Carrara Community Movie Project - Some assets ready to use.
mmoir
Posts: 821
Hey Guys,
We have some Assets for our movie ready for you to play with and hopefully create the Easy Come Easy Go animation. In addition to the links below Roygee has a character model and a great Coin model which will be available soon. Also HeadWax has a watch model that is not uploaded yet
Thanks
https://www.box.com/s/hm8lrgqar0n6zywsgny8 watch 3dage
https://www.box.com/s/2a8k068637cpw7tk0d8d Watch Roygee
https://www.box.com/s/luybw7czjejh7puiw8vx Man model mmoir now with rig not attached
https://www.box.com/s/y3walcf21qd7s08i4so2 Coin by Roygee.
Some pics of the models
Coin image
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/index.php?&ACT=50&fid=66&aid=47268_QXHR4En5VTQMVpVxXTKk
Watch image3dage
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/index.php?&ACT=50&fid=66&aid=45657_TZVZpJ7OkeMZkaueaftq&thumb=1&board_id=1
Watch image Royge
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/index.php?&ACT=50&fid=66&aid=45168_rQJa6vCdSXk8ymgicwub&thumb=1&board_id=1
Watch image HeadWax
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/index.php?&ACT=50&fid=66&aid=45173_giiJCHmyvCojFSB5Xtwf&thumb=1&board_id=1
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Comments
thanks Mike-------looks like a good start. If anyone has anything else ready just post it here.
Rich
https://www.box.com/shared/kab75qfqcqrgqcu3q7pw
quick dirty rig of mmoir's man
quick test of Carrara rig FBX export retargetted in iClone (for testing purposes only), can see it needs lots of work!
Fantastic!!!!
I need to add a bone in the neck and do some weightpainting, Roygee has rigged him too I see.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31aItHXPGLM
ok, my attempt at keyframed walking and facial morphs plus Justin Beiber hair!!
kill me now?
Wendy ,
This looks great , it is fun seeing my model move like that. :coolsmile:
Is there any problems with my model in general when it comes to rigging or did things go smoothly. I just want to know if I should do anything different in the future...
Thanks
the model mesh bends well, my rigging and animation a bit questionable :red:
was easy to do the facial morphs too, just wish I knew how to do multiple ones and create nla clips for them to use Mimic!
Andy (3dage does!)
Then you must load a dmc file in the mimic tab. In this case, the generic dmc file would likely be the best.
Select the figure and open the mimic tab.
Click the Load DMC File button
Now you will have the clips in the clips tab.
Load one of the clips to the timeline and convert to editable clip (right panel)
Tweak away - you may also give it a new name
When done tweaking, select the clip and click Finished Editing Clip
Click Convert to Master Clip
While in this dialog, be sure to go in and deselect any body parts that you don't want the clip to control.
Since you've just converted to Master, your clip in the timeline will be updated AND you'll get a new clip in the clips tab.
Note that if you didn't rename it, it will have a number placed after the name you've given it. Carrara doesn't willingly let you completely replace files like that. So if you wanted to simply make your own clip of the same name, rename the original first. Trying to delete the clip from the clips tab, while having it loaded into the timeline will delete both - as the one in the clips tab is the actual Master.
Further understanding of NLA clips:
If you copy a clip in the timeline and paste it back into the timeline, you'll actually be creating a new master, and adding to your system resources - which you don't want to do.
Instead you can duplicate the clip or simply drag in another instance from the clips tab.
Having the power mentioned in the above instructions helps Mimic Pro for Carrara to make Carrara one of the finest animation tools in the industry. This is such a simple approach to giving each of your custom figures (not just humans either) the ability to have their own style of speaking - giving them true individuality. Using NLA Clips to do this is simple and powerful (because of its simplicity).
You don't have to name the clips the same as the one's from the DMC file - because in Mimic for Carrara, you select, in the Mimic tab, which clip you'd like to use for each phoneme and/or gesture.
I suggest making custom clips in this way for all of your talking carrara figures.
HI Wendy :)
Dartanbeck is right (of course) ... it's easier if you have Mimic for Carrara,. but for a Custom figure,. you'll still need to make the expressions for the lipsync to use,.. and that process could be used in a "manual" way,.
To make the expressions,...
Adjust your figures facial morphs until you're happy ,.... then go to the NLA tab and create an NLA Pose.
The NLA pose is .. one frame,. but you can expand (drag) that out when you add it to the NLA track for the figure,..
NLA poses will "blend" together, and you can move the positions and length of each NLA Pose to add space in the timeline to make it a slow blend, or faster if they're close together.
TIP: Make a morph with No [removed]silence) and you can add that into wherever you need to return the figure's expression to the default.
Hope it helps ....and makes some sense :)
NLA is awesome!
Edit:
Andy, I'd still love to get my hands on a collection of your NLA clips that you've made. Incidentally, were you using a combination of walk cycle keyframes and then converting to physics? If I'd do that, would the character's feet then follow the terrain? Would that light my cpus on fire?
yes I have mimic for Carrara and also know for a fact having done it, a project with a mimic track recorded in it WILL open it Carrara without the plugin
so if another member of this project team does not have it, they can still use the project
not wrong, like people without the old DS3A using figuress created by others with set up tools and shadermixer presets, were allowed to be sold etc but you needed the pro version to make them, this would be the same.
Hi Dartanbeck :)
I'll normally use Endorphin to take animations, and then use it to add the "Dynamic motion synthesis"
Endorphin uses a little figure, which reacts to physical forces, animation, and poses, and has a bunch of behaviours, like Balance, Jump. stagger, see pic.
You can also build physics props with simple Mass and Collision objects, which the figure can hold / interact with, ... or colliding with.
The figure can be customised to fit your figure's bone rig and scale / weight, and the simulation data is "Motion transferred" to that custom figure's rig.
So,.. you would combine clips of animation with behaviours, physical forces and physics objects in endorphin, then simulate that "in real time", and then use motion transfer to export the simulation / animation data as BVH or FBX etc..
Finally,.. I import that into Poser or Carrara, and clean any strange key-frames, then save as Pose or NLA, or both.
Here's a recent example,. https://dl.dropbox.com/u/7907045/M4_Roof_to_Street.cbr
it's an NLA clip for M4, but will also work on V4. ,... although,. it'll be a "butch" V4 :)
it was originally meant for the M4 cyborg thing.
It starts on a building roof top,.(building not included) sorry.
The figure walks to the roof edge and dives off, spinning and lands first on the roof of the building entrance, then jumps off and lands on the ground and walks away (like a cyborg or terminator would)
You can add some boxes (for the building) and position them under the figure at the start, and the landing points to get a better idea of what's going on, as the figure will start high up in the air,...
bear in mind that you can animate the "Figure group" position, without effecting the NLA figure animation, so,. the position can be adjusted to fit other buildings.
Also, bear in mind that it's a bit rough in places, and still needs some work.
Have fun.
Oh,.. BTW,.. there's a free "Learning" version of Endorphin (no export) it's great fun to play with the little guy, blowing him up, or throwing him off buildings. and to see just how fast physics can be calculated on a dedicated program.
http://www.naturalmotion.com/products/endorphin/
ok, created some phoneme morphs based on Poser ones (only ones I could find face pictures for)
yes they save as NLA clips too and work
now I gotta find some Daz visuals!!! short of rendering each one from V4 etc unsure how to see them as Daz tiny thumbnails are all in rsr format and my soft select vertex movement in edit/validate leaves a lot to be desired!
but this is so far!
and yes used 3D shape ticked only so other NLA clips can be layered
my updated file https://www.box.com/s/jeg4id9u8s666knfg8am
has better IK restraints and rigged eyes and jaw but not much luck using that, morphs work better
I have up down and sideways morphs for each eye, blink for eyelids and open mouth wide and phonemes for mouth
not very good but might give ideas
blah, the rigging is worse than before!
redid, losing jaw and eyes, moving chest and adding neck https://www.box.com/s/8o4idk888bxnpzcmfq7w
did some weightpainting but needs work, better than other one, went back to just ball joints too
comparing the Mimic phonemes with mine, completely different!!
this is default with Jack and Jill sample
I need to render out a Daz character using them to use as a morph guide!
Whoa... Holy Sh... um... sorry. I just (finally) found a darned price for this awesome softy. To use it for what I would want to use it for - my personal movie project, I'd (currently from retailer A) have to cough up nearly $9,000.00 USD ... um... Yikes!
Very cool though. If I can stumble upon an extra ten grand to spare, I'll certainly consider it.
In the mean time, I'm wondering about the different possibilities that Carrara already has for animating a character depending upon its surroundings. I've yet to try a motion path, nor have I ever used physics mode. I believe that if you have a character keyframed in, and then switch to Physics, Carrara calculates what the character is doing with keyframes and applies that to the new animation mode - is that correct? If so... I have a feeling that Carrara could possibly (at least to some degree) perform some of that Endorphin stuff - sort of.
But to take a character with a walk cycle, and get them to follow terrain, I'm wondering if you can switch to motion path mode and pull the path around in somewhat precise accuracy. So far, I simply use AniBlocks and delete all keys except where the highs and lows are - and sometimes all of the half way in betweens as well. Then I consider whether to change the height of the foot or the hip, or both at each frame that I did leave in the timeline. For all other motions (and even some of my walks) I just keyframe the whole thing myself - since the animation tools in Carrara are so smooth, visible, and easy to work with compared to anything else I've ever tried.
When I get the time, I'll try my hand at some Endorphin-like behaviors within Carrara and see what I come up with.
Hi Dartanbeck :)
Yes, it's very pricey kit,. but they did a special offer a while back, for $1000 to bring in smaller studio's.
As for Bullet physics and figures in Carrara, it's a no go,.
The physics you're meaning is called "rag-doll" ,and that's because the figure falls over like a rag-doll. or a dead body.
So, you would have a figure walking along , and falling over at the end (or whenever the rag-doll physics kicks in.
you could also apply a force to push the figure at that point, instead of just flopping down.
Poser has a plugin to do some rag doll stuff. I think it's a Python script thing.
In endorphin, the figure can react to the approaching ground and "catch it's fall", then,.. if you add an animation clip, it can get up and run away.. :)
The Bullet physics engine should be capable of rag-doll simulation,. but it's obviously not been implemented.
I don't know if it's something to do with the poly count on Daz / Poser models, that's a limiting factor for bullet, since it was originally designed to handle very low poly (game) figures,.. in the "Hitman" game.
It would be nice to have some physics on figures, but it's hard enough just trying to get Soft-Body physics to drape over a figure,.
and right now, if you have any animated object, hitting a Soft-body object, they'll pass through each other.
Motion path can be use along with NLA clips,. or keyframes.
The motion path acts on the "figure group" rather than the figures bones, so it can be used to make a figure (using a "walk in place" loop), and make it follow the motion path, so, you could get the figure walking along a terrain with some adjustment of the path points.
it's possibly easier to add a small plane, so you have flat ground, rather than rough terrain.
As usual in Carrara,. it can be fiddly when you're not used to working with motion paths,. (use CTRL), to constrain the movement of the path points,.. plus the "Quad" view, to see, and work in the scene, from multiple directions.
:)
Well, here is a little clip of a walk cycle on the bones only, I think I have the process down now so I will try it on the actual character. I animated 1 walk cycle then used the NLA master clip to Loop the walk cycle 3 times.
http://youtu.be/TNJ8Vn11P2w
FWIW, I believe you can do a simplistic "rag doll" physics in Carrara using Bullet physics. I recall someone got some nice results a while back.
I'm a bit foggy on the exact procedure, but I'm guessing it involves assigning transparent spheres to the important body parts (hands, hip, feet, etc., the parts that will come in contact with the ground), and then making those spheres as physics objects. Then running a physics calculation with all of those spheres under the influence of Bullet physics gravity. When that's done, you then assign whatever IK goal objects/target helpers or bones of the character to Track the appropriate sphere. The hand goal tracks the hand sphere, etc...
I assume you'd also assign a higher mass/density to the hip sphere vs. the hand spheres so it falls more realistically, like someone's main body would. And you may have to assign limits to make sure the goals don't travel below the floor, but those are details you'd have to work out.
I haven't tried this, but it seems to be worth some investigation if anyone is interested. If nothing else you can probably get a cool simulation of someone jumping on a trampoline or something.
Though I don't think this is what you'd do to have an animation follow a terrain......
Speaking of which, I'll have to check in Carrara 8.1 to see when those fricken cool developers at Daz3d through this in, but I just (finally) noticed that in 8.5beta, the hip rotations have really changed for the best - for keyframe animators. Now, which I swear is new, if you rotate the hip beyond 360 degrees in either direction, the number continues to climb, rather than resetting to 0. This makes it so that your animation will now know which way to go. It makes it much less possible to have your figure rotate the wrong way, and then snap back - like we've always fought with in Poser and Carrara and... blah, blah... in the past! (if you can't tell that I'm smiling right now... trust me... I'm smiling!)
No need to fight it. Just read up on Quaternions vs. Angles rotations. Perhaps all the developers did is change the default motion for those bones from Quaternion to Angles. Which you can do yourself just by selecting Angles from the dropdown (under the Motion tab, under the Rotation Controller selection). I think that's always been there.
the prequel to easy come easy go!