Also well worth downloading and installing the pushing pixels toolkit ;) very useful and a very good example of the type of things TDS can make in Modo
From: Serch Mucino <sergio.muc...@gmail.com<mailto:sergio.muc...@gmail.com>> Reply-To: "softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>" <softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>> Date: Thursday 05 June 2014 at 4:59 PM To: "softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>" <softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>> Subject: Re: OT: What strong features have you found in your new transition software that SI didn´t have? It appears to me some of your concerns might be addressed already. Some of the things you mention might be covered here... http://docs.luxology.com/modo/801/help/pages/animation/ActorActionPose.html Also, if you'd be doing a lot of CA, I really suggest looking into ACS. It currently only supports biped-like rigs, but it's one of the best auto-riggers I've used, and it has a very nice set of animation tools and workflows built into it. You can find more info here... http://community.thefoundry.co.uk/store/kits/acs/ http://manual.autocharactersetup.com/ It can also be customized to support other types of anatomical structures, but it requires working a little with the innards of the ACS character. There's videos that explain well how to do it though. I've been able to add additional deformation items to ACS rigs without too much problem. I hope this helps a bit! Cheers! ---- Sergio Mucino On Wed, Jun 4, 2014 at 1:53 PM, Marco Peixoto <mpe...@gmail.com<mailto:mpe...@gmail.com>> wrote: I only touched briefly Modo for Character Animation, before that i bought Modo long time ago and used for Modeling but then got so used to Softimage that I forgot about Modo. Top of my head things that I got used in Soft and now in Maya (where I now animate): - Slow Viewport... - No Character Key Sets or a fast way to just select some or all Controllers and drag and drop the Select Code to a Shelf. (maybe there is but I could not find them) - Pose Manager - Way to have a Synoptic or a Picker - Exporting Poses or Animation so we can re-use them on Another Character (I dont use the Mixer in Maya but we use the super old DKAnim or sometimes when its only for me I use PAIE script) Like I said I only very very briefly took a look around, I need to devote more time to it one of these days to really test it, but so far those where the things that I encountered and they probably have a workaround or other ways to achieve the same but of course I dont know about them. Going from Soft to Maya just for CA is not that hard, somethings are different but majority is basically the same since Soft copied and improved a lot of Mayas way of working like Layers, Channel Box, Timeline. On Wed, Jun 4, 2014 at 3:12 PM, Sergio Mucino <sergio.muc...@gmail.com<mailto:sergio.muc...@gmail.com>> wrote: Hey Marco. I'm curious... Where is Modo falling short for you? Cheers! Sergio Muciño. Sent from my iPad. On Jun 4, 2014, at 6:12 AM, Marco Peixoto <mpe...@gmail.com<mailto:mpe...@gmail.com>> wrote: Fist thing you do in Modo is to remove the awfull (IMO) Trackball rotation... that and also the grid Plane they have, it might suits for Modeling but I keep finding it vey introsive and distracting, of course thats me that is not that used to Modo and im slowly trying to see if it fits my CA needs (so far it doesnt) On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 10:45 AM, Angus Davidson <angus.david...@wits.ac.za<mailto:angus.david...@wits.ac.za>> wrote: 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 Map Vertex Color map defined by three R, G and B color and an additional Alpha value Pick Map Like 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.com<mailto:ml...@carbinestudios.com>> Reply-To: "softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>" <softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>> Date: Tuesday 03 June 2014 at 4:49 AM To: "softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com>" <softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto: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.com<mailto: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.com<mailto: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 for sure, but if you are in need of it for games (and I assume that is where your interest resides) I wouldn't know enough how low level you would need to get. In terms of a VFX or character animation (non real-time) use of vertex colors, normals, etc. I have so far been very impressed. The viewport is very informative, updates quickly (depending on how much you have in your scene, of course). Vertex colors, weightmaps, enveloping, n-gons, unfolding, mirroring, etc. have all worked far better than my experiences with Softimage so far. Granted that my tests have been isolated and not yet production examples (for those specific tools). Use that to take what I say about them with the appropriate grain of salt. So far, things like weighting points, painting weights, controlling deformers, etc. have all been quite good. There are many tools that may have no use in a game space (again, assuming that is where your interests are), but have been very easy to pick up and use at high degree of control really, really quickly. It certainly isn't me being some savant with new tools, either. It just seems to make sense to my Softimage-encrusted brain. Also, I have to say, the amount and quality of the free tutorials out there for C4D is a huge boon to anyone making that specific transition. We have a Digital Tutors account, and they even h ave a 17 part series called "Cinema 4D for Softimage Artists" http://www.digitaltutors.com/tutorial/1598-CINEMA-4D-for-Softimage-Artists Which was very helpful, too. Sorry I can't be more specific on the questions you asked, but if I get more time in those areas, I will happily report what I find. Perry On Mon, Jun 2, 2014 at 7:34 PM, Matt Lind <ml...@carbinestudios.com<mailto:ml...@carbinestudios.com>> wrote: How is C4D for doing lower level stuff like working with vertex colors, manipulating normals (orientation), UV editing (unfolding, mirroring, working with islands, …), controlling tessellation of polygons, etc..? Matt From:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com> [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>] On Behalf Of Perry Harovas Sent: Saturday, May 31, 2014 10:48 PM To: davidsa...@sfr.fr<mailto:davidsa...@sfr.fr>; softimage@listproc.autodesk.com<mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com> Subject: Re: OT: What strong features have you found in your new transition software that SI didn´t have? Transitioned to C4D and Houdini. Mostly using C4D, surprisingly. The amount of control is amazing, with really easy ways to do certain things that would be much harder in Softimage. The curves are better, with excellent control of booleans (even curve booleans!). The dynamics are really surprising, too. You can easily animate a bunch of instances along a path, and also have them collide with each other at the same time. Nearly EVERYTHING is drag and drop-able. The shaders are very nice, but I miss nodal shading. I really think of all the packages out there, C4D is the closest to Softimage that I have seen so far. It makes me sad that I have to move to another package, but every cloud has a silver lining, and the silver lining is that many things I do more often than not are much easier now. When they are difficult, then I can use Houdini. Not perfect, but overall, being out of the grasp of Autodesk feels great no matter what. On Sat, May 31, 2014 at 4:54 AM, David Saber <davidsa...@sfr.fr<mailto:davidsa...@sfr.fr>> wrote: I have not digged enough into Houdini yet but so far I'm blown by the operator stack equivalent: much more powerful! -- Perry Harovas Animation and Visual Effects http://www.TheAfterImage.com<http://www.theafterimage.com/> -25 Years Experience -Member of the Visual Effects Society (VES) -- Perry Harovas Animation and Visual Effects http://www.TheAfterImage.com<http://www.theafterimage.com/> -25 Years Experience -Member of the Visual Effects Society (VES) 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. <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="#999999"><span 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. 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