chracter animation problems

[Mattoo]

You need simply to set the IK goals to repeat, which is done in the Graph Editor.

[Ayreon]

Mattoo, thanks for the tip!
Just setting the ik goals to repeat doesn't do the trick. Now the legs just jump forward and back. I've tried forward repeat, and got some better results. Maybe I'm going to try cyclist. Anybody got experience with that??

[Mike RB]

make sure the last pose of your cycle is exactly the same as the 1st pose, the graph editor tip should work

[Ayreon]

I thought that only worked if you only rotatd your IK goals. When you move them, say, 1 meter in X+, then back to it's prior position and then check repeat in the graph editor, the goal just pops between the first and second position. I guess I'm still doing something wrong. I'l give it another try.
Another question:
Mike, seeing as you do character animation for your profession, can you tell me if I should use the mesh to move the character around, or just a rootbone that's the paren to all other bones, and therefore moves the whole mesh.. I hope you know what I mean, bit hard to explain for me :hmm: Oh, and ofcourse if anybody else know this, please tell me:bounce:
Well, back to character animation. I love this stuff!!!!!

Ayreon

[Eugeny]

I thought that only worked if you only rotatd your IK goals. When you move them, say, 1 meter in X+, then back to it's prior position and then check repeat in the graph editor, the goal just pops between the first and second position. I guess I'm still doing something wrong. I'l give it another try. U mast add some pause keys...

[Ayreon]

Eugeny, what do you mean with pause keys?

[LNT]

you'll have to move whatever you parented your IK goals to,otherwise they'll stay behind cycling incessantly

root bone would be a very bad solution - how about a scene master null?

[Eugeny]

Damn why can't I post images?

Your first and last key in sequence must be the same, "pause key" it's a duplicate of last key of sequence moved in time. So after activating Repeat u get pauses. If i could post images i would explain this better.

[Ayreon]

LNT: thanks for the information. I will change my rig and setup so it incorporates a master null, to move the whole object and rig around.


Eugeny: I think I understand what you mean. I'll give it a try.

Thanks again, it's great to get so much info and feedback, it really helps!!

Ayreon

[Fuzer]

Originally posted by Eugeny
Damn why can't I post images?
New rules for using images :hmm:
http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15751

[Eugeny]

Damn... I don't have any server room to poste images :annoyed:

[Ayreon]

Well, I'm still strugling with my setup. I've read the book by Timothy Albee. It's great, and the rig I'm using is almost identical to the one in the book, except for the arm setup, ni IK there!!!!
But, when I've animated a few steps, and then want to spin the model, the pivotpoint of the model is still in it's ariginal position. Maybe te setup is still wrong???
I've posted a link to my scenefile. If anybody is interested and wants to help me, that would be great! When it asks for finalmodel3, just say no. The rig is parented to a NULL object, so it should work. Hope someone can help me out!!

Here's the link to the file, it's zipped, and 9Kb in size:
mysetup (http://roundedcube.netfirms.com/mysetup.zip)

Thanks!
Ayreon

[Eugeny]

For spinning the body u need to reparent your Left/RightFoot bones to root bone and use this bone for spinning. Also create some master null for transform and parent him to RightArm Target and LeftArm Target...

[LNT]

what - you spin the model and its pivot point is still in its original position? how's that?

dont use bones for character spinning - use its pivot instead - or betterstill use the null that everything else is parented to

the way I setup my character goes more or less like this...

SceneMasterNull
LeftArm_Null - parented to SceneMasterNull
RightArm_Null - parented to SceneMasterNull
LeftLeg_Null - parented to SceneMasterNull
RightLeg_Null - parented to SceneMasterNull
EyeFocus_Null - parented to HeadBone
CharacterBody - parented to SceneMasterNull
SkelegonLayer - parented to the body
various other rigid parts parented to individual bones

this way you use SceneMasterNull to move and rotate the character while the IK nulls maintain the same trajectory (motion curves) relative to their parent

also,this graph editor trick is a quick and dirty way to simply make your character move in a totally uniform way from the begining to the end of your scene (at its best)

if you persist and make it work you'll be fed up with it in no time

my advice to you is to first make sure you set up your bones correctly so they deform your character the way you like and after that try to work out MotionMixer if you plan to use that model for a lot of animating

otherwise,for short sequences you can even use good old FK

[Eugeny]

LNT - did u see his rig?

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