Body Modeling Worklow

I am finally posting this video in celebration of 34Bit hitting 30,000 views!  So thank you 3D community and of course the power of Google.  The video is a lecture I did for blocking out a character with reference planes.  The video is sped up and there is no audio, but you can see the techniques I used to create the body.  I hope you enjoy.
 

Skin Weights Diagram

As requested by a student here is an image that shows the skin/bind weights on a humanoid character.  Not every character will follow the same weights, but this image can be used as a guideline to help get you started.  Remember it really only matters how it looks when it is moving, so if your weight distribution is not exactly like mine that is okay and expected.

Biped 101: Basic Keyframing in Character Studio

Biped 101 - Basic Animation Workflow

Here is a video of a demonstration I did during a lecture.  It follows a workflow I have developed over time to avoid common issues when animating in character studio.  Below is the written breakdown of the process I use to animate the biped, taken from the very first post on 34Bit.  I hope you enjoy.

Ralph Apgar's 4 1/2 Step Process for Key Framing in Character Studio

*Using this process involves using the Key Info rollout in Character Studio to record the keys. Do not use Auto Key or Set Key.
Step 1 -> 3: Setting the Tracks
The Tracks are located in the Character Studio Rollouts


Step 1: Select Track "Body Horizontal", Position the character along the X and Y axis. Record the key from the Key Info rollout.  You need to realize that once you select any track you now have the Bip selected. The Tracks are how you move the biped in world space.


Step 2: Select Track "Body Vertical", Position the character along the Z axis. Record the key from the Key Info rollout.


Step 3: Select Track "Body Rotation", Rotate the character along the X,Y, and Z axis. Record the key from the Key Info rollout.

Step 4: Position your character into its proper pose. Once you have the desired look select the whole biped minus the Bip. To do this double click on the pelvis. If you have objects linked to the biped that don't belong, sword, shield, and object that isn't part of the original config, you will need to unselect those objects. If so make a selection set for easy selecting in the future. Next, Record the keys from the Key Info rollout.


Step 4 1/2: Choose your Planted, Free, and Sliding Keys. In the Key Info rollout you have some other key framing options that just normal key frames. The Planted Keys, used to plant feet and hand in world space. Sliding keys, used similar to Planted Keys but allow for slight movement. Free Keys are used to replicate a normal key. This step is about deciding what keys are your planted keys and what keys need t be free keys. For example, if your character is walking the foot that supports your characters weight will be the planted key frame, while on the other hand the foot that is in motion is a Free Key.

Tutorial: Introduction to Facial Modeling

Here is a video of a lecture I did on basic facial modeling techniques.  The focus is on modeling a low poly face concentrating on the "T" section of the face; eyes, eyebrow, nose, mouth, chin and jaw line.  I do assume that you have an understanding of basic poly modeling tools and techniques, and an understanding of 3D Studio's UI and terminology. Once you have an understanding of the modeling process demonstrated in the video you will be able to model almost any object or character.  I hope you enjoy!

Intro to 3D Facial Modeling by Ralph Apgar

Tutorial: Modeling a Car in 3D Studio Max

I finally broke down and created a nice video tutorial on basic poly modeling techniques.  I go over using a plane and matching it up to reference to end up with a car model.  Also, for all the people that requested that I slow my videos down, this is at a rate if 1:1, meaning it is in real time.  This was also a live lecture, so I do field a couple of questions and go off on a few tangents, but it does help show the workflow and thought process of starting a complex model from scratch.  I hope you enjoy and keep sending your comments and suggestions.

O yeah let me know about the audio levels, this was the first time I used this capture setup and compression so I may need to adjust it for future videos.  Also, let me know what topics you would like to see in future videos.

Enjoy!

Portfolio: Custom Depth of Field in Photoshop

While I was working on a hallway scene using Mental Ray I ran into some issues. I was not happy with the result that the Mental Ray renderer had with its Depth of Field effect. It was fast but very grainy, more like sandy noise than a blurred effect. I was disappointed to find out that the old DOF effect from Max's scanline was not available in Mental Ray, it may take a long time but the effect was great and could produce a very high quality DOF effect.

I started to play around and I came up with an idea to reproduce the same effect. The old scanline effect would simply move the camera re-render and overlay the images to produce the DOF effect, so I proceeded to move the camera in 3d to attempt to reproduce the effect. I started by moving the camera 4 units to the right and took another render. I wanted to test the DOF effect before moving any further to see if it even had the right effect, what is discovered was not a DOF is was a stereoscopic effect. As soon as I overlayed the two renders I realized it would work for a DOF but instead I produced a 3D image. All I need to do was set the left image to red, and the right to cyan, overlay the two and "poof" the magic of stereoscopic imagery.

That was cool and sparked a love of stereoscopic 3d, but was not the effect that I wanted. While playing around with the stereo effect I realized the solution for the DOF effect was a simple . All I need was a Depth Map and Photoshop. I rendered out a frame and the depth map for that frame. The depth map is a gray scale representation of the z-depth of your scene, all you need to do is use the Color Select option in Photoshop to select out the range of gray that you want to be in focus. Invert your selection and then use the Lens Blur to reproduce the Depth of Field effect. The result is higher quality than in Mental Ray, and still takes only a fraction of the time from the scanline effect.

Original Render:


Depth Map Render:


Depth of Field in Photoshop:

Tutorial: Unwrap UVW of a Head

UVW Unwrap Tutorial  

Here is a tutorial on Unwraping a low poly head model.  You may need to download the video to view it frame by frame.

Tutorial: The Morpher

The Morpher



The Morpher modifier is a very powerful modifier that allows the animator to animate a vast range of different effects and movements. Some of those include: lip syncing, facial expressions, placing a dent in a can*, transformations, and I have even seen walk cycles completed with this modifier. I am going to walk you through the basics of this modifier and setting key frames with the Morpher.

The first step in the Morpher process is to set up your morph targets. This is very simple, but needs close attention. The way the Morpher works is by moving a vertex, which has a number, to a vertex in a reference model that has the same number. The trick is to just use copies of the model to be the correct vertex layout. DO NOT USE INSTANCES!
Simply just hold SHIFT and drag a copy of the object and make sure that it says Copy.

Then you can just modify those copies of that object to the desired look. Then you can use the Morpher to change the base object into the modified object which will be a Morph Target. For example if you want to make a character smile, copy the characters mesh and edit the geometry to make it smile. Or you can set up the mouths needed for lip syncing by use the same method. If you are trying for the dent in the can trick, then all you need is the can, copy that can and modify the mesh so that it is dented. The whole idea is you can not add geometry in any fashion. You can only modify the existing geometry. That means no extrudes, no bevels or chamfers, no connects or bridges, or cuts and welds. You can not modify the geometry in any way otherwise it will not work. Objects have to have the same amount of vertices to work, one more or less and the Morpher will not even see them.

Here are some examples of some morph targets I did for a skeleton character I am working with on a personal animation:

Base Object:

Happy:

Angry:

Blink:

Confused:

.

The next thing is to select the main object that the modifier will be applied to. Go to the Modifier panel and add the Morpher modifier to the stack. I would place the modifier under any Skin or smooth modifiers. Then you will need to load in the morph targets that you have created. To do that make sure that the Morpher is selected in your stack. Then go under the Channel List rollout and use the Load Multiple Targets button.

When the Load Multiple Targets dialogue box pops up make sure to select the objects that you want to have as your Morphs. All objects that have the same number of vertices will be in this list so there is a change there may be an object or two that you do not actually want in the morph list. Once you have the correct objects selected hit the Load button. You will now notice that the Empty channels in the Channel List rollout now have the names of the objects that you designated to be your Morph Targets.

Do not delete the Morph Targets from the scene, you may hide them though.

You will notice that it you adjust the spinner that the base object will start to change into the corresponding Morph Target. You can even have multiple Morph Targets effect the object at once. You may want to play around with this, sometimes you will notice that combining two separate morphs will give you the exact look you are going for. This also allows you to separate your Morph Targets into different sections of you model. For example a face can be separated into the mouth, eyes, cheeks, and so on to give you more control over important areas. You also have the ability to change the amount you can morph. Under the Global Parameters rollout under the Morpher you will notice that you have a Minimum and a Maximum.

.

You can change these numbers to get different effects. I like working with a range of -115 -> 150. You will notice that a lot of the time, especially with faces of emotion, if you go to the -100 value you will get a different Morph that you may not have. Smile turns into a frown; a blink turns into eyes wide open. Basically the Morph Target is a percentage. So values of 200 will push the vertices out twice as far as the original Morph Target.

To animate the Morpher you will need to use Autokey or your Curve Editor. If you use Autokey you have to make sure to double check your values and how you set your key frames. Warning: With auto key you usually need four key frames for each morph change. You need a key on the frame you wish the Morph Target to start with a value of “0”, you will need a key frame were you want the Morph Target to take place with the disiered value, you will need a third key frame were you want the Morph to start to end with the same value as the second key frame, and lastly you want a key with a value of zero were you want the morph to end. It sounds bulky but you will be able to produce several complex animations once you get the hang of it down.

Tutorial - Modeling - Table with Sliding Drawer

The End Table with Sliding Drawer:

I am going to use the scale one inch equals one max unit. This is the best scale to work with when using 3D Studio Max and should be adopted for future projects and models.

Note: Do not change Max’s scale to inches instead just keep in mind that one unit is one inch, this will create the best workflow and will help with more advanced areas of the program that you may get into.

To start the End Table I am going to create a box with a Length of 18, a Width of 18, and a Height of 1. Also, get into the habit of naming objects and give your table a name.



The nest step is to convert the box into an Editable Poly so we can start to work with it and turn it into the table. Right-click on the box and go to Convert To.



We are going to use the box as the top of the table and extrude the bottom, the drawer and the legs from the initial box object. Select the bottom ploy of the box and use the Inset tool with an Inset Amount of 1.5, with equates to 1.5 inches. To bring up the dialogue box select the box icon next to the tools name.



After that inset apply one more with an amount of 1.



From here select the middle ring of faces and apply an Extrude with an Extrusion Height of 4.



From here we are going to select the vertical edges of extrusion.



With those edges selected apply a Chamfer with a Chamfer Amount of 1.5.



Then select the newly created polygons and from there we will apply a Bevel to create the legs of the table. Use a Height of 24 and the Outline Amount of -0.5 to give it a slight taper effect.



Now it is time for the Drawer:

Select both the back and the front face of the lower extrusion, we will apply another Inset, but they will not line up right away because the front face is larger than the back face due to the Chamfer. We will need to fix this through a couple of steps but, first things first, select both front and back faces and apply an Inset of 0.5.



Now we need to align and straighten out the faces of our model. Select the left vertical edge and the vertical edge on the back face of the model.



From there apply the Make Planer option on the X, this will cause the edges to line up in 3d space. Next you will need to use your move tool to nudge the edges over a bit so that the drawer will clear the legs of the table.



Repeat on the right side of the face.



Next select the face were the drawer will be, hold SHIFT and move it along the Y axis infront of the table. Choose the Clone to Element option.



Next select the faces for the drawer on the table and delete them.

Choose your Boarder sub-object and use the bridge tool to create the hole for the drawer.

Select the floating face, which will soon become the drawer, and apply an Extrude of 10.

We will need to now cap off the back end of the drawer because it is now open. Go to your Boarders and select that open edge and use the Cap tool.

Select the top face of the drawer apply an Inset of 0.5 and then an Extrude of -2.5. This will create the cavity of the drawer.

Select the front poly of the drawer and apply an Extrude of 0.5.

Now select the ring of new faces that were created and apply an Extrude with a Strenght of 0.5 on the Local Normal.

Using the Element sub-object I am going to slide the drawer back along the Y axis into the fitted hole in the table.

To create a simple drawer handle select the front face and scale it down so that it appears to be about 1 inch high by a width of 3 inches.

Next Bevel that face with a Height of 0.75 and an Outline of -0.15.

Then select the poly on the underside of the Bevel and Inset that poly 0.15, then extrude it up into the handle a bit to finish the effect.

You will now have a basic End Table with a Sliding Drawer. Using these same techniques you can create several other objects.

Adding Accents to the Table:

Now it is time to spice the table up and give it some style. We will start with the legs of the table. Also, we are going to do all the legs at once. This will help save some time and make sure that the table is symmetrical. First we will add a little roundness to the bottom of the legs. Select all the horizontal edges of the bottom of the table legs.

Next apply a Chamfer of 0.4 followed by a Chamfer of 0.2. This will round off the bottom of the table legs.

Now select the vertical edges of the legs.

Using the Connect tool, apply 3 Segments a Pinch of -80 and a Slide of 500.

Select the middle row of edges that we created on each leg.

Use the scale tool to scale down the edges about 50%.

From there we are going to apply two Chamfers. The first Chamfer will have a value of 0.3 and the second will have a value of 0.15.

To finish the legs select the outside faces of the legs.

Apply a Bevel with the values of 0.25 for the Height and -0.24 for the Outline Amount.

The next step will be to select edges for the table top and the front edges of the drawer.

Apply a Chamfer with a value of 0.3.

Next we will add a groove in the table top, select the top face and use the Inset tool with a value of 1.5.

Then add a Inset again with a value of 0.25.

Select the ring of new faces that we created.

Use the Bevel tool with a Height of -0.1 and an Outline Amount of -0.075 to complete the groove.

Last we will round off the drawer handle. Select the vertical edges of the front of the drawer handle.

Next use the Chamfer tool twice. The first Chamfer with a value of 0.4 and the second Chamfer with a value of 0.2. This will round the handle nicely.