TNT

I took another pass at the walk cycle to try to get the legs straighter at the contact position and the back foot to push off more like Robert suggested. Here is the latest. I think it's looking more believeable. Tell me what you think. I appreciate the critiques. bot_QuickWalk_cycle_2.mov

Thanks again Robert, for the suggestion on the walk. I made another try. If I understood you, he needed to land with more weight. I think this is better. Let me know if it works or if there is still improvement needed. bot_QuickWalk_cycle.mov

Thanks Robert, I'll take a look at the videos on the walk. Sorry it took a while to respond, I just changed my internet over to cable yesterday so it was down most of the day. I'm going to keep working on the mouth also but I think that is going to take more time.

I desided to take a little break from the lip sync and did a walk cycle. I had some trouble with key framing but I got help in the Rigging Forum. Here is a MOV file. Critiques are welcome. bot_walk_cycle.mov

HAPPY B'day Caroline!!

OK, I finally had time to work on this and try the process from HomeSlice. Thanks for the step by step instructions and the [ctrl]-A shortcut. I didn't know that one. I removed several points and brought everything back between the 0% and 100% marks. I tweaked the percentage of the phonemes to get what I thought looked good. I also added some jaw movement and a little eye socket animation. I think it's better. My acting/animation skills have a long way to go but here is what I was able to do. The main goal for this was to prove IF the capability I built into the robot for phonemes was good enough. I plan to try to freehand a pass also like Robcat and the Spleen suggested. Critiques and opinions welcome. bot_talk_17.mov

Thanks for the ideas guys. I'm going to keep at it till I get something that looks good. I'll try the up/down and then layer in some other moves to see how I can make that work. Unfortunately I can't start today. I'll give it a go when I get back in town Sunday. Cheers,

Thanks for the support. He has been a lot of fun to create so far. I still have a lot to learn about the phonemes. I need to get rid of the jitters but I'm not sure how yet.

Hi All, It's been quite some time since I posted an update on the robot. I've been slowly applying the advise I've got and forging forward. He has really become my attempt to get a better grasp of all the phases of modeling, rigging, and animating. I have modeled him from scratch, used the excellent 2008 Rig for his body with a couple mods to make his backbone and rib sections move like I wanted, and built his face rig from scratch using David Simmons (itsjustme) tutorials along with some other reference materials I found and a lot of experimenting as well. Once the rigging is finalized I want to try learning to make believable animation. One step at a time..... This forum is a great wealth of information and I appreciate everyone who participates. I especially want to thank David for his tuts, Mark for the 2008 Rig, and Jason for the recent tut on SSS (I tried it on his eyes). Thanks for your donations and support on this forum. As always, I appreciate any critiques to make my modeling and rigging better. The MOV file below is a quick test of the phonemes I added from picking thru David's Squetchy Sam example model. bot_talk5.mov

I've been working with the 2008 rig for several weeks adding it into a robot model I have made. mtpeak2 It's a great rig. I have a little trouble with the thumbs being difficult also but still very functional.

This may be a silly question but if you loaded from a CD did you fire AM with the CD in the drive? The CD must be in the drive to start AM even if the CD is copied to the HD.

a search on your C drive would find it. Thanks, I like the suggestion also. I also did the same to his knees so they look better from the back. You were correct. The file was in the root drive "C:\" Never would have expected it to write there. For anyone else who may ever come across this self inflicted error, here is what was inside mine. Problem resolved. Thanks again,

MIRROR BONES ERROR I got this message when mirroring some bones in the eye. Anyone able to interpret this error message more completely, or tell me where this file should be located as I can't find it? Thanks,

I gotta add my cheer in here as well. I used the 2008 Rig on my robot. The instructions were perfectly simple to follow and the rig is exactly what I was after in function. The 2008 Rig is really a great rig. The trees look great also. I'll try out that plugin soon.

You are really doing some great stuff. I like the character.

I made the changes tht were suggested for his elbows and mouth. I applied the ability to alter his color for some parts, and tried a couple facial poses for the eyes. I still having some trouble with the way the sockets are distorting when I pose them so I have to do more work there. Comments are welcome.

BEAUTIFUL model!

It's all in the body language and the poses he takes on. The face isn't always needed. Chaplin liked to say "I can show any emotion in silhouette" There are "weight" issues in that animation but as a test of the rig it shows you've got it working. Thanks for the critique. Just to make sure I understand what you are saying; flatten the elbow so it is narrower the direction it does NOT bend and leave it round the other direction? Is that correct? I know I need a LOT of practice when it comes to animating anything that looks good. I hope to work on that after I have a well rigged character to work with. I have read that the body language can be enough. I just want to get what I can from the face. I know it may be somewhat limited because of the character. I watched some video of animated balls that showed how anything can portray attitude. I'll try to keep that idea in mind as I set the rest of the rig. Thanks again,

It's been busy! Working on the house takes a lot of time but I have been working on the bot when I can. I have been focusing on learning rigging and how it all works. The body is mostly the 2008 rig which works perfectly for this character. The instructions to install it were really good. For the face I purchased a few books to help with writing expressions, and have been going over David's tutorials on facial rigs. David's tut's are wonderful and easy to follow. I am finding some real differences to rigging a robot head and a plyable face. It is proving to be tricky to get a full range of emotion with the more rigid mechanical features of a robot. I have focused on the eyes so far and tried to balance a mechanical feel with a little deformation. I want him to be believable as a robot but still have a full range of emotions to connect with. I think I am getting there slowly. The mouth is going to be next. Not real sure how to make a "one liped" mouth work but I plan to try. I attempted a few seconds of animation below to show a little of what he can do so far. It was quick and the timing is not so great but animation is another skill to learn. Any critiques or suggesteions are always welcome. bot_2008_rig___animation_test___2.mov

Thanks for the encouragement. Above I said I was having problems with the left fingers and hand not functioning correctly. Well, I found the problem. Short story is operator error and a laps of thinking. When I installed the 2008 rig I added a few bones and constraints. When I mirrored the bones as part of the install it mirrored teh bones and its constraints but not mine. So, I decided to use the "Mirror Constrains" plug-in. Not the right choice. After quite a bit of cleaning out all the extra constraint for the left half of the rig, all seems to function. New rule, think, think, think. Thanks again. I'll try to post as I get more done.

EVOLUTION! He has had some changes. He is now rigged with the 2008 rig. I added a couple bones and set the colors to a bit more permanent settings. He's more cartoony now which is what I wanted to end up with. He still needs a lot of rigging, especially on his face. His left hand is giving me a fit. The right hand controls worked but the left are not fully functioning as all the fingers don't clentch. Have to see where he ends up but I think this is close. Critiques are always welcome.

Thanks for the feedback. He was a quick start and a long way from final. He was looking to human for what I was after. I wanted something a bit more funny. Here he is with him proportions changed and a different start to a head, shorter legs, longer arms,new feet, and fewer splines. Still a lot to do but he is only on version 3. I think I am liking him better. We'll see where he goes.

I watched iRobot the other night and decided to give it a go with a little cartoony look added. Not sure what to do with the face but it was fun to do a quick model. I used the 2008 rig. It's easy to install and has great instructions to follow, plus it gave the right amount of control for this character. The only CP weight blending I had to do was in the palm of his hands so the joints would stay connected using the hand controls. It needs some work but it's a start.

There are really (3) big guns in the 3D CAD world. PRO-E, UG, and Catia. Each of them has advantages. I have used PRO-E for over 15 years designing automotive pistons and the molds to produce them. It is a parametric solid modeler which means they are feature based and understand the relationship of one feature to the next in a hierarchy similar to bones. Children rely on parents for information. Once a master product is constructed the software can easily be instructed to morph the part into new parts by changing the driving dimensions. In that way, from one master piston I can produce a GM 3800 piston for a car or a Briggs & Stratton for your lawn mower. What I actually get is about 85% complete. Drawings can be parametric as well and update ith the model changes. This process expands into assemblies of entire vehicles. All of which is parametric. Along with this capability to enforce design rules and calculations thru a product line, PRO-E also has modules for doing Finite element alanysis of the parts or systems. It is nothing like the old AutoCad electronic drawings. You can do a fair amount of analysis and proving before you ever make a physical part. These CAD softwares are not artsy. They are formula and nuber driven. Even free-form surfaces are like what we do in AM. It's cool stuff that is fun to use but it's nothing like animation. I tend to daydream of getting home to AM while I am at work Don't tell the boss that please!

That is shaping up to be one of the best entries in my opinion. Can't wait for the ending!