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Hash, Inc. - Animation:Master

nemyax

*A:M User*
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Posts posted by nemyax

    Can't make a pose slider work

    in New Users

    Posted

    Thanks! I'm finding that using keys and poses on the same transform channels produces funny results. The axes seem mixed up in the pose data.

    Nevertheless, A:M's ability to blend keys and multiple poses is quite ingenious. Looks like this system is unique.

    Can't make a pose slider work

    in New Users

    Posted

    After reading about poses in techref.pdf, I'm trying to set up a pose slider:

    1. Plop a cube into the choreography pane.
    2. Right-click the cube's bone, select New | Pose | Percentage.
    3. In the relationship pane, rotate the bone and scrub the slider to make sure it works.
    4. Back in the choreography pane, set keys on the pose channel.

    As a result, the pose slider value changes over time, but the cube isn't animated. What am I doing wrong?

    Hash Animation Master Realtime

    in Open Forum

    Posted

    I don't know enough about current display technology to even offer a suggestion.

    It's not about display technology. You can't "directly" digitise something that's produced by a continuous function of your inputs. There'll always be some kind of sampling.

    Hash Animation Master Realtime

    in Open Forum

    Posted

    There are situtations in which SubDs can be very helpful and no doubt: It takes a master of the art in both ways to model to create great models, but it is not all better with SubDs like many try to tell you when argumenting about Splines/Patches/NURBS/SubDs... they have disadvantages as well as splines do have some. But splines & patches (especially Hash Splines&Patches) are in some situations much better to be used. As always it all depends on situations

    True. And it's fortunate this thread isn't descending into a splines-über-alles polygon-bashing smugness fest.

     

     

    I would not know how to split an edge (for instance) in any reasonable way without decreasing subdivision levels again.

    Huh? You just split it. Leave the derived subdiv be.

    Clothing Optional

    in Papa Bear Studios

    Posted

    Yes, I don't think I've ever seen a CG character put clothes on, it's always suggested with editing.

    I think I remember a shot where Bob puts on his super suit in The Incredibles. It's pretty brief though.

    Hash Animation Master Realtime

    in Open Forum

    Posted

    you just dont know exactly how your model will look before subdividing it

    You do, because you don't model "before" you subdivide. You display your subdiv and your poly proxy simultaneously.

     

     

    we are today at the same quality we could have reached years ago

    By quality, do you mean resolution? A smooth model is not necessarily a good model. There are telltale signs of sloppiness whether you are working with splines or subdivs. A shoddy subdiv model looks shaved out of shape, and a shoddy spline model looks crumpled. It takes effort and skill to make the best use of your preferred choice of surface type.

    And the attainable resolution in real-time rendering hasn't really depended on the surface type all these years.

    Hash Animation Master Realtime

    in Open Forum

    Posted

    SDS isn't in competition with splines/patches either. It simply brings polygonal surfaces more in line with continuous splines and smooth patches (nonlinear toward linear) and the industry has greatly benefited by this.

    Precisely. And it's nothing new: RenderMan subdivision surfaces have been based on polygon-like primitives from day one. What's new is that today the subdivision can be hardware-accelerated thanks to shader-based tessellation. In fact, A:M's version of Coons patches can also be implemented with shaders, but no one has done it as yet. Correct me if I'm wrong, but all spline modelling and animation software has done patches in software so far, including the flagship, A:M.

    In this topic, HA:MR's ability to display patches is regarded as an enormous feat, but it really isn't. HA:MR does the same thing as A:M itself and a couple more (now deceased) programs, including the open-source Jpatch (in case anyone's after the sources of a complete implementation). If anyone is interested enough, they can go ahead and do a hardware-accelerated implementation in modern OpenGL (or D3D). That would really be a step forward.

     

    Different subdivision schemes are used for triangular meshes and quad meshes. (no surprise there!)

    I don't know about this. I'm aware of two subdivision schemes: Catmull–Clark and Doo-Sabin. Neither is particularly concerned whether your primitives have three, four or twenty-nine points. They are general enough for all topologies. However, Catmull–Clark is notable in that, when done recursively (which it doesn't have to be, as demonstrated by Jos Stam), the very first iteration produces all quads, let alone the subsequent ones.

     

    one of many reason why quads are considered superior to tris

    Another very important reason is that quads go hand in hand with edge loops, which are an amazing surface flow control and mesh navigation tool. Edge loops are the bread and butter of subdivision modelling.

     

    If the original control points are maintained the SDS scheme generally interpolates the shape.

    In many situations, using a full crease in your SDS makes your points stay put. Admittedly, you have to be careful where you crease.

     

    Where is Open SubDiv and similar technology moving the industry next?

    I'll venture a guess. The industry will probably move further away from manual topology management into pure digital sculpting territory (think ZBrush). Geometry detail is no longer an issue, and enough is known about topology adaptation that most, if not all, of it can be done automatically. As regards rigging, I suppose we'll witness the emergence of several bone-and-muscle systems that are internally based on lightweight implicitly generated meshes.

    Hash Animation Master Realtime

    in Open Forum

    Posted

     

     

    And what exactly do you think SubDiv and such are pushing toward?

     

    Catmull-Clark subdivision surfaces. It's also a technique for smoothing out lightweight geometry, but there's an important difference: everyone already knows SDS, everyone already uses SDS, everyone already has tons of SDS-compatible models, and every software can produce them.

     

    Hash Animation Master Realtime

    in Open Forum

    Posted

    Are there any open-source game engines?

     

    Yes there are. Notably, everything by Carmack up to and including id tech 4 (Doom 3). Ogre 3D is a well-known real-time rendering engine.

     

     

    all their special stuff

     

    If you mean smooth surface interpolation, I think we're going to see it in games thanks to Pixar's OpenSubdiv pretty soon. But if you specifically mean A:M's proprietary interpolation technique, it doesn't stand a chance.

    Hash Animation Master Realtime

    in Open Forum

    Posted

    I'll offer a scratch at one possible answer: to go beyond being actively or passively entertained and be creative.

     

    Ah, but isn't that a reason to use an actual editor? You can't really get creative with a viewer.

     

     

    Architectural walk-through?

     

    Good point. But that's best done with a game engine, so it might be loosely included in the games category.

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