I had no idea I had quite so many…..

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Project-Palitoy is supported by:

Re-worke the flocking today, and very happy with the result

Im going to spend more spare time now getting the build completed. I have been exceptionally busy as of late, with no time off inbetween leaving the Gilliam project to going back to DNEG….

Im also looking at a couple of interesting Mocap Solutions that would allow me to capture at home, which would certainly expidite my previz…

Slight change in the pipeline as I try to get more into HOUDINI, because I think its procedural approach may help me in some of the more complex shots.

I have just brought the $99 dollar extension  that gives you a fully featured non commercial version (which is great because P-P is non commercial!). I then placed an order for a few more learning titles from 3D buzz to compliment the ones I already own from Digital tutors. As a fan of both schools (of thought) I’m keen to see how this new phase in my personal toolset will develop.

Looking at some of the free lessons that ship with Houdini, I was amazed at how quickly a procedural forest was made. You have no idea how much I wish I had access to those tools on Parnasus… especially for the environments. I think the fact that not only did it show how to create the setup, but the fact that you could then simplfy it as a digital asset to be passed onto other artists was a real eye opener.

Amazing. Lets just hope that I can get my head around a new workspace… Im sure I will be fine

Update:

Re-doing the arms on the turbocopter. I dont like the current ones..

Its missing the straps as well as the thumb press to make the blades spin…., but certainly heading in the right direction….

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….

The New IK/FK rig is almost complete. Its on version 3 now, and at 1:21 am this morning, I am sat here with notes for things to change on Version 4 tomorrow….

Lets hope I don’t get into double digits with these rig versions, otherwise i may as well just sit here and inflict pain upon myself like thus….

Woke up this morning (fathers day) with a niggle in my mind. I never liked the way I had originally lined up the legs prior to building the rig. When I got downstairs, my fears were confirmed. The leg joints were not in the best alignment for their purposes. So, I decided to strip out the FK/IK leg rig and start from scratch.

So, as well as the Envelope joints, we now have the IK joints and the FK joints (The latter will be driven by the Mocap and endorphin anims.

as with most things, second time round is often better…. and this is no exception. The leg rig now works exactly how I want it to, with the FK/IK switch working like a charm, swapping over being really easy. I have also set it up so that when you switch over to IK, the FK rig gets hidden, and vice versa. Same with the arms.

Im still dubious about the back. Ann IK spline based back really gives you almost t oo much movement, way more than is required for a dolls back. I think I may keep it FK with controler nodes.

Or maybe see how a switchable rig works…

The rig is set up under a few larger nodes.

At the top is the Scene node. This part always remains at the origin. Under that I have start pivot. This is the node I use to move AM globally to anywhere in a scene. Under that is the AM Trans controls, from where all his locomotion is generated. This gives me plenty of control over where he is, where he is going and allows me to redirect in an instant.

Hopefully get this rig complete in the evenings and then try out a few cycles.

Im still on schedule, allowing till October for the build to be complete (inc scanning of props, assets and costumes). I think once this chap is done, I can relax a little as he is obviously the template for all of them, with color, style and uniform variations providing the biggest character cues

On the main face control, there is also a node that hopefully will switch out textures and fur descriptions so that a character can be brought in, and within minutes have the correct face texture, Hair colour and style (bearded or otherwise).

In order for that to work, it needs to switch out the following

Clean Face Texture ——> Bearded Face Texture
Clean Face Spec ——> Bearded Face Spec
Clean Face Baldness ——> Bearded Face Baldness
Clean Hair Color Map ——> Bearded Hair Colour Map

Might as well use this 2nd pass at the rig to look at what I can do with the grippy hands. I need to keep them as they are in terms of look, but like the spine issue, I need to have the suggesting that they dont just grip (such as hanging of objects etc etc etc)…

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