Hi everyone! I?ve been lurking here for a little while and decided to join in and let myself be known. [8D]
I?ve just graduated from a TAFE course in Brisbane, a Diploma of Games Development (it?s actually just the QANTM course subsidised by the government ? but with less resources), and now I?m off into the ?real? world to get a job (kinda sounds like the Matrix ? the real world). Anyway, I doubt I really have much chance at the games industry just yet, I feel my skills are still somewhat underdeveloped. The Diploma was just the first step into a much larger world. I plan on continuing study down the track, but for now I just want to earn some money and assimilate and develop what I learnt at TAFE (now I sound like the borg from star trek: game development skills will be assimilated, resistance is futile!). [8]
Anyway, I?m into all areas of game development, that being programming, modelling/animation, and concept art. ATM however, I am particularly interested in modelling and animation. My skills in 3ds max are rapidly improving, and I find myself thinking that I might head towards the art side of things down the track? but time will tell.
One question I have: does anyone know of a tutorial or just general information for animating mech walk cycles? I can?t seem to find any help on the subject and I don?t fully understand the complexities of IK yet. I could use a CS biped system, but that isn?t really appropriate for a mech. There are a few tutorials around on IK and FK and the like, but I?m unsure what is appropriate for a mech. An actual mech animation tutorial would be awesome, if I could just find one!
Hope I posted this in the correct spot, and didn?t bore anyone to death!! Sorry about the length! [:)]
Welcome to the only forum where you dont have too wear pants and care about a health inspector! Well its true some of us might not be wearing pants!
Anyhow welcome aboard although im only new to i guess so i cant say much [;)]. I hope i can see your work sometime!
Overall welcome to friendliest board with no health inspectors [;)].
Welcome, and good luck. Can't wait to see somw work from you :)
As for mech walking and IK/FK... If it is for the legs, then definitely IK. To get the look rightm just try animating some human walk cycles. Now take that walk cycle and make the steps more deliberate and jerky. Make sure that the body bobs enough to add in the weight. Arms come down to personal pref, but the best way is to have IK/FK switching/blending options. Do the newer versions of CS support that?
Thankyou all for you kind welcomes. [:)]
Aven, thanks for the advice. So far I've pretty much done all my walking animations with CS biped, which really takes the difficulty out of animating, especially with footstep mode. I'm still learning about IK, but it seems useful for my needs at the moment - besides, I don't want to ignore any aspect of animation just because doing something another way is easier.
I'm not exactly sure what you mean by switching/blending options with IK/FK... do you mean as in having an IK leg with an FK foot, for example? I'm not really sure if my version of CS supports that. It seems to me to only have IK. -But I'm not certain.
Nope. IK/FK blending means that you can make a character's arm move to pick up a ball using IK. That way you just have to move the wrist and the arm should (hopefully) animate correctly. Once you have the ball in the character's hand, you can then switch to FK mode and animate the arm to throw the ball in the air and catch it again using FK. This may not sound like it is that big a deal, but it really does help :)
Um, I?m a bit embarrassed, but I feel a bit lost here? Please excuse my newness [:)] I just have a few questions, if anyone feels like informing a new guy. I?m not sure if I should post this elsewhere though, but since I?ve started a thread, I guess I should use it! - and my connection is really slow at the moment, so I haven?t gotten to check out everything yet, but I can?t find these answers:
The main site and this forum are separate entities, right? People who post there aren?t necessarily on the forum, are they? Do people from here post on the main site also?
Where in the forum do people generally post? Is it in the competitions/challenges only? Can people post some of their previous works here? Or do you need a link to your work found somewhere else?
Some of the pictures in posts don?t show up. Is this because they have been removed? Or am I lacking something to let me see them? I can see most of them.
And I was wondering about the challenges, modelling in particular. Most of the entries are really good! (Aven, I love your villain model!) How good do you have to be to enter? Does it matter if your modelling skills aren?t as complete as you would like? Or is this for highly skilled modellers only?
Thankyou, anybody who could be bothered answering! [:D]
The main site and this forum are separate entities, right?
YES.
You can post your work on the main site so people can view it there. And/Or you could post it in the forum, which allows people to discuss your work.The forum is also used to discuss other topics beyown peoples personal work.
Do people from here post on the main site also?
Yes, but youre not forced to.
It will give your work more coverage.
You can upload your work on the main site and link to that on the forum as well. In case you dont have a webhost of your own.
Where in the forum do people generally post?
This depends on the topic of the thread.
Just read the little descriptions under each forum section.
Can people post some of their previous works here?
Please do. We would like to see your work.
Use the "Exhibition" forum to post your work.
You can link/insert the images from your own webhost, or upload them in your login on the main Sumea site and link to them there.
Some of the pictures in posts don?t show up. Is this because they have been removed?
Yes. That is probably the main reason.
How good do you have to be to enter? Does it matter if your modelling skills aren?t as complete as you would like? Or is this for highly skilled modellers only?
Enter them, you may not win but you will learn from them.
Thanks heaps for you help inglis [:)]
A bit of question and answer really helps with orientation!
I?ve now posted a couple of pics on the launchpad site. My profile is at http://www.sumea.com.au/sprofile.asp?member=277 if you want to check them out.
They are just game models I needed for my project. I needed two (or more) teams of light, medium and heavy bots. So I made particular areas textured with a variable colour, so a small change in colour to the corresponding area of the texture image would instantly change the team (so I had red and blue teams). Maybe I should post a in game pic so it makes sense?
I just wish I had better character models to post?
Hi Palantir - welcome man :)
I'm a programmer type so won't be able to help you with your animation q'ns, but we seem to have lots of really good artists around here who I'm sure will be able to help :)
You'll have to fire up an IRC client and come join us at #sumea (host: irc.uq.edu.au) to help us set a new record for number of Sumeans online in 2004 ;->
Cheers,
Mark/CW