New 3D Artist (Kwama Forager)

[nick_op]

Originally posted by The Modax Jago
Hey.... sorry for the MIA


I just got hired by a 3d Animation Studio here in Miami!!!

Nice one! :goodjob:

There's no rush with the models anyway, I've still not finished animating the Forager. Which brings me to a progress update:

It seems that I have managed to create a time machine as I am now re-doing the animations with morphs, just as I started several months. I'm also trying to figure out an easier way to animate the skeleton.

Why back to morphs? Oblivion has a problem with scaling bones - it does not set a base size, so if an animation with scaled bones gets interrupted, the change in size sticks, meaning the creature gets bigger and bigger.

@The Modax Jago

I've been trying to set up a Spline IK for the Forager skeleton to make it easier to control. I'm having a problem though - the bones stretch, which I don't want them to do. However, if I turn off stretching, I end up with gaps between the bones as I move the spline. Do you know of anyway to stop the bones from stretching, but stop them from moving apart when they dont stretch. I can upload the Max scene if you want to look at how I've gone about it so far.

[The Modax Jago]

Ohhhhhhh...

dont even get me started on that bastard Spline IK.

I spent DAYS trying to get a damm neck/snake animation going with that system. It worked fine,... until the bones continiously popped,... no matter what I did. And limiting the rotation axis did not help either.

I now have a character I have to animate the snake like lower half.... in FK!!! Bastard. I just had it trying to get it to work. I'll chalk up another attempt a Spline IK when I get the chance.

You get them to strech? ??? Scale, bones, and animation just do not mix well.

I have not the foggiest idea how to help.... although,... if you send me the file I'll be able to look up the prob.

Morphs are not all that bad actually,... quite simple and easy to control with Wire parameters, or custom sliders. In fact very recommendable for things just like the forager. Using muliple morphs on the same morph channel and blending between the influcenes allows you to create very subtle and complex movement. With a little scripting it can get quite sophisticated.

I am working on an animated cartoon series, all in 3d. Characters made in Sub-D, rigging, texture, cloth and hair. It's very cool. I cant believe I'm getting paid to do 3d work!! I love this job. I even get to use this niffty 3d mouse "manipulator" thing. High tech stuff.

Anyway... I do my best to add content here as best I can...

[nick_op]

Here's the Spline IK I've been messing with. I'm using a combination of path, position and look at constraints.

You'll see that if you move any of the dummies now the bones will stretch to accomodate. If you turn stretching off (Characters->Bone Tools), you'll notice that the bones move apart if you move the dummy.

I purposefully avoiding scaling bones from now on as Oblivion only halfway supports them.

I love morphs actually. The reason I didn't use them before was because I couldn't get them to work in game. I've got a bit more knowledge of the .nif format now, so hopefully I can get them to work this time.