mixermanic
10-18-2007, 12:34 AM
Hi,
I am trying to get an overview of the creature pipeline and the different digital assets one ends up with when creating a "hyper real" character.
I realise that there are 1000's of different ways skinning (boom boom... :rolleyes: ) this particular cat, and there is no such thing as a "best practice", but is this roughly how things work?
Models: low res model (for initial animation) and a hi res model (for final animation and rendering)
Skeletons: lo res control rig, hi res bound rig, facial bound rig (if you want it separate from the hi res rig)?
With reference to the above skeletons - The lo res control rig has general animation controls (to rough out the animation), and the hi res bound rig has all the detailed animation controls?
Does the hi res skeleton also have all the muscle systems added?
So, the animator roughs out the animation using the lo res rig (which is bound to the lo res geometry), and then transfers the animation to the hi res rig (bound to the hi res geometry)?
Then we get to skinning... Is this the process of binding the hi res rig to the hi res character, and setting the weights? If not, where does it fit into this hypothetical "pipeline".
As far as the file structure goes, are the rigs kept separate from the geometry (I have read that in many cases, different rigs are used for different animation situations), or when the characters are referenced into the scene, are they brought in as a complete rigged model?
Sorry to be such a newbie... If I am completely wrong, could someone please explain how the system works?
Many thanks,
Martin
I am trying to get an overview of the creature pipeline and the different digital assets one ends up with when creating a "hyper real" character.
I realise that there are 1000's of different ways skinning (boom boom... :rolleyes: ) this particular cat, and there is no such thing as a "best practice", but is this roughly how things work?
Models: low res model (for initial animation) and a hi res model (for final animation and rendering)
Skeletons: lo res control rig, hi res bound rig, facial bound rig (if you want it separate from the hi res rig)?
With reference to the above skeletons - The lo res control rig has general animation controls (to rough out the animation), and the hi res bound rig has all the detailed animation controls?
Does the hi res skeleton also have all the muscle systems added?
So, the animator roughs out the animation using the lo res rig (which is bound to the lo res geometry), and then transfers the animation to the hi res rig (bound to the hi res geometry)?
Then we get to skinning... Is this the process of binding the hi res rig to the hi res character, and setting the weights? If not, where does it fit into this hypothetical "pipeline".
As far as the file structure goes, are the rigs kept separate from the geometry (I have read that in many cases, different rigs are used for different animation situations), or when the characters are referenced into the scene, are they brought in as a complete rigged model?
Sorry to be such a newbie... If I am completely wrong, could someone please explain how the system works?
Many thanks,
Martin