each and every bone manually without the help of auto IK (which doesn't work on these rigs) like the fool I am lol.

I should really write a guide to Engage model ripping one day... Maybe clean up my shaders a bit and make em available for download somewhere.... Idk, projects for future Robot.

1 note · View note

collecting-stories · 3 years

Text

Saving Grace - JJ Maybank

A/N: A You Are Ok drabble set ten years in the future

You Are Ok Masterlist | Outer Banks Masterlist

✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰

The Maybank house had sat empty on the cut for almost five years until JJ’s dad was released from prison. You and JJ had been down in Florida at the time, moved out of his cousin’s trailer and living in an apartment in the everglades. Talking about going home but unsure what the OBX had to offer at that point. It was barely two weeks after that when you both flew home, Luke Maybank had overdosed and the house was empty once again.

It stayed empty while the two of you gutted the entire place and refurbished it. While JJ and you stayed at the Chateau or Kiara’s place, while you found a job and found out you were pregnant, while JJ got a job for himself in the area and went back down to the everglades to empty out the apartment.

JJ laid the tile in the bathroom himself and fixed the plumbing. You painted the inside and outside of the house, planted a garden, bought a chicken coop. You and JJ moved in to the house and just like that you were back in the OBX.

You sat outside on the porch, drinking a cup of coffee despite the hour nearing eight o’clock at night. The baby monitor was sitting beside you, a soft gurgling coming from the receiver. You were waiting for the familiar sight of JJ’s truck pulling down the long driveway in the dusk. The headlights were already on, flashing on you for a moment as he parked and then cut off, the engine dying.

“Hey, what’re you doing out here?” He asked, climbing out of the front seat of the car and bringing a bag of chinese food with him.

“Waiting for you to bring me egg rolls?” You joke, before turning serious, “I saw my dad this morning, at the grocery store.”

“Did he see you?”

“Yeah...it was, really weird?” You suggested, reaching for the bag. JJ shook his head and held the bag away from you, a silent ‘I’ve got it’ as he leaned in and gave you a kiss. You wrinkled your nose at the familiar smell of fish as you pulled away, “how was work?”

“Alright...” he shrugged, “what did your dad say?”

“That he wants me to come to church on Sunday.” You replied, following him inside.

“You wanna go?” It was a question but the way he asked you knew that he already knew the answer.

“I mean...I’m not gonna like, start going to church with them every week and ya know, go back to how I was but...it might be nice. I do miss my family and, I want to have boundaries but maybe they don’t have to be like, huge ten-year silence boundaries where we never speak. I do want Willow to know her cousins; I think. What do you wanna do?” You asked, passing plates across the counter to him.

A tinny half cry sounded from the monitor on the table and you both turned to look over at it, waiting for a crescendo of cries that you’d grown used to in the last four months. When silence settled back in, you both seemed to exhale in relief. You wanted to eat and finish this conversation before JJ ultimately showered and fell asleep until Willow’s usual one a.m. wake up.

“Whatever you want.” He replied, never submitting to making the decision for you when you wanted him to. “Not exactly like your family’s a big of me.”

“Can’t imagine why,” you bumped his hip with your own, kissing his cheek. “Not like you totally corrupted their youngest daughter or anything.”

“Oh no, do not blame that on me.”

“I didn’t run away to marry myself.”

“If you go...” JJ posed, turning to follow you to the table, “do you want to go alone?”

You stood frozen in place, holding a box of cereal in your hand as you stared across the small expanse of Heyward’s shop, your dad there by the fresh produce, comparing two different apples with each other. The Outer Banks was a small island but you ran in very different circles and, in the three years that you’d been home, had avoided seeing your parents. Or anyone in your family.

You’d driven passed the baptist church, a sign boasting a new assistant pastor, one of your brothers, when you’d first moved back but hadn’t actually seen anyone. The possibility of seeing them again had been a long debate between you and JJ when you’d finally decided to leave Florida for North Carolina. It had been hard in the very beginning, missing birthdays and anniversaries and new babies, but over time the ache had dulled and you had shifted your attention away from what you were missing and focused on working through the things you could heal in yourself.

Now you were frozen. If you left your basket of groceries now you could make a beeline for the door and be out before he saw you. But then the bell above the door rattled as a customer came in and the baby swaddled against your chest started to fuss. Before you could attempt to placate her, your dad was looking over. For a moment you were certain he didn’t recognize you. Ten years was a long time. But then his mouth quirked into a frown and he set down the apples he was holding.

“Ace?” He questioned, the old nickname feeling foreign to you. It’d probably been ten years since anyone called you that.

“Hey, dad.” You nodded your head at him across the small store. You felt like tacking on a ‘surprise’ for good measure. ‘Surprise, I’m in the OBX, surprise, I got a kid...’

“When did you uh, when did you come home?” He moved across the store to be near you though he refrained from reaching out for a hug. You wondered if a decade had been just as hard on him as it had on you. Cathartic and healthy and freeing but hard. He seemed more mellow, you thought that before he might’ve pulled out a bible and started admonishing you.

“JJ and I moved back three years ago,” you admitted, slipping his name into the conversation as if to prove a point. “He got a job on a fishing rig.”

“Will you...would you come to church? We could have lunch afterward. Or you could just be there?” He offered. Ten years hadn’t changed his beliefs at all but it had made him miss you. Not knowing where you were or what you were doing felt like an ache in his chest that never went away. The anger had subsided to sadness and guilt.

Seeing your dad had been startling enough and you had almost wished, while you were standing there in Heyward’s, that JJ could’ve been with you. Though, you weren’t entirely sure that would’ve helped anything in the long run.

“I think my mom would probably be nicer to me if I brought Wills but maybe, I mean, my dad already saw her. He didn’t ask about her but maybe...” you groaned, burying your face in your hands for a moment as you tried to gather your thoughts. “Why didn’t we stay in Florida?”

“Cause we both spent seven years talking about how much we wanted to come back to the OBX...and my dad-”

“Jay.”

“Look. My dad was an asshole okay, he was a fucking nightmare but you know better than anyone that not getting to see him at the end...that was the worst call I’ve ever gotten in my life. Knowing Ricky was the only one up here and that he was alone. You should do whatever you want to do and I’ll be there, right next to you, just like I’ve been for ten years, but I don’t want you to have any regrets.” JJ replied, honestly.

You nodded, looking down at the plate of food and pushing your fried rice around. You knew that JJ was still hurting, that gutting a house didn’t take away all the memories that were trapped inside. “God I hate when you’re right.” You sighed.

“Don’t let your dad hear you talk like that.” He teased just as the monitor went off again, this time for real. You leaned against the back of the chair and groaned as JJ stood up. “I got it.”

“No, it’s okay, I’ll get her.” You stood too. “You need a shower, and sleep.”

“I haven’t seen her all day,” JJ pointed out, following you down the short hallway to the bedroom that used to be his. It was painted in yellows and oranges now, with a crib and a rocking chair and baby books. A sunset mural painted on the wall from Kiara’s girlfriend and a chandelier of stars from Sarah.

“What are you gonna do, take her in the shower with you?” You joked, lifting the fussing baby up out of her crib, “hey bubba, what’s the matter?”

“You have to feed her right? So feed her in the bathroom.”

“Oh sure, Jay, that’s super comfortable for me. I would love to feed her while I sit on the toilet.” You grumbled, already knowing that you would probably, definitely end up caving to him and doing exactly that.

“I’ll put dinner away and do the dishes.” He promised, “and I’ll punch you’ll dad if he says anything to piss you off.”

#jj maybank x reader #jj maybank x y/n #jj maybank fanfic #jj maybank x fanfiction #jj maybank fic #jj maybank fanfiction #jj maybank imagine #jj maybank x you #outer banks imagine #outer banks fanfiction #outer banks fanfic #outer banks fic #obx fanfic #obx fanfiction #obx fic #obx imagine #collecting stories imagine #you are ok series

197 notes · View notes

berrydoodleoo · 3 years

Photo

Two tarot for the price of one! Ardyn and Ifrit as the Devil (of course) and Aranea and Garuda as the six of swords. More about these choices beneath the cut:

So first, Ardyn. I was not super drawn to Ardyn on my first time through the game, I was busy yelling at the characters (specifically Iggy and Gladio) for making such bad decisions. Why on earth would you trust him even a little bit?!?!?! He is practically carrying a sign saying ‘I’m a bad guy’! You’re protecting the primary leader of your government AND your only hope of salvation! Obvs I’m still frustrated.

But moving past that, I think the connection between Ifrit and Ardyn is interesting. It’s probably the most obvious connection, as they appear together often, and Ardyn can control him through the Scourge. But I think they mirror each other well on a story level -- Ifrit was originally a kind and benevolent god, who gave humans the gift of fire and uplifted them (like Promotheus). Ardyn was originally a kind and benevolent healer/king, who wanted to save humans from the Scourge. But like Prometheus, they both end up in chains and tortured for millinea. In the end, they both decide to destroy humanity.

They also tie into the Devil nicely. Upright, the card symbolizes oppression, addiction, obsession, dependency, excess, powerlessness, limitations. Reversed, it’s independence, freedom, revelation, release, reclaiming power, reclaiming control. The card itself shows the Devil front and center, with two smaller figures enchained at his feet (in this case Somnus and Aera). I originally had something more complicated in mind, including both Scourge Ardyn and Healer Ardyn to emphasize the upright/reversed sides of the card, but between the additional two characters and the flames, there was just too much visual chaos. And I had to include the Bone Throne, of course. :)

Aranea! This card took F O R E V E R, mostly because I decided to be clever and create Aranea’s canceled DLC look and Solara, who used a few existing elements but needed a lot of customization. I really liked Aranea’s character in the game, but I feel like the chopped story between Aranea and Solara is a major missed opportunity. There are a growing number of video games that focus on fathers and their children, and I would love to see something similar with a mother and her child. Aranea and Solara traveling and training together during the apocalypse, with Solara’s potential destiny as the Empress of Niflheim, would have been a fascinating mirror to the Witcher 3.

My original idea was to put Aranea and Garuda together, even though Garuda isn’t one of the Six. They’re both linked to air and the sky, Garuda as an eagle and Aranea as a dragoon and airship commodore, and they both have a tendency to drop in and save Noct’s royal rear when he’s in danger. FFXV Garuda is a counterpart to FFXIV Garuda, who is screamy and tyrannical, which mirrors Aranea’s role as counterpart to invading and conquering Niflheim.

Given the air connection of the characters, I focused on the suit of swords, and the six of swords really captured some elements of Aranea’s character. Upright: moving on, departure, leaving behind, distance, accepting lessons, and reversed: stuck in past, returning to trouble, running away from problems, trapped. Aranea isn’t loyal to the Empire, although she does care about her country and countrymen. In DotF, she is very aware of how she is exploited as a mercenary and commoner, but also how the MTs have it worse. Underlying that is the reality that, despite how badly she and her men are treated, as Niflheim subjects they benefit from the exploitation of the MTs -- and we know that the MTs are just regular humans whose growth has been accelerated and who have been systematically abused by Niflheim. So the card’s themes of running from problems captures this element of avoidance of responsibility, and the themes of transition and accepting lessons capture her rejection of the Empire and its military and taking on a role as a leader.

The card itself is a really striking image of a woman and child on a boat, with six swords stacked in front of them. There is a man pushing the boat, but to me, he always reads as an outsider -- he is standing well above the woman and child, and is separated from them by several harsh lines. To me, the card symbolizes the act of fleeing from hardship into peril, and being surrounded by danger and bleakness on all sides.

Which led me to creating Solara’s model! I stuck to her concept art as closely as possible, and also gave her a stuffed Cait Sith. I started with an unused child mesh from the game and rigged it with Talcott’s armature and using the Data Transfer to get most of the weighting correct. It was definitely a learning experience! It’s not perfect, but for a simple pose like this it worked.

For the rest of the card, the six swords became a six-legged spider demon (also chosen because ‘aranea’ means ‘spider’). The boat is symbolized in Aranea’s ship, approaching in the distance with a little help from Garuda. I’m still not completely happy with the final image, especially the wheat and how busy the composition is, but eh. I do like how Aranea’s jacket and Solara turned out, so I’ll have to find a way to use them again.

#ffxv #ardyn lucis caelum #aranea highwind #solara aldercapt antiquum #tarot series #aranea is such a badass and solara is so cute #my art

25 notes · View notes

nattikay · 4 years

Text

hey wanna hear something that SUCKS

So a while back I made some customs Sims4 poses for my Jlaire family, so they could have a cute lil family portrait y’know? Well, since then their family has grown a bit and some of the older kids aged up to teens so I decided, hey, let’s make a new one with the updated characters. So I set to work putting it all together in Blender.

After two days’ of work neatly posing all the characters, I started saving everything out to export into Sims4Studio. I had a bit of a scare when I accidentally saved over the wrong filename and had to restore a backup--but luckily that got sorted in the end.

Finally I had my pose pack, and I opened my game. but SURPRISE! MY SAVE FILE WAS CORRUPTED! Trying to play the Trollhunters household resulted in Utter Brokenness. I tried restoring older saves, but alas, even the oldest backup was broken in the same way. So I had to start do a lot of finagling to reset everything while loosing as little information as possible. In the end, I had to save the lot to the gallery, save the household to the gallery (after separating it into two cuz I’ve used mods to add twice as many Sims as are technically allowed), bulldoze the lot, re-place the lot from the gallery, re-place one of the household-halves from the gallery, re-place the other half in a different lot, take some from the main lot over to re-claim the other half into the family, and BOOM. Finally, the lot and all the characters are working! I lost my clubs and some relationship levels, but those are fixable enough I guess.

Finally time to test my new pose pack. But it’s raining outside...no worries, I’ll just take the pic inside. Except...wait a minute...ALL MY LIGHTS AND FIREPLACES HAVE DISAPPEARED!

Well, that’s annoying, but it’s probably just from all that finagling I had to do to get stuff working. I guess I can just replace the lights. So I go into Build Mode and...can’t place any lights. It says I’ve bought them, but they don’t actually show up. Phooey!

Time to consult Google. Apparently this a glitch that’s been happening to several people since a recent update, and to fix it you have to Repair Game in Origin. Guess I’m doing that now. Naturally, my internet connection pulls some shenanigans and this takes longer than it should have, as well as an Origin restart cuz it froze the first time. But finally it works and I can re-launch the game (twice cuz repairing disables mods so I had to turn them back on which requires a restart to take effect).

Ok, my lights and fireplaces are still missing, but at least I can place new ones now, so I re-light my lot. Probably not as nicely as the original but hey, I can edit it later.

FINALLY, for real this time, I can try my pose pack!

I set up the teleporter, summoned all the characters, applied my poses....aaaaand...

it’s broken. Or, well, sort of.

This time it was my fault, unfortunately. See, I’d done a lot of scaling with the rigs to cheat heights/sizes so that everyone looked their proper relative age. I assumed this would work because I thought I’d seen downloadable pose packs where people had shrunk toddlers down to baby size, since you can’t really do anything with actual babies in S4.

Turns out, Sims4Studio does not actually import any scaling data from Blender, so while it might look nice in your editor, no scaling edits will actually show up in-game. The folks who made the poses with shrunk toddlers and the like apparently had to use special custom rigs, the making of which is far beyond my technical capabilities. So when the non-scaled versions were applied in game, everything got jumbled. Characters were too big or too small, or floating, or had their feet buried in the ground, or were awkwardly clipping through each other. And the only thing I can do to fix it would be to completely re-do all the poses with no scaling data--which could work for some, but definitely wouldn’t give as clean a result when it comes to cheating heights etc. and overall just would not be worth the hassle.

So I uh. just wasted several hours of my life, basically. Ain’t that fun. 🙃

#maybe I'll just take a screenshot of the pose in blender and use it to just *draw* the thing :P #maybe #but at this point...for now....aight imma head out :P

14 notes · View notes

sobokip257 · 4 years

Text

The Most ideal Approach to Pick up Wedding Photography

In the course of the most recent year, I've invested a lot of energy endeavoring to gain proficiency with the art of best wedding photography. In spite of the fact that, I actually have a long way to go, I can ideally talk as a matter of fact (positive and negative the same) of how to jump on the correct way as a wedding picture taker.

1) Increase an Intrigue

In case you're perusing this article, there's an entirely decent possibility that you have just arrived at this stage. Maybe you're keen on wedding photography due to the procuring potential, or possibly you simply love weddings and need to record them.

In any case, wedding photography is a creature like no other and truly requires some various methodologies. One wedding picture taker I worked with disclosed to me his preferred thing about wedding photography is that it consolidated so a wide range of sorts of photography: full scale (think rings), engineering (excellent places of worship), and even a touch of sports - envision catching a quick moving couple.

Discover wedding picture takers whose work motivates you. There are many skilled wedding picture takers, and motivation is rarely far away. Investing energy realizing what you like and how to introduce a scene is basic in building up a style. Wedding photography is an exceptional field, and it's not hard to immediately get excited in its realm.

2) Begin Helping

Have individuals shot weddings before helping an expert? Sure. Would I suggest it? Not in the slightest degree. On the off chance that you can bounce into shooting weddings all alone, you are unquestionably more gifted than I am. For me, I wasn't even happy with endeavoring it.

The main thing I did was to begin systems administration and discovering picture takers in my general vicinity. My first thought was to send messages to neighborhood wedding picture takers requesting to help or second shoot. The vast majority of these went unreturned.

Second shooting permits you to become familiar with the intricate details of weddings without the entirety of the weight.

Notwithstanding, with enough constancy I started to get standard work structure neighborhood pro's. Getting on as a subsequent shooter was one of my preferred encounters - I got the opportunity to go with various picture takers and to shoot some stunning weddings. The picture takers I got the chance to shoot with had many years of experience and truly comprehended their art. Considering their work and their techniques was the best thing I could possibly do to realize what it took to shoot weddings.

Being a decent collaborator or second shooter will keep work coming your direction. Recollect that when you're functioning as a second, your main responsibility is to supplement crafted by the essential picture taker. Avoid their shots, and shoot from integral (not indistinguishable) edges. One great methodology is to utilize focal points of an alternate central length; if the essential is shooting a fax, adopt a wide calculated strategy to the circumstance. Getting two takes on a circumstance is incredible for the essential since it will permit them to convey more pictures to the customer.

In particular, you do the things that they request that you do, without posing a great deal of inquiries. Attempt to remain one stride in front of them and think about their needs. I've functioned as both a second and an essential picture taker on weddings, and when I'm the essential, I have such a great amount of going on that an associate who deals with little assignments is such a gift.

When beginning, you aren't destined to be paid or redressed. You probably won't have the option to utilize the pictures in your portfolio; it relies upon the conditions of the agreement you're working under. Ensure that you get these things recorded as a hard copy and comprehend what the essential picture taker's desires for you are. Nonetheless, in spite of the way that you won't get by second going for the initial barely any months, the information that you gain is a tremendous interest in your ability.

3) Build up a Business

More so than maybe some other kind of photography, learning the matter of wedding photography is basic to your prosperity. The business has a huge measure of turnover, and a ton of this is because of newness to the stuff to maintain a business.

In the event that you don't care for gets, this isn't the correct business for you. Agreements set desires for an occupation and secure the two players. Exploration the agreements that picture takers use. There are models that are promptly accessible with some looking. Consider holding an attorney to guarantee that your agreement is hermetically sealed. Numerous picture takers additionally convey risk protection, just as protection that shields gear from being taken or harmed at work.

Decide the correct plan of action for you. Will you sell prints? Circles with computerized documents? Collections? These require exploration and imagined that stretch out a long ways past the extent of this article.

At long last, deciding how to advertise your business might be the best test that you face. There are no mysteries, only a great deal of work that must be placed into building a brand that individuals perceive and know. Find powerful approaches to publicize. Consider the way that there are both free (verbal) and paid promoting choices. I am a major adherent that the best promoting is fulfilled customers.

4) Exploration and Pick the Correct Apparatus

Numerous picture takers wrongly reduce the nature of work to high dollar camera bodies and costly focal points. You have presumably heard at this point that rigging isn't everything with regards to being a decent picture taker.

In any case, the opposite side of the coin is that better apparatus is an immense favorable position in a photography. Wedding photography is no exemption. A portion of the circumstances you will wind up in may put a ton of strain on passage level apparatus. Houses of worship can extend between sufficiently bright and counterfeit caverns. It's circumstances such as those that you will require the correct rigging to catch the wedding appropriately.

For me, there are two basic pieces of my wedding pack: a camera body with great high ISO execution, and quick primes. My go-to focal points are primes between f/1.4 and f/2. These permit me to shoot weddings in my style and guarantee that I can catch enough light.

A body with extraordinary high ISO execution can spare you when you're in the most obscure of settings. A glimmer is additionally significant, albeit numerous temples don't take into consideration utilization of blaze during a function. Regardless of whether it is permitted, you may find that your customers and their visitors would want to not seeing a glimmer spring up at regular intervals.

Camera gear with great high ISO execution and quick primes make low light shots conceivable.

Try not to disregard the significance of getting some more, quick focal points. During the function, you may find that you are further away than you had foreseen. Contingent on the customer's solicitations and church arrangements, you might be positioned in an overhang or in a side of the congregation. I have as of late got the Standard 135L, which is a 135mm f/2 focal point that will be extraordinary for these occasions. My own conviction is that picture takers shouldn't be an interruption during the function, so I'm frequently in covertness mode during this time.

Ensure you get enough memory cards to cover the day. Everybody's needs will vary, yet with a 21 megapixel camera, I keep a few dozen gigabytes worth of memory. The exact opposite thing that you need to happen is to fill your cards during the function and have nothing left for the gathering.

Additionally, don't set out shoot a wedding without reinforcement gear. This implies reinforcement memory cards, batteries, and most powerfully, a reinforcement camera body. This can get costly, yet recollect Murphy's Law: what can turn out badly, will turn out badly. What will you tell your customers if your camera quits working? Pick a reinforcement camera that you can change to reasonably consistently from your essential body if need be. The best methodology is to utilize two of a similar camera, yet this isn't monetarily doable for some individuals.

5) Make a Check Rundown: Planning is Everything

I think individuals tend to consider weddings one bound together kind of occasion. In all actuality across different strict and social fringes, weddings are profoundly various encounters. Moreover, the couple has endless choices that no two weddings are ever the equivalent. Accordingly, your encounters will fluctuate fiercely from end of the week to end of the week.

I imagine that the most disregarded ability is realizing how to interface with your customers and set them straight. Abilities like these are learned distinctly with training and time

In the event that there was one thing that helped me improve my outcomes drastically during the primary year, it was to truly plunk down with my couples and figure out their wedding. Thusly, you can set the desires for the afternoon, map out the progression of occasions, and ensure that their needs are met. Keep in mind, you are in the matter of giving client support. Upbeat customers mean more business.

6) Improve your Altering Abilities

In the year 2011, the advanced work process is a significant piece of practically every picture taker's business. Wedding photography has a few requests that are explicit to click here.

#best wedding photograph

1 note · View note

angel-phantomhive · 5 years

Text

Winx Club Villains Rewritten

Strap the f*ck in because I’m about to take you into a realm of ‘if the villains were a little more fleshed out in Winx Club’

Shadow Phoenix

I feel he was the most WASTED villain the series had. He didn’t even come back, which would be true to his name ‘Phoenix’. I also felt like the Dragon Flame was basically the series’s equivalent of The Phoenix, so he just didn’t feel at his fullest either, plus he was working with the Trix, who could have given him a mega advantage, but they weren’t worth the tag team.

Rewritten: Lord Darkar/The Shadow Phoenix was a part of Domino’s royal soldiers before he died horribly to Valtor’s vicious attack on the planet. The royal family had been working with Valtor for years, which infuriated him, but he kept silent. All for the sake of heiress Daphne and his Honor, something he valued along with his life. Every so often, he’d see Daphne and would push aside his rage, but when he died, he felt stolen from by the royal family. He was given a second chance when the Phoenix put itself inside him and amplified his dim fire powers. With that, he ruled over the shadows as the ‘Shadow Phoenix’ a name coined because of his black armor that was scorned from Valtor’s flame. Daphne had once warned Bloom of him, but she never took into account that over his years of ruling, he stole fairy magic and other magical powers to amplified his already OP powers. His defeat was brought on by his greed of power and want to kill Bloom before he’d take over the omega dimension. But he would seal his powers away when defeated to resurrect in a later season to get revenge over both Bloom and the Winx.

Tritannus

He was honestly one of the worst villains. He could have been used better, but due to Nickelodeon’s involvement, he just lacked luster. And he, too, was with the Trix, which could have been used better than it already was.

Rewritten: Tritannus had heard about Aisha’s fiance’s death and decided to use that against her. After trying to claim the throne and failing, he threatened Aisha using Nabu’s name, which forces her to search more into it, to which he tells her that they were close friends, which they never were. He’d tell her that Nabu wouldn’t want her to do this to him. While he’s out getting his ‘precious’ toxins with the Trix and the Winx are trying to stop him every step of the way, Aisha is always reluctant to fight him because she’s torn up inside. Seeing Tritannus and thinking of Nabu, who she’d been so close to, just breaks her heart. The Winx are so worried about her that they even get The Specialists to talk with Aisha about how amazing Nabu was and how he would never want her to feel threatened or caged because of an enemy, and she gains the strength to fight back with him, ending with a 1v1 with her and Tritannus, where he lies through his teeth and tries using his newfound power to kill her, but she manages to get the upper hand and basically wound him before letting the legal courts do with him. It won’t satisfy her, but at least she’ll be at peace with herself about Nabu.

Meanwhile, during the season, Tritannus uses the new powers from the toxins to create a sort of humane form of himself to get to the other humans to acquire more toxins such as pollution rigs and oil rigs to dump more, dig more, and just make Earth a hellhole. He even goes to the magical courts to start up discourse, which only makes them argue more and not resolve anything, ample chance for him to have the Trix steal from the pillars and get him what he needs. He won’t need them in the end, so he’ll just admit that they were just being used and strip them of their powers, effectively making them rush away to get air. He is defeated because of Aisha and she overcomes his manipulation and lies.

Selina

Oh, f*cking boy!

Rewritten: Selina was the Royal Advisor of Daphne. When her parents sent her off with her sister during the attacks, Selina felt betrayed. She’d grown so close to this woman that when she escaped with her sister, she was filled with jealousy due to Daphne not taking her with her. A jealous rage that she took out on Bloom by coming to Gardenia to pose as a human and got close to her. Bloom loved her from the start. When Bloom leaves to Alfea, it’s like losing Daphne again. She schemes with Acheron for the longest time before he persuades her to join Cloudtower to enhance her dark arts, which she uses on the headmistress, and summons The Trix to protect her. Selina soon poses as a student of Alfea and uses her position as a student to talk to the Winx, basically pitting them against Bloom and Daphne, making them wonder if befriending them was horribly wrong. She tells them nasty tales and exaggerates the bad things Daphne has done and things Bloom will do, which pushes Bloom to do something heinous, maybe nearly getting a friend killed because she moves out of the way of an attack or something like such. That cements their feelings. The group starts emotionally debating while the Trix take Bloom and Daphne, where Selina has her ‘big bad speech’ while the Winx are attacked by the newly resurrected Acheron at full power. She tells them about herself and then admits that she had feelings for Daphne, but, of course (because Daphne has a fiance), is rejected and Bloom uses her Bloomix powers to attack her. Selina is ultimately defeated when the Winx gang up on her after they had enlisted The Trix’s help (shocker) when they (Trix) learn they were just guinea pigs for Selina and Acheron’s plan, but Daphne is the one to tell them that she forgives the advisor. Kiss kiss, make up. It gives the audience a lesbian character, and Selina gets somewhat what she wanted. To be with Daphne.

Valtor is perfectly fine for me. He’d be better off without sidekicks, but he is better off. The Wizards were just fine. And season 7 villains are just not my taste.

Bonus:

The Specialists’s arcs

They could have been more important. Especially with Tritannus’s and Valtor’s villain arcs. They felt like Ken to Barbie for me. They maybe had something that could flesh them out, but not enough for us to feel invested completely with them or even feel they are relatable. Like Riven could have had a tragic home life which is the reason for his negative attitude. Brandon was always spoiled and felt so mighty about it and being around Stella, a spoiled princess, kinda made him think about himself and how he is spoiled. Timmy could try fighting his anti-socialness, just like Helia, but Timmy’s arc could possibly play out like Pidge Gunderson from Voltron: Legendary Defenders. He’d have to have a reason to follow The Specialists and The Winx (aside from Tecna). Helia could possibly feel neglected from the Headmaster of Red Fountain’s eye and want attention, but he’s been so isolated from his feelings that Flora just brings them out. He's confronted by the headmaster and he tells him that ‘You’ve never loved me like you cared for me.’ Sky, well... He’s already had a pretty decent arc. Maybe more on his relationship with his dad?

I digress. Before you start commenting that ‘It’s a kid show’, this show was meant for pre-teens and teens. Complicated arcs and more fleshed out characters are something we as teens would have loved to see from a big named show such as this one. Kids can be included. The show could have dove deeper into things such as Musa’s pain from losing her mom and seeing other moms such as Bloom’s or Gardenia moms, Aisha’s PTSD from being with Lord Darkar/Shadow Phoenix, Bloom having to integrate between her biological family and learning customs and her old family and keeping them well informed. I’m leaning more in-depth, not just an episode and it’s swept under the rug. For Ra’s sake, Bloom turned to the dark side and it wasn’t used to the full extent and Aisha even joined the dark side in Believix. We could have seen more from their perspective and how they felt about it.

This was just an opinion from an old 2011 fan of Winx Club. Have a good day and thank you for reading this lengthy rant.

41 notes · View notes

dramallamadingdang · 5 years

Text

Screwing around with...TS3??!?

Real life's been CRAAAAAAAZY this past week or so -- We're always busier and more social when in CA -- and I haven't touched TS2 or anything related to it -- including the Tumblr thing -- for like a week. Which sucks. I just haven't had the time or energy or concentration level to load it up and play it. But I did load up TS3 to mess around in because I've been in a mood to play it (That happens about every six months or so *laugh*), and since I have little CC for it -- mostly just mods -- it loads in about a minute...

So I've been poking at it here and there. I decided to figure out how to play households in rotation (Thank you, NRAAS!), so I set up a few households in a little CC-free world, a completely built/furnished custom one that I downloaded. I also added a fairly wide-reaching adult mod that I stumbled across when I was looking for stuff. It's called "Kinky World," apparently similar to the “Wicked Whims” mod for TS4, and some of its features looked interesting, so I installed it to have a look...and I actually quite like it! It’s not completely sexist like a lot of other “adult” stuff I could name, for one thing, which is a plus. I could do without all the porny stuff, frankly, because it just doesn't really interest or arouse me, and I do do without a lot of its optional stuff -- like, oh, rape, incest, and bestiality -- but I like some of the other things that it adds. Like an actual menstrual cycle for females, with accompanying realistically-narrow fertility windows, so that Sims can actually do the "rhythm method" to become or avoid becoming pregnant. Like functional sex work professions. And some nice additions to the hospital rabbithole that give you "surgery options." Like surgery to make one infertile (or to reverse those surgeries) or to change one's gender. They cost money, so it's realistic, and the latter would be really nice for playing trans Sims so that they can gradually transition physically, in-game, as they save enough money for the necessary surgeries. And there's drugs, with possible addiction. And yes, there's porn. Lots and lots of porn. *laugh* With some fairly impressive plug-in animations (with sound!), if you want to get them, that are integrated with the gameplay as opposed to just poses or random animations that you can call up. If you're, y'know, of age and into that sort of thing. ;) So, yeah, I've been checking that out as well as checking out all the EA stuff that I've never done -- which is most of it! -- because I've never had a Simming machine that could handle all TS3 EPs installed at once without the game becoming a lagging, crashing, quivering mess. This machine can handle it, for whatever reason, even though it's by no means a fancy rig.

And then I decided that I wanted to try to improve the game's looks. I got an HQ mod that also removes that $*@!ing overpowering bloom that the game has in its vanilla state. MUCH! BETTER! And then I also added one of Brntwaffles's lighting mods. Also much better! But with that in, the vanilla puddings looked...um, bad, to put it mildly. So then it was "Hey, let's download some defaults!" because that's the fastest way to get insta-makeovers for all. So, new skins, new eyes, new brows, new textures for all the hairs, yadda yadda. Plus the "You Are Real" thing that gives the skin and musculature some pretty amazing fine details and, last but not least...pretty naughty bits! Because if you install a porn mod, you might as well have pixels with pretty naughty bits! ;) I even put in a few custom hairs to see what they look like. My goal isn't to make things super-realistic or anything like that because that gets too "uncanny valley" for me, but I definitely want better- and more realistic-looking than EA pudding. Here's the current look, totally unedited:

It's moving in the direction I want, but there's still Stuff To Do/Find. Like, I haven't found eyes or eyebrows that I'm totally in love with yet. And I definitely need a camera mod. But I'm having fun downloading crap and screwing around with it when I have a few minutes here and there, which I just can't do with TS2 right now.

#sims 3 #yes 3 #i do that sometimes #but don't worry #i won't clutter up my simblr with it #and i'll never give up ts2

24 notes · View notes

romastone · 2 years

Text

Where can I get unique smoking accessories online?

Introduction:

We've been posing as regular customers and buying items from over 150 internet head shops for the past seven years.

We discovered that 40% of online stores failed to finish on promises, sent us broken goods, or provided poor customer service.

We do not even want you to deal with that nonsense, so we compiled a list of the top 5 internet corner stores.

This list will direct you to reputable online retailers where you can purchase your next doobie, dab rig, grinder, receptacle, vaporizer, and other cannabis accessories.

This article covers all retail prices and details, having the freedom to choose which best store for your necessities.

You can make out the things for getting accessories for people. Hence, every person can check out for enhanced features.

4:20 somewhere online head

Its420Somewhere.com strives to provide the best shopping experiences possible for its clients.

Few online hardware stores can match their price match assurance and same-day free delivery.

Its420Somewhere.com offers a wide range of frame shop products and cigarette apparel.

Furthermore, they stock each good they sell and do not rely on third-party collaborators to fulfill orders.

Grasscity.com

Grasscity Online Headshop is the earliest and most reputable online marijuana store. They debuted in the year 2000 as Coffeehouse.

Growing up, whenever I had a cannabis-related question, Grasscity's forum was always the first place I looked.

This webpage was my first origins story of cannabis, and it was likely yours as well. You've probably heard of their internet board, which has over 650,000 representatives.

Grasscity is a multinational company, so they have a supply chain to get you your products quickly no matter where it is located.

They have a large number of storage facilities in both Western Countries. Most orders are delivered within 3-10 business days, with the option to upgrade to 1-3 working days at the checkout. Grasscity also provides risks inherent thru a program called ROUTE.

Dank Geek.com

Since 2008, DankGeek Online Headshop is in business.

Its mission is to provide people with more affordable, usable, and one-of-a-kind glass available.

They call themself "Dank Geeks" because they are obsessed with "dank product lines." If you're unfamiliar, Dank is the colloquial term for "really amazing" or "cool." Years ago, while looking for new internet headshops, I came all over DankGeek.

DankGeek even provides lifetime discounted rates to all active and retired military personnel and veterans.

All you have to do is send them an email with your army ID, and you'll receive your coupon code—what a wonderful gesture to all of our service personnel.

Conclusion:

Every person can make out things associated with unique smoking accessories. All of these would make you with natural products without any issues.

#vaper #online vaper

1 note · View note

a1junkremovaltucson · 3 years

Link

Best Stump/Bush Removal Service And Cost In Tucson Arizona | A1 Junk Removal Of Tucson more information is at:https://a1junkremovaloftucson.com/stump-bush-removal-service-near-me/

Stump/Bush Removal Service Near Tucson Arizona: Are you looking for the Best Stump/Bush Removal Service near Tucson Arizona ? A1 Junk Removal Of Tucson, are experts in stump removal the most efficient and non-invasive method for completely removing tree stumps and roots and we’ve set the industry standard for how to best remove trees. Cost? Free estimates! Send us a message or call us today. Best Stump/Bush Removal Service around Tucson Arizona. We serve Tucson Arizona and other areas.

Free estimates. Call us now or book online quickly!

REQUEST FREE ESTIMATES!

BEST STUMP/BUSH REMOVAL SERVICE IN TUCSON ARIZONA TUCSON STUMP/BUSH REMOVAL

Stump Removal In Tucson Arizona

Stump/Bush Removal Service Near Tucson Arizona: After you’ve removed a dead tree from your property, you’re often left with an unsightly stump that can pose environmental health hazards, endanger public safety and cause property damage. At A1 Junk Removal Of Tucson, we offer hassle-free, affordable and fast stump removal utilizing highly-trained and certified crews and specialists equipped to safely and effectively remove trees and leftover stumps.

Safely Remove Stumps

The team at A1 Junk Removal Of Tucson are experts in stump grinding the most efficient and non-invasive method for completely removing tree stumps and roots and we’ve set the industry standard for how to best remove trees. Working closely with two leading organizations in the industry, the Tree Care Industry (TCIA) and the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA), we’ve established best practices for quick tree removal and safety protocols.

When removing your unwanted trees or stumps, we utilize the latest and most modern equipment and technology available for rigging and extracting. No stump is too big or too small for our team of tree removal specialists. Plus, our safe and effective land clearing tactics and site cleanups ensure minimal to zero impact on the environment or surrounding property.

Stump Grinding Services in Tucson Arizona

Stump/Bush Removal Service Near Tucson Arizona: Once your old tree has been removed from the property, the remaining tree stump can remain as a decorative feature. However, it’s best to remove old stumps because they’re often unsightly, a dangerous trip hazard and attract pests like termites and ants. Using state-of-the-art machinery, A1 Junk Removal Of Tucson will grind your undesired stumps and roots 6” to 12” beneath grade. Depending on the size of the stump, the process will only take half an hour to two hours to complete.

Despite the name, stump grinding actually uses equipment with specially-designed carbide teeth attached to a cutter wheel that moves back and forth, cutting the stump into smaller chips. The leftover debris can then be recycled and used to either fill in the stump’s hole, be used as decorative mulch or be removed from the site. After stump removal, you can then transform the space to grow fresh grass, install an attractive flower bed or plant a new tree.

Why Trust A1 Junk Removal Of Tucson With Your Stump Removal

Even if you’re a competent home handyman, stump removal is a task best left to professionals. The crew at A1 Junk Removal Of Tucson has over 40 years of experience and ongoing training focused on how to effectively and quickly grind leftover stumps. The benefits of hiring a professional also include:

Safety Guidelines and Licensed, Insured Professionals Better, Well-Maintained Equipment Proper Site Preparation Better Protective Gear Overall Cost Savings Affordable Tree Stump Removal in Tucson Arizona

Keep your Tucson property safe and looking pristine by having one of our certified specialists remove your unwanted stump. A1 Junk Removal Of Tucson specializes in professional tree trimming, tree cutting, tree removal and stump grinding services throughout Tucson Arizona. With over 40 years of landscaping experience, we guarantee services that are safe, efficient and affordable and matched with a superior customer experience.

Reasons to Remove a Stump

After going through the trouble to have a tree removed, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to leave the stump sitting there. A few of the top reasons to remove stumps from your yard include:

They are Eyesores – No one likes gazing out into the yard and seeing old stumps dotting the landscape. They look even worse when weeds and other plants start growing on them, which inevitably happens over time. They Take Up Valuable Space – Most people want the widest, clearest yards possible, and stumps really get in the way. They are Hazardous – Some stumps are obvious, but others get camouflaged by grass, weeds and other plants and become tripping hazards. Nothing is worse than stubbing your toe on an old tree stump. Assessing a Tree Stump

Some stumps are easier to remove than others and therefore different techniques can be applied. Being prepared ahead of time and knowing which techniques and methods to use for which type of job will make things much easier for you in the long run. For example, pine tree stumps tend to be easier to remove than stumps from deciduous trees. The roots of pine trees tend to be wide, flat and relatively shallow while deciduous tree stumps’ roots tend to be long and deep.

What makes a stump easier to remove? Generally, the age and size of the tree are the best indicators of stump removal difficulty. Simply put, the older a stump is, the easier it is to remove. Likewise, small stumps are also easier to remove than large ones. Another good thing to keep in mind before choosing a stump removal method is to consider the total number of stumps that need to be removed. Do you really want to remove 100 stumps by hand? Or even 3? This guide will help you decide which stump removal techniques and methods are appropriate for you.

Removing a Stump by Grinding it Away Yourself Stump/Bush Removal Service Near Tucson Arizona: If removing a stump manually won’t work and you’d like to get rid of your stump (or stumps) quickly, you can always rent a grinder and grind the stump away yourself. These heavy-duty machines weigh around 1,000 pounds, and you can expect to pay between $100 and $200 to rent one for a single day (see our guide to Stump Grinding Prices & Costs) . Therefore, it only makes financial sense to do the job yourself when there are several stumps to remove.

In addition to the grinder, you will need a shovel, a mattock, a chainsaw and a rake.

Use a shovel or mattock to clear rocks away from around the stump. Cut away as much of the stump as possible with a chainsaw. Try to get it as level to the ground as possible. Using the hydraulic lever, raise the grinder wheel a couple of inches above the stump. After turning it on, lower it about 3 inches into the stump. Move it side to side with the lever. After grinding down to about 4 inches with the grinder wheel, move it forward. Repeat the process until the entire stump is at least 4 inches below ground. Keep in mind that a stump grinder is a dangerous piece of equipment and that you should always wear protective gear. Be especially diligent about wearing protective goggles or glasses because wood chips and other debris will fly everywhere. If you’ve never used a stump grinder before, it’s also a good idea to have someone at the rental place teach you how to use the machine before bringing it home or having it delivered.

If you only have one or two stumps, a professional company will probably only charge around $100 to $200, so that might be the way to go under those circumstances. As an added bonus, many companies will haul away the stump too.

Method #1: How to Remove a Stump by Hand

People who set out to remove stumps by hand often go about it the wrong way. To do this successfully, it helps to be dealing with a relatively small tree stump. If it’s from an older or diseased tree, that helps a lot too.

To remove a stump yourself, it’s essential to have the right tools. You’ll need a chainsaw for limbing saw, a pick mattock, a shovel, a digging bar, an ax, a four-wheel-drive truck and some chains.

Follow these steps to remove a stump manually:

Use a chainsaw for limbing saws to remove any lower branches from the trunk. Remove the top portion of the trunk, but leave enough to use as leverage. Use a shovel, pick mattock and digging bar as needed to reveal the roots around the stump. Use a hose or power washer to rinse dirt away to reveal more roots. Cut the major roots with an ax. Try pushing the trunk. If more roots are exposed, cut them with the ax. Continue pushing and pulling the trunk until the tree trunk is entirely uprooted. If the trunk won’t budge, wrap the chain around it and connect it to a four-wheel-drive pickup truck. Alternate between slowly pulling forward and reversing to wiggle the trunk until it is uprooted. Method #2: Tree Stump Killer and Chemical Stump Removal

If manual labor isn’t for you, you could always try the chemical route. To remove a stump chemically, you’ll need a drill, a chainsaw, potassium nitrate, an ax and fuel oil or kerosene.

Here’s a summary on how to remove a stump with chemicals:

Cut off as much of the stump as possible with a chainsaw. Drill 1-inch holes around the perimeter of the stump. Move inward by about 3 or 4 inches and drill some more holes. Ideally, these holes should be between 8-12 inches deep depending on the size of the stump. Drill additional holes around the sides so they meet with the other holes to create 45-degree angles. Pour liberal amounts of potassium nitrate into the holes. Fill the holes with water. Wait four to six weeks or until the stump becomes very spongy. Use an ax to break up the spongy stump. Optional: Saturate the stump with fuel oil or kerosene and allow it to sit for another week or so. Optional: Ignite the stump and let it burn and smolder until it is completely gone. Method #3: Burn a Tree Stump

Let’s say you’ve chopped down a tree on your property and cleaned up all of the pieces except for that unsightly stump. Instead of trying methods that will either break your wallet or potentially break your back, you could also try removing the stump by burning it.

Summary of Stump-Burning Directions Drill a hole into the center of the stump about eight to 10 inches deep. Clean all of the debris out of the hole. Continue drilling holes, leaving about one inch between each hole. Scoop potassium nitrate into each hole. Pour hot water into each hole. Continue pouring water into the holes until the potassium nitrate has dissolved. Place the scrap wood on top of the stump. Light the scrap wood and wait for the stump to ignite. Use your shovel to break up any large roots or stump pieces that are left over. Bring in soil to fill the hole as needed. Method #4: Rot a Tree Stump

Very much the same as burning a tree stump, you can also remove a stump by rotting it and then filling in the hole after the process is complete.

Summary of Directions on How to Rot a Stump Drill holes into the stump 8 to 10 inches deep. Fill the holes full of your high-nitrogen substance. Pour water into each hole. Chip off pieces as the stump gradually softens. Fill the hole with dirt as needed. Disposing of Old Tree Stumps

Stump/Bush Removal Service Near Tucson Arizona: It may not be easy to dispose of an especially large tree stump. The city may not pick it up along with the rest of your yard waste. Contact your city to find out whether it will be picked up or not. If not, ask if there are any additional options. In some places, local recycling centers will take large tree stumps.

If you have several tree stumps to dispose of, it may be worth it to rent a wood chipper and then use the wood chips for various projects around the yard. If it’s allowed in your area, you may also be able to burn your old tree stumps. If you do this, be sure to cover them with scrap wood first. If the stumps are especially large, it may take a long time for them to burn completely away.

Many companies will haul away old tree stumps for an additional fee or include it in the cost of the service, so make sure to ask before you hire a stump removal company.

How to Use the Space

After removing a tree stump, fill in the hole with topsoil, spread grass seed over the top, and then cover it with mulch hay. Water it well and monitor its progress. After grass has covered the spot, you can use it however you see fit. Even if you choose to just keep the spot grassy and clear, you will love how much better your yard looks.

Conclusion

If you’re going to remove one stump from your yard, you might as well remove all of them. You can do the job yourself, but you should weigh the time, cost and effort that are involved carefully before doing so. There’s a good chance that you’ll have to buy or rent tools to get the job done, so it may ultimately be best to let the professionals do it instead.

Whenever a tree turns into a hazard to your surroundings, call A1 Junk Removal Of Tucson immediately. We specialize in tree removal. We work as safely as possible. We even grind stumps and haul away the debris.

Professional Tree & Stump Removal Services

Stump grinding Reseeding Bucket service Removal and restoration Cleanup for Your Property After Storm Damage

Safety should be your number one priority when your property is affected by a major storm. Downed trees can bring down power lines, cause property damage, or even worse, trap you inside your home.

Allow the professionals at A1 Junk Removal Of Tucson to evaluate the damage to your property and safely remove any debris, restoring your home to its pre-storm condition. Emergency services are available round the clock.

Excellent Storm Damage Assistance Debris clearing Fallen tree removal Limb removal Preventative tree trimming

Get Rid of Unsightly Trees on Your Property

When a tree falls on your home or vehicle and it is blocking your path, or if you’ve found yourself in an otherwise hazardous situation following a storm, you can contact us round the clock for prompt removal.

Tree Stump Removal Process

Stump/Bush Removal Service Near Tucson Arizona: Tree Stump Grinding Tree stump removal is a process where the stump is removed either using hand tools or mechanical machinery such as a stump grinder to grind out the tree stump.

A1 Junk Removal Of Tucson are experts at removing tree stumps and do so on a daily basis. Our extensive experience with stump grinding makes us a clear cut choice when it comes to stump removal.

Our tree surgeons are readily available whenever you need a stump removal service, we can be at your property in the click of a button! We have all the right tools and equipment to carry out stump removal procedures.

Our up to date equipment allows the grinding and removal of tree stumps with the minimum of ground disturbance. We tackle any size of stump, from just a few inches up to the largest stump imaginable. Where access is a problem, we have smaller machines to deal with this. We grind the tree stumps and buttress roots to around 300-mm below ground level which allows replanting or ground preparation for just about any purpose.

After the Stump is removed we will fill the resulting hole with the stump grind chippings. We can also take away the stump grind chippings and replace it with a composition of your choosing.

We guarantee you 100% satisfaction and the safe removal of your tree stumps with minimal disruption to your surroundings.

TIPS Stump/Bush Removal Service Near Tucson Arizona: Some stumps are easier to remove than others and therefore different techniques can be applied. Being prepared ahead of time and knowing which techniques and methods to use for which type of job will make things much easier for you in the long run. For example, pine tree stumps tend to be easier to remove than stumps from deciduous trees. The roots of pine trees tend to be wide, flat and relatively shallow while deciduous tree stumps’ roots tend to be long and deep.

Have you got a pesky stump on your property that needs to be removed? If you’re interested in DIY stump grinding, know that grinding a tree stump yourself is doable – but only if you know how to do it correctly. Otherwise, you may end up wasting a lot of time and money.

Stump grinding can be a complicated process (depending on the size and type of tree stump you’re removing), so it’s important to know how to do it right before starting.

Here are some of our best tips for Stump Removal:

Use the right grinder You need to use the right stump grinder if you want to grind your stump safely and quickly.

Grinders come in different sizes and with various features, so you need to make sure you have the right stump grinder for the job.

Most homeowners rent a stump grinder for DIY stump grinding, so this can be an option if you don’t own a stump grinder. If you do rent one, see to it that it offers the size and specifications you need for your tree stump. Bigger and tougher trees often require larger stump grinders that have more size and power.

Prepare your worksite Stump grinding can take a lot of time and work, so you want to make sure your tree stump and worksite are ready before starting.

First, section off your worksite and create a clear boundary or barrier around it. This will help prevent your family or pets from walking in while you’re working and using the machine.

Next, prepare your tree stump for grinding by removing all stones, rocks and hard debris around it. Stones and rocks can damage the blades of your grinder, so you want to remove as much of these hard objects as possible before grinding your stump.

Have the right tools ready A stump grinder is just one of the many tools you will use in DIY stump grinding. Some of the other tools you need include:

Shovel Chainsaw Rake Hose Have these tools ready and within easy reach so you can work quickly and efficiently.

Don’t forget to use safety equipment Stump grinding involves tree particles and debris flying out in all directions (not to mention the use of heavy tools and machines), so it’s important to protect yourself properly when working.

Some of the safety equipment you should use include:

Full-length shirt Full-length pants Safety goggles Safety ear muffs Dust masks Work gloves Take your time Yes, some DIY stump grinding projects can be completed quickly. But that doesn’t mean you should rush the job.

You should always take your time when stump grinding – not just for your own safety, but also to avoid making mistakes that could waste your time later.

For example, you’ll often need to adjust your grinder multiple times throughout the process, depending on the shape and level of your tree stump. You’ll also likely need to make several passes over your tree stump to grind it down at the right level.

It may sound counterintuitive, but the fastest way to complete your DIY stump grinding is to do it slowly and take your time.

COST How Much Does It Cost To Remove A Tree Stump?

Typical Range: $164 – $493

Tree Stump Removal Cost

Stump/Bush Removal Service Near Tucson Arizona: It will cost between $164 and $493 with a national average of $316 to remove a stump. Costs vary from $2 to $5 per diameter with a minimum cost around $100. Prices fluctuate with size, accessibility and your location. Stump removal is usually best left to professionals due to buried utilities and the potential for property damage.

Average cost to remove a tree stump is $2 to $5 per diameter inch.

Tree stumps can be unsightly and even dangerous. Removal should be a priority for homeowners. This guide provides information on the importance of stump, small trunk and root removal. It will also recap the various costs associated with the process, how grinding works, and the several factors that can increase or decrease the total expense.

Tree Stump Removal Cost Calculator

National Average $316 Typical Range $164 – $493 Low End – High End $80 – $1,000 Average Removal Prices per Stump or Inch

Stump/Bush Removal Service Near Tucson Arizona: Professionals price removal both per stump and by the diameter in inches. Removal usually takes about an hour and most companies charge a minimum around $100. You’ll spend about $2 to $5 per diameter. Per stump charges range anywhere from $60 to $350 or more depending on location and size. Always measure at the widest point at ground (grade) level.

Average prices fluctuate based on accessibility, age and overall project time. Multiple stumps usually get a price break with the initial one costing between $100 and $150 and each additional one running about $50 each.

Stump Grinding Rates

On average, professional stump grinding costs about $200. The most popular and effective removal method is to have professionals come in and use a commercial grinder. It costs about $3 per diameter inch in most cases. Clearing large areas or multiple stumps will run about $150 an hour.

The actual process of grinding when equipped with a commercial grinder can be a very short task, usually about 1 to 2 hours. However, the speed of the job depends on the expertise of the user and the quality of the machine.

Stump Grinding Cost Factors

There are multiple factors that affect the price of grinding including size, time, and quantity.

How Grinding Works

Equipped with large spinning blades at the front, these machines quickly reduce even hardwood to sawdust. They slowly grind back and forth to create mulch and sawdust. They grind below the ground to a depth of 4 to 6 inches. The blades also work away at the roots in the ground, clearing the area for a garden or lawn.

Cost Estimates for Removing Without a Grinder

Stump/Bush Removal Service Near Tucson Arizona: While hiring a professional with a commercial grinder, it also tends to be the most expensive. There are alternatives, and these include using a chemical solution, burning or digging it out. Some professionals will dig out small ones by hand, but larger ones have roots that are too large to make this a viable option.

Burning

Burning a tree stump costs $6 to $100. Those costs come from power drill rental and purchasing potassium nitrate such as Spectracide Stump Remover Granules. Homeowners who want to save money and skip the professional option can choose to create a wood fire and burn away the wood. Be sure to check with your fire department and follow all safety precautions before burning.

Chemical Rotting

Chemical solutions require the least amount of labor, but the potassium nitrate can take weeks to soften the wood before making it easy enough to remove. Prices for rotting are identical to burning at $6 to $100 – requiring potassium nitrate and a drill.

Manual Removal

Digging out a stump costs $50 to $350 and requires digging and cutting through the tap root and any other roots until it is loose. Costs come from landscaping tools like shovels and axes on top of average labor costs of $38 per hour.

Cost Factors

The biggest factor that will influence the project budget is whether homeowners hire a professional to tackle the job or try to do it themselves. While the average price of professional services is similar across the country, size, location, tree type, root systems, and clean up all affect cost.

Small Shrubs vs. Large Stumps

Size matters. Since most removal services charge between $2 and $5 per diameter inch, the larger the stump the higher the price. Larger ones usually have more complex root systems. Removal services may charge between $100 to $200 per hour for root removal.

Geographic Location

Location affects pricing in two ways: market costs and travel time. Most professional services work for a minimum amount, usually $100 within their service area. If you live outside the service area, expect additional travel expenses of at least the federal travel rate of $0.55 per mile.

The market you live in will also affect pricing. Expect to pay more in large urban centers where accessibility, permitting, insurance and overhead drives up professional fees. Rural areas tend to be cheaper, though most still have a minimum of $100 per job.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Can A Tree Be Removed Without Leaving A Stump?

Tree-removers can’t cut a tree down flush with the ground, so there will always be a stump.

What are a couple of the most popular methods of tree stump removal?

Stumps can be eliminated by using chemicals, extracting, burning or grinding so as to remove them.

What tree stump removal method does the job the most efficiently?

There is no one solution that is more effective in comparison to any one of the others. Rather, the appropriate solution will depend on the overall size of the tree stump, its root system, and several many other elements.

What does tree stump grinding cost?

Stump grinding can either be priced by the hour or by the tree stump. A per hour price should usually cost about $120-150, whereas a ‘per stump’ price is harder to determine.

How much time does it take to remove a tree stump?

The length of time it takes to take out a stump will depend on the solution chosen by the tree surgeon. Making use of a mechanical tree stump grinder or a mechanical tree stump remover may be completed in half a day whereas burning or using enzyme treatments can take substantially even longer.

What is the most efficient solution of tree stump removal?

The ideal solution is to pull out the tree stump by working it loose from the ground and then utilizing a cable or pulley to forcefully hoist it from its root systems. This procedure necessitates heavy machines and is definitely not a DIY job.

Are the staff insured?

Stump grinding can be hazardous in some circumstances, and that is why it is so vital to locate a service provider with both the practical knowledge and experience to complete the job efficiently. It is also vital to mitigate any type of conceivable risk. Every one of the tree stump grinding companies in our network enlists the services of tree surgeons who are completely insured & licensed.

Can’t I simply burn a tree stump out?

Many homeowners make the oversight of assuming they can easily use petrol or paraffin to burn a tree stump out. Although this specific technique may and sometimes will do the job, it may be dangerous for people that are inexperienced. What is more, in many cases, the tree stump doesn’t completely burn out, which then leaves behind an unattractive growth.

Should the tree roots be removed, also?

Root removal isn’t typically included in a stump removal service, and in most cases, it isn’t required. Once a tree stump has been correctly removed, the tree roots should not keep on growing and should pose no concerns to your home’s structure or garden.

Am I able to perform the tree stump removal on my own?

Some residential property owners assume that it should be alright to take out a tree stump by securing a rope or strap to it and then trying to pull it out using a truck or van, or by trying to burn it to where what’s left of the tree stump could be removed using a chopping axe. That being said, none of these particular methods are advised, as significant damages to your house can be caused.

Is it going to cost a lot to get the tree stumps cleared away on my house?

Stumps that are faster and simpler to take out will cost less than those tree stumps that are much bigger and much more deeply rooted. When talking to the tree stump removal service providers, they should give you a quotation, that will include full clearing of any tree stumps that may be present in the garden that have become a hazard and you would like them removed.

How much does it cost to have trees Stump removed?

Every property is uniquely different, therefore we are not able to provide general estimates, but we are available to schedule free estimates over the phone or by electronic form.

How long do tree Stump removal/thinning services usually take?

It depends on the amount of work that needs to be completed at the job site. A single tree, depending on size, can take anywhere between 1-4 hours to remove.

What should I expect when you arrive at my property?

Professional services provided by qualified tree technicians. We provide our customers with a detailed explanation of services to be performed upon arrival and ensure that clean-up is done before we leave the premises. We treat your home as though it were our very own.

How can I determine if I need to have a tree Stump removed?

These are some of the visible signs that a tree may need to be removed:

Signs of decay on trunk or branches If the tree has a history of falling branches Signs of fungi attached to the trunk or branches Signs of termite activity Cracks or splits in the trunk or branches

CALL FOR US: Stump/Bush Removal Service Near Tucson Arizona How To Remove Shrub Stumps Bush Stump Removal Tools Bush Stump Removal Price Stump Removal Methods Tree Stump Removal Cost Remove Rose Bush Stump Stump Removal Services Tree And Bush Removal Prices Bush Stump Removal Cost Near Tucson Arizona Bush Stump Removal Tree Stump Removal Cost Tree Stump Removal Services Remove Rose Bush Stump Tree And Bush Removal Stump Removal Stump Services Some Results Have Been Removed Near Tucson Arizona

BEST STUMP/BUSH REMOVAL SERVICE IN TUCSON ARIZONA A1 JUNK REMOVAL OF TUCSON REQUEST FREE INFORMATION NOW.

CONTACT DETAILS A1 Junk Removal Of Tucson Tucson`s Favorite Junk Removal Company! Call Us : (520) 353-3421 Location : Tucson Arizona Opening hours: Monday to Sunday 7 am – 11 pm Websites : https://a1junkremovaloftucson.com/

OUR SISTER COMPANIES NEAR TUCSON ARIZONA A1 JUNK REMOVAL OF TUCSON (520) 353-3421 https://a1junkremovaloftucson.com/ TUCSON HAULING JUNK & MOVING (520) 353-3428 https://tucsonhaulingjunkmoving.com/ TUCSON JUNK REMOVAL (520) 353-3434 https://cheapjunkremovaltucson.com/ TUCSON JUNK DISPOSAL (520) 353-3430 https://tucsonjunkdisposal.com/ PRICE MOVING HAULING TUCSON (520) 353-3422 https://movingservicetucson.com/

0 notes

smileitconfusespeoplex · 4 years

Text

water borehole drilling - Different Classes for Certain Needs

There are numerous various kinds of products and services used for positioning, in relation to the precise type of market they are applied for. Businesses thus have to find the proper type of solution in order to control their companies successfully. what is a borehole , products and services expected when positioning for nutrients or even power exploration involves coring systems, wireline programs, threaded drill rods and stone drill parts etc. Products to get the alignment of cores as well as programs for surveying boreholes may also be very borehole construction .

Products essential for environmental going contain handheld pneumatic rock workouts and many different percussive exercise bits. Different types of equipment contain positioning rigs, going liquids and inflatable packers etc. These methods will also be required for infrastructure progress jobs to be able to strengthen the bottom under large structures.

A business that is involved in spring removal or going for water, normal fuel or petroleum needs guidance from perfect manufacturer of drilling products. An experienced company can give them the required guidance about the merchandise to be purchased. As a subject of fact, the better businesses may also be in a position to create and production products with the customer's needs in borehole drilling borehole casing prices

If you are a contractor who wants to have a lot of going done then the right products will help you to improve your production and hold it at an increased level without compromising on security below any circumstance. You is likewise able to defend myself against a number of projects when you have the absolute most acceptable how does a borehole work One other benefit of using the correct items is that you will get your projects performed within an environmentally sound way; this is a element that is accepting lots of significance nowadays thanks to improved community consciousness and activism. You is likely to be glad to understand that the right where does borehole water come from items which were selected with a lot of attention will go quite a distance to ensuring your organization is really as productive as possible. You may also have a lot less complications to do with your business.

The world's key vehicle producers and energy companies grudgingly acknowledge that the planet will eventually come to an end of oil, and they have started study and growth with option sources and fuels. None of the tests has generated a significant discovery, but them all show good promise. Meanwhile, nevertheless, the world's demand for fat raises as emerging countries involve more and more gasoline to perform their burgeoning production plants.

As a result of borehole maintenance economic, and political concerns, oil exploration and new positioning have unsuccessful to help keep velocity with raising demand. Hence, oil rates increase in line with the regulations of present and need, frequently creating financial turmoil in the oil- producing and the oil-consuming nations.

Geologists have mapped the world's largest oil reserves, many which stay undeveloped. In the fat and gas exploration process, developers stay unwilling to punch test wells till geologists examine drilling's feasibility and practicality. Some internet sites obviously are better than others, and some, despite their spot around large gas reserves, pose extremely hard challenges for drillers and borehole repairs

As they slim the options, geologists study geography, topography, and environment, analyzing ground problems for drilling. They also complement their preliminary explorations with ground-penetrating radar, estimating the size and volume of the undercover reserves. Geologists also remove and check land and steel products, assessing the difficulty of drilling. Using a variety of sophisticated instruments and 3D-imaging units, explorers water borehole drilling chart each encouraging website in three dimensions, eventually planning the perfect course for the drill.

Specialists declare a hold should include at the very least 160 million fights of oil to produce more exploration and drilling worthwhile. Deciding a site's viability will take as much as three years and charge countless pounds: An individual test-well fees a lot more than $2.5(US) borehole drilling and explorers often drill at the very least four check wells on each site. Explorers normal about 50% success. Opportunity capitalists and gas businesses, thus, wager a good deal on fairly uncertain odds.

Perfectly right, clear and precise downhole positioning is borehole companies In a geological sport of "rocks-paper-scissors," rocks generally win. The report chart might plot an ideal path for the "borehole," but the drill-bit seldom reductions right to the rock under the influence of gravity alone. Downhole positioning a borehole does not advance as just as dropping a plumb-line from a stick, because thick, drill-resistant stones can deliver the routine careening in to the earth at significantly oblique sides; or dense stones merely may crack the routine bits. Since an observer can't simply look down into the hole to make certain the exercise has remained slowly on course, drillers typically check their boreholes and keep on choosing the rocks and sediment they draw out from the hole.

Many drillers employ "wireline services" to monitor and information their drilling procedures, because wireline services have command of extremely particular tools for monitoring and adjusting the borehole's path and dimensions. Along with sustaining the borehole's proper journey, wireline solutions calculate temperature and stress well beneath the Earth's crust, helping drillers conform to different kinds of opposition, and supporting developers foresee certain requirements for working oil out from the hole. Wireline consultants frequently stay at a drill site from the drill's first transmission to production of the fat well's first borehole water.

0 notes

thegamedevquest · 4 years

Text

From Blender to pixel art

Hey guys !

Last time, i mentioned that the first game is a 2D pixel art platformer, but it was really important to me that the animations were smooth and fluid. The usual (and to be honest, best looking) way to achieve this is by having a 2D artist working on tons of frames (the more you want fluid animations at 60 fps, the more frames you need).

Examples from PixelOutput

The way that i chose, i thought i came up with the ideas myself but it's actually something that has been used many times before in the industry, the most recent example i have in mind being Dead Cells. The idea is to use all the 3D workflow sugar (keyframing, animating, iterating on the mesh without necessarily having to rework the animations, blending between poses or between animations using Mecanim,...), and making it render as pixel art on screen. This article will detail the workflow (actually the main steps of it) i've used to create, animate and render my main character, and i'll be providing very helpful links i've been referring to for most of the steps. Thanks to all of these guys for their great insights.

Step 1 - Create a character MakeHuman is free and very easy to use. I won't elaborate on this, check this tutorial if you need any help.

Step 2 - Customizing the character Once your character is in Blender, you have the opportuniy to customize it as you see fit. Depending on what you want to do, it will require more or less modeling skills. For my game i knew i'd go with the black solid color for characters, so i only needed a silhouette which simplifies a lot this process. I just sculpted a really barebone backpack because i wanted my main character to have one. Remember it will be rendered as pixel art in the end, so no need to be too finicky about the details. You may have noticed that the mesh from MakeHuman has quite a lot of vertices. If you think you may run into performance issues because of that (for instance, if you want to display a large number of characters on screen), you may want to simplify the mesh topology using modifiers or manual retopology. I didn't, my main character appears only once in the game.

Step 3 - Rigging Once you're happy with the mesh, you can rig it. Again this is very standard and straightforward (but not necessarily easy), check this tutorial. For an easier setup, you can also use Rigify (which i did). Get familiar with the rig, but because it's a human character and we will be doing a lot of animations, you absolutely need IK on your rig for arms and legs, or you will quickly feel the urge to kill yourself. Check this out to understand IK and how to set it up in Blender. Feel free to make your rig more personal, it's all about how you will use it to animate. This part is important because you create the tools you'll be using while iterating, so these tools must be as efficient as possible to have you win as much time as possible. For example, i removed a lot of bones that i didn't require because of my art style that will hide details (fingers, toes,..). Make it easy on yourself!

Step 4 - Animation Now that your model is rigged, you can animate it. There is little to know from the technical standpoint (check this tutorial to get you started), but be warned that you will spend A LOT of time on animations. First try to think of the framerate of animations that you'll be using in-game (configured in Unity) so you use the same in Blender. Then for each animation, i usually follow these steps : - If possible, study the movement you want to make by watching videos in slow motion on youtube or whatever. - Think about how you'll use the animation in game. For a 2D platformer, you only need the animation to look good from one side. So put your animation view to the side and work from there. It doesn't matter if the limbs are all wrong when looking the animation from the face: The player will never see that. - Time the animation by doing a rough keyframing of the "big movements" of your animation (ie left foot/right foot for a walk cycle) - If i'm doing a cycle animation, i'll duplicate the first frame to the frame "last+1" (if your animation is 50 frames long, duplicate frame 1 in frame 51). This is so interpolation will make your cycle loop perfectly. - Iterate to improve on these keyframes until you're happy with the overall movement. - Begin to add smaller details (think, sub-animations) and iterate on them. - Remember to focus your efforts on what really matters: Spend more time on the animations you'll be seeing most often. Walk and run cycles are very important for instance, you'll be doing that the whole time in-game.

My animations honestly don't look very good, even from the side, but once they are displayed as pixel art and blended with Mecanim, i think the result is good enough, and fits my expectations of fluidity and smmoothness. That's one way of getting around a weakness (ie. my inability to animate properly a human character) to not let it hurt the game idea you have in mind.

Step 5 - From Blender to Unity To export from Blender to Unity is a simple process, but it raise a few issues regarding scaling, rotation, export and import settings,... I've solved all of them using the settings described in this link, but please keep in mind it might change depending on versions of both Blender and Unity.

Step 6 - Setting up the in-game character Having your model show and animate in Unity is usually as simple as a drag and drop. In my case, since i'm doing a 2D game with 3D models, i had to make a prefab that would just add a 2d collider, and set the Z position so the model is displayed above all the sprites (which have Z == 0). Since the camera is orthographic, the bigger scale of the character because of its proximity with the camera won't be an issue.

Step 7 - Render as pixel art Unity now provides some tools to render your game with a pixel-perfect camera. This article from Unity explains it very well. You can also set a custom resolution for your game view that matches your render resolution, so you have a good preview even when the game is not running which is very helpful for designing UI or using Unity animation sequence tool.

Step 8 - Mecanim I'll skip this step as it's very dependant on the game. For a very simple Mecanim example of a 2D character playing a run animation when moving, check this tutorial. The advantage of using 3d models and animations is that Mecanim will be able to blend bone positions between animations, allowing for smoother transitions. Be careful to keep the Animator clean (These are good tips), as things can quickly go out of control in Mecanim. This is my complete Animator for Skyline Rider :

Step 9+ - Iterating Now that everything is setup, you can start iterating. Try out your game, see how your animation feels, go to Blender to make a few tweaks, then export to fbx again and continue testing. Most of the time you can even remain in play mode and the animation will be updated without the need to restart the game. I think of it as "gameplay driven" design which is only possible with great workflows. If you had to redraw every frame when you want to tweak an animation or the looks of a character, you waste a lot of time and either the budget explodes and the release date is pushed away, or you end up with "animation driven" design where programmers will need to make gameplay fit animation, and my personal opinion is that it can hurt the feeling of the game, which must always remain the top priority (at least, in the kind of game i like). This will probably be less and less of an issue with the continuous progress of procedural animation and animation rigging. Looking forward to working on things like that !

Obviously this whole 2D/3D is kind of a workaround, so in the next article i'll mention something that was actually made less convenient because of this.

Thanks for reading!

If you have questions or want to know more about this workflow, feel free to contact me (check the first post for contact information).

0 notes

odogaronfang · 7 years

Note

Could you share some of your headcanons for shadow?

!yes! i can! all these shadow asks, yall are killing me, letting me talk about my trash boy so much, you need to stop, (keep doing it)

i’ll shove this under a readmore because it ended at a whopping 1700 words, you guys are really indulging me

-shadow smiles a lot. don’t mistake it for happiness, or friendliness, or really anything benevolent. at least not at first. the dark world is very different in their customs and etiquettes, models them more so after… not animals, but natural instinct, as it were. so smiling, where shadow comes from, makes a statement: i’m stronger than you, i am in a place to taunt you without fearing for myself, i am challenging you to challenge me. things of that nature. shadow knows that with his magic he is far more powerful than the majority of hylians, save for zelda and perhaps the links. so in a post-manga situation where he has his magic still, he is CONSTANTLY grinning at people. he knows he has the upper hand, always. he has to be watched carefully, in the event that someone irritates him. on the flip side, though, if it’s a post-manga situation in which he’s without his magic, for whatever reason- too weak to use it, no source in Hyrule, lost the ability when he was revived- he’s very solemn. magic was his entire fighting style, in the dark world and hyrule; if he doesn’t have that, he knows he’s in no place to go around offering challenges. the way he sees it he may as well tape a ‘KILL ME’ sign to his forehead.

-expanding on this: he feels very intimidated in hyrule at first, especially if he’s been reincarnated without his powers. he doesn’t understand the customs of hylians, doesn’t know just how different they are from the dark world’s. so imagine walking outside, and everyone’s threatening you. everywhere you look there’s someone inviting you to die. that’s what he sees, before he knows the connotation hylians have assigned smiling; everyone’s threatening him, and everyone’s MOCKING him. and he hates to be mocked, as we all know.

-shadow can dish it but he can’t take it. it’s just a simple truth. physically, of course, is one thing- he can take a beating just fine. it’s a survival skill, in the dark world. trading insults is very, very different. he’ll go around on his perceived authority taunting people, joking at their expense (and meaning every harsh word of it), but hylia forbid anyone do it back. this is where he and vio run into a LOT of conflict. vio is very sassy. shadow wants to remark on him, or the other links, or zelda? vio’s got one ready for him, and he refuses to take any shit. so of course shadow gets pissy, and would very much love to fight, except that if he wants to stay alive and in hyrule he’s going to have to learn that that behavior isn’t acceptable. (to some people’s surprise, red is also very good at keeping shadow in line, but the difference between vio and red is that shadow knows that if he gives red so much as a paper cut the entire continent of hyrule will call for his banishment immediately. red exploits that.)

-he’s very dramatic. that comes as a surprise to no one, i’m sure. but christ, can that kid put on an act. like, his gestures, his speech, his reactions, even the way he fights- it’s with a flourish, always, and very exaggerated. at first it’s extremely irritating; later, when he’s settled down a bit (a lot) more and really started to fit with the group, it’s very funny. watching him deal with enemies, or perhaps not enemies but hostile foreigners, is like watching a soap opera. if they need deceit, depending on the situation they choose from red, vio, or him- whatever’s most called for. it’s red if they need gentle (or guilt-trippy) persuasion, vio if they’re looking for very rational and levelheaded (and sometimes under-the-table) negotiations, and it’s shadow if they want a charade and a lot of blatant lies. he’s very good at convincing people of even the most ridiculous fabrications. he can act earnest and open with alarming sincerity.

-again, unsurprisingly, shadow is a trickster. april fools’ day is his favorite holiday. it’s his favorite thing ever, because it’s a socially acceptable day of being as awful as he’s legally allowed to be. and he can set up some really elaborate stuff. think rube-goldberg machines where every single step is a prank on someone. sometimes even the same person each time. his acting skills help a lot in pulling it off- the only problem is that no one trusts him one hundred percent. but he gets away with too much by blaming it on someone they won’t get as mad at.

-he can read people very well. body language is extremely important to understand in the dark world. he reads the room, he just doesn’t care. he’ll start things on purpose just to watch the fallout.

-in a situation where he’s allied with them during a time of war, he’s a reluctant shoe-in for tactical positions. him and vio, because vio has the practical knowledge and shadow has all sorts of BRUTAL applications. he kind of has to scale it back so he isn’t convicted of any war crimes (stupid idea, if you ask shadow, it’s WAR). but he can come up with some MEAN stuff. traps, fortifications, offensive strategies, especially TRAPS, he’s got a mental list a hundred miles long, and that’s probably just the stuff he’s used already.

-he makes for an excellent spy, for reasons mentioned above and because he’s very well-known, for better or for worse. you’re probably thinking, why would you want a spy that’s well known? two answers, one hinging upon the kind of au: first, if he still has his magic, he can just shapeshift. animorph into another person, and another, and another, so he just seems like a drifter. and even if he doesn’t have that, if nothing else, he can always fall back on his reputation: his origin was as a commander in the war against Hyrule. “hey,” he can say, “all this ‘playing nice’ shit is boring, lemme in so i can bomb something.” 99% of the time, boom, he’s in. that other 1%? he’ll just wreak havoc on the encampment and leave. it’s a win-win. espionage is his middle name and also his favorite word.

-pyrotechnics. like, say that one word and he’ll come running. or teleporting. it depends. it is another of his capital-favorite FAVORITE things. why else do you think he took up residence in the fire temple, of all places? he can list off every known natural way to bring about a fire or, better, an explosion, and he’s very talented at rigging bombs from very little. it’s a little unnerving, watching him working at an explosive. he’s positively gleeful.

-ranged weapons are nice and all, but he prefers the melee ones, the up-close-and-personal nasty little pieces of work. like, serrated daggers, scythes, bludgeons, maces, even a flail of some kind, anything that’s really gonna make a mess. he has a lot of fun with axes; battleaxes, poleaxes and halberds, that sort of thing. he likes to customize.

-dumb impulsive idiot that he is, he rarely ever wears armor or even uses a shield. with magic there’s little need for it, but even without it he really doesn’t care. “can’t hurt me if i kill them,” he says, and charges with reckless abandon, and almost always gets at least one (1) stab wound as a result. he has a high pain threshold and often doesn’t realize until afterwards, when he’s lightheaded and his tunic’s stuck to his side with dried blood. everyone scolds him mercilessly. he keeps doing it anyway.

-because of poor circulation and also just because he’s made differently, shadow is always cold to the touch. like, have him hold your lukewarm drink for a few minutes, by the time you come back for it it’ll be chilled, and probably also full of salt or something. please don’t trust shadow with anything you plan to ingest.

-on that note, don’t let shadow into any kitchen unless you’re trying to destroy it. like, no jokes, they once sent shadow to infiltrate and break down an encampment by posing as a chef. he came back two hours later grinning and covered in ash.

-funny enough, in stark contrast to the personality he puts out to everyone, he’s very clingy, in that he’s got some serious abandonment issues. he’s a stranger in a strange land where most if not all people despise him, he doesn’t understand their customs, he doesn’t know anyone, and he was left behind countless times where he came from. once he really gets comfortable with the links they become his anchor, almost; he can’t stand the thought of being ditched again, so he sticks VERY closely with them.

-he will eat ANYTHING. anything. he doesn’t care. at all. everyone’s sure his taste buds are dead.

-that isn’t true. his favorite things are spicy. like, fatally spicy, the stuff that’d probably kill just about anyone else. he challenges the wing chef to make the spiciest wings possible. the chef brings him a plate of raw ghost peppers. he eats them all and asks for more. the chef cries. it’s terrifying.

-because of how common underhanded tactics are in the dark world, its residents have developed to a large degree a resistance to poison. shadow is no exception; there are very few toxins that would actually be able to do more than put him in bed for a few hours. so he’s used as the poison-tester in pretty much every event under scrutiny. he’ll know if the poison’s there- he can taste it, he just won’t feel any of its effects; the worst he’s gotten was a stomachache, and that was from something that can kill ten full-grown men with a drop. and if he tastes it, honestly, he won’t even say anything. he’ll just laugh, watching the smug little face of whoever did it. because he knows. he can tell.

-he’s a morbid little fuck and usually ends up laughing in the face of death, like when he’s seriously injured. really, when it boils down to it, everyone is simultaneously worried for him and terrified of him.

#four swords #shadow link #my headcanons #yall are so GOOD to me #letting me ramble on about these guys #i love talking about this stuff #(also pssst i need more asks!)#(for the drabble stuff!)#(or just hcs/discussions/aus in general)#(im very talkative and write-y lately!)

26 notes · View notes

mechagalaxy · 4 years

Text

Sten Hugo Hiller - 627184: An assignment stinking to high heavens

(By Sten Hugo Hiller - 627184) An assignment stinking to high heavens

The war of `58 was just around the corner, and we of the Star League had as usual signed up to participate in it.

Admittedly, our ranks have thinned over the decades, and finding Commanders willing to join us is harder than getting a double win in the lotto. At the moment, our rooster had just enough Commanders to allow us to participate in a regular clan war, but Tony Hoogheem, -head of the Rumors and Deduction department, had gone under the radar years back trying to localize all of Gorax` bases and henchmen.

When he succeeded, this hopefully would let the combined weight of the Mercenary clans wipe him out for good. But in the meantime it left a gaping hole in Star Leagues offensive capabilities.

I recieved a summon from the temporary head of Relations and Diplomacy (Clan leader) -Drake Hunter, and arrived promptly at his office. He was busy studying the roosters of the probable opponents we would face, and he was not a happy man. At the sight of me he shook his head and in a tone that signaled the decision had been made he said "I have a job for you, suited to your particular talents"

Last time those words were directed to me in that tone had been when the drill sergeant in my recruit platoon wanted me to clean the latrines. But surely that was not what Drake had in mind? But after listening to him explain what he wanted me to do, I fervently whished the job had been to lick the latrines clean instead.

As those of you that follows the news should be aware of, Team Banzai recently came upon one of Gorax` Mechs while it was being swarmed by Snavurms. It turned out the Snavurms skin oils somehow did kill off the Gorax virus, and had actually restored both the Mech and the pilot to normal. So far so good, but managing to get hordes of wild Snavurms into contact with the Gorax infested Mechs would be close to impossible. Say you found a tribe of them, how to get them to the Gorax infested Mechs instead of swarming over your own was more than I had any idea of.

Of course, Drake was not thinking of using some random tribe of wild Snavurms. He wanted me to bring my uplifted Snavurms along and take care of the problem.

I was really tempted to tell him where he could put that job, but held my tongue. While the uplifted Snavurms on Kongo at this point probably could field twice as many Mechs as the Shogunate and the Hegemony combined, having armies of Snavurms shoving up all over the Galaxy, -even on a mission to eradicate Gorax, could well trigger a xeno-war.

So I nodded and went to the hangar, mind busy trying to figure how to solve the problem, not just following orders. Getting the Snavurms to volunteer was no problem, and when I explained to Boris and Keikko what their part of the mission would be, they tried to kiss my hands while prostating themselves. Question was what Mechs to use.

I finally decided on using my Nifthels as the main force. Heidrun (my first Apototron) would be our mobile HQ/destillery/lab, Boris and Keikko would of course ride their customized Hoplites (Pala Hobog and Hobog Ka?), and we brought along some factory fresh Nephilax`es where all the armament and communication gear had been removed as test vehicles/lures. To avoid possible contamination risk we would operate from one of the recently discovered planets in the Clarke federation where no other humans were supposed to be.

The first part of the plan was to capture some pirates. Scouring the Pirate Moon we found some Kanabo Crusher posers. If the real Kanabo Crushers had discovered that those wannabees had posed as the real thing, their fates would probably have been even worse than what we had in mind for them. Meanwhile, Boris and Keikko had been busy distilling kiloliters of Snavurm spirit.

That concotion is probably the second worst drink ever made. 140 proof alcohool and 30% Snavurm sweat makes it something no sane person would want within lightyears of their solar system. The only drink that is worse is the Old Karelia. Produced from rotting fish oil, it is banned on most planets that have ever heard of it, and classified as chemical warfare on those that have experienced it. If you were to give a pilot a choiche between the two of them, the most likely choice would be to power up the Mech and vaporize both you and the drinks in question. -On second thought, they would prefer to burn you and the drinks.

While most of the task force was building holding facilities for the pirates, I got the dubious plesure of leading some Snavurms on what was perhaps the most foolhardy part of the plan. -Capture some live Gorax virus.

After blowing up some of Gorax`s minions, my Snavurms (in contamination suits so they wouldnt kill the virus) got plenty of samples sealed in specially prepared containers. Hopefully the virus would not escape into the Snavurm-smell filled cockpits and perish before we got back to the base and could put it to better use.

At the base, the holding facilities for the pirates had been finished. Each pirate was in a small, windowless cabin placed in a deep hollow it should be impossible to escape from. Now, the Nephilax`es were being prepared. Each of them were rigged with a small container of Gorax virus that would be released when the cockpit were opened.

Boris and Keikko had also been busy on the second part of their job. The question had been how to deliver the Snavurm spirit to Gorax infected Mechs. They had come up with three possibilities. Removing the warheads in the Small Cluster Rack missiles, and filling them with a container of Snavurm spirit. Tinkering with the Small Flame launchers so instead of a stream of fire it delivered a spray of Snavurm spirit. And putting some Snavurm spirit in the shells for the Dynamo Cannon.

Personally I thought the Small Cluster Rack missiles had the best potential. They had a decent payload and long reach. The Dynamo Cannon were faster, and had similar range, but would the small amount of liquid be enough? As for the Small Flamers, they sure would cover a target in fluid, but it was shorter ranged, and the tanks were after all not that big. -Besides, the stench would surely reach the one firing the Flamer as well, making its continued use questionable.

But it was time to test my theories. The first Nephilax were carefully winched to the outside of one of the cabins. The Snavrums ringed the rim in their Nifthels, and the locks in the cabin disengaged. It took a few minutes before the pirate inside pecked out. When he saw the parked Nephilax he sprinted for it, ripped open the Cockpit and dived inside. At first he tried to scale the walls, but soon the Nephilax started sprouting the spikes asosciated with the Gorax virus. The Mech started gyrating vildly as the pirate was infected, but after a couple minutes it started a methodic digging to make a ramp for its escape.

Now was the time to check the weapons. As feared, the Small Flamer`s Reach was short, but enough of the stream converted into droplets that the Nephilax soon glistened in the little light that reached it. The Gorax spikes vilted away and soon the cokpit opened and the pirate dived headfirst out of the Mech. The fall only stunned him for a minute, and when he came to he was scraming as a lost soul. "THE STENCH!!!! I CANT STAND IT" Stumbling around, he fell into a small puddle of snavrum spirit and the screams reached a feverish pitch. He ran toward the ramp he had tried to make, and before we had any inkling of what he planned he had picked up a big rock and bashed in his own head.

As it turned out, even one of the Dynamo Cannon`s shells had enough payload to do the job, -eventually. And as I had hoped, the Small Cluster Racks payload was big enough that one hit would kill off the virus in about eight seconds.

Three more pirates died during the testing when their headlong dives brpke their skulls or their necks. The rest were tranquilized and strapped down on the cots in the cabins we had preapared for them earlier.

Of course, that left the question of caring for them. The Snavurm stench was so strong that only a Snavurm could stand it, and using the Snavrums as nurses were both maintaining the smell, and driving the pirates into a catatonic state due to fear.

But. The mission were acomplished. And it was time for me to return and report the success. The blueprints for the changed weapons were copied, and the destillation process for making the Snavurm spirit was painstalkingly detailed.

Unfortunately, we had been away for a long time, and when we returned the base was in ruins. The first battleday had ended, and the Death`s Collectors had flattened us. Still, Drake took some time to listen to the reports, but was not satisfied. "What you have come up with, is a cure most will consider worse than the plague. You simply have to do something about the stench. And speaking of stench, get out of here before you contaminate the whole base."(By Sten Hugo Hiller - 627184) An assignment stinking to high heavensThe war of `58 was just around the corner, and we of the Star League had as usual signed up to participate in it.Admittedly, our ranks have thinned over the decades, and finding Commanders willing to join us is harder than getting a double win in the lotto. At the moment, our rooster had just enough Commanders to allow us to participate in a regular clan war, but Tony Hoogheem, -head of the Rumors and Deduction department, had gone under the radar years back trying to localize all of Gorax` bases and henchmen.When he succeeded, this hopefully would let the combined weight of the Mercenary clans wipe him out for good. But in the meantime it left a gaping hole in Star Leagues offensive capabilities.I recieved a summon from the temporary head of Relations and Diplomacy (Clan leader) -Drake Hunter, and arrived promptly at his office. He was busy studying the roosters of the probable opponents we would face, and he was not a happy man. At the sight of me he shook his head and in a tone that signaled the decision had been made he said "I have a job for you, suited to your particular talents"Last time those words were directed to me in that tone had been when the drill sergeant in my recruit platoon wanted me to clean the latrines. But surely that was not what Drake had in mind? But after listening to him explain what he wanted me to do, I fervently whished the job had been to lick the latrines clean instead.As those of you that follows the news should be aware of, Team Banzai recently came upon one of Gorax` Mechs while it was being swarmed by Snavurms. It turned out the Snavurms skin oils somehow did kill off the Gorax virus, and had actually restored both the Mech and the pilot to normal. So far so good, but managing to get hordes of wild Snavurms into contact with the Gorax infested Mechs would be close to impossible. Say you found a tribe of them, how to get them to the Gorax infested Mechs instead of swarming over your own was more than I had any idea of.Of course, Drake was not thinking of using some random tribe of wild Snavurms. He wanted me to bring my uplifted Snavurms along and take care of the problem.I was really tempted to tell him where he could put that job, but held my tongue. While the uplifted Snavurms on Kongo at this point probably could field twice as many Mechs as the Shogunate and the Hegemony combined, having armies of Snavurms shoving up all over the Galaxy, -even on a mission to eradicate Gorax, could well trigger a xeno-war.So I nodded and went to the hangar, mind busy trying to figure how to solve the problem, not just following orders. Getting the Snavurms to volunteer was no problem, and when I explained to Boris and Keikko what their part of the mission would be, they tried to kiss my hands while prostating themselves. Question was what Mechs to use.I finally decided on using my Nifthels as the main force. Heidrun (my first Apototron) would be our mobile HQ/destillery/lab, Boris and Keikko would of course ride their customized Hoplites (Pala Hobog and Hobog Ka?), and we brought along some factory fresh Nephilax`es where all the armament and communication gear had been removed as test vehicles/lures. To avoid possible contamination risk we would operate from one of the recently discovered planets in the Clarke federation where no other humans were supposed to be.The first part of the plan was to capture some pirates. Scouring the Pirate Moon we found some Kanabo Crusher posers. If the real Kanabo Crushers had discovered that those wannabees had posed as the real thing, their fates would probably have been even worse than what we had in mind for them. Meanwhile, Boris and Keikko had been busy distilling kiloliters of Snavurm spirit.That concotion is probably the second worst drink ever made. 140 proof alcohool and 30% Snavurm sweat makes it something no sane person would want within lightyears of their solar system. The only drink that is worse is the Old Karelia. Produced from rotting fish oil, it is banned on most planets that have ever heard of it, and classified as chemical warfare on those that have experienced it. If you were to give a pilot a choiche between the two of them, the most likely choice would be to power up the Mech and vaporize both you and the drinks in question. -On second thought, they would prefer to burn you and the drinks.While most of the task force was building holding facilities for the pirates, I got the dubious plesure of leading some Snavurms on what was perhaps the most foolhardy part of the plan. -Capture some live Gorax virus.After blowing up some of Gorax`s minions, my Snavurms (in contamination suits so they wouldnt kill the virus) got plenty of samples sealed in specially prepared containers. Hopefully the virus would not escape into the Snavurm-smell filled cockpits and perish before we got back to the base and could put it to better use.At the base, the holding facilities for the pirates had been finished. Each pirate was in a small, windowless cabin placed in a deep hollow it should be impossible to escape from. Now, the Nephilax`es were being prepared. Each of them were rigged with a small container of Gorax virus that would be released when the cockpit were opened.Boris and Keikko had also been busy on the second part of their job. The question had been how to deliver the Snavurm spirit to Gorax infected Mechs. They had come up with three possibilities. Removing the warheads in the Small Cluster Rack missiles, and filling them with a container of Snavurm spirit. Tinkering with the Small Flame launchers so instead of a stream of fire it delivered a spray of Snavurm spirit. And putting some Snavurm spirit in the shells for the Dynamo Cannon.Personally I thought the Small Cluster Rack missiles had the best potential. They had a decent payload and long reach. The Dynamo Cannon were faster, and had similar range, but would the small amount of liquid be enough? As for the Small Flamers, they sure would cover a target in fluid, but it was shorter ranged, and the tanks were after all not that big. -Besides, the stench would surely reach the one firing the Flamer as well, making its continued use questionable.But it was time to test my theories. The first Nephilax were carefully winched to the outside of one of the cabins. The Snavrums ringed the rim in their Nifthels, and the locks in the cabin disengaged. It took a few minutes before the pirate inside pecked out. When he saw the parked Nephilax he sprinted for it, ripped open the Cockpit and dived inside. At first he tried to scale the walls, but soon the Nephilax started sprouting the spikes asosciated with the Gorax virus. The Mech started gyrating vildly as the pirate was infected, but after a couple minutes it started a methodic digging to make a ramp for its escape.Now was the time to check the weapons. As feared, the Small Flamer`s Reach was short, but enough of the stream converted into droplets that the Nephilax soon glistened in the little light that reached it. The Gorax spikes vilted away and soon the cokpit opened and the pirate dived headfirst out of the Mech. The fall only stunned him for a minute, and when he came to he was scraming as a lost soul. "THE STENCH!!!! I CANT STAND IT" Stumbling around, he fell into a small puddle of snavrum spirit and the screams reached a feverish pitch. He ran toward the ramp he had tried to make, and before we had any inkling of what he planned he had picked up a big rock and bashed in his own head.As it turned out, even one of the Dynamo Cannon`s shells had enough payload to do the job, -eventually. And as I had hoped, the Small Cluster Racks payload was big enough that one hit would kill off the virus in about eight seconds.Three more pirates died during the testing when their headlong dives brpke their skulls or their necks. The rest were tranquilized and strapped down on the cots in the cabins we had preapared for them earlier.Of course, that left the question of caring for them. The Snavurm stench was so strong that only a Snavurm could stand it, and using the Snavrums as nurses were both maintaining the smell, and driving the pirates into a catatonic state due to fear.But. The mission were acomplished. And it was time for me to return and report the success. The blueprints for the changed weapons were copied, and the destillation process for making the Snavurm spirit was painstalkingly detailed.Unfortunately, we had been away for a long time, and when we returned the base was in ruins. The first battleday had ended, and the Death`s Collectors had flattened us. Still, Drake took some time to listen to the reports, but was not satisfied. "What you have come up with, is a cure most will consider worse than the plague. You simply have to do something about the stench. And speaking of stench, get out of here before you contaminate the whole base."

0 notes