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The Dancing Muleboy Wearing Chaps
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These pages are a copy of the official truespace forums prior to their removal somewhere around 2011.
They are retained here for archive purposes only.
The Dancing Muleboy Wearing Chaps // Work in Progress
Post by Steinie // Nov 20, 2008, 3:36am
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Steinie
Total Posts: 3667
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To explore the world of Animation using trueSpace I'll start this WIP.
The creation process for this Character can be found here:
http://forums1.caligari.com/truespace/showthread.php?t=7086
I'm sure there are many of you that are also interested in Character Animation and want to learn by example.
This will not be a tutorial since I don't know what I'm doing. (Proper training of techniques and tools should come from a veteran)
This will be an experiment using the Animation tools and seeing what results I can achieve.
There will be no use of BVH files. I never use anything pre-made except textures or shaders. I want a Character that will exhibit MY imagination and creative juices.
Preprogrammed robots are for others.
This project "should" be unlike anything seen here in trueSpace before.
Your input and help will be welcome and needed along the way.
Stay Tooned... |
Post by 3dfrog // Nov 20, 2008, 5:42am
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3dfrog
Total Posts: 1225
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hahaha, this will be the funniest thing ever. Just looking at him in those dance poses with chaps cracks me up. I can't wait.
Just to note, there is an issue with bones stretching around in the current ik system, you kinda gotta just go back to where the stretch happens on the keyframe and reposition the ik handle and rekeyframe, sometimes you have to do it a few times for it to take. Gets pretty tedious. This is pretty much the main reason I haven't been doing much keyframe animation in ts lately. Once this is fixed ts animation will be cake. Just to give you a heads up what to expect. |
Post by Finis // Nov 20, 2008, 6:40am
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Finis
Total Posts: 386
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This is exactly what I want to see! A bones and skin character animation done from scratch with TS native tools.
Wish I could help but I can only offer encouragement.
(Nothing against BVH and premade models etc. I just want to see TS able to do animation on its own.) |
Post by Dragneye // Nov 20, 2008, 11:53pm
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Dragneye
Total Posts: 602
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Great start Steinie. I am Totally with ya! Any tips, tricks, and headaches you encounter, would love to see you post em, as I am gonna try to learn 7.6 animating right along with you.
PS: Good timing :D |
Post by Steinie // Nov 22, 2008, 5:00am
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Steinie
Total Posts: 3667
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Ok lets start looking at the Project.
"Mule Step One"
I have a Mule head made of many parts and a Mule Body.
Placing the Head on the Body (not attached yet)
I notice that the neck has a few faceted polygons which need fixing.
We could do the same thing to Mule's Pants but I kind of like the starchy look.
My plan in this project is to show the steps needed in producing a final animation. When I reach a step
I cannot do or need answers the Project stops until we get an answer from the Animators or we figure out an answer.
This could be painful folks... but rewarding. |
Post by Steinie // Nov 22, 2008, 5:43am
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Steinie
Total Posts: 3667
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"Mule Step 2"
As you can see the Mule Head is comprised of many parts including Hair.
My goal is to have a moving jaw, two moving eyes and two animated ears.
The hair shares polygons with the ears.
I do not want the hair to be frozen in place.
The parts are:
Head, each eye, ears with hair, each tooth, jaw and area around eyes.
Question:
1) Should I use "Encapsulate 3D" on any parts of the head?
2) Should SDS be removed first if the answer is yes?
Remember this head will be connected to the body somehow and
I still want to be able to select the animated parts (in red) mentioned above.
Edit: As discussed in Step3c all the pieces have hair! A mistake I didn't catch during modeling. trueBlue brought this to my attention. Thanks!
I'm showing you the good and the bad as we go along. |
Post by Steinie // Nov 22, 2008, 6:24pm
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Steinie
Total Posts: 3667
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"Mule Step 3"
In test I tried various methods of joining objects together. "Boolean Union", "Weld Geometry Together", "Form Polygonal Bridge", "Merge Polygons" "Encapsulate 3D" and "Mesh Collapse" all were tried. They all gave me bad results. I would either freeze the hair, have the model's mesh turn yellow with no way of turning off, the bones become dead and inactive, some pieces could no longer be selected or isolated. So I tried something which turned out to be the easiest (and obvious). I selected the Skeleton, Clicked "Attach Skin to Skeleton" and then clicked on each piece of the Model one by one. Attaching each part to the Skeleton like adhesive.
All the individual pieces can still be selected, moved and rotated, This is a biggie for key frame animation!
I also found that SDS is a killer when attaching skin. So instead I removed the SDS from all parts of the model, attached the skin to skeleton, and then reapplied the SDS. |
Post by Steinie // Nov 22, 2008, 7:02pm
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Steinie
Total Posts: 3667
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"Mule Stepped In It 3b"
An Animated model should be able to move, rotate, bend, blink, twist, and shout. Joints and Muscle control our limitations not Glue.
Glue turns us into a rock.
Encapsulated objects are like glue.
Encapsulated = Rock.
Boolean Union = Bigger rock.
You and I are not rock collectors so let's move on.
Everyone else stay here and grow moss. |
Post by trueBlue // Nov 22, 2008, 7:54pm
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trueBlue
Total Posts: 1761
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May I ask why you have all of your objects as Hair? Certainly you do not want hairy Teeth and Eyeballs. :) I suspect that you are going to have issues with this further on if not already. I've seen objects that were skinned together as you have (without the hair) but mostly I've seen them as one mesh. I am no authority here by any means but me thinks that one mesh with the right topology is best for animating. Wouldn't it be better to start over with no SDS, make it one mesh, reload your saved Skeleton, Attach Skeleton, and Weight Paint? This by no means is criticizing what you are doing but merely trying to help.
On a final note you may notice that when you apply hair there is a lot of Encapsulation (can you here Spackdet cringe) going on inside. You may also notice that the trueSpace Character Bobby's hair is actually a separate object/scalp that was Attached as Skeleton as a sub object. You might want to give your ears a few more joints to make them less rigid. And/Or think about using Morphs for the Ears, Nostrils, Eyeballies, Upper/Lower jaws, etc... Thinking ahead at your reply if any you've mentioned how the Hair moved when you were posing. Kind of neat in it's own right but might not be to good for other parts/objects especialy when you bring this into the Animation Editor which is a whole new world of ups and downs, ins and outs, etc.. and etc.. Are we having fun yet? |
Post by Steinie // Nov 23, 2008, 4:30am
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Steinie
Total Posts: 3667
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"Mule Gets a Bone Envelope, Yee Haw Step 4"
I just selected each bone and set the area of influence on it. Very easy to do. Maybe too easy...:confused::confused::confused:
They used to say this in the 60's...Hey trueBlue I gave you two joints! So two more joints in the ears for you.
Edit: I've been told by a few others that Bone Envelope might not be the best solution for the Mule. Weight Painting might be better if needed. Since the Mule is in for repair I will try that method and report back. |
Post by frootee // Nov 23, 2008, 4:41am
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frootee
Total Posts: 2667
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Looks like you're making good progress Steinie.
Just remember to make backups as you progress, especially when you start posing the character (my personal naming convention is: filename_B#, where B# means Beta1, Beta2, etc :) ). I recall there was an exploding bones bug, but I recall that was resolved prior to 7.6 release. But just in case.
Froo |
Post by Steinie // Nov 23, 2008, 5:04am
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Steinie
Total Posts: 3667
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From Frootee "Just remember to make backups as you progress,
especially when you start posing the character"
From Steinie, Words to live by Frootee, Thanks!!!
Edit: Does anyone know for sure if the "Exploding Bone" issue is still in TS7.6? |
Post by Steinie // Nov 23, 2008, 3:30pm
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Steinie
Total Posts: 3667
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A Short Break
Posing: To show fatigue
Notice his drooped shoulders, hair is dangling, body weight shifted to one foot, angle of shoulders opposite angle of hips, eyes squinted, and muscles relaxed.
Edit: Notice that the right Mule leg horseshoe and the left pants leg are being pulled inward? This problem took me a while to figure out. It turned out that the "other" leg had an influence and pulled them out of shape. So when two bones are parallel to each other be careful and check them out with the weight paint tool. "Weight Paint Subtract" fixed em' up real good partner. |
Post by mrbones // Nov 24, 2008, 4:12pm
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mrbones
Total Posts: 1280
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It looks like hes easy going to move and morph,
Can you use antialiasing and a little bloom and glow in your workspace?
Also did you try smoothing on the legs and shoes?
Another thing to try is see if once subD you can normalmap the whole model.
That might be nice too.
I really like this work by the way! |
Post by spacekdet // Nov 24, 2008, 8:20pm
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spacekdet
Total Posts: 1360
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Edit: Does anyone know for sure if the "Exploding Bone" issue is still in TS7.6?
If it is, we're all counting on you to find out.
Because that's something that might really chap your ass if it happens. |
Post by Steinie // Nov 25, 2008, 3:19am
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Steinie
Total Posts: 3667
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Thanks MrBones, I also notice that his hooves looked like they stepped in you know what. A layer of SDS did the trick. The pants might remain the way they are. All the hard creases in contrast to the Mule's curved figure has a look I like. I'm keeping your suggestion in mind as this project continues. Normal Maps were never considered for this model but an idea I may play with later.
SpaceKDet, I'm amazed no one has answered that question yet. I feel like I'm handling nitroglycerin and at any moment an Alien will pop out of his chest...or worse!;)
All, sometimes you'll read in these forums how an Artist stops working on his/her project because they finally got bored. Well try working with an Ass all day...:D |
Post by Steinie // Nov 25, 2008, 5:28pm
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Steinie
Total Posts: 3667
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He Dropped In From Out Of The Blue
Muleboy is back from the repair shop and ready for more action.
Up to this point most of the work has been intuitive. Almost anyone can eventually create a working skeleton, apply weight paint, bone envelope and even get the joint rotation working properly. Caligari should be commended for making this process so easy.
Now comes the "it's science not art" part of construction. For locks and IK Handles I would say you MUST read the manual to understand how to properly make them work. The good news is the Character Chapter is actually very well written. So my compliments go to the Author for making this process clear and concise.
Here is a 7 Minute Version of what I have done so far by JHowell
http://forums1.caligari.com/truespace/showthread.php?t=5347
Status so far:
Modeling (Done in another WIP)
Skeleton Creation (After a while you can kick out skeletons so fast I wonder why a limb library is even needed)
Attach skin to Skeleton: (Click, click click done)
Weight Paint and/or Bone Envelope: Almost an art form, take your time and really study mesh behaviors. I'm looking for elasticity and flexibility in my character. I want to be able to show shifting of weight.
Joint Rotation: The old saying "know your limits" holds true here.
Doing this step correctly will pay dividends later, study your own limbs and how your joints behave. An older Character will have greater limits.
I'm currently working this step and analyzing each joint I created. Question the role for each joint. You put it there for a reason, now ask yourself why? |
Post by TomG // Nov 26, 2008, 3:42am
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TomG
Total Posts: 3397
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Thank you :) I wrote up the locks, IK handles etc, and am glad it makes sense and is useful since that is the whole intention of a manual of course, and it would be a failure if it didn't work in helping explain things. Indeed I am no character animator myself, so I always thought that the fact I (of all people) could understand and use the rigging system was a testament to how easy it was!
Also good to know that progress continues on this one, as I'm really looking forward to seeing the results!
Tom |
Post by Steinie // Nov 28, 2008, 3:58pm
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Steinie
Total Posts: 3667
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Building the Stage
At the very start of this project I had a pretty solid idea for this Animation. The pieces are starting to fall into place. I like to build my environments like a Theatrical stage. I don't waste my time building things you won't see. In this project the background will be a view out the window of a Winter Scene. The camera will pan right and give the illusion of an actual outdoor scene.
With the joints finished in the Mule I practice my pratfalls. |
Post by tahnoak // Nov 28, 2008, 5:09pm
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tahnoak
Total Posts: 487
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Steinie...this is great work. I congratulate you on your patience and perseverance. |
Post by Steinie // Nov 28, 2008, 6:02pm
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Steinie
Total Posts: 3667
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Thank you tahnoak!
I'm glad some of you enjoy my little project. The hard part is still ahead so
wish me luck.
pssssst Put your ear close to the monitor......
the tree is animated too! ;) |
Post by Mr. 3d // Nov 28, 2008, 9:32pm
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Mr. 3d
Total Posts: 747
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I know that you said that this wasn't going to be a tutorial, but I thought at least you could have shared with us some key insightful overviews of how you got your skeleton and character joints to move and skin to react proportionately instead of making this another plugin to go read the manual. |
Post by Steinie // Nov 29, 2008, 4:56am
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Steinie
Total Posts: 3667
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OK fair enough. Here are a couple things I discovered while building the Mule. Don't over do it with joints.
Not every joint needs controls only the main ones. I found it very hard to contol if every joint was modified.
I will post two characters I built using a single spine in each. Weight paint was never use in either model.
To clearly show the joint controls I selected the Mouses nose. (For animation I would pick the second joint instead).
"Locks" are where it's at! Read the darn chapter because placing the correct lock
(there are three types) in the right place make life a wonderful place.
Try to picture posing a Character in zero gravity. Everything twist and turns out of control.
For keyframe animation Locks will be my puppet strings in my attempt to make them "Real"
To keep the Mouse flat on the ground I had to restrict an axis in the "Lock" control panel.
Turning locks on and off, placement of locks and lock type allows unlimited control to your model while posing.
On the Mule weight painting was only used to touch up. I put too much emphasis on it. In the end I hardly used it.
trueSpace seems to do a lot of the work for us. Nice.
Notice how each segment of the Tree is influenced by a bone? I did nothing more then add one lock to the base.
The tree was built having individual segments with each segment having one bone. To attach segments I used the "Attach Skin to Skeketon"
For the tree ornaments (I didn't want their shapes to deform) I used "Attach Object to Bone", now they just follow along.
Sorry about jumping ahead. I'm having too much fun!...so far.:rolleyes: |
Post by Steinie // Nov 29, 2008, 9:16am
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Steinie
Total Posts: 3667
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OK, How do you animate a camera? I couldn't find anything in the Manual. It would seem like an easy thing to do but so far nothing I do makes it work. I want to pan the scene. |
Post by trueBlue // Nov 29, 2008, 9:41am
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trueBlue
Total Posts: 1761
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AE = Workspace's Animation Editor
Select your Camera.
View from Camera.
AE: Set first Keyframe.
AE: Move to your next Frame.
Use the View Widget to position the Camera.
AE: Set Keyframe. |
Post by Steinie // Nov 29, 2008, 10:07am
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Steinie
Total Posts: 3667
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Thanks trueBlue. Back on track.:) |
Post by Steinie // Dec 1, 2008, 12:08pm
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Steinie
Total Posts: 3667
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"The Christmas Mule"
Seasons Greetings from Steinie.
Turn on your speakers too.
p.s. 3DFrog taught me the basics of using trueSpace Animation
so I gift wrapped the present in Froggy paper.:D |
Post by trueBlue // Dec 1, 2008, 12:47pm
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trueBlue
Total Posts: 1761
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Cute! :) I diffently got a kick and a smile out of it. |
Post by Finis // Dec 1, 2008, 2:41pm
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Finis
Total Posts: 386
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Funny! Good choice of music too! Good work.
Thanks for doing this Steinie.
Now that I've seen an all TS animation done from scratch I'll try my Elf Movie. Next year probably. |
Post by 3dfrog // Dec 1, 2008, 3:13pm
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3dfrog
Total Posts: 1225
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Nice Steinie :) Mule boy is looking good. Nice going! It definitely made me smile. |
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