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AM 2008 rig


mtpeak2

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I used a dopesheet for the lip-sync and redecald it with my photo from early this morning lol .I have since put bones in the tongue and will try making him eat or chew a sweet or something .I will try puting some hiar on as I don't like seing myself bald lol.

The dope sheet worked well I thought I didn't mess with it much

Ive just got the hang of the uv editor and its magic

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It looks a bit out of sync, but that can be adjusted in the dopesheet. I've since made adjustments to the phoneme poses too, made them a little less extreme and not so symetrical.

 

The decalling looks really good, that's why I asked how you went about it.

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Hey Mark,

 

Just wanted you to know I like the rigs you've been working on. Haven't been very active with A:M lately, but gave your rigs a spin and they are really nice. The face controls are simple and work great... good expression and control. Did you mention there's an install rig you've had a few people test? I've got a little time and would like to give it a whirl if there's something close to being finished.

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I don't have an installation rig yet for the face rig. The 2008 rig has an installation rig, but I need to fix a few things first and there is no instructions for either one.

 

I don't have the time at the moment to get the rigs ready, I'm trying to get the rest of the SO characters rigged.

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Not bad Steve.

 

I took a few hours today to update the 2008 rig. I think I got the things I needed to get done to the rig. Fixed the knee issue Chris (mouseman) point out and added a pose to show the finger geom bones for FK mode (allows individual knuckle control, X axis only).

 

Please give these a thorough test run. The installation rig will be base on the rig installed in these models. So, if you find any issues, let me know and I'll fix it as soon as I can. Thanks

 

 

NEW UPDATE AVAILABLE.

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Played around with both models ,using all bones and ik ,all work's very well .Im impressed with the IK switching and how the head stays in the upright position . That ik balance rigid is very usefull aswell ,never used that before. Hands work like a dream and are very versatile.I reckon this is a real nice rig and suits everyones needs and more ,my opinion for what its worth

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Thanks for taking a look Steve.

 

The only thing lacking in the rig is squash and stretch, I think. Maybe version 2. The rig will need to be redesigned for that and complicates the installation as well. I'll figure something out eventually.

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I've updated the installation rig with the changes I made to the rig. I need to do a quick test install to see if everything is in place. Then, I can start thinking about installation instructions.

 

I just hope I worked out all the bugs in the rig, because once I post the installer, I have no plans on updating or fixing it. Any fixes will be in version 2, when and if I decide to add the squash and stretch, which I don't have plans to start anytime soon.

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The only thing lacking in the rig is squash and stretch, I think. Maybe version 2. The rig will need to be redesigned for that and complicates the installation as well. I'll figure something out eventually.

 

 

Very, very nice Mark - thanks very much. Love the IK switching.

 

For a quick & dirty pseudo spine/torso squetch, I modified your Thom and made back2 not attached to parent, and then created a pose (in spine folder) that translated back2 in z only. It wasn't necessary to create pose, of course - as could then have just switched off chest controller, and manually translated back2. It ain't perfect but it is Squetchy-Good-enough for me. Pseudo-Neck squetch seems to already be there (turn off head controller, translate neck, or could also create a pose). Perhaps some variation on this could be used for arms, legs. I personally have only used torso or neck squetching with the squetch rig. I know you are capable of something more elegant than what I did.

 

IMO, it's a good thing to keep this rig as straight forward as possible, with as simple an installation process as possible.

 

The easier it is to understand, the more people will use it. The less overhead, the faster real time response. And the easier it will be for others to tweak/modify it for their own special purposes.

 

This rig is functionally powerful, as well as powerfully simple.

PseudoSquetchAMv13_2008_Rig_Thom.zip

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Thanks Nancy.

 

The only reason the back bones are attached is for installation purposes (this goes for the limbs as well). I don't know what this technique will do to the IK setups being out of position. I do recommend doing it in a pose though, it makes it easier to get them back into their default positions.

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Thanks David. I don't know how or when that got broken, it worked at one point. Try these out.

 

[EDIT] I downloaded the previous update (sept 24 post 137) and the left hand worked fine with the exact same setup as the one I posted earlier. Well hopefully this fix doesn't stop working.

 

New update posted.

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Hey Mark,

 

I'm using the Thom model with the new rig for some animation practice, and when I move the chest controller the neck and head do not follow. In fact the head bone (or controller) doesn't seem to follow at all.

 

Did I miss something is using this rig?

 

Thanks,

 

Andy

Picture_1.png

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Hey Mark,

 

I'm using the Thom model with the new rig for some animation practice, and when I move the chest controller the neck and head do not follow. In fact the head bone (or controller) doesn't seem to follow at all.

 

Did I miss something is using this rig?

 

Thanks,

 

Andy

 

What it looks like to me is that you turned off the "Head Controller" and then translated the "Head_Geom" bone. When the "Head Controller" is "off", use the "Neck_Geom" to move the head.

 

Did that fix the problem, Andy?

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I'm rendering right now. So I have to try that later.

 

For some reason the head bone was was not under the back bone in the rig. I attached a different head to Thom. I assigned the bones to the new head, but I may have moved some things around.

 

I will embed and post the project after I'm done rendering. I bought the "Animate with Cristen McKee" CD's. They are good. They are like doing mini lessons to help with the animation. So that what this project is. I have a character standing up from a chair.

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Ok,

 

Here is the project and the model. I took the head from the "Basic Guy" which is on the extra's CD and DVD. He was rigged with the set up machine. I have a hard time using it, so I wanted to use the new V13 rig, which is what I am use to.

 

I am on a Mac, and I am using V15 of AM. Again it seems to work, but if you see a big mistake I made, let me know.

 

Thanks,

 

Andy

Chair_new_guy.prj

Thom_new_rig.mdl

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You had the head geometry assigned to control bones. The bones with "Geom" in the name are the bones to assign cps to.

 

You should have mentioned in your first post that you changed the head geometry on the model. It would have saved me the trouble of looking for a problem in the rig.

Thom_new_rig.zip

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I tried a semi-real animation with the rig and had quite a bit of success. It's your custom blue Thom pitching a baseball. (ETA: The project file should have everything except for AMv13_2008_Rig_Thom.mdl.) I did it in a blocking animation style, using hold every keyframe, in hopes I would be more efficient in animating. It is not complete yet. He does not let go of the ball, and the follow through and balance at the end isn't quite right. But it should be enough to show that the rig generally works for me.

 

The biggest problem I had (my problem, not the rig's) was that I tried to turn the hips by turning the "Hips" bone instead of "Hips _Controller". I had to create a sample action to figure out what I should have done, and then I put the Hips back and rotated the Hips _Controller and everything seemed to work well. Is it desirable to be able to rotate the hips? When does rotating Hips conflict with Hips _Controller?

 

Another thing is that I didn't notice the "Right Ball Controller" until the 2nd half of the animation. It comes in handy when the pitcher rotates on the ball of his foot. Very useful.

AM2008rig.prj

2008rig_pitch2.mov

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The Hip null is more of a "body" bone/null, maybe I should rename it so it's not so confusing? That's what it was named in the 2001 rig and I figured I'd leave it that. If you turn OFF all the steady poses in the spine folder, it works just like the 2001 rig hip null.

 

The animation is looking pretty good. As you said, the follow through needs a little work.

 

On another note, I have started the installation instructions. I'm just about through the legs, foot actually, with the arms/hands left to go. I hope to have something by the end of the week.

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I just tried taking my baseball pitch animation, putting the latest "Robby_Final" into the objects folder, and then changing the shortcut to the Thom model to Robby_Final. Robby's hands are all in the wrong place, very high, though most of the other stuff seems to work okay. When I switch back to AMv13_2008_Rig_Thom, it's all fine again.

 

There is a size difference between the two models (~1m for Thom, ~1.75m for Robby), but I don't think that is causing the problem.

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The Hip null is more of a "body" bone/null, maybe I should rename it so it's not so confusing? That's what it was named in the 2001 rig and I figured I'd leave it that.

 

I think keep Hip null name for the reason you stated. Maybe instead of changing Hip null name, change the name of the Hip controller to Pelvis controller or Lower body controller?

 

(but I don't think you really have to change the names at all, we can adapt)

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That will be a problem with most reusable actions, with any rig. As long as the models size and proportions are roughly the same, the models will be able to use the same actions. The actions could also be modified to other models and save to a different name.

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Well Ken, I wouldn't call that animation from Rodney, it looks more like a pose. :lol: Though I would like to see the rest of that Rodney, if it is animation.

 

That was what I thought was the most ideal pose out of my first animation with Robby. As it was a simple run through without a specific objective I didn't think the rest was worth posting. ;)

 

I'll see what I can do.

Hey... if there is a chance that animating with his rig will keep Mark happy I'll just have to animate more often!

 

I'm finding Thom is a real joy to 'animate' with. :)

 

Mark,

There is a difference between animating the Nulls in Robby and Thom.

I was going to post more about it but the right words didn't come to me to explain it. With Thom the hips can be rotated without activating the Rotation Manipulator. That doesn't seem to be the case with Robby.

 

Probably something I'm missing on my end.

Haven't played again (yet!) today.

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Hey Chris. I looked at the project file again today, this IS a size issue. I scaled Robby in bones mode, using the scale manipulator while holding the ctrl key (pc). I then switch in Robby in the pitch action and it is a whole lot better.

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Hey Chris. I looked at the project file again today, this IS a size issue. I scaled Robby in bones mode, using the scale manipulator while holding the ctrl key (pc). I then switch in Robby in the pitch action and it is a whole lot better.

I tried doing that with the Robby model, and his fingers ended up being scattered all over the place (ETA: in the Choreography). The bone I scaled was the Root bone in the model window in bones mode, using the scale manipulator ("S") and the Ctrl key (on the PC). I think that's exactly what you were saying to do.

 

One thing I noticed that was very different between Robby and the new Thom is that Robby's Root bone is vertical, from foot to head. The one on Thom is flat on the ground between his feet. I tried to move the Robby Root bone to be the same position as the Thom root bone, which might have helped a little but not much.

 

(Obligatory joke: heh, and they say size doesn't matter!)

 

That's a great start to 'It's a Pitch' too Chris! :)

There's an exercise you can never do too many times! Eventually I'll be able to do it in under 20 minutes down from 4 hours. That's the theory, anyways.

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Rodney, I'm not sure what you are talking about with the hips, both models work exactly the same. You don't need the rotate manipulator to rotate the hips on Robby.

 

Mark,

I really need to learn to video capture this stuff.

It figures, I can't reproduce what I saw.

 

It was most likely user error or a fluke. I wasn't going to mention it but thought Chris's description pointed to the same thing.

 

I won't speculate further.

If I see it happen again I'll capture it and post it here.

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