CGTalk - Character Node... useful?

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suck

02-25-2003, 06:11 PM

We are going to start production soon on some cinematics for our game. They involve a lot of individual characters per scene and I'm trying to figure out the best workflow for me and the rest of our artists.

Basically, I create all the characters and rig them, set them up in folders waiting to have mocap imported onto them. Right now this is done with the Filmbox import plugin. This plugin is okay but doesn't allow for multiple shots to be loaded onto a single model... loading a take overwrites the old controllers on the skeleton. Basically it's pretty bare bones.

then another artist takes that model and loads the mocap onto it.
After applying mocap he'll load on some lipsync with a custom script and then rinse and repeat with another character.

I'm wondering if there's any reason to use the character node with this setup. The models are rigged with physique and not skin, so the skin features of the character node are moot. Also, it seems like more trouble than it's worth to convert our FBX mocaps to the .anm format that the char node supports, since there is no batch processing to do so. If you have to load the mocap once to convert it, why not just use it right there?

So... any reason to use it?

ben
scea

LFShade

02-25-2003, 07:12 PM

I still think you might find an advantage to the Character assembly. I think that it might be possible to write a script to batch convert your mocap into .anm files, which would at the very least give you the ability work with the clips in a more flexible way. Also, if you're dealing with a number of characters it's useful to be able to save your character assemblies and just insert them into your scenes. I also think you'll find the Skin Pose mode useful even though you're using physique. It's not specific to the skin modifier, it gives you a quick and easy way of putting the character back into the pose you used during physique-ing or skinning. You can put it into that state from any point on the timeline and correct or adjust the envelopes, then when you exit Skin Pose mode it puts the character back where it was prior to entering the mode. I find that useful.

Of course, the best-looking solution to your problem is to wait for the release of HumanIK from Kaydara, but that might not be realistic for your time frame :shrug:

suck

02-25-2003, 07:25 PM

thanks for the reply LF... oregon represents ;)

well i didnt know that about the skin pose and physique... will definitely look into that.

all i need to hear is that it's possible to script a batch converter and i'm on it. i for some reason assumed it wasnt do-able. i do find it hard to believe that kaydara exposed their importer to maxscript, but hey you never know. maybe they didn't have to.

now i'm looking at the assemblyMgr interface docs and there doesn't seem to be much. i'm looking in the maxscript helpfile. any idea where i might find better docs? i'd like it if the other artists worked only on the character nodes and didnt have to break into the individual objects. they have to manipulate some morpher stuff but maybe i can put together an interface for that. i have some wacky stack stuff going on and it could easily get botched.

kiko

03-19-2003, 06:09 PM

How do you go about creating Character nodes for subsets of skeleton elements, a la Maya.
Lets say I want 1 node for the whole body, another for the Upper body and another for the legs.

I tried parenting the 2 subnodes to the Main node, but when I save an .anm file the 2 subnodes disappear from the viewport, evengthough I can still see'em in Schematic view. Wierd!

The purpose of this is to be able to layer anims on top, like waving your hand while in a walk cycle.

Anybody done this succesfully?

Thanks

Kiko

robioto

03-20-2003, 07:36 AM

You could pickup a copy of MotionBuilder for 100. from 3DBuzz.com and edit the mocap in there and then take the content back into Max.

Unfortunately this particular offer is only for those working in a freelance capacity. I don't know what your particular situation is but it's an insanely powerful animation program.

Something to look into if you haven't already, I only thought of it because you mentioned you were using the fbx format.

good luck ;)

kiko

03-20-2003, 10:16 AM

thanks robioto

Yes, I had a test drive with Motionbuilder (then called Filmbox) and was very impressed with it.

I've heard of that offer, but doesn't apply to us (this is a games company) although I'm considering getting the OS X version for myself! :drool:

They are also working on the Human Ik plug-in for Max, looks interesting too...

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