Hordak
05-23-2005, 11:31 AM
hi... any one know of a good tutorial(can't seem to find any)? Or does anyone have experience with bonespro3
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Harvey
05-24-2005, 03:15 AM
Wow...haven't heard anyone ask about BonesPro is a long while. I don't use it much anymore but its a great plugin. Somewhere around here you can see a facial rig that I used BonesPro3 for becuase of its parabones.
Anyway, here is a little tips and tricks write up I did for Digimation years ago. Hope it is useful:
Bones Pro Tips
…broken down in workflow stages…
Modeling???
Ya, you bet! Most people probably don't think of Bones Pro as a modeling plug-in but there are many uses for it.
With many of the following modeling tips, you can perform a SNAPSHOT of the object (after you get the desired result) in order to have a fresh object with which to work.
The obvious use of bones to "pose" a static object.
With the new MetaBones and ParaBones there are all sorts of new options. Imagine you want a face sculpted in a wall. Well, just ParaBone the face to the wall and push it out!
BLEND modifier is extremely powerful. (Before the days of Meshsmooth and Relax, it was all there was to smooth out a mesh.) The best thing I can tell you to do is to experiment with it. It is very straightforward and simple to use. Don't forget it can work with sub-object selection sets.
Set-up
Set-up and planning as with most things are crucial. Many times I have seen someone just throw together a skeleton without thinking and then run into problems when trying to set-up their deformation system.
Obviously the first thing to think about when setting up your deformation skeleton (whether you are using boxes or the native 3ds max™ bone object) is how you want your character or object to deform. Make sure you have enough "bones" (the objects you will be selecting in the Bones Pro Modifier) to allow you the detail you want to see in the final deformations.
I mentioned above that you can use a variety of different objects as "assigned bones". Personally, I prefer to use boxes! The reason for this is simply because Bones Pro operates on a basis of the "bones" bounding box. When using boxes, there is no guess work there. What you see is what Bones Pro sees.
The SKELETON utility is a great way to create these boxes. You simply select your animation rig (maybe set-up with 3ds max bone objects and IK) and then click create. Couldn't be simpler.
The initial size of the bones is also very important. For general use and nice easily achieved, defined creasing, use "bones" who's bounding box matches the volume of the area it should deform. For less defined, easier fall-off control, use "bones" with less volume.
If there are areas you want to have secondary motion, add a bone so that you can take advantage of BONEJIGGLER. (All of the motion on the ears in the mouse animation was created with this modifier.)
In-side the Modifier
Now that your skeleton is set-up what about the actual settings in the Bones Pro modifier?
First QUICKLY pose your model in a couple of extreme positions. This will allow you to see exactly what is going on when you play with the settings.
My magic numbers are falloff % 25 and Strength 3. If you have designed your skeleton well, these settings should get you 90% of the way there and in most cases it's good enough.
The first thing I tweak after that is the falloff setting. I do it in about 25% intervals and narrow it down from there.
When trying to tweak your settings, DO NOT change too many things at once. If you do, you won't know what change is effecting what!
Don't forget to make use of the visualize check box, toggling it on and off
Finally for the really hard to set areas, play with the vertex weighting. There are two basic rules that I use here. 1. Don't use exclude except on areas that don't touch. To elaborate on this, if a foot bone is effecting the head, exclude is the best thing you can do. However, on something like fingers or legs you need to be careful because you don't want any tearing where they come together. (Tearing effect comes from having side-by-side vertices 100% assigned to 2 different bones. It is better to have a fall-off. 2. Don't be afraid to experiment.
During this stage of set-up is when I create and use MetaBones. It is best done here because you can really see the areas that will benefit the most from this powerful addition to the Bones Pro toolset.
General Work-Flow
Ideas to generally speed up workflow.
Don't forget that you can show/hide bones, MetaBones, and ParaBones all from directly within the Bone Pro modifier.
A great way to speed up both viewport interactivity and the set-up time inside the modifier is to work with a low-res mesh. Then apply a meshsmooth above Bones Pro in the stack to add detail for your final render.
If you have something in the stack below Bones Pro that you want to take into account (such as Morpher), make sure you have the "Use Stack" button checked.
Most of the time the MetaBones and ParaBones don't need to be very heavy meshes. Keep them as low res as you can.
If using BoneJiggler, MetaBones, or ParaBones, you don't always need them active when animating. Make sure their settings look good and then turn them on for rendering.
Remember you can export and import bone settings - very handy!
Miscellaneous
Some more obscure ideas for new MetaBones and ParaBones have unleased a whole bag of tricks that I am just starting to explore. For instance…
How about using an animated MetaBone as a mouse running under a piece of carpet.
Or for a much cooler and possibly more grotesque use of MetaBones; What if an alien insect burrowed under your skin and you wanted to see it scurrying around just below the surface?
With ParaBones, you could create the look of a body being swallowed by an anaconda.
Some other ideas.
BoneJiggler… if you haven't used it, you should.
A combination of both Bones Pro and the morph modifier will yield the much more realistic facial animation results. You will have greater control as well as a more natural feel to your faces. Typically use bones to control gross motor movements such as the jaw, and other large regions and then use the morpher to control specifics such as a smile. You can also use BoneJiggler for some secondary motion on the face (loose neck skin). Don't be afraid to try and build as much facial control as you can into the bones system!
Don't mirror or non-uniform scale bones….don't ask why. Just don't do it!.
I hope these ideas are of some use to you and have fun animating…and don't be afraid to experiment. If you do, it won't be long before you have a bunch of your own tips and tricks.
Anyway, here is a little tips and tricks write up I did for Digimation years ago. Hope it is useful:
Bones Pro Tips
…broken down in workflow stages…
Modeling???
Ya, you bet! Most people probably don't think of Bones Pro as a modeling plug-in but there are many uses for it.
With many of the following modeling tips, you can perform a SNAPSHOT of the object (after you get the desired result) in order to have a fresh object with which to work.
The obvious use of bones to "pose" a static object.
With the new MetaBones and ParaBones there are all sorts of new options. Imagine you want a face sculpted in a wall. Well, just ParaBone the face to the wall and push it out!
BLEND modifier is extremely powerful. (Before the days of Meshsmooth and Relax, it was all there was to smooth out a mesh.) The best thing I can tell you to do is to experiment with it. It is very straightforward and simple to use. Don't forget it can work with sub-object selection sets.
Set-up
Set-up and planning as with most things are crucial. Many times I have seen someone just throw together a skeleton without thinking and then run into problems when trying to set-up their deformation system.
Obviously the first thing to think about when setting up your deformation skeleton (whether you are using boxes or the native 3ds max™ bone object) is how you want your character or object to deform. Make sure you have enough "bones" (the objects you will be selecting in the Bones Pro Modifier) to allow you the detail you want to see in the final deformations.
I mentioned above that you can use a variety of different objects as "assigned bones". Personally, I prefer to use boxes! The reason for this is simply because Bones Pro operates on a basis of the "bones" bounding box. When using boxes, there is no guess work there. What you see is what Bones Pro sees.
The SKELETON utility is a great way to create these boxes. You simply select your animation rig (maybe set-up with 3ds max bone objects and IK) and then click create. Couldn't be simpler.
The initial size of the bones is also very important. For general use and nice easily achieved, defined creasing, use "bones" who's bounding box matches the volume of the area it should deform. For less defined, easier fall-off control, use "bones" with less volume.
If there are areas you want to have secondary motion, add a bone so that you can take advantage of BONEJIGGLER. (All of the motion on the ears in the mouse animation was created with this modifier.)
In-side the Modifier
Now that your skeleton is set-up what about the actual settings in the Bones Pro modifier?
First QUICKLY pose your model in a couple of extreme positions. This will allow you to see exactly what is going on when you play with the settings.
My magic numbers are falloff % 25 and Strength 3. If you have designed your skeleton well, these settings should get you 90% of the way there and in most cases it's good enough.
The first thing I tweak after that is the falloff setting. I do it in about 25% intervals and narrow it down from there.
When trying to tweak your settings, DO NOT change too many things at once. If you do, you won't know what change is effecting what!
Don't forget to make use of the visualize check box, toggling it on and off
Finally for the really hard to set areas, play with the vertex weighting. There are two basic rules that I use here. 1. Don't use exclude except on areas that don't touch. To elaborate on this, if a foot bone is effecting the head, exclude is the best thing you can do. However, on something like fingers or legs you need to be careful because you don't want any tearing where they come together. (Tearing effect comes from having side-by-side vertices 100% assigned to 2 different bones. It is better to have a fall-off. 2. Don't be afraid to experiment.
During this stage of set-up is when I create and use MetaBones. It is best done here because you can really see the areas that will benefit the most from this powerful addition to the Bones Pro toolset.
General Work-Flow
Ideas to generally speed up workflow.
Don't forget that you can show/hide bones, MetaBones, and ParaBones all from directly within the Bone Pro modifier.
A great way to speed up both viewport interactivity and the set-up time inside the modifier is to work with a low-res mesh. Then apply a meshsmooth above Bones Pro in the stack to add detail for your final render.
If you have something in the stack below Bones Pro that you want to take into account (such as Morpher), make sure you have the "Use Stack" button checked.
Most of the time the MetaBones and ParaBones don't need to be very heavy meshes. Keep them as low res as you can.
If using BoneJiggler, MetaBones, or ParaBones, you don't always need them active when animating. Make sure their settings look good and then turn them on for rendering.
Remember you can export and import bone settings - very handy!
Miscellaneous
Some more obscure ideas for new MetaBones and ParaBones have unleased a whole bag of tricks that I am just starting to explore. For instance…
How about using an animated MetaBone as a mouse running under a piece of carpet.
Or for a much cooler and possibly more grotesque use of MetaBones; What if an alien insect burrowed under your skin and you wanted to see it scurrying around just below the surface?
With ParaBones, you could create the look of a body being swallowed by an anaconda.
Some other ideas.
BoneJiggler… if you haven't used it, you should.
A combination of both Bones Pro and the morph modifier will yield the much more realistic facial animation results. You will have greater control as well as a more natural feel to your faces. Typically use bones to control gross motor movements such as the jaw, and other large regions and then use the morpher to control specifics such as a smile. You can also use BoneJiggler for some secondary motion on the face (loose neck skin). Don't be afraid to try and build as much facial control as you can into the bones system!
Don't mirror or non-uniform scale bones….don't ask why. Just don't do it!.
I hope these ideas are of some use to you and have fun animating…and don't be afraid to experiment. If you do, it won't be long before you have a bunch of your own tips and tricks.
Hordak
06-05-2005, 11:47 PM
wow thanks man.... didn't read this for a while cuz no one answered....
I never used bone jiggle and the para/meta bones are a bit confusing cuz the help file doesn't really help that much and there are absolutly no tuts on this plug-in..
if u know any plz do tell!
thx m8:)
I never used bone jiggle and the para/meta bones are a bit confusing cuz the help file doesn't really help that much and there are absolutly no tuts on this plug-in..
if u know any plz do tell!
thx m8:)
Harvey
06-06-2005, 06:22 PM
Don't know of any specific tuts but if I remember correctly the help file was decent.
Hordak
06-07-2005, 04:44 PM
true it tells u the basics, but not as detailed as I would like... but hey I'm smart(:hmm: right!)
I'll find out about the things I need
I'll find out about the things I need
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