RE: Linking to an external weightmap
You can use ICE to write the weightmap value to a per-Sample attribute and cache it to Alembic. After reading the cache back, you can again use ICE to set it on the weightmap. Unless I’m missing something obvious. From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Tyler Fox Sent: Saturday, May 31, 2014 10:39 AM To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com Subject: Linking to an external weightmap So with Alembic, we've got a decent way of getting the meshes out of our files. This could be an awesome thing. Model change coming through? Get the new alembic from modeling, load the rig, fix the skeleton, update your reference poses. No shapes, no gatoring weights, just kinda works ... That is, of course, if your point count/order doesn't change. This is my problem. So, is there any existing way to have a weightmap linked to an external file that could be loaded along with the alembic? (envelopes too, but I'm using weightmaps) ~T.Fox attachment: winmail.dat
Re: OT: What strong features have you found in your new transition software that SI didn´t have?
HI Matt This is the type of vertex maps that Modo supports http://docs.luxology.com/modo/801/help/pages/modotoolbox/WorkingWithVmaps.html Quick table to summarise the link Weight Map Weight Strength Values stored for Falloff and Texturing purposes SubD Weight Map Weight Strength Value influences edge creasing in SubDivision Surface geometry UV Map UV maps translates 3D vertex positions to flat 2D coordinates Relative Morph Map Vertex position offset, relative to the base vertex position Absolute Morph Map Vertex position offset to specific absolute position in 3D space RGB Map Vertex Color map defined by three R, G and B color values RGBA MapVertex Color map defined by three R, G and B color and an additional Alpha value Pick MapLike a Selection Set, defines groupings of vertices Vertex Normal Map Surface Normal direction (Smoothing) values stored as fixed value Edge Pick Map Like a Selection Set, defines groupings of edges Particle Size Map Determines scale values for individual particles Particle Dissolve Map Determines transparency values for indvidual particles Transform Map Determines transform amounts for individual vertices/particles If you click the Gear in the top right hand corner of your view in Modo you can change the mouse rotation style. I tend to have trackball rotation set to no , and orbit around selection checked. (oscillate I uncheck always that’s annoying ;) ) Kind regards Angus From: Matt Lind ml...@carbinestudios.commailto:ml...@carbinestudios.com Reply-To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com Date: Tuesday 03 June 2014 at 4:49 AM To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com Subject: RE: OT: What strong features have you found in your new transition software that SI didn´t have? Well, most people on this forum submitting their thoughts on C4D, Houdini, Modo, Maya, etc… tend to review it from a film/video perspective. Many of the bullet points are not applicable to other market segments such as games. Examples: Alembic support, 3rd party renderers, render farm accessibility, etc… All the transition guides I’ve seen to date, regardless of source, tend to omit the lower level features leaving many of us in the dark or only give us part of the picture. To use an analogy, if art were math class where you have to work out a long multi-page problem, a film/video artist is mostly interested in the final result and can obtain it from any means necessary including a wild guess, whereas a game artist must use the correct process to get the answer. I’m interested in the lower level control over manipulating objects and organizing them in intelligent data structures (assets) to abstract them or minimize their dependency on the host application. We need to apply metadata onto assets so our engine can read that data and know how to process the asset in the context of the game. Often metadata is applied as userdata blobs/maps, or re-purposed vertex colors, UV properties, user normals, etc. Many DCC applications have metadata and lower level features, but not all of them expose the functionality to the end user or do so in a user friendly way. Sometimes you have to dig into the SDK to get at them at all. Softimage, for example, have had user normals since XSI v1.5, but you had to use the SDK via script/plugin to expose the capabilities to the end user. User normals and associated tools didn’t become available in the menus until Softimage 2011. I’ve taken Modo, Maya, and Houdini for brief test drives to look at very specific features and intentionally did not look in the manuals to test how intuitive their implementations were. In the case of vertex colors, I figured it out for Maya, but it was clunky. Houdini was more intuitive to get started, but I couldn’t determine how to make multiple vertex color properties on the same object and specify which one to paint. Modo…never did find the vertex color tools. Probably spent more time cursing at the screen because the camera kept rolling on its side each time I orbited/tumbled the camera. Anyway, working with lower level functions is what I’m interested in regardless of DCC app being reviewed. Matt From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Perry Harovas Sent: Monday, June 02, 2014 5:04 PM To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com Subject: Re: OT: What strong features have you found in your new transition software that SI didn´t have? It depends. I haven't had enough time with it to know
SOFTIMAGE|UeberTage 2014...any interest??
HI there! Due to certain decisions coming from AD this year, I have serious trouble to get sponsors for this year (ultimate?) UeberTage event. Resellers just have a very minor interest in Softimage right now... So I would like to check you interest before I start even harder to get some money and a nice line-up together for this year. You might vote here: http://www.si-community.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=36t=5271 If not, just reply here, please...I?ll Thanks! cheers, oli
Re: Hiding an item from a PPG
Thanks for the insight Matt, that's all great stuff to know. DAN On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 12:31 AM, Matt Lind ml...@carbinestudios.com wrote: Depends on how you want to attack the problem and how many parameters you want to hide/unhide in the PPGLayout. If it’s only one or two parameters, you can call Parameter.Show(), then follow with PPG.Refresh() to update the PPG. If you have a large number of parameters, then it might be easier to write your own PPG_DefineLayout () function and call it explicitly as needed from an _OnChanged() or _OnClicked() PPG Event, or during _OnInit(). In either case you may run into display glitches with hiding/unhiding parameters dynamically such as indenting and other alignments getting screwed up, or PPG’s growing/shrinking pushing things into undesirable locations – especially if embedding the logic into something like a relational view. I generally enable/disable parameters instead using Parameter.Enable() as it keeps the PPG size constant and better informs the user of the options available in the tool. Seeing which buttons/parameters activate the enabled/disabled parameters also helps educate the user of the cause n’ effect relationship. In many cases enable/disable doesn’t require a call to PPG.Refresh() making it faster for PPG’s that have a large number of parameters. We have a few custom properties with 400+ parameters. Enabling/disabling parameters is significantly faster than hiding/unhiding parameters in those cases. Matt *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Dan Yargici *Sent:* Monday, June 02, 2014 9:38 AM *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com *Subject:* Hiding an item from a PPG I'd like my self-installed custom property to hide or show one dropdown depending on the value set by another, and I'm failing miserably. Do I need to completely rebuild my PPGLayout just to do this? That seems wrong to me. If that is the case, how should I best structure my code in order to repeatedly rebuild the layout via the triggered OnChanged event? Should I always build it in my own function or in the _DefineLayout section of the plugin (as made by the SDK Wizard) As you can tell, I'm new to this. Thanks, DAN
Re: SOFTIMAGE|UeberTage 2014...any interest??
Hi Oliver, of course the Ubertage should happen Need helping hands? Perhaps the ubertage can be continued further with a wider topic than Softimage? As alternative / independent CG Event? No we listen to our users but don?t care companies involved... greetings Stephan HI there! Due to certain decisions coming from AD this year, I have serious trouble to get sponsors for this year (ultimate?) UeberTage event. Resellers just have a very minor interest in Softimage right now... So I would like to check you interest before I start even harder to get some money and a nice line-up together for this year. You might vote here: http://www.si-community.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=36t=5271 If not, just reply here, please...I?ll Thanks! cheers, oli
Re: Camera addon for use with Redshift
Great stuff !! Thanks Emilio. -Ronald On 6/3/2014 02:39, Emilio Hernandez wrote: Hello list. I want to share with you the ehRSCamera addon for use with Redshift. In the link you will find a pdf file with the documentation describing its features and use, as well as the xsiaddon in case you want to use it. The plugin is free for any purpose. Cheers and thank you all. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/unk9jbeyrxyq6m1/AABbki4OHNTbvNpxLL3GKFe8a/ehRSCamera --- Emilio Hernández VFX 3D animation.
Re: Camera addon for use with Redshift
Great stuff, thanks for sharing. I'll give it a go! Cheers. Ivan On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 12:46 PM, Toonafish ron...@toonafish.nl wrote: Great stuff !! Thanks Emilio. -Ronald On 6/3/2014 02:39, Emilio Hernandez wrote: Hello list. I want to share with you the ehRSCamera addon for use with Redshift. In the link you will find a pdf file with the documentation describing its features and use, as well as the xsiaddon in case you want to use it. The plugin is free for any purpose. Cheers and thank you all. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/unk9jbeyrxyq6m1/AABbki4OHNTbvNpxLL3GKFe8a/ehRSCamera --- Emilio Hernández VFX 3D animation. -- Ivan Vasiljevic - Lighting TD Founder, Digital Asset Tailors - reel:https://vimeo.com/72183649 web:www.ivasiljevic.com email: i...@digitalassettailors.com ivan_vasilje...@hotmail.com
Re: Camera addon for use with Redshift
Hmm... No luck installing it here. SI 2014 SP2, win 7 x64. Installation goes fine but no menu nor in View-Toolbars-ehRSCamera... Anyone had similar experience? Ivan On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 1:05 PM, Ivan Vasiljevic klebed...@gmail.com wrote: Great stuff, thanks for sharing. I'll give it a go! Cheers. Ivan On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 12:46 PM, Toonafish ron...@toonafish.nl wrote: Great stuff !! Thanks Emilio. -Ronald On 6/3/2014 02:39, Emilio Hernandez wrote: Hello list. I want to share with you the ehRSCamera addon for use with Redshift. In the link you will find a pdf file with the documentation describing its features and use, as well as the xsiaddon in case you want to use it. The plugin is free for any purpose. Cheers and thank you all. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/unk9jbeyrxyq6m1/AABbki4OHNTbvNpxLL3GKFe8a/ehRSCamera --- Emilio Hernández VFX 3D animation. -- Ivan Vasiljevic - Lighting TD Founder, Digital Asset Tailors - reel:https://vimeo.com/72183649 web:www.ivasiljevic.com email: i...@digitalassettailors.com ivan_vasilje...@hotmail.com -- Ivan Vasiljevic - Lighting TD Founder, Digital Asset Tailors - reel:https://vimeo.com/72183649 web:www.ivasiljevic.com email: i...@digitalassettailors.com ivan_vasilje...@hotmail.com
Re: SOFTIMAGE|UeberTage 2014...any interest??
TransitionSoftware|UeberTage? Joint sponsorship from Maxon, Foundry, and Side Effects? On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 5:43 AM, Stephan Haitz sha...@3d-agenten.de wrote: Hi Oliver, of course the Ubertage should happen Need helping hands? Perhaps the ubertage can be continued further with a wider topic than Softimage? As alternative / independent CG Event? No we listen to our users but don´t care companies involved... greetings Stephan HI there! Due to certain decisions coming from AD this year, I have serious trouble to get sponsors for this year (ultimate?) UeberTage event. Resellers just have a very minor interest in Softimage right now... So I would like to check you interest before I start even harder to get some money and a nice line-up together for this year. You might vote here: http://www.si-community.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=36t=5271 If not, just reply here, please...I´ll Thanks! cheers, oli
Re: SOFTIMAGE|UeberTage 2014...any interest??
2014-06-03 13:25 GMT+02:00 Ed Manning etmth...@gmail.com: TransitionSoftware|UeberTage? Joint sponsorship from Maxon, Foundry, and Side Effects? That would be totally awesome! Cheers Steffen -- PGP-ID(RSA): 0xD6E0CE93 Fingerprint: 879F 572C FEE4 9DE5 53A8 3C1C 22A9 C8DE D6E0 CE93
Re: SOFTIMAGE|UeberTage 2014...any interest??
Yo Oliver, I will be there, of course :) Cheers! Eric
Re: SOFTIMAGE|UeberTage 2014...any interest??
Hey Ed..! Well... I already have those guys on my list.. ;) And maybe from next year on, it will be just UeberTage without SOFTIMAGE... But none the less, this year, if it can take place, will be the ultimate SOFTIMAGE|UeberTage Maybe and it with a big EOL party...many options are possible...depends on you and your interest in it.. Cheers, oli Am 03.06.2014 13:25, schrieb Ed Manning: TransitionSoftware|UeberTage? Joint sponsorship from Maxon, Foundry, and Side Effects? On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 5:43 AM, Stephan Haitz sha...@3d-agenten.de mailto:sha...@3d-agenten.de wrote: Hi Oliver, of course the Ubertage should happen Need helping hands? Perhaps the ubertage can be continued further with a wider topic than Softimage? As alternative / independent CG Event? No we listen to our users but don´t care companies involved... greetings Stephan HI there! Due to certain decisions coming from AD this year, I have serious trouble to get sponsors for this year (ultimate?) UeberTage event. Resellers just have a very minor interest in Softimage right now... So I would like to check you interest before I start even harder to get some money and a nice line-up together for this year. You might vote here: http://www.si-community.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=36t=5271 If not, just reply here, please...I´ll Thanks! cheers, oli
Re: SOFTIMAGE|UeberTage 2014...any interest??
Hey Stephan! I?ll let you know asap ;) And yes...that might be the way to go for the next years...if interest is high enough ;) cheers, oli Am 03.06.2014 11:43, schrieb Stephan Haitz: Hi Oliver, of course the Ubertage should happen Need helping hands? Perhaps the ubertage can be continued further with a wider topic than Softimage? As alternative / independent CG Event? No we listen to our users but don?t care companies involved... greetings Stephan HI there! Due to certain decisions coming from AD this year, I have serious trouble to get sponsors for this year (ultimate?) UeberTage event. Resellers just have a very minor interest in Softimage right now... So I would like to check you interest before I start even harder to get some money and a nice line-up together for this year. You might vote here: http://www.si-community.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=36t=5271 If not, just reply here, please...I?ll Thanks! cheers, oli
Re: SOFTIMAGE|UeberTage 2014...any interest??
I've never been at Uebertage and I have big wish to visit one, so I will push hard to make it this year. Cheers. Ivan On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 1:38 PM, Oliver Weingarten li...@pixelpanic.de wrote: Hey Stephan! I´ll let you know asap ;) And yes...that might be the way to go for the next years...if interest is high enough ;) cheers, oli Am 03.06.2014 11:43, schrieb Stephan Haitz: Hi Oliver, of course the Ubertage should happen Need helping hands? Perhaps the ubertage can be continued further with a wider topic than Softimage? As alternative / independent CG Event? No we listen to our users but don´t care companies involved... greetings Stephan HI there! Due to certain decisions coming from AD this year, I have serious trouble to get sponsors for this year (ultimate?) UeberTage event. Resellers just have a very minor interest in Softimage right now... So I would like to check you interest before I start even harder to get some money and a nice line-up together for this year. You might vote here: http://www.si-community.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=36t=5271 If not, just reply here, please...I´ll Thanks! cheers, oli -- Ivan Vasiljevic - Lighting TD Founder, Digital Asset Tailors - reel:https://vimeo.com/72183649 web:www.ivasiljevic.com email: i...@digitalassettailors.com ivan_vasilje...@hotmail.com
Re: SOFTIMAGE|UeberTage 2014...any interest??
Maybe we could also ask Vanilla Ice and Ron Jeremy? ;) And for the german speaking guys: Call the event RueberTage. Would make it clear that a transition is in progress :D 2014-06-03 13:37 GMT+02:00 Oliver Weingarten li...@pixelpanic.de: Hey Ed..! Well... I already have those guys on my list.. ;) And maybe from next year on, it will be just UeberTage without SOFTIMAGE... But none the less, this year, if it can take place, will be the ultimate SOFTIMAGE|UeberTage Maybe and it with a big EOL party...many options are possible...depends on you and your interest in it.. Cheers, oli Am 03.06.2014 13:25, schrieb Ed Manning: TransitionSoftware|UeberTage? Joint sponsorship from Maxon, Foundry, and Side Effects? On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 5:43 AM, Stephan Haitz sha...@3d-agenten.de wrote: Hi Oliver, of course the Ubertage should happen Need helping hands? Perhaps the ubertage can be continued further with a wider topic than Softimage? As alternative / independent CG Event? No we listen to our users but don´t care companies involved... greetings Stephan HI there! Due to certain decisions coming from AD this year, I have serious trouble to get sponsors for this year (ultimate?) UeberTage event. Resellers just have a very minor interest in Softimage right now... So I would like to check you interest before I start even harder to get some money and a nice line-up together for this year. You might vote here: http://www.si-community.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=36t=5271 If not, just reply here, please...I´ll Thanks! cheers, oli -- PGP-ID(RSA): 0xD6E0CE93 Fingerprint: 879F 572C FEE4 9DE5 53A8 3C1C 22A9 C8DE D6E0 CE93
Re: Camera addon for use with Redshift
check the file size of the addon you downloaded, if it's too small, try using the Dropbox download menu. -Ronald On 6/3/2014 13:22, Ivan Vasiljevic wrote: Hmm... No luck installing it here. SI 2014 SP2, win 7 x64. Installation goes fine but no menu nor in View-Toolbars-ehRSCamera... Anyone had similar experience? Ivan On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 1:05 PM, Ivan Vasiljevic klebed...@gmail.com mailto:klebed...@gmail.com wrote: Great stuff, thanks for sharing. I'll give it a go! Cheers. Ivan On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 12:46 PM, Toonafish ron...@toonafish.nl mailto:ron...@toonafish.nl wrote: Great stuff !! Thanks Emilio. -Ronald On 6/3/2014 02:39, Emilio Hernandez wrote: Hello list. I want to share with you the ehRSCamera addon for use with Redshift. In the link you will find a pdf file with the documentation describing its features and use, as well as the xsiaddon in case you want to use it. The plugin is free for any purpose. Cheers and thank you all. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/unk9jbeyrxyq6m1/AABbki4OHNTbvNpxLL3GKFe8a/ehRSCamera --- Emilio Hernández VFX 3D animation. -- Ivan Vasiljevic - Lighting TD Founder, Digital Asset Tailors - reel: https://vimeo.com/72183649 web:www.ivasiljevic.com http://ivasiljevic.com email: i...@digitalassettailors.com mailto:i...@digitalassettailors.com ivan_vasilje...@hotmail.com mailto:ivan_vasilje...@hotmail.com -- Ivan Vasiljevic - Lighting TD Founder, Digital Asset Tailors - reel: https://vimeo.com/72183649 web:www.ivasiljevic.com http://ivasiljevic.com email: i...@digitalassettailors.com mailto:i...@digitalassettailors.com ivan_vasilje...@hotmail.com mailto:ivan_vasilje...@hotmail.com
Re: Camera addon for use with Redshift
That helped, thanks! On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 2:14 PM, Toonafish ron...@toonafish.nl wrote: check the file size of the addon you downloaded, if it's too small, try using the Dropbox download menu. -Ronald On 6/3/2014 13:22, Ivan Vasiljevic wrote: Hmm... No luck installing it here. SI 2014 SP2, win 7 x64. Installation goes fine but no menu nor in View-Toolbars-ehRSCamera... Anyone had similar experience? Ivan On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 1:05 PM, Ivan Vasiljevic klebed...@gmail.com wrote: Great stuff, thanks for sharing. I'll give it a go! Cheers. Ivan On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 12:46 PM, Toonafish ron...@toonafish.nl wrote: Great stuff !! Thanks Emilio. -Ronald On 6/3/2014 02:39, Emilio Hernandez wrote: Hello list. I want to share with you the ehRSCamera addon for use with Redshift. In the link you will find a pdf file with the documentation describing its features and use, as well as the xsiaddon in case you want to use it. The plugin is free for any purpose. Cheers and thank you all. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/unk9jbeyrxyq6m1/AABbki4OHNTbvNpxLL3GKFe8a/ehRSCamera --- Emilio Hernández VFX 3D animation. -- Ivan Vasiljevic - Lighting TD Founder, Digital Asset Tailors - reel:https://vimeo.com/72183649 web:www.ivasiljevic.com email: i...@digitalassettailors.com ivan_vasilje...@hotmail.com -- Ivan Vasiljevic - Lighting TD Founder, Digital Asset Tailors - reel:https://vimeo.com/72183649 web:www.ivasiljevic.com email: i...@digitalassettailors.com ivan_vasilje...@hotmail.com -- Ivan Vasiljevic - Lighting TD Founder, Digital Asset Tailors - reel:https://vimeo.com/72183649 web:www.ivasiljevic.com email: i...@digitalassettailors.com ivan_vasilje...@hotmail.com
Re: SOFTIMAGE|UeberTage 2014...any interest??
Of course they are welcome, some blender developers too. They should get a booth each and tell us, why their software is the best for transitioning SI-People. And let´s invite the MAX MAYA Users ... TransitionSoftware|UeberTage? Joint sponsorship from Maxon, Foundry, and Side Effects? On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 5:43 AM, Stephan Haitz sha...@3d-agenten.de mailto:sha...@3d-agenten.de wrote: Hi Oliver, of course the Ubertage should happen Need helping hands? Perhaps the ubertage can be continued further with a wider topic than Softimage? As alternative / independent CG Event? No we listen to our users but don´t care companies involved... greetings Stephan HI there! Due to certain decisions coming from AD this year, I have serious trouble to get sponsors for this year (ultimate?) UeberTage event. Resellers just have a very minor interest in Softimage right now... So I would like to check you interest before I start even harder to get some money and a nice line-up together for this year. You might vote here: http://www.si-community.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=36t=5271 If not, just reply here, please...I´ll Thanks! cheers, oli
Re: SOFTIMAGE|UeberTage 2014...any interest??
... and then show them all why actually Softimage is still best option and that no one else actually offers all round out of the box solution for transition and there will be missing pieces for years ;) On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 2:28 PM, Stephan Haitz sha...@3d-agenten.de wrote: Of course they are welcome, some blender developers too. They should get a booth each and tell us, why their software is the best for transitioning SI-People. And let´s invite the MAX MAYA Users ... TransitionSoftware|UeberTage? Joint sponsorship from Maxon, Foundry, and Side Effects? On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 5:43 AM, Stephan Haitz sha...@3d-agenten.de wrote: Hi Oliver, of course the Ubertage should happen Need helping hands? Perhaps the ubertage can be continued further with a wider topic than Softimage? As alternative / independent CG Event? No we listen to our users but don´t care companies involved... greetings Stephan HI there! Due to certain decisions coming from AD this year, I have serious trouble to get sponsors for this year (ultimate?) UeberTage event. Resellers just have a very minor interest in Softimage right now... So I would like to check you interest before I start even harder to get some money and a nice line-up together for this year. You might vote here: http://www.si-community.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=36t=5271 If not, just reply here, please...I´ll Thanks! cheers, oli
Re: SOFTIMAGE|UeberTage 2014...any interest??
Ahem, I really would prefer to have a pure Softimage user meeting and not some melting pot of X different 3D apps/users and all the /my-software-is-the-best-because-blabla/ discussions. Why is everybody talking about transitioning? Is anybody seriously afraid that Softimage will be out-of-date by the end of the month or what? Honestly, if there are going to be Cinema 4D, Houdini, Max/Maya, Blender, etc. presentations ... wtf? Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the apps nor their users, it's just that it's seems wrong to me to have them at possibly one of the last XSI events. Cheers, Eric
Re: SOFTIMAGE|UeberTage 2014...any interest??
Absolutely petly right Eric, Would rather to see improvements on something that affects SI as well like Fabric Engine and SI-FE work and is it closer to artis tool and not only dev guys On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 3:50 PM, Eric Mootz e...@mootzoid.com wrote: Ahem, I really would prefer to have a pure Softimage user meeting and not some melting pot of X different 3D apps/users and all the *my-software-is-the-best-because-blabla* discussions. Why is everybody talking about transitioning? Is anybody seriously afraid that Softimage will be out-of-date by the end of the month or what? Honestly, if there are going to be Cinema 4D, Houdini, Max/Maya, Blender, etc. presentations ... wtf? Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the apps nor their users, it's just that it's seems wrong to me to have them at possibly one of the last XSI events. Cheers, Eric
Re: SOFTIMAGE|UeberTage 2014...any interest??
Ok you are right. Thought more of a look here, what do you think about that thing sort of discussion. But religious but my is the best things are surely not what we want (apart from SI, of course :-) ) . Thought about keeping the uebertage alive in a future with less and less SI-Userbase... And Eric you know: I will use Softimage furthermore, cause at the moment, I can´t see anything better or even equivalent. When I do have to learn a new software it has to be really an improvement to Softimage (from the small studio / allrounders view). Ahem, I really would prefer to have a pure Softimage user meeting and not some melting pot of X different 3D apps/users and all the /my-software-is-the-best-because-blabla/ discussions. Why is everybody talking about transitioning? Is anybody seriously afraid that Softimage will be out-of-date by the end of the month or what? Honestly, if there are going to be Cinema 4D, Houdini, Max/Maya, Blender, etc. presentations ... wtf? Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the apps nor their users, it's just that it's seems wrong to me to have them at possibly one of the last XSI events. Cheers, Eric
Extract two point positions from one edge?
Hi folks, Is there a way to iterate though each edge of a mesh and extract its two point components, one at each end of the edge? I'd like to use those two points to interpolate between and add a bunch of points along the edge. Cheers!
Re: Extract two point positions from one edge?
In ICE, just Get self.EdgeToVertices That will give you a array of the two Point Indexes for every edge. /Jens On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 6:04 PM, Arvid Björn arvidbj...@gmail.com wrote: Hi folks, Is there a way to iterate though each edge of a mesh and extract its two point components, one at each end of the edge? I'd like to use those two points to interpolate between and add a bunch of points along the edge. Cheers! -- Jens Lindgren -- Lead Technical Director Magoo 3D Studios http://www.magoo3dstudios.com/
Re: Extract two point positions from one edge?
Or if you want to do it in script, PolygonMesh.Edges get you all the edges and you can iterate all the edges and their Points property. On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 6:09 PM, Jens Lindgren jens.lindgren@gmail.com wrote: In ICE, just Get self.EdgeToVertices That will give you a array of the two Point Indexes for every edge. /Jens On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 6:04 PM, Arvid Björn arvidbj...@gmail.com wrote: Hi folks, Is there a way to iterate though each edge of a mesh and extract its two point components, one at each end of the edge? I'd like to use those two points to interpolate between and add a bunch of points along the edge. Cheers! -- Jens Lindgren -- Lead Technical Director Magoo 3D Studios http://www.magoo3dstudios.com/
Re: SOFTIMAGE|UeberTage 2014...any interest??
While I can understand Eric’s point of view the harsh fact is this. Just like in the EDU sphere when it comes to funders Softimage is EOL and by that virtue not worth putting money into. There is a much better chance of getting funding by having a more general event. The question is wether this is acceptable of course ;) From: Stephan Haitz sha...@3d-agenten.demailto:sha...@3d-agenten.de Reply-To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com Date: Tuesday 03 June 2014 at 4:16 PM To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com Subject: Re: SOFTIMAGE|UeberTage 2014...any interest?? Ok you are right. Thought more of a look here, what do you think about that thing sort of discussion. But religious but my is the best things are surely not what we want (apart from SI, of course :-) ) . Thought about keeping the uebertage alive in a future with less and less SI-Userbase... And Eric you know: I will use Softimage furthermore, cause at the moment, I can´t see anything better or even equivalent. When I do have to learn a new software it has to be really an improvement to Softimage (from the small studio / allrounders view). Ahem, I really would prefer to have a pure Softimage user meeting and not some melting pot of X different 3D apps/users and all the my-software-is-the-best-because-blabla discussions. Why is everybody talking about transitioning? Is anybody seriously afraid that Softimage will be out-of-date by the end of the month or what? Honestly, if there are going to be Cinema 4D, Houdini, Max/Maya, Blender, etc. presentations ... wtf? Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the apps nor their users, it's just that it's seems wrong to me to have them at possibly one of the last XSI events. Cheers, Eric table width=100% border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 style=width:100%; tr td align=left style=text-align:justify;font face=arial,sans-serif size=1 color=#99span style=font-size:11px;This communication is intended for the addressee only. It is confidential. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately and destroy the original message. You may not copy or disseminate this communication without the permission of the University. Only authorised signatories are competent to enter into agreements on behalf of the University and recipients are thus advised that the content of this message may not be legally binding on the University and may contain the personal views and opinions of the author, which are not necessarily the views and opinions of The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. All agreements between the University and outsiders are subject to South African Law unless the University agrees in writing to the contrary. /span/font/td /tr /table
Re: Extract two point positions from one edge?
THANKS! I've been going in circles for an hour, I almost had it before, but now I'm back on track, cheers Jens =) On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 6:09 PM, Jens Lindgren jens.lindgren@gmail.com wrote: In ICE, just Get self.EdgeToVertices That will give you a array of the two Point Indexes for every edge. /Jens On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 6:04 PM, Arvid Björn arvidbj...@gmail.com wrote: Hi folks, Is there a way to iterate though each edge of a mesh and extract its two point components, one at each end of the edge? I'd like to use those two points to interpolate between and add a bunch of points along the edge. Cheers! -- Jens Lindgren -- Lead Technical Director Magoo 3D Studios http://www.magoo3dstudios.com/
Re: SOFTIMAGE|UeberTage 2014...any interest??
I have to agree here with Angus, the event would be more interesting for attendees of it showed an open mind of what the future could look like. Approaching Fabric, Maxon and SideFX could be an interesting way of putting some energy on the event. I had a great time last year by the way, Oliver does a magnificent job at putting this event together ;) On 3 June 2014 17:25, Angus Davidson angus.david...@wits.ac.za wrote: While I can understand Eric’s point of view the harsh fact is this. Just like in the EDU sphere when it comes to funders Softimage is EOL and by that virtue not worth putting money into. There is a much better chance of getting funding by having a more general event. The question is wether this is acceptable of course ;) From: Stephan Haitz sha...@3d-agenten.de Reply-To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com softimage@listproc.autodesk.com Date: Tuesday 03 June 2014 at 4:16 PM To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com softimage@listproc.autodesk.com Subject: Re: SOFTIMAGE|UeberTage 2014...any interest?? Ok you are right. Thought more of a look here, what do you think about that thing sort of discussion. But religious but my is the best things are surely not what we want (apart from SI, of course :-) ) . Thought about keeping the uebertage alive in a future with less and less SI-Userbase... And Eric you know: I will use Softimage furthermore, cause at the moment, I can´t see anything better or even equivalent. When I do have to learn a new software it has to be really an improvement to Softimage (from the small studio / allrounders view). Ahem, I really would prefer to have a pure Softimage user meeting and not some melting pot of X different 3D apps/users and all the *my-software-is-the-best-because-blabla* discussions. Why is everybody talking about transitioning? Is anybody seriously afraid that Softimage will be out-of-date by the end of the month or what? Honestly, if there are going to be Cinema 4D, Houdini, Max/Maya, Blender, etc. presentations ... wtf? Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the apps nor their users, it's just that it's seems wrong to me to have them at possibly one of the last XSI events. Cheers, Eric This communication is intended for the addressee only. It is confidential. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately and destroy the original message. You may not copy or disseminate this communication without the permission of the University. Only authorised signatories are competent to enter into agreements on behalf of the University and recipients are thus advised that the content of this message may not be legally binding on the University and may contain the personal views and opinions of the author, which are not necessarily the views and opinions of The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. All agreements between the University and outsiders are subject to South African Law unless the University agrees in writing to the contrary.
Re: Camera addon for use with Redshift
Glad to hear it is working Ivan --- Emilio Hernández VFX 3D animation. 2014-06-03 7:19 GMT-05:00 Ivan Vasiljevic klebed...@gmail.com: That helped, thanks! On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 2:14 PM, Toonafish ron...@toonafish.nl wrote: check the file size of the addon you downloaded, if it's too small, try using the Dropbox download menu. -Ronald On 6/3/2014 13:22, Ivan Vasiljevic wrote: Hmm... No luck installing it here. SI 2014 SP2, win 7 x64. Installation goes fine but no menu nor in View-Toolbars-ehRSCamera... Anyone had similar experience? Ivan On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 1:05 PM, Ivan Vasiljevic klebed...@gmail.com wrote: Great stuff, thanks for sharing. I'll give it a go! Cheers. Ivan On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 12:46 PM, Toonafish ron...@toonafish.nl wrote: Great stuff !! Thanks Emilio. -Ronald On 6/3/2014 02:39, Emilio Hernandez wrote: Hello list. I want to share with you the ehRSCamera addon for use with Redshift. In the link you will find a pdf file with the documentation describing its features and use, as well as the xsiaddon in case you want to use it. The plugin is free for any purpose. Cheers and thank you all. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/unk9jbeyrxyq6m1/AABbki4OHNTbvNpxLL3GKFe8a/ehRSCamera --- Emilio Hernández VFX 3D animation. -- Ivan Vasiljevic - Lighting TD Founder, Digital Asset Tailors - reel:https://vimeo.com/72183649 web:www.ivasiljevic.com email: i...@digitalassettailors.com ivan_vasilje...@hotmail.com -- Ivan Vasiljevic - Lighting TD Founder, Digital Asset Tailors - reel:https://vimeo.com/72183649 web:www.ivasiljevic.com email: i...@digitalassettailors.com ivan_vasilje...@hotmail.com -- Ivan Vasiljevic - Lighting TD Founder, Digital Asset Tailors - reel:https://vimeo.com/72183649 web:www.ivasiljevic.com email: i...@digitalassettailors.com ivan_vasilje...@hotmail.com
Re: Extract two point positions from one edge?
Hehe no problem, Arvid :) I think all the Get SomethingToSomething data is underrated and very few examples are out there of how one could use them. Since I learned how they work, I have been able to do amazing things with polymeshes in ICE. /Jens On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 6:26 PM, Arvid Björn arvidbj...@gmail.com wrote: THANKS! I've been going in circles for an hour, I almost had it before, but now I'm back on track, cheers Jens =) On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 6:09 PM, Jens Lindgren jens.lindgren@gmail.com wrote: In ICE, just Get self.EdgeToVertices That will give you a array of the two Point Indexes for every edge. /Jens On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 6:04 PM, Arvid Björn arvidbj...@gmail.com wrote: Hi folks, Is there a way to iterate though each edge of a mesh and extract its two point components, one at each end of the edge? I'd like to use those two points to interpolate between and add a bunch of points along the edge. Cheers! -- Jens Lindgren -- Lead Technical Director Magoo 3D Studios http://www.magoo3dstudios.com/ -- Jens Lindgren -- Lead Technical Director Magoo 3D Studios http://www.magoo3dstudios.com/
Re: Extract two point positions from one edge?
Yeah, I started using them recently too and they are very powerful. Getting your head around the usage is not obvious, though. F On 03-Jun-14 13:49, Jens Lindgren wrote: Hehe no problem, Arvid :) I think all the Get SomethingToSomething data is underrated and very few examples are out there of how one could use them. Since I learned how they work, I have been able to do amazing things with polymeshes in ICE. /Jens
Nest Mommentum, reversing animation
i have a momentum simulationm i ploted, is it possible to reverse the animation ? i'd do it in post, but i'm hoping to use some motion blur on some text, i's like it not to be reversed
Re: Nest Mommentum, reversing animation
usually it’s cache the dynamics first, then plot to the mixer, and then reverse the clip in the mixer. does this not work for you? From: Sebastien Sterling Sent: Tuesday, June 03, 2014 8:30 PM To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com Subject: Nest Mommentum, reversing animation i have a momentum simulationm i ploted, is it possible to reverse the animation ? i'd do it in post, but i'm hoping to use some motion blur on some text, i's like it not to be reversed
Re: Extract two point positions from one edge?
Not obvious because of the wording. PolygonToEdges at first seems to retriving indices from polygons to their surrounding edges. When it's the other way around it's retrives indices from edges to their bordering polygons. More over indices it's all it does so you have always to flatten out sets of array into Build Array from Set to then put that info into context, through Select Array. This can be problematic for cases where the input data structure can change (set, array, set of arrays). But yes, it's usefull. Though I admit I'm getting my arse kicking with something I'm trying to make a switch (polygons, edges, vertices) so I don't have to repeat the whole ICE Tree for each context. And... it's not easy... no.. Cheers On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 7:11 PM, Francois Lord flordli...@gmail.com wrote: Yeah, I started using them recently too and they are very powerful. Getting your head around the usage is not obvious, though. F On 03-Jun-14 13:49, Jens Lindgren wrote: Hehe no problem, Arvid :) I think all the Get SomethingToSomething data is underrated and very few examples are out there of how one could use them. Since I learned how they work, I have been able to do amazing things with polymeshes in ICE. /Jens
Re: Nest Mommentum, reversing animation
the animation mixer is for high level control over animation, including combining different types of animation. (fcurves, expressions, constraints, caches, plots,...) the most obvious use is to combine a number of animation cycles on a character into a little edit. Because it looks so much like a video editing timeline, one can easily overlook the usefulness of the mixer - on the surface it’s “just a timeline with video animationclips” – and many timing effects (including reversing animation: right click on a clip in the mixer – time properties – scale: -1) can be done with ease. it lives in the model, and connects to the model using namespaces – allowing for the sharing of animation between different models. there’s things like offsetting the animation (in space!) with clip effects, allowing to blend between different animation sources that weren’t made to blend. it can be useful for crowd animation, for instance by blending different animation cycles on the actors based on certain conditions. I know the mixer only on the surface, and don’t need it very often, but each time I do, I discover more of what it can do. Last time I needed it, I used it to turn a linear syflex simulation into timestretched, loopable + intro/outtro animations on a bunch of objects. The mixer handled with ease what amounts to manipulating thousands of shapes on quite dense geometry, without being restricted to frames. A total nightmare to do with fcurves. I think you’re a character artist, something which could be useful to you is setting up the restpose as well as a few animations and extreme poses in the mixer. This way you can easily stress test the skinning and topology. While it has seen some improvements over time, its another of those really unique tools that were in XSI from it’s very first version, and are still not really surpassed. From: Sebastien Sterling Sent: Tuesday, June 03, 2014 9:13 PM To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com Subject: Re: Nest Mommentum, reversing animation coming from different packages, never really got into the whole mixer system, i do get the appeal though. just would never really had a frame of reference for when to employ one. On 3 June 2014 19:46, pete...@skynet.be wrote: usually it’s cache the dynamics first, then plot to the mixer, and then reverse the clip in the mixer. does this not work for you? From: Sebastien Sterling Sent: Tuesday, June 03, 2014 8:30 PM To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com Subject: Nest Mommentum, reversing animation i have a momentum simulationm i ploted, is it possible to reverse the animation ? i'd do it in post, but i'm hoping to use some motion blur on some text, i's like it not to be reversed
Re: Nest Mommentum, reversing animation
Do you work for digital golem ? On 3 June 2014 21:34, Sebastien Sterling sebastien.sterl...@gmail.com wrote: Thank you Peter for taking the time to expand on this :), i am a character artist, and even if this is not a character job, it is good to know about such functionality its true that they really look like avid layers :P On 3 June 2014 21:03, pete...@skynet.be wrote: the animation mixer is for high level control over animation, including combining different types of animation. (fcurves, expressions, constraints, caches, plots,...) the most obvious use is to combine a number of animation cycles on a character into a little edit. Because it looks so much like a video editing timeline, one can easily overlook the usefulness of the mixer - on the surface it’s “just a timeline with video animationclips” – and many timing effects (including reversing animation: right click on a clip in the mixer – time properties – scale: -1) can be done with ease. it lives in the model, and connects to the model using namespaces – allowing for the sharing of animation between different models. there’s things like offsetting the animation (in space!) with clip effects, allowing to blend between different animation sources that weren’t made to blend. it can be useful for crowd animation, for instance by blending different animation cycles on the actors based on certain conditions. I know the mixer only on the surface, and don’t need it very often, but each time I do, I discover more of what it can do. Last time I needed it, I used it to turn a linear syflex simulation into timestretched, loopable + intro/outtro animations on a bunch of objects. The mixer handled with ease what amounts to manipulating thousands of shapes on quite dense geometry, without being restricted to frames. A total nightmare to do with fcurves. I think you’re a character artist, something which could be useful to you is setting up the restpose as well as a few animations and extreme poses in the mixer. This way you can easily stress test the skinning and topology. While it has seen some improvements over time, its another of those really unique tools that were in XSI from it’s very first version, and are still not really surpassed. *From:* Sebastien Sterling sebastien.sterl...@gmail.com *Sent:* Tuesday, June 03, 2014 9:13 PM *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com *Subject:* Re: Nest Mommentum, reversing animation coming from different packages, never really got into the whole mixer system, i do get the appeal though. just would never really had a frame of reference for when to employ one. On 3 June 2014 19:46, pete...@skynet.be wrote: usually it’s cache the dynamics first, then plot to the mixer, and then reverse the clip in the mixer. does this not work for you? *From:* Sebastien Sterling sebastien.sterl...@gmail.com *Sent:* Tuesday, June 03, 2014 8:30 PM *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com *Subject:* Nest Mommentum, reversing animation i have a momentum simulationm i ploted, is it possible to reverse the animation ? i'd do it in post, but i'm hoping to use some motion blur on some text, i's like it not to be reversed
Re: Shameless plug
Congratulations! Looks great. Thank you Softimage! I feel sick again. On 6/3/2014 8:00 PM, Matt Lind wrote: I don't get to say this often, but I've finished a project using Softimage which all can see. Well, it's not actually 'finished' as it's an online game which is continuously maintained, updated, and ongoing, but it's now live and I can talk about it beyond generalizations. Yay! My last completed project was my previous production --Barnyard the animated feature back in 2006. It's been a long time coming, a relief, and refreshing to be able to refer to something I did in the current decade. Wildstar officially launched last Friday night at midnight for early access, but opened up the flood gates today for everybody else. The game is now running smoothly in North America and Europe for all to see and experience. If you were part of the beta, let it be known significant improvements have been made since on all fronts. If you haven't tried the game yet, point your browser to www.wildstar-online.com http://www.wildstar-online.com and click on the shiny buttons. The first 30 days are free with initial purchase. Production started in 2005 using Softimage XSI v3.5 and launched with Softimage 2013 SP1 -- all of it in 32 bit land. Majority of the content created in Softimage 7.5 which we used for roughly 5 years. Softimage was used for a heavy majority of the 3D artwork including characters, props, environments (other than the ground), buildings, dungeons, and everything inside of them. We didn't use ICE at all (but not for lack of trying, and we tested heavily), so this is a good example of what the fundamental toolset can do. Heavy use of custom properties, vertex colors, user normals, clusters, envelopes, UV spaces, and hardware (real time) shaders to customize and iterate on our content. What made these simple components really nice is they were general and could be re-targeted for many uses outside of their original intended purpose. Our particles were created and applied in Softimage, but simulated only in engine. The SDK was used to write 500+ tools to assist artists to create their content include tools like 'mimick' which is a command similar to GATOR which can transfer attributes, but do so on select subcomponents instead of the entire object, along with other bells and whistles. Often overlooked and understated, but Softimage scaling was incredibly powerful for controlling the squash and stretch scaling of deformers used in our envelopes to animate characters with cartoon whimsy and without ugly shearing often associated with other software. It is used on every asset that moves. Relational views were used to create tools such as a face editor to view and animate faces for our player characters, and adjust face customizations to see how they'd appear in the game as each of our characters have multiple faces and other components which can plug in like a Mr. Potato head doll. It was important to see the various components in context side-by-side for comparison while creating the content so consistency could be maintained. This was achieved using many 'object view' embedded into the relational view. Under the hood the face editor drove the animation mixer to perform face pose blending so artists could see the animation in real time on their characters. Also, NURBS, that's right, NURBS surfaces were used to transfer face poses and clothing between characters. The details must remain a trade secret, but I just had to mention we used NURBS in all their unfinished glory to get meaningful work done with significant contributions to the end product. Render passes were used to re-dress environments to allow artists to create geometry once, then swap textures, shader settings, and other details many times for each variant of the environment. Not only does it simplify the artist workflow by centralizing all their interaction to a few clicks, but it also allows assets to be packed into compact files for use in our engine. Render passes are used in housing and dungeons. If we had to do this in Maya, we'd probably have to break up each variant into its own scene and have to figure out a way to merge all the scenes together that shared the same geometry. These polished touches matter. Softimage for the win. So that said, while many 3D software could create the assets in their own time and space vacuum, Softimage (in my opinion) was the only software that could've tackled this project given our specific time, resources, and budget as there were many close calls along the way. I say Softimage because many of the aforementioned features came out of the box with us ready to roll and not have to spend oodles of time reinventing the wheel. Not having to write an animation mixer to do face pose blending, or render pass systems to do texture/shader swaps were incredible time savers and something we could lean on.
Re: Shameless plug
Congratulations Matt! That's one hell of a long run on one project. On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 7:27 PM, David Gallagher davegsoftimagel...@gmail.com wrote: Congratulations! Looks great. Thank you Softimage! I feel sick again. On 6/3/2014 8:00 PM, Matt Lind wrote: I don’t get to say this often, but I’ve finished a project using Softimage which all can see. Well, it’s not actually ‘finished’ as it’s an online game which is continuously maintained, updated, and ongoing, but it’s now live and I can talk about it beyond generalizations. Yay! My last completed project was my previous production –Barnyard the animated feature back in 2006. It’s been a long time coming, a relief, and refreshing to be able to refer to something I did in the current decade. Wildstar officially launched last Friday night at midnight for early access, but opened up the flood gates today for everybody else. The game is now running smoothly in North America and Europe for all to see and experience. If you were part of the beta, let it be known significant improvements have been made since on all fronts. If you haven’t tried the game yet, point your browser to www.wildstar-online.com and click on the shiny buttons. The first 30 days are free with initial purchase. Production started in 2005 using Softimage XSI v3.5 and launched with Softimage 2013 SP1 – all of it in 32 bit land. Majority of the content created in Softimage 7.5 which we used for roughly 5 years. Softimage was used for a heavy majority of the 3D artwork including characters, props, environments (other than the ground), buildings, dungeons, and everything inside of them. We didn’t use ICE at all (but not for lack of trying, and we tested heavily), so this is a good example of what the fundamental toolset can do. Heavy use of custom properties, vertex colors, user normals, clusters, envelopes, UV spaces, and hardware (real time) shaders to customize and iterate on our content. What made these simple components really nice is they were general and could be re-targeted for many uses outside of their original intended purpose. Our particles were created and applied in Softimage, but simulated only in engine. The SDK was used to write 500+ tools to assist artists to create their content include tools like ‘mimick’ which is a command similar to GATOR which can transfer attributes, but do so on select subcomponents instead of the entire object, along with other bells and whistles. Often overlooked and understated, but Softimage scaling was incredibly powerful for controlling the squash and stretch scaling of deformers used in our envelopes to animate characters with cartoon whimsy and without ugly shearing often associated with other software. It is used on every asset that moves. Relational views were used to create tools such as a face editor to view and animate faces for our player characters, and adjust face customizations to see how they’d appear in the game as each of our characters have multiple faces and other components which can plug in like a Mr. Potato head doll. It was important to see the various components in context side-by-side for comparison while creating the content so consistency could be maintained. This was achieved using many ‘object view’ embedded into the relational view. Under the hood the face editor drove the animation mixer to perform face pose blending so artists could see the animation in real time on their characters. Also, NURBS, that’s right, NURBS surfaces were used to transfer face poses and clothing between characters. The details must remain a trade secret, but I just had to mention we used NURBS in all their unfinished glory to get meaningful work done with significant contributions to the end product. Render passes were used to re-dress environments to allow artists to create geometry once, then swap textures, shader settings, and other details many times for each variant of the environment. Not only does it simplify the artist workflow by centralizing all their interaction to a few clicks, but it also allows assets to be packed into compact files for use in our engine. Render passes are used in housing and dungeons. If we had to do this in Maya, we’d probably have to break up each variant into its own scene and have to figure out a way to merge all the scenes together that shared the same geometry. These polished touches matter. Softimage for the win. So that said, while many 3D software could create the assets in their own time and space vacuum, Softimage (in my opinion) was the only software that could’ve tackled this project given our specific time, resources, and budget as there were many close calls along the way. I say Softimage because many of the aforementioned features came out of the box with us ready to roll and not have to spend oodles of time reinventing the wheel. Not having to write an animation mixer to do
Re: Shameless plug
*long slow clap* That was great; I just saw your game promoted by a number of online magazines and news hubs via facebook; and it is great to see the minds, the talent and the software behind it - knowing full well how much work and love went into it, and it’s great to see how good the tool was to get the job done. Impressive, and always amazing to see such a huge project come to a finish, and learning how it was built, a true marvel! Encouraging, yet.. sadly.. mellow concerning the “tool”.. I agree with you fully right at your closing statements. -Draise Ph: +57 313 811 6821 From: Matt Lind Sent: Tuesday, June 3, 2014 21:01 To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com I don’t get to say this often, but I’ve finished a project using Softimage which all can see. Well, it’s not actually ‘finished’ as it’s an online game which is continuously maintained, updated, and ongoing, but it’s now live and I can talk about it beyond generalizations. Yay! My last completed project was my previous production –Barnyard the animated feature back in 2006. It’s been a long time coming, a relief, and refreshing to be able to refer to something I did in the current decade. Wildstar officially launched last Friday night at midnight for early access, but opened up the flood gates today for everybody else. The game is now running smoothly in North America and Europe for all to see and experience. If you were part of the beta, let it be known significant improvements have been made since on all fronts. If you haven’t tried the game yet, point your browser to www.wildstar-online.com and click on the shiny buttons. The first 30 days are free with initial purchase. Production started in 2005 using Softimage XSI v3.5 and launched with Softimage 2013 SP1 – all of it in 32 bit land. Majority of the content created in Softimage 7.5 which we used for roughly 5 years. Softimage was used for a heavy majority of the 3D artwork including characters, props, environments (other than the ground), buildings, dungeons, and everything inside of them. We didn’t use ICE at all (but not for lack of trying, and we tested heavily), so this is a good example of what the fundamental toolset can do. Heavy use of custom properties, vertex colors, user normals, clusters, envelopes, UV spaces, and hardware (real time) shaders to customize and iterate on our content. What made these simple components really nice is they were general and could be re-targeted for many uses outside of their original intended purpose. Our particles were created and applied in Softimage, but simulated only in engine. The SDK was used to write 500+ tools to assist artists to create their content include tools like ‘mimick’ which is a command similar to GATOR which can transfer attributes, but do so on select subcomponents instead of the entire object, along with other bells and whistles. Often overlooked and understated, but Softimage scaling was incredibly powerful for controlling the squash and stretch scaling of deformers used in our envelopes to animate characters with cartoon whimsy and without ugly shearing often associated with other software. It is used on every asset that moves. Relational views were used to create tools such as a face editor to view and animate faces for our player characters, and adjust face customizations to see how they’d appear in the game as each of our characters have multiple faces and other components which can plug in like a Mr. Potato head doll. It was important to see the various components in context side-by-side for comparison while creating the content so consistency could be maintained. This was achieved using many ‘object view’ embedded into the relational view. Under the hood the face editor drove the animation mixer to perform face pose blending so artists could see the animation in real time on their characters. Also, NURBS, that’s right, NURBS surfaces were used to transfer face poses and clothing between characters. The details must remain a trade secret, but I just had to mention we used NURBS in all their unfinished glory to get meaningful work done with significant contributions to the end product. Render passes were used to re-dress environments to allow artists to create geometry once, then swap textures, shader settings, and other details many times for each variant of the environment. Not only does it simplify the artist workflow by centralizing all their interaction to a few clicks, but it also allows assets to be packed into compact files for use in our engine. Render passes are used in housing and dungeons. If we had to do this in Maya, we’d probably have to break up each variant into its own scene and have to figure out a way to merge all the scenes together that shared the same geometry. These polished touches matter. Softimage for the win. So that said, while many 3D software could create the
Re: Nest Mommentum, reversing animation
Agreed, love the Animation Mixer. I actually compared it to Maya’s briefly in the documentation, and by far SI’s has a few more bells and whistles. It really helps in production, for blocking animation with a preset library of clips you may have created, , whipping out a sequence of actions rapidly, retime them, trim, combine, mix and match - then correct them all with Animation Layers and/or changing Fcurves within the clips, rapidly saving time over many characters or one specific one with his characterized library of movements: it’s a powerful tool to whip out large quantities of animation if you plan it right - with almost anything. I have not found another software, other than Maya’s, that may come close to a system like this, and even then it’s not quite as robust. But then again, I could be uneducated. I like it, let me put it that way, what Peter said. -Draise Ph: +57 313 811 6821 From: pete...@skynet.be Sent: Tuesday, June 3, 2014 15:04 To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com the animation mixer is for high level control over animation, including combining different types of animation. (fcurves, expressions, constraints, caches, plots,...) the most obvious use is to combine a number of animation cycles on a character into a little edit. Because it looks so much like a video editing timeline, one can easily overlook the usefulness of the mixer - on the surface it’s “just a timeline with video animationclips” – and many timing effects (including reversing animation: right click on a clip in the mixer – time properties – scale: -1) can be done with ease. it lives in the model, and connects to the model using namespaces – allowing for the sharing of animation between different models. there’s things like offsetting the animation (in space!) with clip effects, allowing to blend between different animation sources that weren’t made to blend. it can be useful for crowd animation, for instance by blending different animation cycles on the actors based on certain conditions. I know the mixer only on the surface, and don’t need it very often, but each time I do, I discover more of what it can do. Last time I needed it, I used it to turn a linear syflex simulation into timestretched, loopable + intro/outtro animations on a bunch of objects. The mixer handled with ease what amounts to manipulating thousands of shapes on quite dense geometry, without being restricted to frames. A total nightmare to do with fcurves. I think you’re a character artist, something which could be useful to you is setting up the restpose as well as a few animations and extreme poses in the mixer. This way you can easily stress test the skinning and topology. While it has seen some improvements over time, its another of those really unique tools that were in XSI from it’s very first version, and are still not really surpassed. From: Sebastien Sterling Sent: Tuesday, June 03, 2014 9:13 PM To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com Subject: Re: Nest Mommentum, reversing animation coming from different packages, never really got into the whole mixer system, i do get the appeal though. just would never really had a frame of reference for when to employ one. On 3 June 2014 19:46, pete...@skynet.be wrote: usually it’s cache the dynamics first, then plot to the mixer, and then reverse the clip in the mixer. does this not work for you? From: Sebastien Sterling Sent: Tuesday, June 03, 2014 8:30 PM To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com Subject: Nest Mommentum, reversing animation i have a momentum simulationm i ploted, is it possible to reverse the animation ? i'd do it in post, but i'm hoping to use some motion blur on some text, i's like it not to be reversed
