Roger Eberhart
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Posts posted by Roger Eberhart
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I think something like this (http://www.happy-digital.com/edgefx.asp) would make mechanical modeling much easier in AM. It's basically rendertime edge beveling.
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That's James McCoy, right? I don't know many people on the cinematics team. Team 2 (World of Warcraft) is using AlienBrain. Not sure about the rest of the teams. I think cinematics has their own dedicated SQL programmer, so they probably have something home grown.
Does James use AM? I heard on these forums about someone else at Blizzard using AM and I have no idea who it is.
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Must have missed this thread. We use AlienBrain at my work (Blizzard Entertainment). It is useful in a large team to prevent assets from getting overwritten. Prior to using Alienbrain I had two instances of my work accidentally being overwritten by other artists. They would open the same file I was working on to check a texture or something then save after I had saved. Boom, a whole mornings work up in smoke. With AlienBrain, only one artist can access a file at a time. It also automatically creates incrimental backups for you.
AlienBrain has plugins to directly integrate with certain programs, like Max, Photoshop, and Maya. I think it is also built in to XSI, as they recently purchased the company that makes it. It also has a standalone client, so you could use it with AM if you like. It just wouldn't be as convenient.
Some of the artists at work, probably those that have last work before, like the program. Others hate it. It can slow you down at times. We've had our share of bugs with the software. There are also certain things that can throw you for a loop. If you check out a file it will always get the latest version. But if you just want to the open the file so you can merge it with something you're working on, it will use the latest version on your local drive. You have to remember to 'get latest version' or you may end up with an old file.
I'm not sure if we will stick with Alienbrain on our next project or write our own program. I think the bigger the team, the more useful this kind of software is.
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I'm getting the same thing here (ie. copying the bones when I try to parent them). I wonder if it's a bug. Hopefully someone who actually knows how to rig will chime in.
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I think he is suggesting you parent the root bone of your character to a null. That way you can rotate the null and the whole character will follow. I believe Jeff Lew even mentions this technique in the video.
As far as creating IK/FK sliders, it's not that easy. I believe you would need two different control rigs, one FK and one IK. Then you would set up a slider to control whether the bones for your geometry stick to the FK or IK rigs. In general, I don't think many people would use FK on the lower body, even if you were doing a handstand. FK is more useful for smooth arcs like swinging arms when a character is walking or throwing a ball.
There are some rigging tutorials here: http://www.lowrestv.com/arm/
Personally, I'm too lazy to figure this stuff out. I just use Setup Machine.
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Looks great for your first AM model. Based on the rotoscope, you may want to flatten his nose a bit and give him a more pronounced brow ridge.
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Usually, when dealing with textures for 3d models, dpi is meaningless. What really matters is your texture resolution in terms of pixels. For instance, an average game model has 256 x 256 pixel texture sheets. Higher res work usually would have larger texture sheets, 1024 x 1024 for instance.
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Looks like you could use a few more edge loops around the mouth as opposed to the eyes. You will need these to animate the mouth properly. Other than that, looks pretty good.
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I've heard mention of the Face Machine and Human Machine, but I no details. Can you tell me more about these upcoming products?
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Have you thought of a solution to attaching those horns?
He could try Zpider's Conform plugin (http://www.kci-group.com/z/conform.htm). That should get the bases of the horns to match the curvature of the head. Then he should be able to model them into the head. Although, Conform is only available on PC. Does Victor use a Mac?
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I really liked Jeff Lew's rig from his training CD. Very simple. Everything above the hips is straight FK. He's one of the few people to realize that rib cages don't bend, so he uses a single bone for the rib cage area.
I've always found the FK arms on Raf's rig and the AM 2001 rig don't behave like FK at all. Maybe I'm doing something wrong with them.
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I haven't seen the pilot, but the one I was speaking of earlier is great. At least I think so.
I found the link:
That's the one my coworker worked on. Apparently none of the original group are working on the series. Film Roman sold the entire concept to some group in Canada. So if the show offends, blame Canada
Roger
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I work with one of modelers from the original pilot, Jay Hathaway. He's an animator at Blizzard. I haven't seen the TV show yet. I'll have to get TIVO set up for those.
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A knife tool would be great, or some other easy way of adding edge loops. Stich is good, but something faster would be nice. Also, maybe AM could fake bevels in the render like this plug-in for Lightwave: http://www.happy-digital.com/edgefx.asp
I'd also like to be able to break splines without altering curvature.
Roger
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That's a pretty cool spline layout on the side of the hip. Could you show a screenshot centered on that region.
Thanks,
Roger
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[quote name='"PMarone@aol.com" <PMarone@aol.c' date='Dec 17 2003, 06:38 AM']From: "PMarone@aol.com" <PMarone@aol.com> PMarone@aol.com Date: 2003-12-17 06:28:30 To JoeNT Your Question on using AM for game development. There are Companies out there does use AM for there games. For Example Like Warcraft 3 From Blizzard they used AM for there Cinema and Gaming. So might be surprise to ask them what they think. You might get a good answer from them. Because they are a small group of guys and gals that are talented and like showing off and looking for new blood and giving out a few secrets out there. I talked to them at Siggraph 2002 at San Antonio. Look were there at Today. PMarone .[/quote] At Blizzard we use the following: Cinematics - Max War 3 - Max WOW - Max and Maya Blizzard North's next project - Max and Maya There are artists at the company that have used AM. I still do from time to time. But for Blizzard stuff, nope. Who did you talk to at Siggraph? If there is another AM afficianado at the company I'd love to know about it. Roger Eberhart
Orcish invasion!
in Work In Progress / Sweatbox
Posted
Great to see a WoW fan on the forum. Orcs are fun. Rumor has it a Blizzard artist lurks on these forums.