A tiny experiment.

[Kuhneghetz]

Not sure if this thread fits for the WIP section, so I post it here. Though it's up to the moderators to move it or not.

Just a little animation experiment to show you guys that I'm learning. Though this biped skeleton (or what's it called) will be used on a model of mine for school work. I used 3DS max 9.
You'll only see the skeleton's stand and wave pose in the GIF.

I know that 3DS Max 5 supports this skeleton, but I wonder if Warcraft III Art Tools supports animations from biped skeletons in case I'll make scratch animations for custom wc3 models.

And yes, I used Camtasia Studio for the screen capture and GIF converting thingy.

EDIT: The reason why the thumbs are seperated from the hands is that it's there where they're applied to the model's thumbs.

 

[Mechanical Man]

Well, BlinkBoy use bipeds, so I believe that they can be converted to be used in warcraft.

 

[BlinkBoy]

well for those, you require a special converting script. Download here

Even though, I suggest you to use IK instead of Biped, Biped is as painfull as animating FK some times. IK can be a paradise if you know how to make a very good IK Chain.

 

[TDR]

Is that script really needed for bipeds? As far as I know you can export a biped into a bone rig that you can then import back, animation included.

 

[Kuhneghetz]

Thanks for the hints, guys.

Here's another experiment where the biped does a simple walk pose.

 

[Deleted member 126647]

What is biped exactly in comparison to FK and IK?

 

[Kuhneghetz]

Bipeds are just pre-made skeletons from Character Studio (a plugin for 3DS max, included in version 5 and above). You can use IK and FK animations on them.

 

[TDR]

aye, it's a pre-made rig. And it looks like most game developers prefer it nowadays, 'cause it's fast to setup.

 

[Deleted member 126647]

Oh, so it basically just eliminates the need to rig it yourself?

Are you using FK on that rig then Dan?

 

[BlinkBoy]

is a weird convination of FK and IK when you use them. I myself don't like them, I think IK is better for making a fast animation, but whatever; not everyone likes to make the rigging.

 

[TDR]

not everyone likes to make the rigging.

exactly. But for a pretty shitty reason: they're not sure how to start and don't really know how. If you know how to rig, then you won't get enough of it. Right now I'm getting deeper into this and it's pretty damned exciting. The possibilities are endless, especially if enhanced with MaxScript (or MEL, for maya users)

 

[BlinkBoy]

exactly. But for a pretty shitty reason: they're not sure how to start and don't really know how. If you know how to rig, then you won't get enough of it. Right now I'm getting deeper into this and it's pretty damned exciting. The possibilities are endless, especially if enhanced with MaxScript (or MEL, for maya users)

yes, controlling the rig movements can be done with maxscript. There's an interesting 3dsmax tutorial which teachs you how to rigg a hand's fingers using maxscript. The problem of this riggs is that most of them are ditched away when converted into a game format, so is better to waste less time in premade riggs than wasting 1/2 to 2 hours making a perfect & easy to animate rigg.

 

[~Void~]

The stand animation is really odd... he's like dancing or something ^_^ maybe make it slower/less exaggerated.
I like the wave though.

 

[DwarfZealot]

i like that walk animation nice job

 

[Kuhneghetz]

Think it would be good to show the biped applied on a Hi-Res model (<20k polygon) which I've made for school task. I've made I'll add two avi's (uses Cinepack Codec), each with different rendered animations.
Though you'll have make sure that your media player loops when playing this animations.

Notes:
- The skinning (NOT TEXTURING) on the model isn't perfect.
- The model is shiny because of the use of multiple texture mapping (diffuse map, specular map, etc.)
- The walk cycle is the same as the walking biped in the earlier post since it's the same rig.
- The troll's anatomy isn't perfect.
- Right arm is a bit choppy at the end of the walk cycle animation.

I was forced to upload them in a zip file because the idle animation video was over 5 MB.

 

[LiOneSS]

DvO, do you use physique modifier for assigning the biped to a mesh?

 

[Kuhneghetz]

DvO, do you use physique modifier for assigning the biped to a mesh?

From what I can remember, I don't think so. I used the "skin" modifier when I tried to apply the biped to the Troll meshes.
I don't know what's best though.

 

[LiOneSS]

From what I can remember, I don't think so. I used the "skin" modifier when I tried to apply the biped to the Troll meshes.
I don't know what's best though.

this tutorial helped me a lot, and i think you'll love it too

 

[Kuhneghetz]

this tutorial helped me a lot, and i think you'll love it too

Already have seen that tutorial, but haven't to learn from it yet. It's looks sweet though.

 

[BlinkBoy]

bah, IK's better than biped; don't waste time on it.

 

[GhostWolf]

Stupid biped can't have more then 5 links.

 

[TDR]

bah, IK's better than biped; don't waste time on it.

word. Though biped is nice for quick posing of your character and looks like it's also highly preferred for games 'cause it's really fast to set up. But you can't get to a level of customization that you could achieve by making the rig yourself...That's why in production it's almost never used, except when it crowd simulation I think.