Original character from XSI into Face Poser ??????
I'm in the process of trying to take my own original character from Softimage/XSI 6 and make it ready for full facial animation and lip synch in the Source SDK Face Poser. I've been using the tutorials "Character Setup Overview" and "Character Facial Animation Shapekey Set" from the Valve Developer site, which have been helpful but not totallly complete.
So far, I've created a different facial shape for frames 1 - 34 and exported out my SMDs and VTA. The model loads into Model Viewer and Face Poser and will run the basic ValveBiped body animations but the facial doesn't work. All the flex animation sliders are listed but when you move them around nothing happens. Here's what my .QC file looks like as of now:
/*
==============================================================================
Skeleton for Facial Animation
==============================================================================
*/
$modelname \CustomModels\New\Skeleton.mdl
$cdmaterials models\Skeleton
//start eye/face data
$eyeposition 0 0 70
// head controllers
$attachment "eyes" "ValveBiped.Bip01_Head1" 0.043 -4.2197 67.5554 absolute
$attachment "mouth" "ValveBiped.Bip01_Head1" 1.00 -6.30 0.00 rotate 0 -80 -90
$model Skeleton "Skeleton_reference.smd"{
eyelid upper_right "Skeleton_expressions" lowerer 1 -0.2621 neutral 0 0.1287 raiser 2 0.2467 split 0.1 eyeball righteye
eyelid lower_right "Skeleton_expressions" lowerer 3 -0.3409 neutral 0 -0.2156 raiser 4 -0.0736 split 0.1 eyeball righteye
eyelid upper_left "Skeleton_expressions" lowerer 1 -0.2621 neutral 0 0.1287 raiser 2 0.2467 split -0.1 eyeball lefteye
eyelid lower_left "Skeleton_expressions" lowerer 3 -0.3409 neutral 0 -0.2156 raiser 4 -0.0736 split -0.1 eyeball lefteye
mouth 0 "mouth" "ValveBiped.Bip01_Head1" 0 1 0 // mouth illumination
flexfile "Skeleton_expressions" {
$include "../standardflex_xsi.qci"
}
$include "../facerules_xsi.qci"
$include "../bodyrules_xsi.qci"
}
//end eye/face data
$include "../standardhierarchy.qci"
$include "../male_shared_XSI_sdk.qci"
$include "../body_poses_lean.qci"
$popd
$upaxis y
So, basically it seems to me that my vertex animation data is not being properly referenced or that something is wrong with the model before exporting and compiling the SMDs.
Has anyone successfully taken their own character from XSI (or any other 3D program really) and set up facial shapes that can be used in Face Poser ??? A .QC file example would be great.
I've posted this question to many other forums with little success. For Machinima making it seems like this is one of the most important topics to address because it allows us to use characters we create instead of what the game engine restricts us to. I know it definitely can be done and feel like I'm pretty close, just some little detail standing in my way.
So, if anyone has done this, heard about it, seen a tutorial on it, or cares about it please let me know !
Any and all help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for your time and interest!
So far, I've created a different facial shape for frames 1 - 34 and exported out my SMDs and VTA. The model loads into Model Viewer and Face Poser and will run the basic ValveBiped body animations but the facial doesn't work. All the flex animation sliders are listed but when you move them around nothing happens. Here's what my .QC file looks like as of now:
/*
==============================================================================
Skeleton for Facial Animation
==============================================================================
*/
$modelname \CustomModels\New\Skeleton.mdl
$cdmaterials models\Skeleton
//start eye/face data
$eyeposition 0 0 70
// head controllers
$attachment "eyes" "ValveBiped.Bip01_Head1" 0.043 -4.2197 67.5554 absolute
$attachment "mouth" "ValveBiped.Bip01_Head1" 1.00 -6.30 0.00 rotate 0 -80 -90
$model Skeleton "Skeleton_reference.smd"{
eyelid upper_right "Skeleton_expressions" lowerer 1 -0.2621 neutral 0 0.1287 raiser 2 0.2467 split 0.1 eyeball righteye
eyelid lower_right "Skeleton_expressions" lowerer 3 -0.3409 neutral 0 -0.2156 raiser 4 -0.0736 split 0.1 eyeball righteye
eyelid upper_left "Skeleton_expressions" lowerer 1 -0.2621 neutral 0 0.1287 raiser 2 0.2467 split -0.1 eyeball lefteye
eyelid lower_left "Skeleton_expressions" lowerer 3 -0.3409 neutral 0 -0.2156 raiser 4 -0.0736 split -0.1 eyeball lefteye
mouth 0 "mouth" "ValveBiped.Bip01_Head1" 0 1 0 // mouth illumination
flexfile "Skeleton_expressions" {
$include "../standardflex_xsi.qci"
}
$include "../facerules_xsi.qci"
$include "../bodyrules_xsi.qci"
}
//end eye/face data
$include "../standardhierarchy.qci"
$include "../male_shared_XSI_sdk.qci"
$include "../body_poses_lean.qci"
$popd
$upaxis y
So, basically it seems to me that my vertex animation data is not being properly referenced or that something is wrong with the model before exporting and compiling the SMDs.
Has anyone successfully taken their own character from XSI (or any other 3D program really) and set up facial shapes that can be used in Face Poser ??? A .QC file example would be great.
I've posted this question to many other forums with little success. For Machinima making it seems like this is one of the most important topics to address because it allows us to use characters we create instead of what the game engine restricts us to. I know it definitely can be done and feel like I'm pretty close, just some little detail standing in my way.
So, if anyone has done this, heard about it, seen a tutorial on it, or cares about it please let me know !
Any and all help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for your time and interest!
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