Adding an animated head to a body...in Maya

[steveblake]

As far as I can rememebr, you can build the rigged / skinned head (with a set of blendshapes, joints etc etc) and then stitch that to the body afterwards...

ie - you don't have to incorporate the whole mesh into your blendshapes.

Some say that sub-D's are a bit heavy for animating - have you thought of using proxy smooth/ or CPS toolbox?? It shouldn't be too hard to convert...

As for how to rig a head, take a look around the forums for some insipration or maybe even use a few simple blendshapes to begin with... I've learnt (from others) that you don't actually need that many...

Either way post some screenies so that we can see how you are getting along..

:)

[Atwooki]

boone:

....to be the same SDS object and not two seperate models...

Head seperate from Body:

1.) Model yer new cat's head in polys first (pref. quads)

2.) Make copies of that head and create blendShapes.

3.)Covert body to polys(opt. box ---> quads, vertices, and level zero. Nuke history of body.

4.) Then take the 'base' head and the body, line up the verts, one to the other, and combine them.

- The order in which you pick items to combine is very important...
- The first item you select will keep its vertex order after the combine.
- All other objects will have their vertices reordered.

5.) Pick the head first, then the body and combine.

6.) Now select all the vertices where the neck and body meet, and merge them.

Delete the history on the new body and create a 'blend node' using the shapes you created.
The verts in the head should now work with the head blend shapes you created. :)

All-in-One object:

1.) Model head

2.) Combine with body, after converting subD to polys (see opt.box params above)

3.) Merge verts/edges. Delete history

3.) Make a 'quick selection set' of the cat's head

4.) Make head blendShapes from that set.

5.) Make sure the UV's of both flow nicely into each other...

Then convert back to sub-D... :)

Atwooki

[Boone]

Cheers, Lads!:beer:

I was about to rig the damn thing - but I'll change plans immediately to acommadate your recommendations...

I was gonna ask - when it comes to skin-binding in Maya, is it usually down to the user's preference wether they use rigid or smooth binding? Or do companies insist on using only one of the techniques? If so, which?:lightbulb

I'll be sure to post a few pics to show my progress...:thumbsup:

[Atwooki]

Have a look at this thread, Boone:

http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?threadid=115520&highlight=rigid+or+smooth

Generally, I'd suggest:

Organic = Smooth;

Mechanical (bots etc) and architectural = Rigid

Atwooki

[Boone]

Re: Atwooki.

You're da man!:D

I've taken to modelling in the smooth proxy mode...bloody handy! Oh, and I'm getting used to using layers - which is speeding my work up, no end...:cool:


Cheers, mate.:beer:

[Atwooki]

Cheers, Boone!

If you model with Dirk (Bialluch)'s 'connect PolyShape' tools rather than straight into sub-Ds, your workfflow will be quicker too..:)

Get from here:

www.lightstorm3d.com

all the best ;)

Atwooki

[skurge13]

Ok, I have a question for Atwooki (or anyone who'll answer it)...is it really necessary to merge the head and body into one piece, or can you just leave them separate? As long as the verts line up, and your smooth skin weighting is correct, wouldn't it still work fine, only with a speed advantage and with a separate UV set just for the head?

[Boone]

Re: Skurge13.

After a little mucking-around, I think either way is acceptable. Like Atwooki said - just ensure the UVs line-up properly. I haven't done any texturing for my current "test-character", but I shall see if it works...:thumbsup:

Re: Atwooki.

Thanks for the hint on the CPS tools - I got them working! Also, I've made HUGE progress with rigging in general...though I changed back to a previous human-model rather than the cat. I've just got to have a quick crash course in "character sets" and then I can post up a few pics.:beer:

[naeblis]

Atwooki - I have a question about your first method (when you separate the two, do your blending, and then put it back together). Since you do it all as polygons, is there a way to convert it back into subdivision surfaces? When I try, I lose all my blend information.

[Boone]

Re: Naeblis.

Make sure you don't delete the history of the blend. Only delete the modeling history!

And that can go for the "merge vertices/align" history nodes. Keep that in mind...:thumbsup:

[Atwooki]

Boone:
quick crash course in "character sets" and then I can post up a few pics.
I'll be keeping my eyes peeled :)

Be sure to check out this GREAT script when doing any 'smooth' skin-weighting, from Anders Egleus:

http://www.cgtalk.com/attachment.php?postid=1143847

and check his thread here:

http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=122121

Atwooki

[Boone]

Re: Atwooki.

Y'know - one of these days you may just run out of tricks!:beer:

Cheers, mate!

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