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Artwork (Digital) / Fantasy
Species Dragon (Other)
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The rigging process is underway and the word NIGHTMARE should hereafter be associated with any reference to rigging within Softimage. I'm beginning to think it would be easier to learn Max from scratch than it is to build a rig in my native app. :|
I have heard rigging referred to as " Satans Anus " and I'm beginning to fully agree with that description of it.
Main body, legs, feet and toes are done. Wings, neck, head and tail still to go. I can't even begin to convey how complicated this process is. Every piece is built, positioned, linked, constrained or parented to something else. Sometimes multiple objects. lol
I can see why riggers would be in high demand. This is no fun at all. . .
I have heard rigging referred to as " Satans Anus " and I'm beginning to fully agree with that description of it.
Main body, legs, feet and toes are done. Wings, neck, head and tail still to go. I can't even begin to convey how complicated this process is. Every piece is built, positioned, linked, constrained or parented to something else. Sometimes multiple objects. lol
I can see why riggers would be in high demand. This is no fun at all. . .
Category Artwork (Digital) / Fantasy
Species Dragon (Other)
Size 1280 x 788px
File Size 672.7 kB
This model is actually low res. Maybe 40k total polygons. I have the normal map built for it as it renders far, FAR faster than a displacement map will. The Displacement Map will provide superior results, but would have to subdivide the model so high it would absolutely kill the render time. Thus, normal mapping it is :D
For now, this is just the skeletal rig building process. I haven't assigned any weights to the bones as of yet. I'm still building the rig and the controls for it.
For now, this is just the skeletal rig building process. I haven't assigned any weights to the bones as of yet. I'm still building the rig and the controls for it.
Heh. The working mesh is around 3k polys. At this point in the process though if the toe is 100 polys or 1000 it wouldn't matter as the control structure will be the same. Where the benefits of the low poly version come into play is when I actually link the control rig to the mesh and start tweaking via weight painting how much influence a bone has over a given mesh area.
I still think the medium resolution model will work though. The high poly count of the mesh is concentrated in her head as I needed the resolution to get the shape I needed. Worst comes to worst, I can always swap in the working mesh, build the weights then subdivide and transfer them over.
I still think the medium resolution model will work though. The high poly count of the mesh is concentrated in her head as I needed the resolution to get the shape I needed. Worst comes to worst, I can always swap in the working mesh, build the weights then subdivide and transfer them over.
This is being done in my native app of Softimage | XSI. While I do have Max ( it is part of the Autodesk 2010 bundle ) I've never bothered to learn how to use it as I've always used Softimage ( since roughly version 3 ) so I stick with it :D
I could build a far simpler rig than what I'm doing, but I'm curious if I can actually make this work. So far it's working as intended, just taking forever to do.
I could build a far simpler rig than what I'm doing, but I'm curious if I can actually make this work. So far it's working as intended, just taking forever to do.
You're correct, I could use transpose to do it. Or build a simple rig from zspheres. However, rigging is one of the things I've never bothered to learn within Softimage, so I figured no better time like the present. :D Besides, once the rig is complete, I can reuse it when I get around to modeling Spyro.
I have a newfound respect for Softimage riggers.
I have a newfound respect for Softimage riggers.
I'd say blender is easier just based on the fact that there are usually only bones and no nulls or control nodes or whatever additional stuff you have there in a rig and you never have to write scripts but then again, I have yet to create a rig applied on a model that actually looks good.
To be honest, I could do this one the same way. Just throw the bones in there and tweak the weight maps and start posing.
What I'm trying to do is get some automation built into it so if you rotate / move one, the others follow through. Once
I get it done ( correctly being the key here ) I should be able to hide the bones themselves and simply manipulate the
control nulls to move anything.
The actual rig is complex as hell, but the end result of it ( trying anyway ) is to simplify the animation portion as much as
possible. Will see how that goes once the mesh is active :D
Work has been busy as hell past few weeks, so not a lot of progress to report.
What I'm trying to do is get some automation built into it so if you rotate / move one, the others follow through. Once
I get it done ( correctly being the key here ) I should be able to hide the bones themselves and simply manipulate the
control nulls to move anything.
The actual rig is complex as hell, but the end result of it ( trying anyway ) is to simplify the animation portion as much as
possible. Will see how that goes once the mesh is active :D
Work has been busy as hell past few weeks, so not a lot of progress to report.
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