* Today I decided to use the online animation tutorials on Moodle in order to animate my character model. After all, I am still struggling to animate my character and feel that the only way to learn is through practice. Therefore, I spent the first half of the session watching the videos available instead of asking for help which I feel I do too much, thus feeling as if the work isn't my own.
After doing the above, I then moved onto adding a skin modifier to the whole model before experimenting with its animation.
Wednesday, 30 April 2014
Thursday, 10 April 2014
Tips for 3D character design (8/4/2014)
* Recently on the Facebook page a student posted a link of tips on how to design 3D characters for beginners. Therefore, knowing that I could do with some help, I decided to read its points and decide the best course of action for each one.
1 - Know your restrictions:
This brought up what you needed to consider for the model itself. For example, one thing I haven't done (which I should) is measure my character in centimeters or meters as these factors can have a huge effect on not only the polygon count, but also how it scales when transferred to other things.
It also recommended that you think how the character will be used. For example, I know that my character needs to bend his fingers so those will need to be adjustable. I also made sure to get rid of the back of my t-shirt since the waist coat covers it anyway and it would only have added to the overall polygon count.
2 - Do your research:
I have managed to keep to this point quite well since it recommends using reference material to create your character model perfectly. Obviously I started off with my drawings before realising that I sadly wouldn't be able to follow my original 'One Piece' design, due to its complicated proportions. Therefore, I ended up sticking with photographs of myself for reference as I had multiple full scale shots from all sides to use.
3 - Start simple:
Something I wish I had done recently. The site recommends that you block your character first with cylinders so as to get a basic overall idea. However, I realise now that I jumped to the head and hands far too soon and therefore had to rescale much of my model later. Something that could have been avoided had I followed this tip first.
4 - Try subdivision surfaces:
It says that using subdivision surfaces is a really good way of smoothing a model and making it have a low polygon count. It's also apparently easier to edit and can later be 'baked' into a fully polygon-based mesh.
However, I feel at this stage, I will not be able to do this as my model is already complete. Therefore, I will try this technique if I ever have to do character modeling again in the future.
5 - Add detail only where it's needed:
I need to have a good think about how I want my model to be seen. After all, if I decide to animate only from one particular angle or from a distance then I may not need to include a great deal of detail on it. However, if the camera is close up then I will.
Therefore, I should try and decide in advance what angles and positions I want my character to be in and therefore texture them accordingly.
6 - Be economical:
Going back to the first point, this is all about removing what isn't needed so as to take up less polygons.
7 - Follow natural muscle lines:
By the sounds of things, it seems as if it was a good thing that my model was more naturally proportioned since following natural muscle layout will allow the model to look better and deform more convincingly.
8 - Retain a seamless model:
As I have learnt the hard way, you should make the clothes and body one and the same thing. Not only does having a body underneath clothes take up unnecessary memory (tip 6), but is also makes it harder to animate with something on top of it and, as a result may also cause parts of the model to go through one another.
9 - Keep your typology clean:
Make sure to only include what is needed on the model, otherwise it is unnecessary work that may also get in the way of the rest of the model.
10 - Check deforming areas:
Another problem that I have encountered already is not having enough polygons around the joints, therefore making them look jagged and plain wrong. Therefore, it recommends adding just a few extra polygons around these areas so as to make them correctly bend. The elbows will also need extra attention as these clearly bend a lot.
11 - Image planes:
As I have already done, this tip recommends that I import my reference images into 3ds Max itself, thus allowing me to get the correct measurements and detail needed.
12 - Work smarter, not harder:
In its essence, this tip means that if I ever make a great character model in the future then I should save it. After all, why do more work than you have to? Just use something pre made and spend more time making it into something new and better!
13 - Keep your scene clean:
By keeping your scene / character 'clean' you in short make things easier for yourself and others who may edit your work. Overall, this tip refers to correctly naming every piece of the model and deleting anything unnecessary, such as the reference images etc.
14 - Unify your normals:
Something I have been told to do again and again, I should always set my geometry normals to face only one way, not both. By doing this I save space and only show textures outside the character, not inside as well which would be pointless as that will never been seen by the audience.
15 - Let the normal map help:
Another thing I have been told to do again and again is include normal maps that greatly add detail to surfaces. Whether that be fabric or skin, I should try and include normal maps on my model.
16 - Prioritise:
Similar to tip 5, I need to work out the polygon budget for each area and decide what needs the most detail. For example, if a piece of clothing is meant to be more eye catching than the face then it should have more polygons to make it smoother, and vise versa.
17 - Keep regular, sequential back-ups:
Something myself and many others have learnt the hard way is that we should always, ALWAYS save our work repeatedly and make as many back ups as possible. Already many of my colleagues have fallen victim to corrupted memory and crashing computers, therefore I do not plan to do the same.
18 - Check the silhouette:
Sometimes the lighting in your scene can stop you from correctly seeing your entire model in all its glory. Therefore, try removing the lighting so as to make sure every aspect of it is ok. This is especially useful to do if you have spent ages working on it, as it will allow you to see it in a whole new perspective.
Harvard Referencing:
1 - Know your restrictions:
This brought up what you needed to consider for the model itself. For example, one thing I haven't done (which I should) is measure my character in centimeters or meters as these factors can have a huge effect on not only the polygon count, but also how it scales when transferred to other things.
It also recommended that you think how the character will be used. For example, I know that my character needs to bend his fingers so those will need to be adjustable. I also made sure to get rid of the back of my t-shirt since the waist coat covers it anyway and it would only have added to the overall polygon count.
2 - Do your research:
I have managed to keep to this point quite well since it recommends using reference material to create your character model perfectly. Obviously I started off with my drawings before realising that I sadly wouldn't be able to follow my original 'One Piece' design, due to its complicated proportions. Therefore, I ended up sticking with photographs of myself for reference as I had multiple full scale shots from all sides to use.
3 - Start simple:
Something I wish I had done recently. The site recommends that you block your character first with cylinders so as to get a basic overall idea. However, I realise now that I jumped to the head and hands far too soon and therefore had to rescale much of my model later. Something that could have been avoided had I followed this tip first.
4 - Try subdivision surfaces:
It says that using subdivision surfaces is a really good way of smoothing a model and making it have a low polygon count. It's also apparently easier to edit and can later be 'baked' into a fully polygon-based mesh.
However, I feel at this stage, I will not be able to do this as my model is already complete. Therefore, I will try this technique if I ever have to do character modeling again in the future.
5 - Add detail only where it's needed:
I need to have a good think about how I want my model to be seen. After all, if I decide to animate only from one particular angle or from a distance then I may not need to include a great deal of detail on it. However, if the camera is close up then I will.
Therefore, I should try and decide in advance what angles and positions I want my character to be in and therefore texture them accordingly.
6 - Be economical:
Going back to the first point, this is all about removing what isn't needed so as to take up less polygons.
7 - Follow natural muscle lines:
By the sounds of things, it seems as if it was a good thing that my model was more naturally proportioned since following natural muscle layout will allow the model to look better and deform more convincingly.
8 - Retain a seamless model:
As I have learnt the hard way, you should make the clothes and body one and the same thing. Not only does having a body underneath clothes take up unnecessary memory (tip 6), but is also makes it harder to animate with something on top of it and, as a result may also cause parts of the model to go through one another.
9 - Keep your typology clean:
Make sure to only include what is needed on the model, otherwise it is unnecessary work that may also get in the way of the rest of the model.
10 - Check deforming areas:
Another problem that I have encountered already is not having enough polygons around the joints, therefore making them look jagged and plain wrong. Therefore, it recommends adding just a few extra polygons around these areas so as to make them correctly bend. The elbows will also need extra attention as these clearly bend a lot.
11 - Image planes:
As I have already done, this tip recommends that I import my reference images into 3ds Max itself, thus allowing me to get the correct measurements and detail needed.
12 - Work smarter, not harder:
In its essence, this tip means that if I ever make a great character model in the future then I should save it. After all, why do more work than you have to? Just use something pre made and spend more time making it into something new and better!
13 - Keep your scene clean:
By keeping your scene / character 'clean' you in short make things easier for yourself and others who may edit your work. Overall, this tip refers to correctly naming every piece of the model and deleting anything unnecessary, such as the reference images etc.
14 - Unify your normals:
Something I have been told to do again and again, I should always set my geometry normals to face only one way, not both. By doing this I save space and only show textures outside the character, not inside as well which would be pointless as that will never been seen by the audience.
15 - Let the normal map help:
Another thing I have been told to do again and again is include normal maps that greatly add detail to surfaces. Whether that be fabric or skin, I should try and include normal maps on my model.
16 - Prioritise:
Similar to tip 5, I need to work out the polygon budget for each area and decide what needs the most detail. For example, if a piece of clothing is meant to be more eye catching than the face then it should have more polygons to make it smoother, and vise versa.
17 - Keep regular, sequential back-ups:
Something myself and many others have learnt the hard way is that we should always, ALWAYS save our work repeatedly and make as many back ups as possible. Already many of my colleagues have fallen victim to corrupted memory and crashing computers, therefore I do not plan to do the same.
18 - Check the silhouette:
Sometimes the lighting in your scene can stop you from correctly seeing your entire model in all its glory. Therefore, try removing the lighting so as to make sure every aspect of it is ok. This is especially useful to do if you have spent ages working on it, as it will allow you to see it in a whole new perspective.
Harvard Referencing:
- webneel (2013) 25 Amazing 3D Game Character Design Masterpieces and Tips and Tricks for beginners. Available at: http://webneel.com/25-amazing-3d-game-characters-tips-tricks?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+webneel+%28Webneel.com%29 (Accessed: 8/4/2014).
Wednesday, 2 April 2014
An introduction to animation (31/3/2014)
For this session our lecturer decided to show us a basic animation tutorial.
After creating a box in the top right corner we set a key in the first frame so as to store the animation's information.
Switching on auto key, so as to set other frames of animation we put our frame to '100', then moved the box, thus saving information on the position of the object.
Bringing up the curve editor, we are able to see the object's animation and speed in the form of the graph.
We then raised the box on the '50' frame and looked at the curve editor. As you can see, each coloured line represents a different axis e.g. red is X, blue is Z and green Y.
The Z axis (blue line) shows this especially as, since it rises on the '50'th frame the line is like a hill to show it going up then down.
We can change the animation manually on the Curve Editor by clicking on the frame and creating another Auto Key by simply holding shift and dragging it, effectively copying and pasting.
We then added a long box and setting the auto key on frame 10, we rotated it 360 degrees so as to make it spring like a propeller.
Clicking on 'Select and Link in the top left corner, we are able to combine the two objects labeled by the lecturer as parent and child, since we want the other object (child) to do what the main object does (parent). Thus allowing us to edit them separately, by still stay attached.
Is is evident on the 'Schematic View' which shows all the objects.
Going back into the Curve Editor, we had to right click the grey line and select 'Show Toolbars' and then 'Curves: Track View'. This is the only way of finding it annoyingly.
Afterwards you then select 'Parameter Curve Out-Of-Range Types' and set the Curve Editor from 'Constant' to 'Cycle'.
By moving the rotating box's auto key on 10 to 100 we not only make it spin for the whole animation, but we also change what it looks like in the Curve Editor.
To correctly render your work you need to go onto 'Render Setup' and select 'Active Time Segment'. Thus rendering all your frames and not just the default 'Single' frame.
When saving a video it is important to scroll down to 'Render Output' and select the file you wish to use and the name for the animation, thus being able to save your work.
You must also make sure to render in the 'Perspective' window, otherwise it will not render correctly.
HOWEVER, when you render another scene you must change the name or select/deselect the file so as to not overwrite your previous work. Though it should warn you.
We then moved onto creating an aeroplane. We started off by creating a basic plane using boxes before using the same rotating and attaching techniques mentioned above to make the propeller.
To make the propeller spin fluently without stopping or looking odd, we have to go into the 'Track View' on 'Curve Editor' and select 'Cycle'. I found out during this point that Cycle actually repeats the animation for the object, thus explaining why it's called cycle.
You then click the small grey squares that connect the lines and select 'Set Tangets to Linear' so as to make the lines straight. This ensures the animation is more fluent.
We then made a Dummy using the 'Helpers' list and placed it inside the plane. Afterwards we then connected the plane to the dummy, as the dummy will act as the parent and we want the child to copy it.
Creating a line that would be the path for our plane, we then connected it by going into 'Animation' and selecting 'Constraints' before clicking 'Path Constraint'. You then connect the dummy to the line and, as a result, the dummy will follow that line/path.
Once connected it actually attaches itself to the line and thus when you press 'play' it moves along the line.
Going into 'Motion' with your Dummy, you select 'Follow' so that it will actually face forward when on the line and 'Bank' to make it turn corners.
The plane's animation can be seen below...
Next, we opened up a file on Moodle known as 'Chess Board'.
Changing the pieces positions and getting rid of their original animation, I then animated them so as to make it look like the horse was taking the King.
First I made it so that it jumped next to the queen whilst spinning in the air.
The lecturer advised that we can copy animated frames by holding down shift (the clone tool) and dragging them to another one. Thus allowing the model to go back to a position or repeat something.
Making sure to animate the king as well, I was then able to make the horse's head butt the king and cause it to fall. Making sure to make the king bounce slightly when it hit the ground.
I then decided to give the jumping Knight bounce by making it shrink before jumping in the air and landing.
I only found out afterwards that you could add a modifier named 'Stretch' to make the bounces seem more natural.
You can see my animation below...
* Over the holiday we are expected to watch a lynda.com video that shows a tutorial on how to make a decent walking animation.This will hopefully prove useful to my character model.
Helicopter Box:
After creating a box in the top right corner we set a key in the first frame so as to store the animation's information.
Switching on auto key, so as to set other frames of animation we put our frame to '100', then moved the box, thus saving information on the position of the object.
Bringing up the curve editor, we are able to see the object's animation and speed in the form of the graph.
We then raised the box on the '50' frame and looked at the curve editor. As you can see, each coloured line represents a different axis e.g. red is X, blue is Z and green Y.
The Z axis (blue line) shows this especially as, since it rises on the '50'th frame the line is like a hill to show it going up then down.
We can change the animation manually on the Curve Editor by clicking on the frame and creating another Auto Key by simply holding shift and dragging it, effectively copying and pasting.
We then added a long box and setting the auto key on frame 10, we rotated it 360 degrees so as to make it spring like a propeller.
Clicking on 'Select and Link in the top left corner, we are able to combine the two objects labeled by the lecturer as parent and child, since we want the other object (child) to do what the main object does (parent). Thus allowing us to edit them separately, by still stay attached.
Is is evident on the 'Schematic View' which shows all the objects.
Going back into the Curve Editor, we had to right click the grey line and select 'Show Toolbars' and then 'Curves: Track View'. This is the only way of finding it annoyingly.
Afterwards you then select 'Parameter Curve Out-Of-Range Types' and set the Curve Editor from 'Constant' to 'Cycle'.
By moving the rotating box's auto key on 10 to 100 we not only make it spin for the whole animation, but we also change what it looks like in the Curve Editor.
To correctly render your work you need to go onto 'Render Setup' and select 'Active Time Segment'. Thus rendering all your frames and not just the default 'Single' frame.
When saving a video it is important to scroll down to 'Render Output' and select the file you wish to use and the name for the animation, thus being able to save your work.
You must also make sure to render in the 'Perspective' window, otherwise it will not render correctly.
HOWEVER, when you render another scene you must change the name or select/deselect the file so as to not overwrite your previous work. Though it should warn you.
Aeroplane:
We then moved onto creating an aeroplane. We started off by creating a basic plane using boxes before using the same rotating and attaching techniques mentioned above to make the propeller.
To make the propeller spin fluently without stopping or looking odd, we have to go into the 'Track View' on 'Curve Editor' and select 'Cycle'. I found out during this point that Cycle actually repeats the animation for the object, thus explaining why it's called cycle.
You then click the small grey squares that connect the lines and select 'Set Tangets to Linear' so as to make the lines straight. This ensures the animation is more fluent.
We then made a Dummy using the 'Helpers' list and placed it inside the plane. Afterwards we then connected the plane to the dummy, as the dummy will act as the parent and we want the child to copy it.
Creating a line that would be the path for our plane, we then connected it by going into 'Animation' and selecting 'Constraints' before clicking 'Path Constraint'. You then connect the dummy to the line and, as a result, the dummy will follow that line/path.
Once connected it actually attaches itself to the line and thus when you press 'play' it moves along the line.
Going into 'Motion' with your Dummy, you select 'Follow' so that it will actually face forward when on the line and 'Bank' to make it turn corners.
The plane's animation can be seen below...
Chess:
Next, we opened up a file on Moodle known as 'Chess Board'.
Changing the pieces positions and getting rid of their original animation, I then animated them so as to make it look like the horse was taking the King.
First I made it so that it jumped next to the queen whilst spinning in the air.
The lecturer advised that we can copy animated frames by holding down shift (the clone tool) and dragging them to another one. Thus allowing the model to go back to a position or repeat something.
Making sure to animate the king as well, I was then able to make the horse's head butt the king and cause it to fall. Making sure to make the king bounce slightly when it hit the ground.
I then decided to give the jumping Knight bounce by making it shrink before jumping in the air and landing.
I only found out afterwards that you could add a modifier named 'Stretch' to make the bounces seem more natural.
You can see my animation below...
* Over the holiday we are expected to watch a lynda.com video that shows a tutorial on how to make a decent walking animation.This will hopefully prove useful to my character model.
Tuesday, 1 April 2014
Note taking (24/3/2014)
* Before doing anything this morning, I decided to move parts of the character model's body in order to see what happened. Making sure to completely texture the character blue so as to clearly see what needed changing when the green rigging's opacity was reduced to '0' on frame '100' as seen below (before and after).
First I tried the legs. Unfortunately, the back of the knees and thigh seem to sink into themselves.
Then I messed around with the arms by rotating them. But, you can see straight away by rotating the arm upwards the wristband seems to stretch and so does the waistcoat which seems to be attached to the arm. Thus I will have to de-attach it and fix the wristband somehow.
Next came the torso which, whilst trying to tilt it forward, made me look like the hunch back of Notre-dame! Another thing I noticed was that I hadn't attached the eyes to my model and therefore they floated in the air. Also, because I wanted to animate the necklace and goggles separately they ended up floating in mid air. Thus, I will need to decide whether or not to attach them to the model after all or not.
Furthermore, bending the back makes me look obese...
* After noting what needed to be edited, I showed my lecturer what notes I had made before he looked at the model using 'Envelop' and the 'Weight Tool'. Looking over the legs he noticed that my rig's thighs and legs were too high up, thus causing the problems I had previously.
With the above notes I then made sure to edit the legs and then subsequently the arms by scaling them.
Unable to attach the eyes, the lecturer helped me by looking over the model to see what was the problem. The eyes could easily be linked through 'Schematic View' where I found the eyes under 'Sphere' 001 and 002. I then attached them to the head by using 'Connect' on 'Base HumanHead'.
Looking over the rest of the model, the lecturer noticed that I needed to redo the rigging as for some reason my recent version lost it. Therefore, I spent the rest of the session doing so.
* As the lecturer will be giving us an animation tutorial next week I decided to leave it to then and crack on with some written work. After all, I learn better through practical step by step tutorials and feel that trying to teach myself would be an uphill battle.
First I tried the legs. Unfortunately, the back of the knees and thigh seem to sink into themselves.
Then I messed around with the arms by rotating them. But, you can see straight away by rotating the arm upwards the wristband seems to stretch and so does the waistcoat which seems to be attached to the arm. Thus I will have to de-attach it and fix the wristband somehow.
Next came the torso which, whilst trying to tilt it forward, made me look like the hunch back of Notre-dame! Another thing I noticed was that I hadn't attached the eyes to my model and therefore they floated in the air. Also, because I wanted to animate the necklace and goggles separately they ended up floating in mid air. Thus, I will need to decide whether or not to attach them to the model after all or not.
Furthermore, bending the back makes me look obese...
* After noting what needed to be edited, I showed my lecturer what notes I had made before he looked at the model using 'Envelop' and the 'Weight Tool'. Looking over the legs he noticed that my rig's thighs and legs were too high up, thus causing the problems I had previously.
With the above notes I then made sure to edit the legs and then subsequently the arms by scaling them.
Unable to attach the eyes, the lecturer helped me by looking over the model to see what was the problem. The eyes could easily be linked through 'Schematic View' where I found the eyes under 'Sphere' 001 and 002. I then attached them to the head by using 'Connect' on 'Base HumanHead'.
Looking over the rest of the model, the lecturer noticed that I needed to redo the rigging as for some reason my recent version lost it. Therefore, I spent the rest of the session doing so.
* As the lecturer will be giving us an animation tutorial next week I decided to leave it to then and crack on with some written work. After all, I learn better through practical step by step tutorials and feel that trying to teach myself would be an uphill battle.
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