Tomorrow, at 2pm, I will be presenting my final thesis. The golem and my secondary rig, shall be viewed by a panel of 3. The golem was combed over many times, and the animators haven't given any feedback since the previous post. All that is left, is to take that step into the room, and give it all I've got.
Here's to the future.
Monday, November 24, 2014
Monday, October 13, 2014
Updates as of October 13th, 2014
This may be one of, if not the last update relating to the golem. It has recently been given to the Studio X animation department for testing. Going through the notes, there wasn't too much that needed to be changed, and a lot of personal requests for particular things that didn't apply to the golem due to the nature character's design. One thing to not was that many of the animators did comment on the overall complexity of the rig, which is understandable, considering all of the moving components that are contained on it.
I've also had it looked at by someone in the field, and they were impressed by what they say, as I had shown them the test animation I was working on, as well as the calisthenics test. Their only critiques were to have a close up of the facial area for some expression displays, some extreme poses to break the character, and a walk cycle. They did compliment the fact that the vines worked as well as they did and the variety of rig types that are connected to the character.
On the other front, I'll be creating a demo for one of the other characters I rigged during the Studio X program. I do need to ask for an animation sample of the character, but I do not think that there is anything completed relating to it at this time, so I may either have to create a quick piece myself, or as for a WIP animation from them.
I'm also hoping to be allowed to showcase some other characters from a separate project from outside the school. However, the person is unsure on the decision at this time, so it's up in the air if I'll be able to show it as part of my final review reel.
I've also had it looked at by someone in the field, and they were impressed by what they say, as I had shown them the test animation I was working on, as well as the calisthenics test. Their only critiques were to have a close up of the facial area for some expression displays, some extreme poses to break the character, and a walk cycle. They did compliment the fact that the vines worked as well as they did and the variety of rig types that are connected to the character.
On the other front, I'll be creating a demo for one of the other characters I rigged during the Studio X program. I do need to ask for an animation sample of the character, but I do not think that there is anything completed relating to it at this time, so I may either have to create a quick piece myself, or as for a WIP animation from them.
I'm also hoping to be allowed to showcase some other characters from a separate project from outside the school. However, the person is unsure on the decision at this time, so it's up in the air if I'll be able to show it as part of my final review reel.
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Updates as of September 25, 2014
A few things to show for now. First up is a calisthenics test of the golem's movement:
Secondly is just a personal animation test I'm doing on the side while I wait for animators to test out the current generation of the rig:
Aside from a few adjustments that were made to the back chain system, and the testing, this rig is complete. At most, I'll remake the nCloth file for an animation.
Secondly is just a personal animation test I'm doing on the side while I wait for animators to test out the current generation of the rig:
Aside from a few adjustments that were made to the back chain system, and the testing, this rig is complete. At most, I'll remake the nCloth file for an animation.
Sunday, September 21, 2014
Update as of September 21st, 2014
Here is the current status of the golem. The vine script is finally done. A user can create a vine with controls in any direction they want, as well as adjust the thickness of the vine, allowing for either very thick or very thin poly tubes. Originally, there was an issue where the script would allow multiple copies of the locators used for the path, resulting in the script logging a KeyError out and mucking up the previous setup's system. To counter this, I have the buttons lock upon their usage, and unlock once a system is built. There is also a reset button, which clears out the current system being built. To be extra cautious, I have the script log a KeyError in case the user tries to use the same name again, informing them to enter a new name.
On the rig front, I've made some further modifications to the rig. To start, I have the limbs and body form in a sequence, rather than the bulk of the appendage moving into place. This can allow for more interesting animation possibilities. I've also changed how the IK controls on the arms work, allowing for a smooth transition between local and global space, rather than snapping between them. Below is a rough test animation I did to get a better understanding of how things are working on the rig.
While working on the above animation, I had caught a few things that needed correcting that hadn't been brought to my attention previously. A few tweaks later, and things were in a better state. Unfortunately, one of the animators I had asked to test the rig is no longer able to bug test, so I've set up a meeting with the animation department lead to hopefully find a replacement. If one can't be found, I have another contact that offered to help find an animator to test the rig out.
Less related to the rig and more of the textures and materials, I changed the brightness of the horns. The reason behind this is that I asked someone currently in the field to give some advice on how the current model looked. Ultimately, they recommended I make some changes to the horns, the vines, and the area around the boulder.
The horns were casting too much light on the surface directly next to them, so they recommended I bring down the intensity of the light coming from the horns. They also pointed out that my current light setup for test rendering needed work, So I swapped out the spotlight I was using for a directional light. After about two and a half hours of adjustments, I've come up with the images below. It mostly came down to ramping up a lot of final gather settings and playing with the lighting a bit.
With lighting
Without lighting
New directional light with increased final gather settings.
Friday, September 12, 2014
updates as of September 12th, 2014
At this time, I've corrected a few things that still lingered in the main setup:
- Due to the blendshape system I used to create the eyes, rotating them in their socket cause them to open slightly when the flower is slightly closed. I've set the blends so that they shut off if the flower is closed slightly, but allow enough leeway so they still bend a little before hitting the cut off point.
- I've added in controls throughout the small tree on top of the skull. This should allow for some more fine movement in the piece, and can be hidden or displayed via a new attribute on the head control curve.
The top directional control above the stump allows for it to shift about, while leaving the roots in their relative place. This control can switch between the local mode, which parents it to the leg joint of the main skeleton, or the roots control, which unlocks a global location control. This is also true for the base of the stump. By adding in a new control to the base, it can switch between the local control of the main skeleton, or a global control for the animator to place where they please.
Another addition to the rig is one at the head.
One of the animators I have testing the rig out requested the various branches have their own controls. I had at first thought of doing this in earlier stages, but had held off on it, thinking that animators would want to avoid as many minor controls. Looking back, it was a foolish decision, so now they've been placed at the various forks in the tree. I will need to update the nCloth file now, however, since the joint count has increased a fair amount.
Elsewhere, on the vine script front, I've made some strides. The curve itself can now match the positions of the joints in the standard version of the vine. I've also worked out how to add in attributes onto script generated controls that aren't just float numbers. Also, thanks to an expression a professor tested in the past when I had the vine scaling issue on the main rig, I've been able to scale up the script vines. It's still not a perfect setup, as paint effects cannot scale in the same way normal geometry does. However, I have found that, by adding in another attribute on the control, an animator can counteract over-scaling when attempting to re-size the vine. While the control connects to the global scale of the paint effects, the additional attribute increases or decreases the pressureMax attribute on the stroke. This, in turn, can allow the paint effect to stay within a desired parameter of thickness.
The last aspects of the script I need to create are to be able to position the locators anywhere and have the base control be generated there, and the other controls for the rest of the vine to be moved by.
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
Update as of August 12th, 2014
So a few things to note today. I've completed replacing all of the ground point controls so they stand out against the individual controls of a component. They now consist of two controls: one for the position, and one for the rotation.
I've also replaced the controls on the IK arms and their switches, so that they stand out more.
Same goes for the back vine controls closest to the body. One of the animators I asked to test the rig mentioned that the previous controls got lost in everything, so I vied for a pin shape with a bulky head that stands out away from most of the other controls.
Another error I found was that the left eye wasn't completely working. At some point, the connections were either left incomplete during the time I was preparing them, or a connection was broken amongst the blends during one of the repair sessions I had. none the less, it's been fixed and works just as the right eye does. There was also a nasty issue with the influences in the neck, where the vines, when in place, would overly move with the rotation of the second neck control. Add to this that some of the base points of the neck vines also had some lingering influences that caused them to shift when the neck was moved. This has also been remedied.
The last change is more of an addition. I'm testing out, visually, if adding some smaller vines onto the anchor would be more aesthetically pleasing.
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Updates as of July 31st, 2014
So a few updates, but nothing radical.
The golem:
Still trying to figure this golem out overall. Modified the right arm so that it just runs on an SCsolver and some orient constraints, while the left arm uses an RPsolver, but has no real palm or wrist beyond the radius and ulna twist. Also added a new control to the stump, so that it can be offset a bit from the main body, though I'm contemplating making it a separate entity like the stones. Also streamlined the foot rolls into one node.
I'm honestly glad I took a semester away from this thing, because now I can look at it and see what can change to streamline things, as well as fix some readability in the controls.
Studio X
Things are wrapping up, and most everything that was worked on has been cleared. There was a minor hiccup with one file where the skin had been detached and re-bound by someone else on the team, leaving the weights in a poor state due to Maya's lackluster import weights function, but nothing serious enough to cause panic. A short time later, it was fixed, and I proceeded to make other fixes to the rig as a whole.
Beyond these, not much to report on. With the semester coming to a close in the next few days, work will shift back onto the golem with some more refinement and, thanks to a few friends of mine, animation testing.
Cheers,
Dan Rico
The golem:
Still trying to figure this golem out overall. Modified the right arm so that it just runs on an SCsolver and some orient constraints, while the left arm uses an RPsolver, but has no real palm or wrist beyond the radius and ulna twist. Also added a new control to the stump, so that it can be offset a bit from the main body, though I'm contemplating making it a separate entity like the stones. Also streamlined the foot rolls into one node.
I'm honestly glad I took a semester away from this thing, because now I can look at it and see what can change to streamline things, as well as fix some readability in the controls.
Studio X
Things are wrapping up, and most everything that was worked on has been cleared. There was a minor hiccup with one file where the skin had been detached and re-bound by someone else on the team, leaving the weights in a poor state due to Maya's lackluster import weights function, but nothing serious enough to cause panic. A short time later, it was fixed, and I proceeded to make other fixes to the rig as a whole.
Beyond these, not much to report on. With the semester coming to a close in the next few days, work will shift back onto the golem with some more refinement and, thanks to a few friends of mine, animation testing.
Cheers,
Dan Rico
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Updated activities as of July 26th, 2014
Still under several NDA agreements relating to all of the projects I am on, I will try to explain, as best as I can, what I've done in class thus far.
To start, the one project that wasn't under an NDA, was a bull character rig that needed fixing. Nothing too extreme, in that it needed some paint weight corrections, adding in some controls to replicate the muscles shifting beneath the skin of the shoulder, some pole vectors on the legs, and a better spine system. Add to this an adjusted tail control system and some controls on the testicles, as well as the loose skin beneath the neck, and that sums up the changes.
From here on, I can't say much about the projects, so I'll try to be detailed without revealing anything about the project.
First, this project is not a student collaborative project, but one from outside the AAU system. The initial idea was to create a proof of concept for a character, showing that it was possible to rig the character, as well as maintain the integrity of it's design and the film's aesthetic.
While the first pass proved the idea, it still needed work, so it's been a matter of making slow changes. So far, some attributes have been combined into one, such as the foot rolls, while other attributes have been given their own controls outside the primary rig. What makes this project a little more unique is that it required a duplicate rig to control a similar set of geometry, yet the geometry itself holds a different purpose compared to the primary geometry. The various portions of the geometry, on both the primary and secondary rigs, had to be somewhat modular in nature, in that they need to translate and rotate, regardless of the part of the body they were. Not a complicated task, at first, but due to the nature of the character, it wasn't particularly easy either.
The second project I was on, I ultimately had to leave due to the nature of the class and other projects that were stacking up that needed to be done. This project required a bird rig, which wasn't quite as difficult this time around, as I had built a bird rig on a previous project. Taking what I learned from that project, I applied it to this new rig, but in a much cleaner sense. There were a few revisions on some controls, such as a modified foot roll system, but due to some geometry issues, the project was delayed, ultimately leaving it to be given to another member of the studio x class while was assigned a new character that was ready to go.
The third, and current, project is currently the most complicated. It required three different rigs to be built, with the third being an accumulation of the other two. This one has proven to be the one I've learned the most from, in that having a maximum influence node enabled while weight painting can result in vertex weights flying to other influence object at the most inopportune times. Several of the limbs on the character are also a little more complex to work around, their function being snake like in nature. This piece, too, suffered delays in the modeling department, resulting in a large push recently that require the primary rig to fully functional for a test animation by the end of the night. Thankfully, that goal was met, and now it's just down to fine tuning and tweaks before being labeled complete.
On the side of all of this, I currently have an animator testing out my golem. Once things ease up in the studio X pipeline, I'm going to go in and start on the revisions they have listed thus far.
This is all I can disclose for now.
To start, the one project that wasn't under an NDA, was a bull character rig that needed fixing. Nothing too extreme, in that it needed some paint weight corrections, adding in some controls to replicate the muscles shifting beneath the skin of the shoulder, some pole vectors on the legs, and a better spine system. Add to this an adjusted tail control system and some controls on the testicles, as well as the loose skin beneath the neck, and that sums up the changes.
From here on, I can't say much about the projects, so I'll try to be detailed without revealing anything about the project.
First, this project is not a student collaborative project, but one from outside the AAU system. The initial idea was to create a proof of concept for a character, showing that it was possible to rig the character, as well as maintain the integrity of it's design and the film's aesthetic.
While the first pass proved the idea, it still needed work, so it's been a matter of making slow changes. So far, some attributes have been combined into one, such as the foot rolls, while other attributes have been given their own controls outside the primary rig. What makes this project a little more unique is that it required a duplicate rig to control a similar set of geometry, yet the geometry itself holds a different purpose compared to the primary geometry. The various portions of the geometry, on both the primary and secondary rigs, had to be somewhat modular in nature, in that they need to translate and rotate, regardless of the part of the body they were. Not a complicated task, at first, but due to the nature of the character, it wasn't particularly easy either.
The second project I was on, I ultimately had to leave due to the nature of the class and other projects that were stacking up that needed to be done. This project required a bird rig, which wasn't quite as difficult this time around, as I had built a bird rig on a previous project. Taking what I learned from that project, I applied it to this new rig, but in a much cleaner sense. There were a few revisions on some controls, such as a modified foot roll system, but due to some geometry issues, the project was delayed, ultimately leaving it to be given to another member of the studio x class while was assigned a new character that was ready to go.
The third, and current, project is currently the most complicated. It required three different rigs to be built, with the third being an accumulation of the other two. This one has proven to be the one I've learned the most from, in that having a maximum influence node enabled while weight painting can result in vertex weights flying to other influence object at the most inopportune times. Several of the limbs on the character are also a little more complex to work around, their function being snake like in nature. This piece, too, suffered delays in the modeling department, resulting in a large push recently that require the primary rig to fully functional for a test animation by the end of the night. Thankfully, that goal was met, and now it's just down to fine tuning and tweaks before being labeled complete.
On the side of all of this, I currently have an animator testing out my golem. Once things ease up in the studio X pipeline, I'm going to go in and start on the revisions they have listed thus far.
This is all I can disclose for now.
Sunday, June 22, 2014
June 22, 2014: resuming activities
A new directed studies class, so a new set of journal entries. The current class is Rigging Studio X, which simulates the workplace of a company. For me, this isn't particularly new, due to previous freelance work. However, due to NDA documents, I cannot discuss what it is that I'm actually working on, unless given express permission by the parties helming the projects. The most I can say is that I'm currently on a conceptual project, and may soon be on another. If I complete a prototype of one rig, I may be placed on a previous project again and resuming some work there, though I may just keep tabs on it, as I'm on a higher rung in the hierarchy for the class.
As to my golem, I took a short break from really working to give my hands some time to recover, but I've made a bit of progress. Firstly, after a bit of feedback relating to the look of the ground controls, I'm going to test some new ones.
Mostly, I just broke apart the translation and rotation into separate controls, as well as making them circular to better distinguish from the boxes that normally control the various stones.
Beyond this, I did a few texture upgrades.
First are the horns. Using a combination of raw sapphire and smoothed ice from Ice caves, I created this look for them, as well as duplicating and crushing the mesh inwards to create a brighter core for the more intense glowing and light emission.
Then I added the final emblem design onto both the anchor and the opal chest stone. The rainbow effect of the flakes is still not quite there, since the reflective flakes are not randomizing the colors just yet. hey are only based on a sampler info node that connects to a color ramps facing ration node. Once again, I have a dual layer of geometry, though this time, the top layer serves as the surface for the emblem and some transparency to help bloke out the flakes in the blue veins, while the inner geo has a car paint shader to simulate the opal flakes.
Thats all for now.
Cheers.
As to my golem, I took a short break from really working to give my hands some time to recover, but I've made a bit of progress. Firstly, after a bit of feedback relating to the look of the ground controls, I'm going to test some new ones.
Mostly, I just broke apart the translation and rotation into separate controls, as well as making them circular to better distinguish from the boxes that normally control the various stones.
Beyond this, I did a few texture upgrades.
First are the horns. Using a combination of raw sapphire and smoothed ice from Ice caves, I created this look for them, as well as duplicating and crushing the mesh inwards to create a brighter core for the more intense glowing and light emission.
Thats all for now.
Cheers.
Monday, May 12, 2014
Updates as of May 11th, 2014
Not much in the way to report this time around. I've completed adding in the remaining cloth sim components for the simulation file. It works for the most part, however, there is an issue with the proximity of all the nCloth objects to one another. With self collide enabled, the simulation time skyrockets, due to the collision thickness is in constant contact. To prevent this massive time lag, self collide was disabled for the time being.
Meanwhile, to reduce the overall dynamic file size, I tossed out all of the excess geometry that have no nCloth counterpart. I've also connected the cloth objects to a control to enable and disable the simulations, so that animators can turn on the dynamics when they wish to do so. I've also create a low res cage for the skull tree to help with simulations.
Everything is currently cached out to help out with calculations.
Meanwhile, to reduce the overall dynamic file size, I tossed out all of the excess geometry that have no nCloth counterpart. I've also connected the cloth objects to a control to enable and disable the simulations, so that animators can turn on the dynamics when they wish to do so. I've also create a low res cage for the skull tree to help with simulations.
Everything is currently cached out to help out with calculations.
Thursday, April 24, 2014
updates as of April 24, 2014
Not as much to report, given the large span of time. To start, I did create a brief test animation relating to the rig as it stood on the 9th of this month:
Nothing amazing, beyond showing all the components running in conjunction with one another. No dynamics were set beyond the vines at the time of the assembly.
However, while testing, I did discover an odd occurrence relating to the head. When it was set to it's ground locator, the control on the main rig would still have influence over the rotation of the head tree, and that of the eyes. After digging a bit, I had concluded that the orient constraints that were running were broken in some way, so I removed them. In their stead, I constrained the eye controls to the actual joints that bound the skull geo, and had a direct connection from the joints on the main rig onto those that bound the skull tree.
There was also a second issue relating to the two wood plates on the golem's back, where I had unintentionally broken the parenting setup. Where I had intended them to switch between their ground locators and being parented to the chest's center stone, they simply stayed parented to the stone, and would be immobile while set to their supposed ground locators. Diving into the outliner, I corrected the problem, in that I had removed the double parenting, and created a fresh parent constraint to the proper components.
Past this, I decided to revisit the vine script I had made a while back. After building the finger vines, I decided to do a little revising regarding the setup, ultimately ditching the command to look up the Ivy brush that exists in the paint effects, and using the default one that comes pre-loaded into the scene. I'm going to try and combine the two halves of the script, in that it would ultimately mimic the finger vines, but with a little more control regarding the shape of the curve before running the dynamics.
At this time, I've created a separate dynamics file for the stones and wood components, allowing for some easier testing in a lighter scene. However, it's difficult to determine how everything will interact, so the file is referenced into an animation scene.
Here, using the gray wireframe to indicate the original geometry, I can see that the hand stones and the left leg stones should be loosened in their constraints, though to what degree is difficult to predict, as the scene, with everything running, becomes heavy to simulate. It's pretty much trial and error at this point.
Nothing amazing, beyond showing all the components running in conjunction with one another. No dynamics were set beyond the vines at the time of the assembly.
However, while testing, I did discover an odd occurrence relating to the head. When it was set to it's ground locator, the control on the main rig would still have influence over the rotation of the head tree, and that of the eyes. After digging a bit, I had concluded that the orient constraints that were running were broken in some way, so I removed them. In their stead, I constrained the eye controls to the actual joints that bound the skull geo, and had a direct connection from the joints on the main rig onto those that bound the skull tree.
There was also a second issue relating to the two wood plates on the golem's back, where I had unintentionally broken the parenting setup. Where I had intended them to switch between their ground locators and being parented to the chest's center stone, they simply stayed parented to the stone, and would be immobile while set to their supposed ground locators. Diving into the outliner, I corrected the problem, in that I had removed the double parenting, and created a fresh parent constraint to the proper components.
Past this, I decided to revisit the vine script I had made a while back. After building the finger vines, I decided to do a little revising regarding the setup, ultimately ditching the command to look up the Ivy brush that exists in the paint effects, and using the default one that comes pre-loaded into the scene. I'm going to try and combine the two halves of the script, in that it would ultimately mimic the finger vines, but with a little more control regarding the shape of the curve before running the dynamics.
At this time, I've created a separate dynamics file for the stones and wood components, allowing for some easier testing in a lighter scene. However, it's difficult to determine how everything will interact, so the file is referenced into an animation scene.
Friday, April 4, 2014
Updates as of April 4, 2014
Been a bit of a spell, but here is the low down.
First up, the left hand dynamics had a rather nasty issue. When simulating on campus, the geometry moved as it should, staying connected to the body. However, at home, the geometry would disconnect and float off into space, before coming back. after a bit of investigation, I found that it was the dynamic curves that were being offset. There were three attempts to remedy this, the first was to bind it to joints, the second, being a blend shape node that linked back to a duplicate of the original curve, and then using an IK spline setup. Ultimately, it was the fact that all of the curves were simulating on one nucleus node, rather than being on either the same hair system or having their own nucleus to simulate off of. After a brief adjustment, this was remedied, and the setup worked.
All of this, so that, a dynamic setup could be achieved on the finger vines. This setup allows for jiggle when controlling the position of the vines, and can allow for complete freedom on the vine's part to move around.
After that bit of madness, I created a new control to influence the visibility of components.
This would allow animators to lessen the burden of the rig on their machine and the scene in question, as having everything active would be a hindrance.
I've also been readjusting some of the influences on the vine curves, so that some of the assembly control pieces, now fully functional, can move the vines themselves. below is a small example of this.
I've also gone in and separated the anchor stone from the golem, allowing the golem to move about freely, or be tied to it, if the animator so wishes.
Even more so, I've added an extra control to this so that the anchor stone can be flat out hidden, allowing the animator to work with the golem as a stand alone.
I've also worked out the eye system, where when the closed blendshape is active, it neutralizes the other blendshapes for when the eye moves about in the socket.
It was a simple matter of plugging in the close blendshape's output state into a multiply-divide node as the first input, then plugging in the rotational blendshapes into the second input state. For example, the closed state going into input 1X, and the forward y rotation blendshape into input 2X. As a result, whenever the eye is open (open blend active), it allows the rotational correction blends to work. However, when the eye is closed (Open blend inactive), it sets the 1X node to zero, cancelling out the rotation correction blends.
I have recorded a demo of the dynamic vine system on the left hand. The original curves are bound to a broken joint chain, allowing for the vines to be posed. The dynamic vines themselves can be activated or deactivated, as well as influenced by the original curve. This gives the animator the ability to make the vine either very stiff, or very loose and able to flop about.
On the topic of the dynamic curves, while working on a separate file for the golem, I ran into an issue with a script I had been using. Originally, the script was meant to create the vine curves, and could create the dynamic sets similar to those on the left hand. However, upon testing the script in a referenced scene, I found that, should an nDynamic nucleus already exist in the scene, it would attach the nHair system to that nucleus, and disrupt the rest of the script, preventing the new setup from being tidy. I had tried a simple fix, adding in a few lines to set it to a new nucleus, but this also had a drawback. If this modified script were to be run in a fresh scene without an nDynamic, nucleus, it would create two nuclei instead of just one. I'll probably need to experiment with an "if than" or and "if else" command in my script to prevent this.
First up, the left hand dynamics had a rather nasty issue. When simulating on campus, the geometry moved as it should, staying connected to the body. However, at home, the geometry would disconnect and float off into space, before coming back. after a bit of investigation, I found that it was the dynamic curves that were being offset. There were three attempts to remedy this, the first was to bind it to joints, the second, being a blend shape node that linked back to a duplicate of the original curve, and then using an IK spline setup. Ultimately, it was the fact that all of the curves were simulating on one nucleus node, rather than being on either the same hair system or having their own nucleus to simulate off of. After a brief adjustment, this was remedied, and the setup worked.
All of this, so that, a dynamic setup could be achieved on the finger vines. This setup allows for jiggle when controlling the position of the vines, and can allow for complete freedom on the vine's part to move around.
After that bit of madness, I created a new control to influence the visibility of components.
I've also been readjusting some of the influences on the vine curves, so that some of the assembly control pieces, now fully functional, can move the vines themselves. below is a small example of this.
I've also gone in and separated the anchor stone from the golem, allowing the golem to move about freely, or be tied to it, if the animator so wishes.
Even more so, I've added an extra control to this so that the anchor stone can be flat out hidden, allowing the animator to work with the golem as a stand alone.
I've also worked out the eye system, where when the closed blendshape is active, it neutralizes the other blendshapes for when the eye moves about in the socket.
It was a simple matter of plugging in the close blendshape's output state into a multiply-divide node as the first input, then plugging in the rotational blendshapes into the second input state. For example, the closed state going into input 1X, and the forward y rotation blendshape into input 2X. As a result, whenever the eye is open (open blend active), it allows the rotational correction blends to work. However, when the eye is closed (Open blend inactive), it sets the 1X node to zero, cancelling out the rotation correction blends.
I have recorded a demo of the dynamic vine system on the left hand. The original curves are bound to a broken joint chain, allowing for the vines to be posed. The dynamic vines themselves can be activated or deactivated, as well as influenced by the original curve. This gives the animator the ability to make the vine either very stiff, or very loose and able to flop about.
On the topic of the dynamic curves, while working on a separate file for the golem, I ran into an issue with a script I had been using. Originally, the script was meant to create the vine curves, and could create the dynamic sets similar to those on the left hand. However, upon testing the script in a referenced scene, I found that, should an nDynamic nucleus already exist in the scene, it would attach the nHair system to that nucleus, and disrupt the rest of the script, preventing the new setup from being tidy. I had tried a simple fix, adding in a few lines to set it to a new nucleus, but this also had a drawback. If this modified script were to be run in a fresh scene without an nDynamic, nucleus, it would create two nuclei instead of just one. I'll probably need to experiment with an "if than" or and "if else" command in my script to prevent this.
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Rig updates as of March 12, 2014
Been a bit longer than the norm for updates, but here is the current status of the golem.
At this time, I've completed the ground to control rig system for all of the individual components, as well as set up attributes on the golem global to hide the numerous controls across the rig relating to that system. All of the normal maps for the major body components have been completed as well, so the only things left to texture are the horns, the chest opal, and adding the opal's glyph to the anchor stone.
Relating to textures, I've replaced all of the materials for mental-ray materials for better accuracy come render time. The horns and opal also have a surface light node plugged in to the mia_mat's additional color node, which allows the material to emit light.
Back on track, I did encounter a rather frustrating issue with the paint effects curves I am using with my rig. Due to me attempting to use a multiple component scaling system, where in the anchor stone and the golem could be scaled both independently and in unison with one another, the vine geometry would not scale properly along with the rig. It would shrink in diameter, which as one would guess, is not a good thing.
One fix I attempted was the wrap deformer adjustment, where in the geometry that is being wrap deformed onto another object is bound to a single joint, and that joint is placed in a group along with the main bind joint system of the rig. However, this lead to the double transformation problem seen in the lower half of the above image. Ultimately, I had to scrap the individual transformations and settle for the main global to do the scaling. This still left with the diameter issue. To get around this, I plugged in the scaling information from the main global control into a condition node, then took that information and plugged it into a multiply divide node to whittle down the data. Finally, I took the output and sent it into the pressure max node of the paint effects strokes. Once connected, everything scaled properly.
After that problem was dealt with, I moved on to adjusting the left wrist area again, as well as adding dynamic hair curves so that the finger vines could have a large amount of jiggle if the animator so wanted. With a separate control above the left hand stone, the dynamics, and the corresponding geometry, could be enabled or disabled at the animator's whim.
Relating to dynamics, I'm hoping to begin adding in some of the jiggle/jostle systems for the rig soon. The only things left to really set up on the rig that don't involve dynamics are the eye flowers, which have been started as of this post, and the tree on the top of the skull.
For now, here are the current textures on the golem:
At this time, I've completed the ground to control rig system for all of the individual components, as well as set up attributes on the golem global to hide the numerous controls across the rig relating to that system. All of the normal maps for the major body components have been completed as well, so the only things left to texture are the horns, the chest opal, and adding the opal's glyph to the anchor stone.
Relating to textures, I've replaced all of the materials for mental-ray materials for better accuracy come render time. The horns and opal also have a surface light node plugged in to the mia_mat's additional color node, which allows the material to emit light.
Back on track, I did encounter a rather frustrating issue with the paint effects curves I am using with my rig. Due to me attempting to use a multiple component scaling system, where in the anchor stone and the golem could be scaled both independently and in unison with one another, the vine geometry would not scale properly along with the rig. It would shrink in diameter, which as one would guess, is not a good thing.
One fix I attempted was the wrap deformer adjustment, where in the geometry that is being wrap deformed onto another object is bound to a single joint, and that joint is placed in a group along with the main bind joint system of the rig. However, this lead to the double transformation problem seen in the lower half of the above image. Ultimately, I had to scrap the individual transformations and settle for the main global to do the scaling. This still left with the diameter issue. To get around this, I plugged in the scaling information from the main global control into a condition node, then took that information and plugged it into a multiply divide node to whittle down the data. Finally, I took the output and sent it into the pressure max node of the paint effects strokes. Once connected, everything scaled properly.
After that problem was dealt with, I moved on to adjusting the left wrist area again, as well as adding dynamic hair curves so that the finger vines could have a large amount of jiggle if the animator so wanted. With a separate control above the left hand stone, the dynamics, and the corresponding geometry, could be enabled or disabled at the animator's whim.
Relating to dynamics, I'm hoping to begin adding in some of the jiggle/jostle systems for the rig soon. The only things left to really set up on the rig that don't involve dynamics are the eye flowers, which have been started as of this post, and the tree on the top of the skull.
For now, here are the current textures on the golem:
Displaying the subtle light emissions from the horns and opal
Showing the adjusted teeth textures, as well as the adjusted vine colors.
Monday, February 24, 2014
Update as of February 24, 2014
I'd like to say that the golem rig is at a good point at this time. I've managed to bind all of the key components to where they need to be, the vines are moving around nicely, and the diffuse passes on the textures have been completed. At this time, none of the dynamic simulation components have been added yet, as there are still some errors that need to be tended to. I have also added joints throughout the goelm in anticipation of both the construction rig and the usage of jiggle bones.
An attempt was made to use the dynamic hair system on the finger curves, thereby allowing a more believable sense to the fingers being vines. However, I need to consult my advisers on how to make the base of the vine more stiff while not sacrificing the stiffness of the vine near the tip.
As a bit of an aside to the main project, I'm going to attempt t create a ragged looking cloak to add on top of the golem. It's mainly for a cloth sim class, but it can also allow for better insight onto using nCloth throughout the rig itself come time the rig is labeled ready as an animatable piece.
Below I've attached a current visual breakdown of the rig at this time.
Test render of some of the textures
Second test, full view, no anchor vines
Updated materials on some of the components, plus a different light setup and the anchor chain.
An attempt was made to use the dynamic hair system on the finger curves, thereby allowing a more believable sense to the fingers being vines. However, I need to consult my advisers on how to make the base of the vine more stiff while not sacrificing the stiffness of the vine near the tip.
As a bit of an aside to the main project, I'm going to attempt t create a ragged looking cloak to add on top of the golem. It's mainly for a cloth sim class, but it can also allow for better insight onto using nCloth throughout the rig itself come time the rig is labeled ready as an animatable piece.
Below I've attached a current visual breakdown of the rig at this time.
Sunday, February 16, 2014
16-02-2014 update
So much to place here, yet so little. Since the February 5th update, I've gotten a lot done behind the scenes, such as finishing up the UV unwrapping and binding the skeleton to controls. All of the vine curves on the main body have been bound to the skeleton, and a good deal of skin weight adjustments have been made so that deformation feels more believable when things move about. Thank you Component Editor.
Elsewhere in the project, I got some texture work started, focusing mainly on the diffuse pass for now. I've also cleaned up all the naming conventions, as I was scolded for not having my initials on everything within the file itself. Add to this the IK FK setup on the arms and the IK systems on the legs, and most of that technical bit was set.
I know I'll need to adjust the texture a bit to closer match the original concept art colors, but that'll be on the next update.
Back on the setup page, I broke apart all of the vine animations onto their own controls, so now the arms, body, leg, and neck can grow into place individually. This was done using the set driven key setup and keying the max clip control on the paint effect brush stroke. Needless to say, I should look into a faster way, if possible.
Past this, I've also blocked in the anchor, as seen in the background of the video above, and setup a temporary control system for the vine chain leading to the golem. This simply consists of an IK spline controlled by free floating joints. Still, the section between the anchor chain and the golem's back vines needs to be worked on, as the current point and orient constrain setup has an issue where the joints flip. not a good thing.
Lastly, I'm currently developing a design to place on the anchor to help round out things. I liked the look of the calligraphy word god in arabic I want to use on the stone in the golem's chest, so I want to create something similar to the look for the anchor stone.
Elsewhere in the project, I got some texture work started, focusing mainly on the diffuse pass for now. I've also cleaned up all the naming conventions, as I was scolded for not having my initials on everything within the file itself. Add to this the IK FK setup on the arms and the IK systems on the legs, and most of that technical bit was set.
Some planned sculpting for the back components
temporary mockup of the current textures on the model
I know I'll need to adjust the texture a bit to closer match the original concept art colors, but that'll be on the next update.
Back on the setup page, I broke apart all of the vine animations onto their own controls, so now the arms, body, leg, and neck can grow into place individually. This was done using the set driven key setup and keying the max clip control on the paint effect brush stroke. Needless to say, I should look into a faster way, if possible.
Past this, I've also blocked in the anchor, as seen in the background of the video above, and setup a temporary control system for the vine chain leading to the golem. This simply consists of an IK spline controlled by free floating joints. Still, the section between the anchor chain and the golem's back vines needs to be worked on, as the current point and orient constrain setup has an issue where the joints flip. not a good thing.
Current rig setup
Lastly, I'm currently developing a design to place on the anchor to help round out things. I liked the look of the calligraphy word god in arabic I want to use on the stone in the golem's chest, so I want to create something similar to the look for the anchor stone.
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Update for the week of January 27th, 2014
So after a semi break between sessions, the opening week classes brought about some more work on the Curpigeon birds. A few nodes weren't functioning as they should, so some reorientation was needed to fix the issue. However, I was asked to add additional controls to the facial setup to the sixth pigeon. There is still an issue with the right wing, but I will need to ask the person who set up that bird on their method for it so as to fix the issue proper.
Meanwhile, I've returned to my golem once again, completing the vines that permeate it's being.
I've also added in the sapphire horns atop it's head. All that is left is to replace the tree on it's head, and the stump that acts as it's left leg. The reason for this is due to an earlier version of zbrush creating some none to friendly geometry. The poly count ended up ridiculous, as well as spiraling down some of the branches and roots. not optimal in any way for unwrapping. Speaking of unwrapping, everything was also unwrapped over the weekend, minus the tree and stump. This means I can start hunting for some textures to use, as well as experiment without the texture being mangled.
For this week, I'm aiming to begin the controls setup for the arms and spine. I want to try a ribbon spine system, considering that there isn't a rigid fixture between the hips and the rib cage. I've also been asked to clean up my naming conventions on the file, which I completely agree on, as I've been sloppy about it this time around due to my focus on the vine growth system, what with it being one of the key elements of this character. I'll attach some demonstrations below.
The vine animations need to be broken apart and attached to a better controller, as currently they are all driven by one, and run simultaneously with one another, as can be seen in the videos.
I'll also be test skinning the vine curves onto the rig to check for areas that may be problematic when the character moves. There is also the construction system that I need to work out. I'm considering creating floating joints that animate into place on the main rig. This way, an animator can place the various parts where they please, and have each one move into place. I'll need to consult my professors about this, as they might have an easier method..
Meanwhile, I've returned to my golem once again, completing the vines that permeate it's being.
I've also added in the sapphire horns atop it's head. All that is left is to replace the tree on it's head, and the stump that acts as it's left leg. The reason for this is due to an earlier version of zbrush creating some none to friendly geometry. The poly count ended up ridiculous, as well as spiraling down some of the branches and roots. not optimal in any way for unwrapping. Speaking of unwrapping, everything was also unwrapped over the weekend, minus the tree and stump. This means I can start hunting for some textures to use, as well as experiment without the texture being mangled.
For this week, I'm aiming to begin the controls setup for the arms and spine. I want to try a ribbon spine system, considering that there isn't a rigid fixture between the hips and the rib cage. I've also been asked to clean up my naming conventions on the file, which I completely agree on, as I've been sloppy about it this time around due to my focus on the vine growth system, what with it being one of the key elements of this character. I'll attach some demonstrations below.
I'll also be test skinning the vine curves onto the rig to check for areas that may be problematic when the character moves. There is also the construction system that I need to work out. I'm considering creating floating joints that animate into place on the main rig. This way, an animator can place the various parts where they please, and have each one move into place. I'll need to consult my professors about this, as they might have an easier method..
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