UVs, rigging, and some other questions
I went through the archives a bit, but haven't been able to find anything that's really helpful for this. I've got a couple problems and questions;
1. UV mapping has always been my weakpoint and I'm not always working on characters that have "normal" designs that I can apply human-like UV sets to (since the entire internet world seems to think only human characters exist). I've got a couple books that people have suggested as being the bible of modeling, but they don't go into much helpful detail. Can anyone suggest anything online? Maybe something at least bipedial or with large ears, claws, snouts and tails? Pretty much figure I'm a newbie on this... Practice doesn't seem to be making anything near perfect right now. -_-;
2. I'm trying to work on the rigging of a character and the books I have don't really help on how to make the *rotation* of a joint match up with the actual direction the joint is facing. (I hate when they assume you know what they're talking about).
3. I know how to work normal eyeballs with rigs/constraints/etc, but what if your character has giant Sonic the Hedgehog like eye sockets? Is there an easy way to make the eyeballs move? What about the eyelids?
4. Is there a 'standard' way characters, UVs, controllers and rigs *must* be set up, or is it just up to a personal preference of what works for you? The reason I ask is because my teachers in school weren't very .. helpful on what's actually USED in the outside world. I'm always kind of worried that what I do with my models and rigs is just going to get laughed at when I send out resumes.
5. No one has ever been able to answer this question for me: What is the safe standard range polycount for characters used for video games and movies?
I'm sure there's more I need to pick brains about, but that's all I can think of right now that'll get me started on my immediate problems.
1. UV mapping has always been my weakpoint and I'm not always working on characters that have "normal" designs that I can apply human-like UV sets to (since the entire internet world seems to think only human characters exist). I've got a couple books that people have suggested as being the bible of modeling, but they don't go into much helpful detail. Can anyone suggest anything online? Maybe something at least bipedial or with large ears, claws, snouts and tails? Pretty much figure I'm a newbie on this... Practice doesn't seem to be making anything near perfect right now. -_-;
2. I'm trying to work on the rigging of a character and the books I have don't really help on how to make the *rotation* of a joint match up with the actual direction the joint is facing. (I hate when they assume you know what they're talking about).
3. I know how to work normal eyeballs with rigs/constraints/etc, but what if your character has giant Sonic the Hedgehog like eye sockets? Is there an easy way to make the eyeballs move? What about the eyelids?
4. Is there a 'standard' way characters, UVs, controllers and rigs *must* be set up, or is it just up to a personal preference of what works for you? The reason I ask is because my teachers in school weren't very .. helpful on what's actually USED in the outside world. I'm always kind of worried that what I do with my models and rigs is just going to get laughed at when I send out resumes.
5. No one has ever been able to answer this question for me: What is the safe standard range polycount for characters used for video games and movies?
I'm sure there's more I need to pick brains about, but that's all I can think of right now that'll get me started on my immediate problems.
Replies
I use 3dsmax for the most part but I'll try to fire off some generic answers...
1) Unwrapping:
- For organic shapes, I normally apply a planar map, then select some faces, and detach a chunk. Select an edge or edge loop, break it and relax the piece. Sometimes I'll convert the edge selection over to a pelt seam and pelt stretch/relax the piece.
- For inorganic shapes, I normally do the same, or apply flatten mapping and stitch/sew edges together.
2) Rigging/Bone rotation:
- In 3dsmax its better to work on joints with your pivot set to local, that might clear up your rotation issue?
3) Rigging eyes:
There are dozens of ways to rig up eyes and it really depends on the model and the kind of animation that is required as to what will work best. If you have some pics I can suggest some things to try. The fast and easiest eye rig is a bone right thru the center of the eye with its pivot set to the center point of the eyeball. You can then use Animation > constraints . Look at constraints to make the eyeballs track an object. I normally have an object for each eye that are linked to a master look at object. This just avoids the character from going cross eyed. It can be helpful to skin the eye sockets to the eye bones (a tiny bit) so the eyes don't shift around under the lids, it looks too mechanical and lifeless when too much sliding goes on.
3a) Rigging eyelids:
- You can do this with bones, or you can do this with blend shapes/morph targets. Again it really depends on the character and the animation needed.
4) I wouldn't say there is one universal way to do things that crosses all places. Most places have a standard rig for what they do but places vary a lot. If the studio uses 3dsmax there's a good chance it uses Biped which is pretty locked down and generic. They could also use PuppetShop which is great for creating custom skeletons for creatures and monsters. Pretty much if you can defend your custom rig with solid reasoning I don't see why anyone would laugh. Before you go sending your stuff out, post it here or other 3D forums that might have a slant for what you're working on.
5) video games and movie characters are two VASTLY different arenas. Pretty much the sky is the limit with film and TV, they could care less how it preforms or how long it takes to render out.
The reason you can't get a straight answer, is because the answer is "it depends".
It depends on:
- What type of game is it, RTS, FPS, 3rd Person shooter?
- What are the characters? NPC's, main characters, enemies?
- How close you get to the character(s)?
- How many of them there will be on the screen?
- How big are they?
- What kind of motions will they be doing?
Most games have a level of detail system in place. So when the model is far away a lower res version is displayed which scales up the closer you get to it. I can only guess at a ball park number and say most game characters in your standard FPS weigh in at 5k-25k.
For the eyes though.. that's what I've always done for normal human eyes, but like I said.. I don't think something like this would work for it... hence the Sonic Hedgehog reference. I don't even know where to start. Yes, it's still a work in progress...
Here's the eyelids (right now just set as separate shapes).. but I'm not exactly sure how to get them to move correctly since they're not normal eye shapes.
The others .. I'm not sure how to translate that for Maya. Like I said.. some of this is kind of new to me and most people and books speak in tongues when they're trying to explain things.
Thank you so much for at least giving me a ballpark figure for polycount. I know it all depends on the situation, but no one's ever even given me that much. -.-;