Putting a bird in UDK?
So I'm relatively new to UDK, and I've been having some issues.
I have a bird that I have made flying, idle, and landing animations for. I have a good idea of how to link these all together in UDK in an animtree, but I would like to be able to swap out these models like in an animation or in 3ds Max. Basically, while in flight, and half of the landing animations look fine (ignoring the model and animation quality):
And then, when landing, I just clumped the wings and feathers together because this was the only thing I could think of.
And the results were horrible.
I would like to know if it's possible to make another model of the bird with wings tucked in and then swap them out in UDK based on the animations being played.
If anyone knows a way to do it, or could link to any tutorials, I would greatly appreciate it. Or if this isn't even the right way to do this, or if anyone knows the right way to do it, please let me know.
I have a bird that I have made flying, idle, and landing animations for. I have a good idea of how to link these all together in UDK in an animtree, but I would like to be able to swap out these models like in an animation or in 3ds Max. Basically, while in flight, and half of the landing animations look fine (ignoring the model and animation quality):
And then, when landing, I just clumped the wings and feathers together because this was the only thing I could think of.
And the results were horrible.
I would like to know if it's possible to make another model of the bird with wings tucked in and then swap them out in UDK based on the animations being played.
If anyone knows a way to do it, or could link to any tutorials, I would greatly appreciate it. Or if this isn't even the right way to do this, or if anyone knows the right way to do it, please let me know.
Replies
@sprunghunt: The rig is incredibly basic, which is why it probably isn't working that well. It's just a simple bone system I thought would work, and the feathers are History Independent IK Solvers. I'll post screenshots!
@Visceral: I believe that way would probably be better. I 'll try that then! Well, mostly anything would work better than this, haha.
Thanks for the feedback! I appreciate it!
here's a handy pic of a bird wing:
see how the humerus bone near the body goes backwards? That should touch to the radius bone when the wing is folded.
Also the position of the pivot for the terminal bone of the wing is incorrect. Feathers do not bend as they're not living tissue. So placing the pivot half way down a feather means you'll never get proper motion. It should be at the leading point of the wing. Where the wingtip feathers meet.
Now the feathers. You shouldn't need to make the feathers a single piece (although that may help) the animation of the bones in the rig should make the feathers slide over each other and not just crunch up. This is really just a matter of animating your rig properly. Unfortunately relying on IK solvers to create this movement is probably highly unreliable.
@sprunghunt: Oh! I see. Most of the people I've talked to have said something similar. I'll post an update, which is still kind of not totally working, but much much better than the previous rig. Thanks!
Your rig doesn't even look as though it is symmetrical and the solvers are not where they were created. You can't just do things hap hazard like that and expect it to work well in the end.
Get rid of the solvers in the wings they are not needed at all. Flapping motion is rotation only so unless you need the wings to grab hold of something and hang on there is no need for solvers.
I can't see the feet at all but ask your self what is needed there. Does the bird ever land? Can I get a way with one solver and then FK joints from there like fingers.
What I am working on is based of this idea here http://www.penproductions.ca/technical/bellaSara/bellaSara.htm This can't be used in game as it is using bend and other modifiers to manipulate the feathers but the same idea can be applied to bones or a limited set of bones for game export.
Here is the one that I'm working on. This will export to a game engine. Hard to see what is going on I know but I can't really show much. The body and feet are not rigged as of yet but will be FK with two solvers for each leg, so very simple.