The DarkMod Wiki - User contributions [en]

Advanced Character Rigging - Part Three

2008-02-02T20:13:10Z

Ascottk: typo

== Advanced Character Rigging with Maya 7.0 ==

'''Part Three'''

Back to [[Advanced character rigging]] Introduction

Back to [[Advanced Character Rigging - Part Two]]

After all that work of painting those skin weights (wait, you didn't rig the left arm mesh to the right upper leg joint did you?) it's time to refine our rig. So far my left upper leg mesh is rigged to LeftUpLeg, while the lower leg mesh is rigged to . . . well . . . LeftLeg:

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/9205/leftlegweightedlf1.jpg

Easy enough? But wait (weight?) . . . What happens if we rotate the lower leg back? Let's find out!

Open the Outliner & shift-click the square to the left of the origin joint:

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/8155/expandselectionhj7.jpg

This will expand the joint hierarchy. Now select the LeftLeg joint & rotate that joint backwards. For this example I didn't have to rotate it too far but rotate all the necessary joints at extreme angles to find your issues:

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/1641/leftlegweirdweightvc9.jpg

The lower leg is not behaving naturally. So how do we fix it? I'll tell you but you'd better be nice to me & send money to my PayPal account . . . oh wait, I need to update that account . . .

Here's a shot of an unusual pose thus easily spotting rigging issues (notice the stray vertex on the right leg & the torso, near the hips, has major issues):

http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/4954/unusualposekr3.jpg

Keep the leg in that rotation while we do a little something extra to it. This is where those handy-dandy functions like Add & Smooth come in. Select the leg mesh again then go back to the weight painter. Select the Smooth function, resize the brush so you don't accidentally paint somewhere else & select the solid round brush at the top:

http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/5253/brushselectionif2.jpg

Now click on the smooth function, select the LeftUpLeg joint (or whichever upper left leg joint you have), & paint the vertices ''below'', and back of, the upper leg:

http://img481.imageshack.us/img481/7558/smoothingvb1.jpg

Now select the LeftLeg joint (or lower left leg joint you may have) & paint the vertices ''above'', and back of, the lowerleg.

If you did it correctly then there'll be a big improvement when you're done:

http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/128/smoothedoutqm2.jpg

When you're done refining your rig, select the origin bone in the Outliner, go to the menu and click - '''Skin > Go to Bind Pose''' & your original pose will spring back to where it was. It's a good idea to go to bind pose when ever you rotate joint & edit your weights.

What? I left out the Add function of the weight painter? For those stubborn rigging problems that smoothing won't work with, you use ''Add'' in small increments

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/1107/addfunctionth6.jpg

I normally use weight values of 0.1000 when I'm adding weights so I don't overdo it the first time.

== Other tips ==

*When working with leg meshes, I flood them with the "Hips" with a weight value of one
*When I'm working on a torso, I flood them with the "Spine"
*You don't have to edit the md5mesh to assign shaders if your character's material names match the directory structure & texture names. For example the mercenary elite's material:

Maya's material is pointed to:
C:\Doom3\darkmod\models\md5\chars\guards\merc_elite\merc_elite_armor.tga

Thus the shader in the md5mesh is automatically pointed to the material name:
shader "models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor"

which is:

models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor
{
surftype15
description "armor_plate"
noselfshadow
noShadows
bumpmap addnormals(models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_local, heightmap( models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor_h, 3 ) )
diffusemap models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor
specularmap models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor_s
{
if ( parm11 > 0 )
blend gl_dst_color, gl_one
map _white
rgb 0.40 * parm11
}
{
if ( parm11 > 0 )
blend add
map models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor
rgb 0.15 * parm11
}
}

*When using exportmodels in Doom3Ed, The Dark Mod is using the same animations as another character. So the rigging varies between AI & that causes a lot of problem at runtime. The export decl in the def file needs extra options:

export merc_elite {

options -scale .94
mesh merc_elitemesh.mb -dest tdm_ai_merc_elite

This tells the maya export plugin to scale the rigs a specified amount. This is really handy for different sized AI.

addoptions -keep Hips LeftHips_Dummy blah blah2 blah3 -scale .94
addoptions -sourcedir models/model_src/citywatch_mb -destdir models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite

The mercenary elite uses the citywatch's animations but the rigging between the two do not match. The -keep joint option is used for these occasions. Open the md5mesh with a text editor & the af_pose.md5anim (or whichever animation you choose), exportmodels command in D3Ed, & add/subtract any joint in the def file to match joint numbers and names.

== Related Articles ==
* [[Scaling And Rotating AI Meshes]]
* [[Getting Characters and their Anims into Doom]]
* [[Setting up Ragdolls for Custom Joint Hierarchies]]
* [[Swapping Heads on AI Models]]
* [[Adding Heads and Weapons to AI]]

----
Back to [[Advanced character rigging]] Introduction
Back to [[Advanced Character Rigging - Part Two]]

[[Category:Models]]
[[Category:Animation]]

Animation Information

2007-09-02T17:15:22Z

Ascottk:

== Animation Facts and Information ==
by ascottk

===md5anim (Doom 3 animation file) general facts===

* Meshes (md5mesh) can share animations
As long as the meshes are rigged in a similar fashion, and they have the same exact number of joints and the same exact joint names, developers can use different md5anims for their meshes. The Dark Mod currently does not do this because we like size variances.

* Animations influence the size of the visible mesh
Suppose we take a single animation from a small character and use it for a larger character (as long as the previous conditions apply), then anytime the larger character uses that animation, the larger character will shrink to the smaller character's size. That would be a little strange if the character attacks you and suddenly shrinks . . . If we want that animation for the larger character then we would need to reexport that animation with the correct scaling option. See [[Scaling_And_Rotating_AI_Meshes]] and [[Advanced_character_rigging]] for exporting with a Maya to Doom3 work load.

* If you want to have walk_ik working [http://www.iddevnet.com/doom3/walkik.php] then you will need an ik_pose animation.
The easiest way to do this is use the af_pose, generally the "T-pose" for setting up AFs (ragdolls) as a substitute. More information about ragdolls here: [[Setting_up_Ragdolls_for_Custom_Joint_Hierarchies]]

Here is an example of using an af_pose as your ik_pose in a def file:
model tdm_ai_citywatch {
mesh models/md5/chars/guards/citywatch/tdm_ai_citywatch.md5mesh

channel torso ( *Spine1 )
channel legs ( *origin - *Spine )

anim af_pose models/md5/chars/guards/citywatch/af_pose.md5anim
anim ik_pose models/md5/chars/guards/citywatch/af_pose.md5anim
anim walk models/md5/chars/guards/citywatch/walk.md5anim {
frame 11 footstep
frame 28 footstep
}

===Maya to Doom3 workload information===

* Same animations, different characters
The meshes can be different sizes but share the same animation as long as we export with certain options in the def file. See the tips on the bottom of this page: [[Advanced_Character_Rigging_-_Part_Three]]

* Reorganizations happen frequently if you are working on big projects like the Dark Mod.
Moving your Maya binary directory (the source files for meshes and animations) will affect the way Doom 3 handles the conversions. Once you move the directory and change the def file's -dest directory, D3 will think the source files are new so it will reexport everything. If your mod team uses CVS or SVN, only commit the files you changed if the md5anim joints match the md5mesh. Someone may had altered a file that is still a work in progress and committing all of the files may break compatibility.

[[Category:Animation]]
[[Category:Models]]
[[Category:AI]]

Animation Information

2007-09-02T17:13:20Z

Ascottk:

== Animation Facts and Information ==
by ascottk

===md5anim (Doom 3 animation files) general facts===

* Meshes (md5mesh) can share animations
As long as the meshes are rigged in a similar fashion, and they have the same exact number of joints and the same exact joint names, developers can use different md5anims for their meshes. The Dark Mod currently does not do this because we like size variances.

* Animations influence the size of the visible mesh
Suppose we take a single animation from a small character and use it for a larger character (as long as the previous conditions apply), then anytime the larger character uses that animation, the larger character will shrink to the smaller character's size. That would be a little strange if the character attacks you and suddenly shrinks . . . If we want that animation for the larger character then we would need to reexport that animation with the correct scaling option. See [[Scaling_And_Rotating_AI_Meshes]] and [[Advanced_character_rigging]] for exporting with a Maya to Doom3 work load.

* If you want to have walk_ik working [http://www.iddevnet.com/doom3/walkik.php] then you will need an ik_pose animation.
The easiest way to do this is use the af_pose, generally the "T-pose" for setting up AFs (ragdolls) as a substitute. More information about ragdolls here: [[Setting_up_Ragdolls_for_Custom_Joint_Hierarchies]]

Here is an example of using an af_pose as your ik_pose in a def file:
model tdm_ai_citywatch {
mesh models/md5/chars/guards/citywatch/tdm_ai_citywatch.md5mesh

channel torso ( *Spine1 )
channel legs ( *origin - *Spine )

anim af_pose models/md5/chars/guards/citywatch/af_pose.md5anim
anim ik_pose models/md5/chars/guards/citywatch/af_pose.md5anim
anim walk models/md5/chars/guards/citywatch/walk.md5anim {
frame 11 footstep
frame 28 footstep
}

===Maya to Doom3 workload information===

* Same animations, different characters
The meshes can be different sizes but share the same animation as long as we export with certain options in the def file. See the tips on the bottom of this page: [[Advanced_Character_Rigging_-_Part_Three]]

* Reorganizations happen frequently if you are working on big projects like the Dark Mod.
Moving your Maya binary directory (the source files for meshes and animations) will affect the way Doom 3 handles the conversions. Once you move the directory and change the def file's -dest directory, D3 will think the source files are new so it will reexport everything. If your mod team uses CVS or SVN, only commit the files you changed if the md5anim joints match the md5mesh. Someone may had altered a file that is still a work in progress and committing all of the files may break compatibility.

[[Category:Animation]]
[[Category:Models]]
[[Category:AI]]

Animation Information

2007-09-02T17:06:32Z

Ascottk:

== Animation Facts and Information ==
by ascottk

===md5anim (Doom 3 animation files) general facts===

* Meshes (md5mesh) can share animations
As long as the meshes are rigged in a similar fashion, and they have the same exact number of joints and the same exact joint names, developers can use different md5anims for their meshes. The Dark Mod currently does not do this because we like size variances.

* Animations influence the size of the visible mesh
Suppose we take a single animation from a small character and use it for a larger character (as long as the previous conditions apply), then anytime the larger character uses that animation, the larger character will shrink to the smaller character's size. That would be a little strange if the character attacks you and suddenly shrinks . . . If we want that animation for the larger character then we would need to reexport that animation with the correct scaling option. See [[Scaling_And_Rotating_AI_Meshes]] and [[Advanced_character_rigging]] for exporting with a Maya to Doom3 work load.

* If you want to have walk_ik working [http://www.iddevnet.com/doom3/walkik.php] then you will need an ik_pose animation.
The easiest way to do this is use the af_pose, generally the "T-pose" for setting up AFs (ragdolls) as a substitute. More information about ragdolls here: [[Setting_up_Ragdolls_for_Custom_Joint_Hierarchies]]

===Maya to Doom3 workload information===

* Same animations, different characters
The meshes can be different sizes but share the same animation as long as we export with certain options in the def file. See the tips on the bottom of this page: [[Advanced_Character_Rigging_-_Part_Three]]

* Reorganizations happen frequently if you are working on big projects like the Dark Mod.
Moving your Maya binary directory (the source files for meshes and animations) will affect the way Doom 3 handles the conversions. Once you move the directory and change the def file's -dest directory, D3 will think the source files are new so it will reexport everything. If your mod team uses CVS or SVN, only commit the files you changed if the md5anim joints match the md5mesh. Someone may had altered a file that is still a work in progress and committing all of the files may break compatibility.

[[Category:Animation]]
[[Category:Models]]
[[Category:AI]]

Animation Information

2007-09-02T17:05:56Z

Ascottk:

== Animation Facts and Information ==
by ascottk

===md5anim (Doom 3 animation files) general facts===

* Meshes (md5mesh) can share animations
As long as the meshes are rigged in a similar fashion, and they have the same exact number of joints and the same exact joint names, developers can use different md5anims for their meshes. The Dark Mod currently does not do this because we like size variances.

* Animations influence the size of the visible mesh
Suppose we take a single animation from a small character and use it for a larger character (as long as the previous conditions apply), then anytime the larger character uses that animation, the larger character will shrink to the smaller character's size. That would be a little strange if the character attacks you and suddenly shrinks . . . If we want that animation for the larger character then we would need to reexport that animation with the correct scaling option. See [[Scaling_And_Rotating_AI_Meshes]] and [[Advanced_character_rigging]] for exporting with a Maya to Doom3 work load.

* If you want to have walk_ik working [http://www.iddevnet.com/doom3/walkik.php] then you will need an ik_pose animation. The easiest way to do this is use the af_pose, generally the "T-pose" for setting up AFs (ragdolls) as a substitute. More information about ragdolls here: [[Setting_up_Ragdolls_for_Custom_Joint_Hierarchies]]

===Maya to Doom3 workload information===

* Same animations, different characters
The meshes can be different sizes but share the same animation as long as we export with certain options in the def file. See the tips on the bottom of this page: [[Advanced_Character_Rigging_-_Part_Three]]

* Reorganizations happen frequently if you are working on big projects like the Dark Mod.
Moving your Maya binary directory (the source files for meshes and animations) will affect the way Doom 3 handles the conversions. Once you move the directory and change the def file's -dest directory, D3 will think the source files are new so it will reexport everything. If your mod team uses CVS or SVN, only commit the files you changed if the md5anim joints match the md5mesh. Someone may had altered a file that is still a work in progress and committing all of the files may break compatibility.

[[Category:Animation]]
[[Category:Models]]
[[Category:AI]]

Animation Information

2007-09-02T16:54:33Z

Ascottk:

Animation Information

2007-09-02T03:07:59Z

Ascottk:

Animation Information

2007-09-02T03:01:37Z

Ascottk:

Animation Information

2007-09-02T02:51:07Z

Ascottk: New page: == Animation Facts and Information == '''md5anim (Doom 3 animation files) general facts''' # Meshes (md5mesh) can share animations As long as the meshes are rigged in a similar fashion, a...

== Animation Facts and Information ==

'''md5anim (Doom 3 animation files) general facts'''
# Meshes (md5mesh) can share animations
As long as the meshes are rigged in a similar fashion, and they have the same exact number of joints and the same exact joint names, developers can use different md5anims for their meshes. The Dark Mod currently does not do this because we like size variances.
# Animations influence the size of the visible mesh
Suppose we take a single animation from a small character and use it for a larger character (as long as the previous conditions apply), then anytime the larger character uses that animation, the larger character will shrink to the smaller character's size. That would be a little strange if the character attacks you and suddenly shrinks . . . If we want that animation for the larger character then we would need to reexport that animation with the correct scaling option. See [[Scaling_And_Rotating_AI_Meshes]] and [[Advanced_character_rigging]] for exporting with a Maya>Doom3 work load.

[[Category:Animation]]
[[Category:Models]]
[[Category:AI]]

Advanced Character Rigging - Part Three

2007-03-28T20:01:09Z

Ascottk:

== Advanced Character Rigging with Maya 7.0 ==

'''Part Three'''

Back to [[Advanced character rigging]] Introduction

Back to [[Advanced Character Rigging - Part Two]]

After all that work of paint those skin weights (wait, you didn't rig the left arm mesh to the right upper leg joint did you?) it's time to refine our rig. So far my left upper leg mesh is rigged to LeftUpLeg, while the lower leg mesh is rigged to . . . well . . . LeftLeg:

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/9205/leftlegweightedlf1.jpg

Easy enough? But wait (weight?) . . . What happens if we rotate the lower leg back? Let's find out!

Open the Outliner & shift-click the square to the left of the origin joint:

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/8155/expandselectionhj7.jpg

This will expand the joint hierarchy. Now select the LeftLeg joint & rotate that joint backwards. For this example I didn't have to rotate it too far but rotate all the necessary joints at extreme angles to find your issues:

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/1641/leftlegweirdweightvc9.jpg

The lower leg is not behaving naturally. So how do we fix it? I'll tell you but you'd better be nice to me & send money to my PayPal account . . . oh wait, I need to update that account . . .

Here's a shot of an unusual pose thus easily spotting rigging issues (notice the stray vertex on the right leg & the torso, near the hips, has major issues):

http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/4954/unusualposekr3.jpg

Keep the leg in that rotation while we do a little something extra to it. This is where those handy-dandy functions like Add & Smooth come in. Select the leg mesh again then go back to the weight painter. Select the Smooth function, resize the brush so you don't accidentally paint somewhere else & select the solid round brush at the top:

http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/5253/brushselectionif2.jpg

Now click on the smooth function, select the LeftUpLeg joint (or whichever upper left leg joint you have), & paint the vertices ''below'', and back of, the upper leg:

http://img481.imageshack.us/img481/7558/smoothingvb1.jpg

Now select the LeftLeg joint (or lower left leg joint you may have) & paint the vertices ''above'', and back of, the lowerleg.

If you did it correctly then there'll be a big improvement when you're done:

http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/128/smoothedoutqm2.jpg

When you're done refining your rig, select the origin bone in the Outliner, go to the menu and click - '''Skin > Go to Bind Pose''' & your original pose will spring back to where it was. It's a good idea to go to bind pose when ever you rotate joint & edit your weights.

What? I left out the Add function of the weight painter? For those stubborn rigging problems that smoothing won't work with, you use ''Add'' in small increments

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/1107/addfunctionth6.jpg

I normally use weight values of 0.1000 when I'm adding weights so I don't overdo it the first time.

== Other tips ==

*When working with leg meshes, I flood them with the "Hips" with a weight value of one
*When I'm working on a torso, I flood them with the "Spine"
*You don't have to edit the md5mesh to assign shaders if your character's material names match the directory structure & texture names. For example the mercenary elite's material:

Maya's material is pointed to:
C:\Doom3\darkmod\models\md5\chars\guards\merc_elite\merc_elite_armor.tga

Thus the shader in the md5mesh is automatically pointed to the material name:
shader "models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor"

which is:

models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor
{
surftype15
description "armor_plate"
noselfshadow
noShadows
bumpmap addnormals(models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_local, heightmap( models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor_h, 3 ) )
diffusemap models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor
specularmap models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor_s
{
if ( parm11 > 0 )
blend gl_dst_color, gl_one
map _white
rgb 0.40 * parm11
}
{
if ( parm11 > 0 )
blend add
map models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor
rgb 0.15 * parm11
}
}

*When using exportmodels in Doom3Ed, The Dark Mod is using the same animations as another character. So the rigging varies between AI & that causes a lot of problem at runtime. The export decl in the def file needs extra options:

export merc_elite {

options -scale .94
mesh merc_elitemesh.mb -dest tdm_ai_merc_elite

This tells the maya export plugin to scale the rigs a specified amount. This is really handy for different sized AI.

addoptions -keep Hips LeftHips_Dummy blah blah2 blah3 -scale .94
addoptions -sourcedir models/model_src/citywatch_mb -destdir models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite

The mercenary elite uses the citywatch's animations but the rigging between the two do not match. The -keep joint option is used for these occasions. Open the md5mesh with a text editor & the af_pose.md5anim (or whichever animation you choose), exportmodels command in D3Ed, & add/subtract any joint in the def file to match joint numbers and names.

== Related Articles ==

[[Scaling And Rotating AI Meshes]]

[[Getting Characters and their Anims into Doom]]

[[Setting up Ragdolls for Custom Joint Hierarchies]]

[[Swapping Heads on AI Models]]

[[Adding Heads and Weapons to AI]]

----

Back to [[Advanced character rigging]] Introduction

Back to [[Advanced Character Rigging - Part Two]]

Advanced Character Rigging - Part Three

2007-03-28T19:59:54Z

Ascottk:

== Advanced Character Rigging with Maya 7.0 ==

'''Part Three'''

Back to [[Advanced character rigging]] Introduction

Back to [[Advanced Character Rigging - Part Two]]

After all that work of paint those skin weights (wait, you didn't rig the left arm mesh to the right upper leg joint did you?) it's time to refine our rig. So far my left upper leg mesh is rigged to LeftUpLeg, while the lower leg mesh is rigged to . . . well . . . LeftLeg:

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/9205/leftlegweightedlf1.jpg

Easy enough? But wait (weight?) . . . What happens if we rotate the lower leg back? Let's find out!

Open the Outliner & shift-click the square to the left of the origin joint:

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/8155/expandselectionhj7.jpg

This will expand the joint hierarchy. Now select the LeftLeg joint & rotate that joint backwards. For this example I didn't have to rotate it too far but rotate all the necessary joints at extreme angles to find your issues:

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/1641/leftlegweirdweightvc9.jpg

The lower leg is not behaving naturally. So how do we fix it? I'll tell you but you'd better be nice to me & send money to my PayPal account . . . oh wait, I need to update that account . . .

Here's a shot of an unusual pose thus easily spotting rigging issues (notice the stray vertex on the right leg & the torso near the hips have major issues):

http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/4954/unusualposekr3.jpg

Keep the leg in that rotation while we do a little something extra to it. This is where those handy-dandy functions like Add & Smooth come in. Select the leg mesh again then go back to the weight painter. Select the Smooth function, resize the brush so you don't accidentally paint somewhere else & select the solid round brush at the top:

http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/5253/brushselectionif2.jpg

Now click on the smooth function, select the LeftUpLeg joint (or whichever upper left leg joint you have), & paint the vertices ''below'', and back of, the upper leg:

http://img481.imageshack.us/img481/7558/smoothingvb1.jpg

Now select the LeftLeg joint (or lower left leg joint you may have) & paint the vertices ''above'', and back of, the lowerleg.

If you did it correctly then there'll be a big improvement when you're done:

http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/128/smoothedoutqm2.jpg

When you're done refining your rig, select the origin bone in the Outliner, go to the menu and click - '''Skin > Go to Bind Pose''' & your original pose will spring back to where it was. It's a good idea to go to bind pose when ever you rotate joint & edit your weights.

What? I left out the Add function of the weight painter? For those stubborn rigging problems that smoothing won't work with, you use ''Add'' in small increments

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/1107/addfunctionth6.jpg

I normally use weight values of 0.1000 when I'm adding weights so I don't overdo it the first time.

== Other tips ==

*When working with leg meshes, I flood them with the "Hips" with a weight value of one
*When I'm working on a torso, I flood them with the "Spine"
*You don't have to edit the md5mesh to assign shaders if your character's material names match the directory structure & texture names. For example the mercenary elite's material:

Maya's material is pointed to:
C:\Doom3\darkmod\models\md5\chars\guards\merc_elite\merc_elite_armor.tga

Thus the shader in the md5mesh is automatically pointed to the material name:
shader "models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor"

which is:

models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor
{
surftype15
description "armor_plate"
noselfshadow
noShadows
bumpmap addnormals(models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_local, heightmap( models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor_h, 3 ) )
diffusemap models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor
specularmap models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor_s
{
if ( parm11 > 0 )
blend gl_dst_color, gl_one
map _white
rgb 0.40 * parm11
}
{
if ( parm11 > 0 )
blend add
map models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor
rgb 0.15 * parm11
}
}

*When using exportmodels in Doom3Ed, The Dark Mod is using the same animations as another character. So the rigging varies between AI & that causes a lot of problem at runtime. The export decl in the def file needs extra options:

export merc_elite {

options -scale .94
mesh merc_elitemesh.mb -dest tdm_ai_merc_elite

This tells the maya export plugin to scale the rigs a specified amount. This is really handy for different sized AI.

addoptions -keep Hips LeftHips_Dummy blah blah2 blah3 -scale .94
addoptions -sourcedir models/model_src/citywatch_mb -destdir models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite

The mercenary elite uses the citywatch's animations but the rigging between the two do not match. The -keep joint option is used for these occasions. Open the md5mesh with a text editor & the af_pose.md5anim (or whichever animation you choose), exportmodels command in D3Ed, & add/subtract any joint in the def file to match joint numbers and names.

== Related Articles ==

[[Scaling And Rotating AI Meshes]]

[[Getting Characters and their Anims into Doom]]

[[Setting up Ragdolls for Custom Joint Hierarchies]]

[[Swapping Heads on AI Models]]

[[Adding Heads and Weapons to AI]]

----

Back to [[Advanced character rigging]] Introduction

Back to [[Advanced Character Rigging - Part Two]]

Advanced Character Rigging - Part Three

2007-03-28T16:56:02Z

Ascottk: /* Related Articles */

== Advanced Character Rigging with Maya 7.0 ==

'''Part Three'''

Back to [[Advanced character rigging]] Introduction

Back to [[Advanced Character Rigging - Part Two]]

After all that work of paint those skin weights (wait, you didn't rig the left arm mesh to the right upper leg joint did you?) it's time to refine our rig. So far my left upper leg mesh is rigged to LeftUpLeg, while the lower leg mesh is rigged to . . . well . . . LeftLeg:

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/9205/leftlegweightedlf1.jpg

Easy enough? But wait (weight?) . . . What happens if we rotate the lower leg back? Let's find out!

Open the Outliner & shift-click the square to the left of the origin joint:

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/8155/expandselectionhj7.jpg

This will expand the joint hierarchy. Now select the LeftLeg joint & rotate that joint backwards. For this example I didn't have to rotate it too far but rotate all the necessary joints at extreme angles to find your issues:

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/1641/leftlegweirdweightvc9.jpg

The lower leg is not behaving naturally. So how do we fix it? I'll tell you but you'd better be nice to me & send money to my PayPal account . . . oh wait, I need to update that account . . .

Keep the leg in that rotation while we do a little something extra to it. This is where those handy-dandy functions like Add & Smooth come in. Select the leg mesh again then go back to the weight painter. Select the Smooth function, resize the brush so you don't accidentally paint somewhere else & select the solid round brush at the top:

http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/5253/brushselectionif2.jpg

Now click on the smooth function, select the LeftUpLeg joint (or whichever upper left leg joint you have), & paint the vertices ''below'', and back of, the upper leg:

http://img481.imageshack.us/img481/7558/smoothingvb1.jpg

Now select the LeftLeg joint (or lower left leg joint you may have) & paint the vertices ''above'', and back of, the lowerleg.

If you did it correctly then there'll be a big improvement when you're done:

http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/128/smoothedoutqm2.jpg

When you're done refining your rig, select the origin bone in the Outliner, go to the menu and click - '''Skin > Go to Bind Pose''' & your original pose will spring back to where it was. It's a good idea to go to bind pose when ever you rotate joint & edit your weights.

What? I left out the Add function of the weight painter? For those stubborn rigging problems that smoothing won't work with, you use ''Add'' in small increments

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/1107/addfunctionth6.jpg

I normally use weight values of 0.1000 when I'm adding weights so I don't overdo it the first time.

== Other tips ==

*When working with leg meshes, I flood them with the "Hips" with a weight value of one
*When I'm working on a torso, I flood them with the "Spine"
*You don't have to edit the md5mesh to assign shaders if your character's material names match the directory structure & texture names. For example the mercenary elite's material:

Maya's material is pointed to:
C:\Doom3\darkmod\models\md5\chars\guards\merc_elite\merc_elite_armor.tga

Thus the shader in the md5mesh is automatically pointed to the material name:
shader "models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor"

which is:

models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor
{
surftype15
description "armor_plate"
noselfshadow
noShadows
bumpmap addnormals(models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_local, heightmap( models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor_h, 3 ) )
diffusemap models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor
specularmap models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor_s
{
if ( parm11 > 0 )
blend gl_dst_color, gl_one
map _white
rgb 0.40 * parm11
}
{
if ( parm11 > 0 )
blend add
map models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor
rgb 0.15 * parm11
}
}

*When using exportmodels in Doom3Ed, The Dark Mod is using the same animations as another character. So the rigging varies between AI & that causes a lot of problem at runtime. The export decl in the def file needs extra options:

export merc_elite {

options -scale .94
mesh merc_elitemesh.mb -dest tdm_ai_merc_elite

This tells the maya export plugin to scale the rigs a specified amount. This is really handy for different sized AI.

addoptions -keep Hips LeftHips_Dummy blah blah2 blah3 -scale .94
addoptions -sourcedir models/model_src/citywatch_mb -destdir models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite

The mercenary elite uses the citywatch's animations but the rigging between the two do not match. The -keep joint option is used for these occasions. Open the md5mesh with a text editor & the af_pose.md5anim (or whichever animation you choose), exportmodels command in D3Ed, & add/subtract any joint in the def file to match joint numbers and names.

== Related Articles ==

[[Scaling And Rotating AI Meshes]]

[[Getting Characters and their Anims into Doom]]

[[Setting up Ragdolls for Custom Joint Hierarchies]]

[[Swapping Heads on AI Models]]

[[Adding Heads and Weapons to AI]]

----

Back to [[Advanced character rigging]] Introduction

Back to [[Advanced Character Rigging - Part Two]]

Scaling And Rotating AI Meshes

2007-03-28T16:54:01Z

Ascottk: /* Things you need */

{{Original_Reference|ascottk|4641}}

Sometimes we don't like the size of an AI in-game. Do we manually resize the Maya binary or is there another way? Thankfully there is an other way to scale and rotate an AI.

== Things you need ==
* Maya Importer - Maya 4.5, 5, 6, or 6.5 (7 can be found on Doom3World.org)
* http://www.iddevnet.com/doom3/downloads/MayaImportx86_Maya45.zip
* http://www.iddevnet.com/doom3/downloads/MayaImportx86_Maya50.zip
* http://www.iddevnet.com/doom3/downloads/MayaImportx86_Maya60.zip
* http://www.iddevnet.com/doom3/downloads/MayaImportx86_Maya65.zip
*http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/Tutorials/ExportingModels/MayaImportx86(Maya7).rar

More information about this is found here:
* http://modetwo.net/darkmod/index.php?showtopic=1485
* http://www.thirdfilms.com/darkwiki/index.php/Getting_Characters_and_their_Anims_into_Doom

A copy of Maya (4.5-7) or the conversion will not take place.

First you need the source Maya binary (*.mb) that contains the AI you want to convert to an md5mesh & their respective md5anims.

Second you need the def file containing the export information (unaltered Builder Guard):

export builderguard {
options -sourcedir models/mymodels/builder_guardmbs -destdir models/md5/chars/builders/guard
mesh stance.mb -dest builderguardmesh

anim af_pose.mb
anim walk.mb
anim run.mb -dest run

anim idle.mb
anim whack.mb -dest attack
}

After you get the environment variable set you fire up the Doom 3 editor & type in:
exportmodels tdm_ai_builder_guard
which is the file name of the def file.

But now he's too big & possibly the rotation is off 90 degrees.

The good thing is that the exporter has additional options you can tag on the def file. Namely:
-scale
or
-rotate
You can add these to the mesh definition or the animation definition:

options -sourcedir models/mymodels/builder_guardmbs -destdir models/md5/chars/builders/guard -scale .90 -rotate 90
mesh stance.mb -dest builderguardmesh

addoptions -keep Hips LeftHips_Dummy LeftUpLeg LeftUpLegRoll LeftLeg LeftLegRoll LeftFoot LeftToeBase joint3 joint4 RightHips_Dummy RightUpLeg RightUpLegRoll RightLeg RightUpLegRoll RightLegRoll RightFoot RightToeBase joint5 joint6 Spine_Dummy Spine Spine1 Spine2 LeftShoulder_Dummy LeftShoulder LeftArm_Dummy LeftArm LeftArmRoll LeftForeArm LeftForeArmRoll LeftHand LeftHandIndex1 LeftHandIndex2 LeftHandIndex3 LeftHandRing1 LeftHandRing2 LeftHandRing3 LeftHandRing4 LeftHandThumb1 LeftHandThumb2 LeftHandThumb3 Neck Head RightShoulder_Dummy RightShoulder RightArm_Dummy RightArm RightArmRoll RightForeArm RightForeArmRoll RightHand RightHandIndex1 RightHandIndex2 RightHandIndex3 RightHandMiddle1 RightHandMiddle2 RightHandMiddle3 joint13 RightHandThumb1 RightHandThumb2 RightHandThumb3 joint8 leftpad rightpad joint7 sword -scale .90 -rotate 90
anim af_pose.mb
anim walk.mb
anim run.mb -dest run

anim idle.mb
anim whack.mb -dest attack

For this example, the exporter will keep all of the animation joints that were referenced by the md5mesh, rotate 90 degrees clockwise, and scaled to 90% of the original Maya binary.

== Known Problems ==
If you add the -keep joint option before the mesh definition, it is possible the exporter will not use the meshes you want. It's better to exportmodels, check which bones come in the md5mesh, and -keep any joints in the animations the md5mesh referenced. If the number of joints,and the joint hiearchy, in the md5anim do not match the md5mesh, then Doom 3 will crash.

http://www.iddevnet.com/doom3/modelexport.php

[[Category:Tutorial]]
[[Category:Models]]
[[Category:AI]]

Advanced Character Rigging - Part Two

2007-03-28T16:51:30Z

Ascottk: /* Part Two */

== Advanced Character Rigging with Maya 7.0 ==

== Part Two ==

Back to [[Advanced character rigging]] Introduction

Skip to [[Advanced Character Rigging - Part Three]]

Now it's time to "skin" the bones.

All of the meshes need to:

*be triangulated (F3 (Modeling mode), Maya menu - '''Polygons > Triangulate''')
*have their histories deleted (Maya menu - '''Edit > Delete by Type > History''')
*have their transformations frozen (Maya menu - '''Modify > Freeze Transformations''')
*face the X-Axis (Z-Axis when adding full body ik for animation)

http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/7919/xaxisorientationmz3.jpg

Next we'll need to attach those meshes to the skeleton rig. In the outliner window (Maya menu - '''Window > Outliner . . .''', select all the meshes & the skeleton (hold Ctrl while clicking the meshes & the skeleton):

http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/9914/mayaoutlinerselectionszo2.jpg

Then Edit > Select Hierarchy:

http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/6108/selecthierarchyor4.jpg

This is necessary to include all of the joints in the skeleton. The origin joint would be the only joint we rig & that wouldn't be too much fun, now would it?

And now hit F2 for Animation Mode. Go to the menu '''Skin > Bind Skin > Smooth Bind [ ]''' & click the square to the right of the menu item:

http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/1141/bindskinmenusl1.jpg

which will bring up the bind skin options:

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/7133/bindskinoptionszx3.jpg

& use those values.

Now select a mesh, in this case we'll select the legs since the upper legs & the lower legs are tricky to weight. When the lower leg rotates back, you want it to look natural. Not to have it look like this:

http://www.mindplaces.com/save/rigging12.jpg

Now bring up the Paint Skin Weights tool (Maya menu - '''Skin > Edit Smooth Skin > Paint Skin Weights Tool [ ]''' & click the square to the right. The Paint Skin Weights Tool will replace the Attribute Editor & the mesh will become black (black has no weights associated with the selected joint in the Paint Skin Weights Tool, white is fully weighted):

http://img354.imageshack.us/img354/3449/legsselecteo2.jpg

I hate having stray joints rigged especially when the joint isn't all that important. So the Flood function is very handy to get rid of those stray weights. Select the Hip joint in the weight painter, select the ''Replace'' function, turn up the weight value to one, & click "Flood" like so:

http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/6714/hipsfloodub4.jpg

Which will make the legs white:

http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/2235/legsweightedht9.jpg

Now select an upper leg joint in the weight painter, in this case it's "LeftUpLeg",leave the weight value as one, select a brush at the top of the weight painter, & paint on the mesh where the upper left leg should be (notice that the rest of the leg turned black after choosing another joint in the weight painter, that's a blank canvas for the joint you selected):

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/1646/legpaintft5.jpg

Keep painting weights wherever they should go & we'll troubleshoot & refine the weighting in part three which is way over here:

[[Advanced Character Rigging - Part Three]]

Advanced Character Rigging - Part Three

2007-03-28T16:49:57Z

Ascottk: /* Part Three */

== Advanced Character Rigging with Maya 7.0 ==

'''Part Three'''

Back to [[Advanced character rigging]] Introduction

Back to [[Advanced Character Rigging - Part Two]]

After all that work of paint those skin weights (wait, you didn't rig the left arm mesh to the right upper leg joint did you?) it's time to refine our rig. So far my left upper leg mesh is rigged to LeftUpLeg, while the lower leg mesh is rigged to . . . well . . . LeftLeg:

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/9205/leftlegweightedlf1.jpg

Easy enough? But wait (weight?) . . . What happens if we rotate the lower leg back? Let's find out!

Open the Outliner & shift-click the square to the left of the origin joint:

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/8155/expandselectionhj7.jpg

This will expand the joint hierarchy. Now select the LeftLeg joint & rotate that joint backwards. For this example I didn't have to rotate it too far but rotate all the necessary joints at extreme angles to find your issues:

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/1641/leftlegweirdweightvc9.jpg

The lower leg is not behaving naturally. So how do we fix it? I'll tell you but you'd better be nice to me & send money to my PayPal account . . . oh wait, I need to update that account . . .

Keep the leg in that rotation while we do a little something extra to it. This is where those handy-dandy functions like Add & Smooth come in. Select the leg mesh again then go back to the weight painter. Select the Smooth function, resize the brush so you don't accidentally paint somewhere else & select the solid round brush at the top:

http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/5253/brushselectionif2.jpg

Now click on the smooth function, select the LeftUpLeg joint (or whichever upper left leg joint you have), & paint the vertices ''below'', and back of, the upper leg:

http://img481.imageshack.us/img481/7558/smoothingvb1.jpg

Now select the LeftLeg joint (or lower left leg joint you may have) & paint the vertices ''above'', and back of, the lowerleg.

If you did it correctly then there'll be a big improvement when you're done:

http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/128/smoothedoutqm2.jpg

When you're done refining your rig, select the origin bone in the Outliner, go to the menu and click - '''Skin > Go to Bind Pose''' & your original pose will spring back to where it was. It's a good idea to go to bind pose when ever you rotate joint & edit your weights.

What? I left out the Add function of the weight painter? For those stubborn rigging problems that smoothing won't work with, you use ''Add'' in small increments

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/1107/addfunctionth6.jpg

I normally use weight values of 0.1000 when I'm adding weights so I don't overdo it the first time.

== Other tips ==

*When working with leg meshes, I flood them with the "Hips" with a weight value of one
*When I'm working on a torso, I flood them with the "Spine"
*You don't have to edit the md5mesh to assign shaders if your character's material names match the directory structure & texture names. For example the mercenary elite's material:

Maya's material is pointed to:
C:\Doom3\darkmod\models\md5\chars\guards\merc_elite\merc_elite_armor.tga

Thus the shader in the md5mesh is automatically pointed to the material name:
shader "models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor"

which is:

models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor
{
surftype15
description "armor_plate"
noselfshadow
noShadows
bumpmap addnormals(models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_local, heightmap( models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor_h, 3 ) )
diffusemap models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor
specularmap models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor_s
{
if ( parm11 > 0 )
blend gl_dst_color, gl_one
map _white
rgb 0.40 * parm11
}
{
if ( parm11 > 0 )
blend add
map models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor
rgb 0.15 * parm11
}
}

*When using exportmodels in Doom3Ed, The Dark Mod is using the same animations as another character. So the rigging varies between AI & that causes a lot of problem at runtime. The export decl in the def file needs extra options:

export merc_elite {

options -scale .94
mesh merc_elitemesh.mb -dest tdm_ai_merc_elite

This tells the maya export plugin to scale the rigs a specified amount. This is really handy for different sized AI.

addoptions -keep Hips LeftHips_Dummy blah blah2 blah3 -scale .94
addoptions -sourcedir models/model_src/citywatch_mb -destdir models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite

The mercenary elite uses the citywatch's animations but the rigging between the two do not match. The -keep joint option is used for these occasions. Open the md5mesh with a text editor & the af_pose.md5anim (or whichever animation you choose), exportmodels command in D3Ed, & add/subtract any joint in the def file to match joint numbers and names.

== Related Articles ==

[[Scaling And Rotating AI Meshes]]

[[Getting Characters and their Anims into Doom]]

----

Back to [[Advanced character rigging]] Introduction

Back to [[Advanced Character Rigging - Part Two]]

Advanced Character Rigging - Part Three

2007-03-28T16:49:10Z

Ascottk: /* Other tips: */

== Advanced Character Rigging with Maya 7.0 ==

== Part Three ==

Back to [[Advanced character rigging]] Introduction

Back to [[Advanced Character Rigging - Part Two]]

After all that work of paint those skin weights (wait, you didn't rig the left arm mesh to the right upper leg joint did you?) it's time to refine our rig. So far my left upper leg mesh is rigged to LeftUpLeg, while the lower leg mesh is rigged to . . . well . . . LeftLeg:

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/9205/leftlegweightedlf1.jpg

Easy enough? But wait (weight?) . . . What happens if we rotate the lower leg back? Let's find out!

Open the Outliner & shift-click the square to the left of the origin joint:

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/8155/expandselectionhj7.jpg

This will expand the joint hierarchy. Now select the LeftLeg joint & rotate that joint backwards. For this example I didn't have to rotate it too far but rotate all the necessary joints at extreme angles to find your issues:

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/1641/leftlegweirdweightvc9.jpg

The lower leg is not behaving naturally. So how do we fix it? I'll tell you but you'd better be nice to me & send money to my PayPal account . . . oh wait, I need to update that account . . .

Keep the leg in that rotation while we do a little something extra to it. This is where those handy-dandy functions like Add & Smooth come in. Select the leg mesh again then go back to the weight painter. Select the Smooth function, resize the brush so you don't accidentally paint somewhere else & select the solid round brush at the top:

http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/5253/brushselectionif2.jpg

Now click on the smooth function, select the LeftUpLeg joint (or whichever upper left leg joint you have), & paint the vertices ''below'', and back of, the upper leg:

http://img481.imageshack.us/img481/7558/smoothingvb1.jpg

Now select the LeftLeg joint (or lower left leg joint you may have) & paint the vertices ''above'', and back of, the lowerleg.

If you did it correctly then there'll be a big improvement when you're done:

http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/128/smoothedoutqm2.jpg

When you're done refining your rig, select the origin bone in the Outliner, go to the menu and click - '''Skin > Go to Bind Pose''' & your original pose will spring back to where it was. It's a good idea to go to bind pose when ever you rotate joint & edit your weights.

What? I left out the Add function of the weight painter? For those stubborn rigging problems that smoothing won't work with, you use ''Add'' in small increments

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/1107/addfunctionth6.jpg

I normally use weight values of 0.1000 when I'm adding weights so I don't overdo it the first time.

== Other tips ==

*When working with leg meshes, I flood them with the "Hips" with a weight value of one
*When I'm working on a torso, I flood them with the "Spine"
*You don't have to edit the md5mesh to assign shaders if your character's material names match the directory structure & texture names. For example the mercenary elite's material:

Maya's material is pointed to:
C:\Doom3\darkmod\models\md5\chars\guards\merc_elite\merc_elite_armor.tga

Thus the shader in the md5mesh is automatically pointed to the material name:
shader "models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor"

which is:

models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor
{
surftype15
description "armor_plate"
noselfshadow
noShadows
bumpmap addnormals(models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_local, heightmap( models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor_h, 3 ) )
diffusemap models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor
specularmap models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor_s
{
if ( parm11 > 0 )
blend gl_dst_color, gl_one
map _white
rgb 0.40 * parm11
}
{
if ( parm11 > 0 )
blend add
map models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor
rgb 0.15 * parm11
}
}

*When using exportmodels in Doom3Ed, The Dark Mod is using the same animations as another character. So the rigging varies between AI & that causes a lot of problem at runtime. The export decl in the def file needs extra options:

export merc_elite {

options -scale .94
mesh merc_elitemesh.mb -dest tdm_ai_merc_elite

This tells the maya export plugin to scale the rigs a specified amount. This is really handy for different sized AI.

addoptions -keep Hips LeftHips_Dummy blah blah2 blah3 -scale .94
addoptions -sourcedir models/model_src/citywatch_mb -destdir models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite

The mercenary elite uses the citywatch's animations but the rigging between the two do not match. The -keep joint option is used for these occasions. Open the md5mesh with a text editor & the af_pose.md5anim (or whichever animation you choose), exportmodels command in D3Ed, & add/subtract any joint in the def file to match joint numbers and names.

== Related Articles ==

[[Scaling And Rotating AI Meshes]]

[[Getting Characters and their Anims into Doom]]

----

Back to [[Advanced character rigging]] Introduction

Back to [[Advanced Character Rigging - Part Two]]

Advanced Character Rigging - Part Three

2007-03-28T16:48:32Z

Ascottk: /* Related Articles */

== Advanced Character Rigging with Maya 7.0 ==

== Part Three ==

Back to [[Advanced character rigging]] Introduction

Back to [[Advanced Character Rigging - Part Two]]

After all that work of paint those skin weights (wait, you didn't rig the left arm mesh to the right upper leg joint did you?) it's time to refine our rig. So far my left upper leg mesh is rigged to LeftUpLeg, while the lower leg mesh is rigged to . . . well . . . LeftLeg:

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/9205/leftlegweightedlf1.jpg

Easy enough? But wait (weight?) . . . What happens if we rotate the lower leg back? Let's find out!

Open the Outliner & shift-click the square to the left of the origin joint:

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/8155/expandselectionhj7.jpg

This will expand the joint hierarchy. Now select the LeftLeg joint & rotate that joint backwards. For this example I didn't have to rotate it too far but rotate all the necessary joints at extreme angles to find your issues:

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/1641/leftlegweirdweightvc9.jpg

The lower leg is not behaving naturally. So how do we fix it? I'll tell you but you'd better be nice to me & send money to my PayPal account . . . oh wait, I need to update that account . . .

Keep the leg in that rotation while we do a little something extra to it. This is where those handy-dandy functions like Add & Smooth come in. Select the leg mesh again then go back to the weight painter. Select the Smooth function, resize the brush so you don't accidentally paint somewhere else & select the solid round brush at the top:

http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/5253/brushselectionif2.jpg

Now click on the smooth function, select the LeftUpLeg joint (or whichever upper left leg joint you have), & paint the vertices ''below'', and back of, the upper leg:

http://img481.imageshack.us/img481/7558/smoothingvb1.jpg

Now select the LeftLeg joint (or lower left leg joint you may have) & paint the vertices ''above'', and back of, the lowerleg.

If you did it correctly then there'll be a big improvement when you're done:

http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/128/smoothedoutqm2.jpg

When you're done refining your rig, select the origin bone in the Outliner, go to the menu and click - '''Skin > Go to Bind Pose''' & your original pose will spring back to where it was. It's a good idea to go to bind pose when ever you rotate joint & edit your weights.

What? I left out the Add function of the weight painter? For those stubborn rigging problems that smoothing won't work with, you use ''Add'' in small increments

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/1107/addfunctionth6.jpg

I normally use weight values of 0.1000 when I'm adding weights so I don't overdo it the first time.

== Other tips: ==

*When working with leg meshes, I flood them with the "Hips" with a weight value of one
*When I'm working on a torso, I flood them with the "Spine"
*You don't have to edit the md5mesh to assign shaders if your character's material names match the directory structure & texture names. For example the mercenary elite's material:

Maya's material is pointed to:
C:\Doom3\darkmod\models\md5\chars\guards\merc_elite\merc_elite_armor.tga

Thus the shader in the md5mesh is automatically pointed to the material name:
shader "models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor"

which is:

models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor
{
surftype15
description "armor_plate"
noselfshadow
noShadows
bumpmap addnormals(models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_local, heightmap( models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor_h, 3 ) )
diffusemap models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor
specularmap models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor_s
{
if ( parm11 > 0 )
blend gl_dst_color, gl_one
map _white
rgb 0.40 * parm11
}
{
if ( parm11 > 0 )
blend add
map models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor
rgb 0.15 * parm11
}
}

*When using exportmodels in Doom3Ed, The Dark Mod is using the same animations as another character. So the rigging varies between AI & that causes a lot of problem at runtime. The export decl in the def file needs extra options:

export merc_elite {

options -scale .94
mesh merc_elitemesh.mb -dest tdm_ai_merc_elite

This tells the maya export plugin to scale the rigs a specified amount. This is really handy for different sized AI.

addoptions -keep Hips LeftHips_Dummy blah blah2 blah3 -scale .94
addoptions -sourcedir models/model_src/citywatch_mb -destdir models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite

The mercenary elite uses the citywatch's animations but the rigging between the two do not match. The -keep joint option is used for these occasions. Open the md5mesh with a text editor & the af_pose.md5anim (or whichever animation you choose), exportmodels command in D3Ed, & add/subtract any joint in the def file to match joint numbers and names.

== Related Articles ==

[[Scaling And Rotating AI Meshes]]

[[Getting Characters and their Anims into Doom]]

----

Back to [[Advanced character rigging]] Introduction

Back to [[Advanced Character Rigging - Part Two]]

Advanced Character Rigging - Part Three

2007-03-28T16:48:13Z

Ascottk:

== Advanced Character Rigging with Maya 7.0 ==

== Part Three ==

Back to [[Advanced character rigging]] Introduction

Back to [[Advanced Character Rigging - Part Two]]

After all that work of paint those skin weights (wait, you didn't rig the left arm mesh to the right upper leg joint did you?) it's time to refine our rig. So far my left upper leg mesh is rigged to LeftUpLeg, while the lower leg mesh is rigged to . . . well . . . LeftLeg:

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/9205/leftlegweightedlf1.jpg

Easy enough? But wait (weight?) . . . What happens if we rotate the lower leg back? Let's find out!

Open the Outliner & shift-click the square to the left of the origin joint:

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/8155/expandselectionhj7.jpg

This will expand the joint hierarchy. Now select the LeftLeg joint & rotate that joint backwards. For this example I didn't have to rotate it too far but rotate all the necessary joints at extreme angles to find your issues:

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/1641/leftlegweirdweightvc9.jpg

The lower leg is not behaving naturally. So how do we fix it? I'll tell you but you'd better be nice to me & send money to my PayPal account . . . oh wait, I need to update that account . . .

Keep the leg in that rotation while we do a little something extra to it. This is where those handy-dandy functions like Add & Smooth come in. Select the leg mesh again then go back to the weight painter. Select the Smooth function, resize the brush so you don't accidentally paint somewhere else & select the solid round brush at the top:

http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/5253/brushselectionif2.jpg

Now click on the smooth function, select the LeftUpLeg joint (or whichever upper left leg joint you have), & paint the vertices ''below'', and back of, the upper leg:

http://img481.imageshack.us/img481/7558/smoothingvb1.jpg

Now select the LeftLeg joint (or lower left leg joint you may have) & paint the vertices ''above'', and back of, the lowerleg.

If you did it correctly then there'll be a big improvement when you're done:

http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/128/smoothedoutqm2.jpg

When you're done refining your rig, select the origin bone in the Outliner, go to the menu and click - '''Skin > Go to Bind Pose''' & your original pose will spring back to where it was. It's a good idea to go to bind pose when ever you rotate joint & edit your weights.

What? I left out the Add function of the weight painter? For those stubborn rigging problems that smoothing won't work with, you use ''Add'' in small increments

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/1107/addfunctionth6.jpg

I normally use weight values of 0.1000 when I'm adding weights so I don't overdo it the first time.

== Other tips: ==

*When working with leg meshes, I flood them with the "Hips" with a weight value of one
*When I'm working on a torso, I flood them with the "Spine"
*You don't have to edit the md5mesh to assign shaders if your character's material names match the directory structure & texture names. For example the mercenary elite's material:

Maya's material is pointed to:
C:\Doom3\darkmod\models\md5\chars\guards\merc_elite\merc_elite_armor.tga

Thus the shader in the md5mesh is automatically pointed to the material name:
shader "models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor"

which is:

models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor
{
surftype15
description "armor_plate"
noselfshadow
noShadows
bumpmap addnormals(models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_local, heightmap( models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor_h, 3 ) )
diffusemap models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor
specularmap models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor_s
{
if ( parm11 > 0 )
blend gl_dst_color, gl_one
map _white
rgb 0.40 * parm11
}
{
if ( parm11 > 0 )
blend add
map models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite/merc_elite_armor
rgb 0.15 * parm11
}
}

*When using exportmodels in Doom3Ed, The Dark Mod is using the same animations as another character. So the rigging varies between AI & that causes a lot of problem at runtime. The export decl in the def file needs extra options:

export merc_elite {

options -scale .94
mesh merc_elitemesh.mb -dest tdm_ai_merc_elite

This tells the maya export plugin to scale the rigs a specified amount. This is really handy for different sized AI.

addoptions -keep Hips LeftHips_Dummy blah blah2 blah3 -scale .94
addoptions -sourcedir models/model_src/citywatch_mb -destdir models/md5/chars/guards/merc_elite

The mercenary elite uses the citywatch's animations but the rigging between the two do not match. The -keep joint option is used for these occasions. Open the md5mesh with a text editor & the af_pose.md5anim (or whichever animation you choose), exportmodels command in D3Ed, & add/subtract any joint in the def file to match joint numbers and names.

== Related Articles ==

[[Scaling And Rotating AI Meshes]]

[[Getting Characters and their Anims into Doom]]

Back to [[Advanced character rigging]] Introduction

Back to [[Advanced Character Rigging - Part Two]]

User:Ascottk

2007-03-28T16:42:22Z

Ascottk:

AscottK (Animator, Modeler, Mapper)

"Scott is a music composition major masquerading as a Dark Mod member since July of 2006. Since then he has created textures and a few models, rigged character meshes, created animations, created the Belchers, and quarreled with fellow team members about this and that."