Fed up of seeing a Naked Action Man? Well, personally, Im not… but there is a need for uniforms…. So, whilst I wait to hear the outcome of my support request (which really requires the ability to work extensively with nCloth), I decided to get V.4 of the rig completed (done!) and resume asset scanning with the next engine Desktop Scanner.

First up, the Boots!

The first character will more than likely be the old 70′s Helicopter Pilot (Originally was going to be the Red Devil, but time is key, and this fits better with my extensive pipeline test I need to get done for the Autumn (Fall).

So, I also scanned the Pilots Helmet, with a view to doing the Vizor and Mask tomorrow. Here is how the Helmet looks within Next Engines software, just prior to the align process.

Alignment couldnt be easier. Place the pin markers in an area common to both scans and “hey Presto!”, the magic begins and you have a perfect merge of two separate scans…

With V.4 of the rig complete, I decided to check scales were correct, and I was very pleased with the result. That helmet just sits so perfectly. The boots look a little crap, but thats because the generic boots AM shipped with were equally crap! Once the Jump-suit is on, with a Turbo-Copter strapped to his back, its just going to look awesome!!!

As you can see, the process is not only a time saving exercise but creates a like for like OBJ. I dont want to get into the habit of importing RAW scan data into a clean scene like the AM_RIG…. but impatience got the better of me. Still…. Im glad I did. Tomorrow I shall scan all the little bits and bobs as well as the Jump Suit (Which I hope to convert to an nCloth object once I have digested the Digital Tutors nCloth disc that arrived this week).

It was whilst scanning the helmet, I notice the awesome Next Engine Logo on the top of the unit. In all these weeks, I just thought it was a cool blue LED or something…. But only today, after all these weeks did I notice that it was actually their logo…

Anyway… I also thought you may wanna see the end results of the Action Man Scan. I must point out that scanning with the Next Engine is not a destructive process. The carnage you are about to see is not a scanning requirement. I opted to scan Action Man in segments because this was how I planned to build him in CG…. in segments. For reasons that will become apparent as the project develops, he needs to be made just as he was originally made…. and as for the white paint….? Well, that washes off. Again, its not a an essential part of the scanning, but its a well known fact that Laser scanners, from the desk top versions to the very highest of the high end versions don’t like objects that are shiny or black. I opted to paint some of the items to help me get as much original detail out of the scans as possible. Trust me, you wont have to do this to your stuff you may be scanning… I just needed to ensure a uniform consistency across all the scans without having to worry about changing settings each time.

There is a mixture of original and repro items in there. The Eagle Eye head is original, and whilst I felt terrible gently heating him up and removing his flock hair for the scanner, I felt like it was a crucial step in the projects progress….

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Project-Palitoy is supported by:

Well, with the body all done, I now need to get on with a few things. Clearly the day job is my main priority… which is why I am working on Project-Palitoy till the early hours of the morning.

My biggest issue is that my hardware is now a little long in the tooth. Lets face facts, the PNY Quadro 980 XGL graphics card which cost me a grand 5 years ago is now very old hat…. it doesnt even work with Topogun.

The machine is a socket 775 P4 3,4 gig workstation with 4 Gig of ram… its old. Not horribly so, but enough to be quite debilitating. So, because I am now 100% committed to the project, I need to drum up some hardware support.

Im talking to people, in the hope that I get enough support to see me though the next two years before I take this out to the short film festival circuit.

Ideally I would like to take this out to the GI JOE stop motion film festival, even though its not stop motion…. Failing that, I’m sure I will be able to slot it into something.

But without the much needed support, Im dead in the water. Rendering just these little R&D tests is painful when you are so used to the hyper efficiency of DNEGS render pipeline…

So, a nice workstation, great GPU as well as a few lesser spec’d but equally potent render nodes would be enough to keep this little labour of love going….

And of course, credit where credit is due is always given, now and throughout. Lets hope that I can convince the people I need to convince that their help can either make or break my little show.

So, for now, I am now going to focus on his facial animation set up, an animation rig (as opposed to the Mocap rig I am using for the Endorphin stuff) and of course, the copious amounts of scanning of assets and props that needs to be done so that everything looks just pitch perfect (like the Action Man model itself).

PLAY

Im really pleased with the way this is heading. The flock on the head looks great. Just looks like it would feel just like the real stuff…. The face, the body, the way he moves… its all heading in the right direction….

Right, need to give some applause to Dan and the guys at Next engine!

Looks like they won the Nasa Product of the year award.
Its not hard to see why.

well done guys!

You may note that there is a first pass at a bearded adventurer

So, did a little test anim with the new Endorphin Rig…

If you look closely, you will see that I did indeed opt for a little rigging in the main torso area, just to help out with some of the poses, deformations and simulations. Its there, but very slight. I like it.

I now need to spend the best part of today now playing with joint limits and stiffness, so that it looks real let toy like…. When Buzz LightYear falls, he looks like a toy would. I want to split the difference a little (or at least see how it looks – I may hate it).

So, a simple simulation, which is all I need. Cant do anything with Mocap till I have a characterized rig for Mocap, so thats why you are just getting the simple stuff for now.

Here is the animation: