rusty
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Posts posted by rusty
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I apply smartskin as I had been since v8. Rotate bone to the maximum degree. Make sure muscle keyframe is on (it's always on for me), move around cps. Go to half of that angle, deform cps and so on.
Backup... you open AM and have a model in the modeling window in muscle mode (there is nothing else). Now tell me what you do.
Rusty
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I hadn't seen the tutorials before you mentioned it, and the normal map creation was quite intuitive. I tested it out, and I think I did a pretty good job for my first attempt at it.
It would be really awesome to have parrelex mapping in A:M because these normal maps can provide even more data than standard greyscale images for height maps. Though the Displacement mapping is still badass.
Matt! Old Buddy, Old Pal... :-)
tMapping.jpg the second to last image is EXACTLY the effect I've been trying to get for the iron asteroids in my project. Can you tell me how you did it!!!!?????? I will look at the tuts... sigh... when I have time. Right now I'm overwhelmed with stuff that needs to be done yesterday -- like clean the ash out of my 10 PCs (lots of toys are fun until the maintenance side of things come around!) not to mention the ash in every knook and cranny in the house and yard and never mind working on my animation project (woe is me!). However, for some reason the smoke made both my wife and I sick and I can hardly move -- especially bend over -- without getting sick to my stomach (that's my sob story and I'm sticking to it!).
Thanks!
Rusty
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1. I've set up an environment for my character, and I've found it to be really laggy with only some of the props in there (there's alot of trees). Is there a way for me to turn off the trees or something so I can animate my character without all the lag? and then turn them back on when it's time to render?
EDIT-- even when the object is set to hidden, it's still ultra laggy
2. That leads into the next question- should I be animating my character in an action window and then load it into a chor. ? or just animate right in the chor?
3. Is there a format of video that saves the alpha channel? Or do I have to render it as a targa sequence?
4. I need some advice on final rendering and compositing. any general advice is good. I have after effects for compositing. Anyone have any info on matte paintings for backgrounds? thanks!!!!!!!!
1. If you have a lot of AM windows open in the background (like modeling windows, action, material etc) it can cause big lag problems. Also you should be able to expand the model properties and click on the active property and make it inactive and this should help. Do it with everything you are not animating. Also I lock (icon to the right of model in PWS) everything I'm not animating at that moment. Another big helper is to simply leave out complex models until you render (in your case maybe the best idea). Note: if your camera does not move and your characters do not go behind a background model... render all of your background models separately and use the image as the background -- not only will your PC work faster but this will really reduce your render times! Instead of rendering a tree 300 time you only render it once!! Understand? In fact, ANY thing that you can only render once and use the image instead of the model is the way to go!
Edit: Knowing what you can render and then use as an image can be tricky... if you try to do this with the ground, you could lose the character's shadow. If you say okay, I'll render the ground with the character and other background stuff I'll make an image of and use... then shadows of the background items may be lost of the ground (so split the ground into two grounds)! Plan carefully.
2. Animate in the chor mainly. The chor is where you place your set, lights, camera, props (do not put these in an action! do not render from an action unless for a test and then do shaded only!). The action is also for animating when you want to animate in a vacuum so to speak (only the model and perhaps one or two secondary model know as an action item) then you drag the action on to the character (or model) in the chor. You need to get hold of Anzovin's Non-Linear video.
3. answered
4. Too general a question to answer here... sorry. I could go on forever. :-)
Rusty
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I hope you see my post as an attempt in discussing things in a positive way and I really appreciate your response and I am in no way trying to put A:M in a negative light. I do not have anything to gain if I was making things up. I am posting from what I am experiencing, and I am not sure if anyone has experienced this problem or not.
Yes I do (see this as a discussion), thanks! (I was watching for a reply kind of dreading it, LOL. I don't like to tell someone that they are 'utterly wrong'... its like saying 'always' if you know what I mean. Almost never a wise thing to do but in this case... well...)
I don't know what to say. I've used SS a whole lot (without WCPs) and have almost never had a problem... actually never had a problem that I couldn't fix. One exception, if you have a joint like the shoulder joint and you find you have to put too much SS on it, you lose control and its time to go back to the fan bones (or WCPs now days).
In general I have to say that your statement is still wrong. But, for you... I guess not. Again, don't know what to say.
Cheers (and thanks for not over reacting, and I'm sorry for having to say... your wrong),
Rusty
PS: I was very into Anzovin's faking multi-axis SS btw. This really put SS through the paces.
PPS: Please tell me the process you use for applying SS (in short general steps -- there are two very different ways to apply SS -- maybe more) and also what version where you last experienced the jumping CP problem. I kind of remember seeing a jumping CP problem now that I think about it. I also remember finding out that most others applied SS differently then I use to (and still usually do). Probably nothing but... ?
PP-PS: There is always an answer (somewhere). I've come to believe that. And Lord knows how often I've wondered around the house scratching my hand and saying that to myself (by no means exclusively for AM!).
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Did you ever try using a Wacom tablet... using the pen is actually quicker for me, than the mouse and easier on the wrist and fingers... it's just like writing.
I have a Wacom Tablet and love it but not to replace a mouse or wheel or keyboard (not for myself anyway). If I just don't type so much and, I switch between the mouse and several other wheels and mice I have I'm okay. Been working a lot on my book and all the typing did the damage.
r
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I have not been able to try your last suggestion and in fact I'm at a dead stop with not only the Squetch rig but with all my animation efforts. I have a very bad case of tendinitis dating from 1997 and once in a while it slams me down. My wrists, elbows and shoulders hurt so bad that I can't do anything on the computer (except talk to it using dragon and this does no good for AM :-( ).
I must also admit that I've become very discouraged with the Squetch rig... after 4 months I have yet to rig a single character. But I'm the original 'bounce back kid' and I know that once I can use my hands again -- i.e. use the mouse and keyboard again -- I'll return to the battle.
What a drag... I'm already going through AM withdrawal!
Cheers,
Rusty
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Wav files can have different properties... I also have problems with them playing in some applications (I don't use them in AM) and as I recall the difference was in the wav file being 32 bit instead of 16 bit (though I might be wrong).
Rusty
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Smart Skin will not work without CP Weights. You MUST use CP Weights in conjunction with SS. Every cp that uses SS muscle keyframes MUST be weighted somewhat to avoid the cps from jumping around randomly. This is what I have experienced with this new kind of multi axial SS.
I'm sorry, and I don't mean to slam you however... I don't know where you got these ideas but they are simply utterly untrue. We had SS (both 3-axis and later multi axial) years before WCPs and even today many people still use only SS (I did for at lest a year after WCP came along plus the majority of my character models {realistic} still use only SS). SS, when used correctly, works fine all by itself. WCPs are used alone without any SS by many people (or so they say... they say WCPs completely replaces SS). There is no requirement at all that one does not work without the other. SS jumping around is a symptom of placing SS key frames too close together (you adjust one way then come back later and at almost the same rotation you adjust it another way).
Again, I don't mean to slam you but what you say is simply untrue. Martin resisted implementing WCPs for years because they crimped joints (as I recall his post saying anyway) and all we had was SS for many years and all of us used it without WCPs.
Rusty
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You can control ANYTHING with the smartskin: Bumpmaps, surface attributes, Other bones, etc...
Yep, I do this all the time. However, unless this has been fixed by hash, Mirror all Smart Skins only works with CPs.
Rusty
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i'm working on a nice little rigg(i'll show it off later). but for some reason when i try to smart skin a bone of a model i don't get the right results. i translate the bone, go into muscle mode and get the splines how i want them. then i test it out and the splines i moved don't go back to the way they were when i translate it back...is there some thing i'm missing?
Isiac,
I would definitely like to know what version of AM you are using and, what is up with your SS attempts. I rely on SS as the final polish.
People LOOOVVVEEE weighted CPs but... both it and SS have their pros and cons (watch some prima donna put a flame on me for that perceived slight on WCPs, LOL). WCPs have a steeper learning curve then SS and they can be a lot more work then SS in complex models. Also, using only WCPs, joints will lose their volume (which is corrected by SS or, by jumping through hoops with WCPs). Furthermore WCPs provide a single force to deal with all situations (get it perfect with the joint bent this way and pray it works for the joint bending the other way because unlike SS there is only one setting you can apply).
SS is relatively easy and, if the mesh doesn't look right when rotated the other way, you can simply fix it (you can apply multiple forces to deal with multiple situations). But use too much of it and it can spiral out of control on you. Don't watch what you're doing and its easy to place key frames close together causing the mesh to jump and, its fixable but you have to know how (WCPs are easier to fix).
For myself, WCPs and SS combined form a excellent balance. I get it as close as I can, first with just the geometry bones, then with fan bone, then with WCPs and finally with a little SS.
Remember, what version are you using and, what's the deal with how its not working for you (if there's a problem we need to know)?
Cheers,
Rusty
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I would still weight the underlying arm and then use that information to help figure out the weighting for the sleeve...it's just not going to be a one-to-one transfer of the weighting.
Hi David!
A (nother) question... :-)
If I do as you say above (except instead of using the bicep bones, substitute in the sleeve bones, yes?)... then will the sleeve mesh expand out to accommodate the muscle flex? And, will it somehow do this even when the bicep is rotated and the arm twists under the sleeve (while the sleeve does not twist)?
Is that clear? In other words if, from the default model position, you rotate the lower arm forward to flex the bicep will the front of the sleeve push outward to accommodate the flex... and... if you then rotate the bicep so that the lower arm rotates upward and the flexed muscle rotates from the front to the top will the shape of the sleeve somehow morph from the front upward to the top to still cover the flexed muscle as it rotates up?
The best I can do at describing it. Sorry.
Thanks!
Rusty
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Between 44% and 64% stiffness, the settlings seems to take a long time. Nothing I can do about that, except for changing the default settings of the pose slider stiffness to say 64% or higher, I don't think we want it as low as 44%.
Edit: It's not a problem in v13t. It looks like a v14 issue.
Oh.... please... say its not so! If this is a V14 bug can someone who has an example of this please report it. And can each and everyone of you say a prayer along with me that Hash fixes this in V14 and not make this another "this will be fixed in V15" sorrow.
I need the current production version of AM to work on this one.
Thanks!
Rusty
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A contridiction? Why?
You must not be happy with Hash Inc when they post new updates with bug fixes and new features then.
Hey, I'm sorry for suggesting that the Squetch rig has bugs. That was stupid of me and I don't know what I was thinking of. You, David and others have worked hard to provide this really cool rig and your support (especially to me) has been exemplary. I think I was having a brain fart. :-) My only intention was to make a few suggestions that might help you.
To a person with my background 'all' complex systems, whether from NASA, IBM or the US Army Corp of Engineers (or anyone) have 'bugs' -- esoterically, mathematically it is impossible for them not to. Iandependent studies done in the early 80s by all of the aforementioned institutions concluded this and probably planted this mind set in my head and sadly, experience reinforced it. For the most part, this is one of those lofty, theoretical, mathematical views that does not pertain to the real world that much. In this case the system is not constrained to normal or expected usage and is wide open to any circumstance.
Rusty
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I looked at the model you posted for the wrist problem. The bicep flexing works like it's suppose to in v14b.
You just may have computer problems or your file is corrupt.
You are right. I tried the file on another PC in V14b and the flex stuff works fine. It's my notebook... strange stuff. Thanks for your help pinning it down!
Rusty
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Well, you said you did it in an action as well. Which did you do first? In the action will override the user properties settings. Delete the pose slider keys from the action first.
To test, open new action and go into the top view. Rotate the forearm in the X axis 90'. Now go to the user properties of the model under the objects folder and adjust the pose slider. If you don't see any movement, then there is a problem with your model. There's either a corrupt pose (not in the rig, just your model) or you have bad cp assignments for the bicep. If all your cps are assigned to the sleeve geom bones, then you won't see any change.
Mark,
Thank you for getting back on this. I first tried lowing the percentage in the User Properties and then I opened a new action. When there was no change in the amount of the flex I started trying crazy things. Everything you say above I know and, what you suggest trying is 'good' and something I hadn't thought to try. However, right now I'm being bombarded with other problems; I can't select the right_forearm bone in the action -- in the PSW the bone remains highlighted even when I select other bones! Also, I keep crashing. Also my notebook is acting up and doing strange things (and my desktop is out for upgrades). I just went to V14b. Right now I don't know if its the new version, my model or project file or my notebook or a virus or malware or... some combination. I have some things I need to try.
Cheers,
Rusty
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This is not an animatable feature, that's why it is in the rig components. This is to adjust the amount of flexing you want all the time, you set it in the user properties of your model before going into an action or chor.
I did not think that it was an 'animatable' feature. I did set it in the user properties.
Thanks for trying!
Rusty
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I lowered the percentages of the right/left_bicep_flexing... in the model and then in the action... first a little then to 5 percent, then to zero... I didn't see any difference in the bicep's flexing. I'm I doing something wrong?
Thanks for your help!
Rusty
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Rusty, this is an easy add-on or can be removed quite easily.
P.S. This is a bug-free setup.
Also, you can choose whatever version you want as your production version, it's up to you whether or not you want to update to a version that has more features, noone is twisting your arm to update. Bug fixes, for the mostpart, are easily fixed by dragging and dropping a new relationship onto your model.
You crack me up sometimes! "This is a bug-free setup" is a contridiction. I was tring to be helpful (to you and David), not poop on anyone's parade. Sorry. I'll just be quite and thankful for you and David's efforts.
r
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I vote for adding jiggle. We could also add some to the thighs, calves, biceps and face.
Survey says... okay.
BUT... if this were software I'd say "Only if you can make it a descrete sub-system isolated from the main rig. Something that can removed or added without affecting the rest of the rig and, if possigble, make it an add-on that can be installed on models that already have the latest Squetch rig installed." My concern is that new versions with new features are coming out faster then existing versions can be fully tested -- its becoming a moving target. The latest version most likey has more bugs in it that no one has found yet (we just found several and I may have found another). I'm also concerned that the rig is getting too complex. This mainly impacts the people who support it and have to find and fix bugs... which in turn affects the users who want it to 'work'. Please don't create something that colapses under its own weight.
And again, I strongly suggest that you have a production version and an alpha/beta/new release versions.
Just my 2 cents,
Rusty
PS: I'm thinking that the rig could have a 'self-testing' system... just create a project that exercises ever aspect of the model (or perhaps even better a group of project files that test different systems -- new features, add another project that tests these to the test suite). When a new version comes out, sub-in the new version and sit back and watch.
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Hi, does anyone have a basic outline of building a realistic humanoid. I don't know if there is one in the book because I lost it.
Dear Wing_gundam_zero,
The realistic humanoid models I've built have taken literally years of long days and late nights to build, texture and rig. It would take a very large sum of money for me to part with them (more than they are worth). That's just me but I'm sure others would feel the same way. If I were better and could crank them out in weeks it would be a different story. Its a long journey to get to the point were you can build one.
You're asking for 'a basic outline'. I'm not sure exactly what you mean however, there are some very good realistic humanoid models on the AM CD and the two 'Extras' CDs (the latter can be downloaded). Using these as well as the numerous tutorials on this forum you can get good examples and instructions for:
* how to construct the mesh (the construction of cps and splines -- beyond 'looking' good they must be constructed in such a way that they animate well too),
* how to do the texturing (Flatten or use the UV editor, create the maps, apply them, deal with seams and layer the maps -- I have a tut for doing the face here and there are others.
* how to rig the model (the Squetch rig is currently the big thing) and many of the models on the Hash CDs already have a rig installed. Rigs are complicated. They are essentially a mechanical engineering problem and a complex one.
Cartoon characters involve the same steps but are FAR easier to create than realistic human models and I don't even mention hair, cloth, SSS and the vast landscape of character animation.
With one exception, everything you need to create realistic human models can be found on this forum including help. The one exception is 'time'; you must supply that and you'll need plenty of it.
Good luck!!
Rusty
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Two words...
seek...
help!
:-)
Rusty
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David or Mark,
I've adjusted the thumb (both bones as instructed and the splines) and it seems to have come out great.
However I do have one issue. When turn the roll handle of the right_finger_thumb_control to roll the thumb, at each extreem end the tip of the thumb rotates. Since 'Sam' doesn't do this I must conclude that something went south with my fooling around. Any ideas?
Thanks (yet again!),
Rusty
Double-check that you have re-parented everything the way that it is in Squetchy Sam. If that is correct, unhide all of the hand bones and check to make sure that the 'Z' rotation on the thumb bones is the same (in Bones mode). Those are what I would check. If either of those aren't the problem, I'll have to take a look at it to figure it out.
Hope that helps, Rusty.
Good advise. That did the trick.
Rusty
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David or Mark,
I've adjusted the thumb (both bones as instructed and the splines) and it seems to have come out great.
However I do have one issue. When turn the roll handle of the right_finger_thumb_control to roll the thumb, at each extreem end the tip of the thumb rotates. Since 'Sam' doesn't do this I must conclude that something went south with my fooling around. Any ideas?
Thanks (yet again!),
Rusty
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You only move the bones that reference the thumb.
Oh damn I knew that... but does image 2 indicate the areas to take them from and where to move them to? I think I need a nap. :-(
r
Edit: Sorry for the brain fart. After reading everything again, I'm almost certain I see light.
How to add a New Model, Sound, Action into the Libraries?
in New Users
Posted
Right click in the modeling window and select 'create icon' (or something close -- I don't have am open right now), then in the PWS right click on the model name and select 'add to library'. Or (and for everything else including sounds) drag it from the PWS to the library window. Note: you must have moved the library from the CD to your hard disk.
Or... click on Tools->Options and sel the folder tab... locate library files in the drop down. Here you specify where am looks for lib files. Pick a place NOT in the AM program folder (or you'll lose it when you upgrade). Now organize all of your models, materials, etc in file folders (use the stuff {the data folder} from the CD that you moved to your hard disk as a starting point). Then run the lib_manager program (search the forum for the link) to build the lib file. Now every time you add something new, filing it away in you folder structure, rerun lib_manage (name approximate) to update the AM libraries.
Haven't had coffee yet, hope that's clear enough.
Rusty
Rusty