Octropos
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Posts posted by Octropos
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Try this:
http://www.arador.com/articles/stand.html
Or this one:
http://www.sengokudaimyo.com/katchu/graphi...erns/stand1.PDF
(Searched on "SCA Armor Stand")
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Sorry if this has already been mentioned, but
in addition to building geometry, a set of Slope and Position (Y axis at least) aware Combiners would be super helpful in texturing these.
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I just want to add, and I hope you see this for the complement it is, that since viewing your latest, I am now highly motivated _not_ to slack off on my contest entry.
This fellow(Lady?) is shaping up very nicely!
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What sorts of models in particular are you after?
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Last I checked the GAG handbook does have pricing guidelines for most CGI work (TD, Modelling, animation) but keep in mind that that is Hollywood pricing- some guy/gal in Nebraska is likely to be cheaper. It should still give you and idea of what people who make a living at this charge/get paid.
But it really comes down to the basics:
You get what you pay for
and
Good Fast Cheap (Choose any 2)
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In the interest of getting as much info out there about this as possible-
The model I am experimenting with doesn't have any materials, but it does have a decal applied.
However, the really slow cut/paste occurs on non-decalled geometry as well as decalled stuff.
I, too, looked in my .mdl file and see a lot of spline defs. Not being familiar with the format, I can't say how many but it seems like more than there should be.
Sorry I can't offer a solution at this time, but hopefully that extra info will help us resolve it.
I find this happening on non-character models more as I do more cutting and pasting on the mechanical and scenery stuff.
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Dozens!?! Good heavens, count me in!
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many thanks all for the additional suggestions (Thanks esp. for the sample prj)
I will take a look at Tiger's prj as well as trying out Yves' and Aminator's suggestion- the last character I rigged was in 8.5 so expressions are still something of an unexplored territory for me, to the point where it hadn't even occurred to me to try it that way. This is a perfect example of why I love these boards.
I will post here with my results, as well as some hopefully informed opinions as to the pros and cons of each.
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that's exactly the kind of joint I was referring to. So, any ideas? I'm stumped. It seems to me that back in the 8.x days there were a lot more tutorials on the web for this stuff, but I can't seem to locate any of them now. . . .
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Hello all!
I am rigging a an armored leg with an articulated knee- you have the knee cop and several lames(think of them as C shaped bands of metal). I'm having trouble getting my head around how to rig them appropriately.
What needs to happen as the knee bends is:
The lowest lame rotates as the knee bends until it reaches its rotational limit (about 30 degrees), at which point the _next_ lowest lame rotates until it reaches it's rotational limit, at which point the next lame rotates and so on.
It should work in reverse when the knee extends.
I recall some time ago there was a constraint setup for a fan that would open/close, but have been unable to locate it. If anyone knows links to good tutorials on this, I'd be most grateful.
I'm really just looking for advice to get me started.
I've been experimenting with orient like and aim at constraints to little avail. The orient like overrides the rotational limits I put on.
Thanks in advance!
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Just wanted to add my thanks to the rest. Great model!
I have many a place I can use this.
Speaking of which, any particular usage restrictions for this?
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This could be happening from one of two issues-
As noted, the more complex a model, the longer pasting takes (A:M recalcs patches and etc. for the model when you do so)
The other is an as-yet inconsistently reproducible issue, some more info here:
http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=8176
It looks like cutting and pasting is duplicating info in the model/project file incorrectly in certain circumstances. I'm having this problem with a current model I am working on, I'm hoping to narrow down repro steps to get this to Steve and the gang. I do know that it seems to happen more frequently when copy/pasting from named groups. If I come across any further info, I'll post it here or on a new thread.
Hope it helps!
<Edit> Oops, Ken I see you were on that thread already, sorry. Well, I hope bringing it back up might kick loose some ideas from somewhere about this issue.
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Thanks a bunch, just what I was looking for!
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Howdy all!
I know there was an article/tutorial written for using a decal to drive hair properites such as color, length, etc.
1) Am I remembering this correctly? Can you do this?
2)Where is this info located?
I've poked around in the help file, the Hash site, and ARM, but to no avail.
Thanks in advance!
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The hands/forearms are my next area to work on, for sure. As the rest of him gets tidied up they just look blockier and blockier. . . .
Thanks for the feedback, feel free to keep it coming!
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Well, the criticism lets me know how close I am to achieving my goals with a piece, so I kind of look forward to it. I've also learned not to put things up for critique until I'm ready for the feedback, though
Here's the latest with a lot of the changes suggested. Still not 100% there on the legs, I feel. I won't comment on it further so as not to influence opinions.
Thanks in advance for your comments and critiques as always!
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Luckbat,
First off a big thanks for that critique! If anything it gets me more fired up to work on this model. . .do I need help?
I apologise in advance for some of the rambling wordiness of the replies. I hope no one takes them in any kind of argumentative or defensive way. They are meant to try and explain some of the thinking that lead me to do what I did on this model in the hopes of helping everyone see where I was trying go- at least with the parts that were intentional
- so they can help me get there. All the points you and the others have brought up are good ones!Obviously if my design ideas aren't visually apparent, I did an insufficient job of executing on them, which is why these critiques are so great.
I think most of the trouble you're going to run into with this model will stem from the conflict between "realistic/plausible" and "looks cool." Right now your model has the proportions of an average guy. This is fine, but when you're building a cyborg warrior, viewer expect much more heroic proportions. Please don't take this the wrong way, but right now he looks like a costumed guy at a comic-book convention. (Forgive me!)
Commander Courage, perhaps?
(Bonus points if you catch that reference
)With you on the plausible/cool issue. The intent is to go for more realism, thus the average guy, but as you note that can drop the cool factor. I am hoping to get this model into a happy balance between the realism and looking cool.
I am intentionally avoiding 'heroic' proportions for artistic(Lots of people already do them, and do them very well) as well as practical reasons. The chief practical reason draws on the observation that most soldiers look like an average guy much more than they look like body builders. The reference I used for a rotoscope was a man who is probably some sort of Decathelete- he has an even, all over muscle development, rather than Huge Pectorals or Massive Thighs. I envision that these soldiers will have to operate anywhere from heavy gravity to zero-g, and even with artificial muscles, there's a certain amount of innate physical strength the wearer must possess to be effective, but they don't want to be too bulky either. So the suit is designed around someone more muscular than me, but much less so than Arnold.
That said, I'll be reducing the obliques to get rid of the love handles and try to get some more triangularity in the torso, as well as doing something about the Gastrocs. The armor part of the artifical muscles is really there to give them room to contract in- a Gastroc is long but when fully contracted tends to bunch up pretty tightly near the top (at least mine do), so I was trying to just model some space for the contracted muscle, assuming the rest would fit inside the greave when relaxed. I have realised after thinking about your comment that artifical muscles need artifical tendons, and while most of them can be hidden inside the armor, the Achilles are prominent enough to warrant some modelling.
I'll fiddle with the head size a bit. I utilized the same reference picture as for the torso and arms. The biggish head size results from making room for padding, electronics, and etc inside the helmet. A small shrinkage might give the effect you suggest and still leave room for all that.
The helmet design is actually a mix of later-period Japanese and Gothic-period Burgundian, with Itallian influences. I liked the looks of the first and the practical considerations of the second. I'll see what I can do for the lower face-mask (I think that's the biggest design clash with the rest of the helmet). I believe the texturing ideas I have in mind for that area will bring the styles together more, but you've got me thinking of some modelling solutions to the problem as well now. I'll try to work something up and post it soon.
The Pauldrons (shoulders)- They're actually on a hinge, roundabout where the trapezius would join the distal clavicle/shoulder area, you'll see it when he moves. There is the problem of him not being able to raise his arms _straight_ up, even with the hinge, as well as not being able to reach up and behind. I have a solution that would allow for such a ROM and still maintain the coverage, but it's kind of complicated to build so I think the wearer may just have to put up with it. After all, this armor was built by the lowest bidder
Thanks again everybody, for the great suggestions/comments! I hope my rambling and long-winded replies have not dissuaded anyone from making any more. I'd like to get this model as cool and believeable as possible, so keep em coming!
I'll try to get a new render with these changes up tomorrow.
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Due to the mechanical nature of the articulations (Can't see the detail at this resolution, but the elbows and knees are fully articulated), I'll probably do fan bones.
and Ken- He's got his arms down mainly to make modelling the shoulders easier for me. I will T-Pose the arms when it comes time to rig. Works OK to do this on a space marine as he's more robot than man. Hmm. . . perhaps a slogan there. . .
Thanks for the feedback so far. Is this a model that would get you excited to animate if you had it in your collection?
That's my overall goal with this. I've always liked best the things that made me want to jump in and move them around.
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Thanks for the comments. The legs have been the trouble spot on this one. The idea is that this suit incorporates artificial muscles for the major groups, this means that some areas of the body get thicker/bulkier and others don't, and it's been a challenge fiddling the proportions to have them look right this way.
I will change the lengths/proprotions on the pelvis/legs area some and post new pics.
Please don't hesitate to post additional comments in the meantime
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Howdy all,
Here's a fellow from a current project. Comments, reactions, critiques, suggestions all welcome!
(edit) Should mention no texturing other than group colors. Trying to get the modelling nailed down first.
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thanks for posting this. I was having the same prob on a model (scratch-built) and never thought to actually look in the file itself . . .Glad to have a working solution for this. I intend to try it out this evening.
I'll drop a line to Steve & co. in case they haven't seen this thread.
Thanks again
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I also want to add a plug here for The Artist's Complete Guide to Facial Expression by Gary Faigin
Not animation-centric, but good, thorough covereage of expression and all the elements that contribute to it (mouth muscles, eyes, etc.) with lots of examples from both real-world (newspapers and tv footage) and art world. I return to this book constantly for reference.
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Are you looking for a realistic frog head, or will any frog head do?
I've got a stylized frog I might be able to scrounge up. . .
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Can you post any more info as regards to:
Genre/Setting
Level of Realism
etc.?
I might be interested as this could fit as a natural outgrowth of another project I am in the midst of. PM me if you need more info.
Zandoria: It's not the email address, you're just in their target demographic
(sorry, too good to pass up, no offence meant!)
Facial MoCap experiments
in Showcase
Posted
Luuk,
All I can say is thanks (and wow, or course)!
I will definitely buy this when you are ready to sell. I've been wanting a tool like this for some time!
Eric