Mocap cleaned...

The mocap files have been cleaned and this is yet another process I have under my belt of knowledge now!

I’m honestly staggered how much I’ve learnt during this particular module.

Mocap Cleaning

I am running low on time now and must clean two mocap files that we were able to record for my project whilst down in UCLAN.

I will be using the layers system and the dope sheet in max to help with this process.  The motion capture data is incredibly dirty however, so I will just do the best I can with it.

Eye Rigging

I have decided to go off my own previous knowledge as a test to what I have learnt when rigging the eyes.  I have to say  it really puts into perspective quite what I have learnt.  I have centred the pivot of the eye aligned a helper to it.  Then linked it to the helper and applied a look at constraint from the helper to another point helper (Being sure to tick ‘Keep initial offset’.

This has left me with a perfectly effective eye rig controlled via two point helpers to control the direction of the eyes.  The helper the eye is attached to have been linked to the bipeds head to ensure the hierarchy allows it to move with the face accordingly.

Tongue

I have added a tongue and textured it..  In conjunction with this I have also set it up with morphers and linked to the GUI to complete my face rig.

Winning...

I have completely re-skinned my model form head to toe and it works again much better than before, I can literally see myself improving before my own eyes.

I will now apply some mocap to help with testing my skinning and applying and final adjustments

Phew... YAWN...

I have stayed up all night and worked for a straight 24 hours.  My morpher targets are now up and running again.  I have also neatened the reaction manager references which I originally did.

I just want to say how horribly buggy reaction manager is, it seems to be a topic of much discussion and frustration on the forums and this comes to no surprise after working with it for little over a month....

Looking to the bright side, the whole model and project is now much more improved, smoother and faster than previously, so it is actually a good thing I’ve re-done it as I believe I have a better quality project for it.

It has however taken more time from my schedule and left me thinking if I  am going to be able to complete this module on time.

Skinning Hell

It appears changing the morphers has affected the skinning I have done after doing a precautionary test.  I honestly can’t believe that I have to do yet another thing that I have already completed.  I is so degrading knowing I’ve wasted so many days because of these issues.

On the plus side, at least I can neaten my stack and have less lag... I hope...

Cracking on with it...

I have found the issue to be with the way i produced my morph targets.  I detached the head from the body and made clones of the head to save on the lag and overall polycount when creating the targets.  Once completed I re-attached the head and exported the morph targets into another max file.

This worked fine up until mocap was added and although nothing was found similar to mine on the internet, I believe it is to do with the fact that the skin and the morphers vertex counts are clashing and somehow casing the distortion.

I am going to have to keep my chin up and completely redo the moprh targets from scratch, this time using the entire mesh as a reference instead of just the head.

Morpher Hell

I don’t believe it...

I am at my lowest point in the project right now, I am closing in on deadline day and I have ran into yet another issue.  This time however, it is a HUGE problem.

I was finally done rigging my model with the morphers working (Still lagging like crazy!) so I decided to add some mocap files and test the rig in its entirety with both the bady and the morpher face rig in action together as required in my hand in.

 I have found that when applying motion capture data and moving my G.U.I face rig controls the entire mesh explodes and deforms into a huge mess of vertex resembling crumpled paper.

I honestly don’t know what to do here.  But I know it is going to take up a larger chunk of my time...

Modifier Stack Problem

Since my last update all has been going reasonably well, I have made some steady progress, working hard to ensure my morpher rig is done to a high standard.

I have ran into somewhat of a disastrous issue however...

My model is working with incredible lag and I have done a considerable amount of research as to why this is the case.  I need some level of fluidity to the frame-rate for the video capture process of the project, so I am labelling this high priority.

It appears that I have an overly cluttered stack after the issues I have had with normal’s etc earlier in the week.  I need to find a way if any to collapse areas of my stack.  This is all new to me so it is definitely a learn as I go project.

It turns out that the work I conducted during the research stage of my project didn't quite reveal quite the struggles that this project entails.

I am going to work relentlessly to get this modifier stack neat...  That is, if there is a way to do so without re-doing my morphers, I simply don't have the time...

Normal Bug

I have been working away on my model and noticed that when rendered; my head appears to have flipped normal’s.  After checking this is not the case.  I have again taken to the forums to uncover what my latest issue is.

It is hard to tell exactly what, but it appears to be a bug in max rather than a human error.  I have found a solution after hours of forum browsing...

I simply need to add to normal modifiers, one on top of the other into my stack; it has worked for some reason.  Although this has wasted yet more time on my project, I have finally resolved the issue.

Caricature Model weighted

I have finished the weighting process of my caricature model!  I am happy with the results and can now resume work on my realistic model.

Realistic Morpher Rig (Video Update 3)

Realistic Morpher Rig (Video Update 2)

Realistic Morpher Rig (Video Update 1)

Caricature Bone Rig (Video Update 4)

Caricature Bone Rig (Video Update 3)

Caricature Bone Rig (Video Update 2)

Caricature Bone Rig (Video Update 1)

Onwards and Upwards!

So now I am ready to catch up with my caricature model.  Phew.

FINALLY!

I have found a solution to the normal map issue, three weeks after starting the process.  I have fallen way behind schedule but at least I can now move on with the project.  I've got some serious catching up to do.

All I had to do was tick the override gamma button when importing normal maps.  I can't believe it!

ARGH!

I am still having troubles with normal maps.  I have unwrapped my model three times to try and fix the issues.  My tutor has looked and also has no idea what is going wrong.

I have also tried rendering maps in 3ds Max but it is unable to handle the high polygon count that Mudbox creates.

NORMAL MAP HELL!!!!!!

I am having some serious trouble getting the normal maps working.  It seams that I am doing something wrong as I am getting ugly artifacts and seams.

Sculpting

I have added the detail required to generate my normal maps, now I must try to extract the detail and render the appropriate maps.

Texturing continued

The textures look fine and I feel, after some minor tweaking, that I am happy to move on to the normal mapping process within Mudbox.

Texturing

I have now applied the textures using Photoshop.  I must now apply it to my model and test how it looks.

Unwrapping

I have now unwrapped my model, taking seams into consideration.  The face has also been given a larger potion of UV space due to its need of detail.  I have also checked that there is no ugly stretching by applying the chequered material to my model.

Folds

Using the 'Street Cop' workflow on the internet (http://en.9jcg.com/comm_pages/blog_content-art-180.htm) I have added folding into the basic geometry.  The smaller folds will be done in Mudbox at a later date.

Hair Do

I have now began making the hair more a-symmetrical to create a more realistic look.

Hair Creation

Hair has been built into the main character mesh.  I have chosen this approach over making it as a new object as I feel it makes things tidier.

Topology Flow

I have corrected the loop flow so the topology will lend itself more fully to the animation process.

I'M BACK!!!

Work on the realistic model has now resumed as it needs to be completed for rigging.

I have added some refinement to the mesh using a reference photo to ensure all proportions were correct.