Wrap Deformer and Blend Shapes on a solid mesh in Maya

So since the last Blend Shape tests on the block-out models I have been working on the solution to get the Blend Shape deformations from each seperate body piece to one solid mesh.

After some researching I managed to come accros a thing in maya called a wrap deformer. Which I started to test around with. It seems that you can combine the seperate body piece from the human form block-out and keep the blend shapes that have been applied to them. This makes it possible to apply a wrap deformer if you still have the first solid mesh.

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I tested this wrap deformation out on a combination of four pieces, the head, ears, neck and torso. It did mean I had to rework the block -out pieces in a way that made sure the vertices where ones connected.

The result can be seen below.

Like with the blend shape test it gave me the possibility to deform the mesh from human to bipedal werewolf form. But the wrap deformation also gave me the possibility to adjust the whole mesh keeping the mesh on solid object. This can be seen below.

The wrap deformer seems to be a great succes to create blend shape deformation in maya on seperate pieces and making sure they apply on the solid mesh. It basically means you can create a blend shape based transformation in maya on a whole character model.
I can image that it is definitely possible for a low poly character to have a real-time character transformation.

However the question still remains if it can be used in UDK and this is what I will test later this week.

Quadruped Werewolf Sketched

Some first idea sketches on the quadruped werewolf form. I think I will consider to keep the paws with thumb instead of morphing them upwards, as you would normally see with wolves.

The quadruped form will also be a little more buff then a wolf. In contrast to the bipedal form it will have larger ears and a larger tail.

                  

 

LipService

This subject might not be really relevant to my project, but I wanted to share something which looks pretty awesome. A class mate linked it to me.

An Autodesk Maya plug-in , called LipService. It is a friendly and intuitively organized, powerful multi-resolution subdivision surface sculpting, rigging, paint and animation system. Just check the video!

LipService Website

Perhaps it is a little pricey but I can imagine that for the CGI in movies and game trailers, this can be pretty helpfull. 

First Blend Shape Tests

The past days I have done some testing with blend shapes on the block-out models.

The first test was to see if it is possible to do the entire blend shape on one complete mesh. Now below you can see the result.

Blend Shape Test 01

The blend shape runs from 0 (human form) to 1 ( bipedal werewolf form). You can see how it totally seems to distort from the original block-out mesh which was used for the bipedal werewolf form. 

I am not entirely sure why this happens, at first I thought it was because it was taking the vertices that would make the shortest distance between the human form and those on the bipedal form.
But that doesn’t seem to be the reason because it takes random vertices from the bottom of the feet from human form and drags it to the muzzle of the bipedal form.

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So after my first test I decided to split the mesh up in different pieces. Starting with the head, which included the ears and the neck blocks.  In the image below you can see the result. 

Blend Shape Test 02

Again it seems to just randomly change the vertices around from blocks that are not supposed to become the final shape, it seems to result in the same problem as the first test.

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In the third test I decided to split up to smaller parts. And I got the result that I was looking for. I added a video to show that the blend shapes are working on each different body part.

                                                        Blend Shape Test 03

It is now existing out of nine different pieces, the head, ears, neck, torso, left arm, right arm, left leg, right leg and tail.

For all three tests I used freeze transformations, deleted history on the mesh and put the pivot in the centre of the scene. Before applying the actual blend shape on the mesh.

Now I am not sure why the blend shapes in the first two tests distorted that much. But I guess it might have something to do with the meshes having intersecting model, like the hears put inside the human form head. Or simply the fact that it is not one closed model.

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The result however about separating the pieces can be an advantage because it could give the animator more control when animating the transformation. Plus I looked up the possibility to put it on a solid mesh and it is possible to project these blend shapes from the different pieces to the final mesh.

Yet this is still a thing I will have to test if I can get it to work.
And of course I need to test if it is possible to add the blend shape for the third quadruped form.

So the result from the third test could be implemented into the pipeline to build a transformation animation.

Next:

- The first thing I will attempt next is to get the nine blend shapes onto one solid human form mesh and see if I can get these blend shapes to work in UDK.

- Then the rig structure will have to be tested and see if this can also be blended/ transformed.

Bipedal Werewolf Sketches

Some first idea drafts, I like how the feet are looking. The first versions looks a little scrawny, will continue to work of the design for the bipedal werewolf over the course of the upcoming weeks. Perhaps work on some  colored drafts as well.

First Block Outs

Unfortunately this week I had some extra work come up, which made it not possible for me to do everything I wanted to do and it also interfered with updating the blog. 

But first let’s have a minor recap of what I had planned to do past week. I wanted to build out the three forms in blocks and build one rig (skeletal) structure for all three forms. 

          

The block out result can be seen above. When I was building these out I first expected to have the joint places in the same position since both forms would share the same rig structure. However this would result in a less interesting form/ silhouette then the one I drew out (see Rig Drafts). 

After having a talk about this with my supervisor he gave me the idea to also ‘blend shape’ the rig structure. This is an idea I will certainly have to look into, because it will mean that I can morph the rig structure with the morphing of the human and bipedal werewolf form. So I can build out the drawn out block form.

In UDK it will mean that the character will have to swap rigs at a certain frame, which is possible.

The only problem that I can for see might be the actual motion of the animation when changing, this will require some looking in to.

So for the upcoming week I hope I will be able to build out the rig (skeletal) structures and see if I can set up the blend shapes/ morphing of the forms and rigs. Also research further on how to implement both skeletal structures and morphing meshes into UDK.

Rig Draft

Here above you can find an image of my first draft for the rig sets of the characters. My current plan is to block out the body structures of all three forms and create the character rigs. Each form will exist out of  the same amount of blocks, accept perhaps for the tail. Then again I might scale the blocks of the tail and put it within the human character model body. I will have to check if this is a possibility.

I have collected some information about UDK and it seems there are a few things I need to watch out for when building the rig. This will influence the outcome of the final solution.

* The first thing is that I can NOT scale the rig or the nodes within an animation of the character, since UDK will not process that information.
* The joints of the rig need to be in one hierachy and all connected in to one solid skeletal structure.
* I cannot add joints to the rig during the animation, because this will also not be processed by UDK.

So what I have come up with is to create a rig structure with 38 joints and my first test will be to see if it is possible to use one rig structure for all three forms. And see if it is possible to do so without scaling or adding any joints. In this test I will also check if I can morph the body structures. What  might be a problem is the posing of the quadruped form.

During the upcoming week I will also check on quadruped rig sets, may my first test fail or not show a satisfying result I might be inclined to create a different rig for each form. It is possible to swap between rigs within UDK.

However there is a possibility it will limit the motion of the animation I want to have for the transformation or make it harder to create the animation since you need to time your animations with the swapping. Currently this is only a hunch and I could be wrong.

Also to add some additional information everything will be made in Autodesk Maya 2013. 

Quick Sketch

Quick sketch of a wolf head.

Created while I was working on some drafts for the rig layouts.

Character Design _ First Ideas

So for this project I will require to design 3 different forms for one character.
The human form, the bipedal werewolf form and the quadruped werewolf form.

At the end of the project I do not require to have them fully finished in detail, however I will have to make sure that the designs work with the rig sets, character morphing and texture blending. This makes it important that I fully work out these designs on paper and most likely also as 3D models.

The human form will be of male anatomy and based on an actor for proper reference.

The bipedal werewolf form will be based on the wolfman version from the Van Helsing (2004) movie and combine it with the version used in the Wolfman (2010) movie.

             

  

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These are creature concept art images created by Carlos Huante, he was a concept artist on the Van Helsing movie. 
I do not own these images in any way or form, and they will be used for inspiration.
Please do check out his portfolio site.
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As for the quadruped werewolf form it will be based on the Canis Lupus Lupus or the common (Gray) wolf. And since it will be a fantasy creature design I have the liberty to make this form larger and fit the second bipedal werewolf form.

                    

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The Transformation Animation:

The animation for the transformation is a different story. The character is a game character and I want the transformation animation to take place real-time during gameplay. This means that I will have to make sure that the transformation only takes inbetween 3 to 5 seconds and that is per form. Otherwise it could risk breaking the immersion of a game.

For the transformation between the human and bipedal werewolf form I was thinking of the transformation used in the Wolfman (2010) movie, but at a much more faster and fluently pace. This will require the character morphing and texture blending for color changing and fur to work.

               

                   screenshot from the Wolfman (2010)

Character sculpt by Rick Baker for the Wolfman (2010)

                 

Character sculpt by Rick Baker for the Wolfman (2010)

As for the transformation between the bipedal werewolf form and quadruped werewolf form I was thinking of a quick transition. The bipedal werewolf lowering on all forms and shifting, or perhaps jumping forward and landing in the quadruped werewolf form.

And of course there the possibility to transform back also requires an animation which needs to be designed.
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I hope that I have cleared up some questions as to how the forms of the character might turn out. Over the course of the upcoming weeks I hope to have some more sketches and ideas worked out on paper.

Welcome on my project blog

Welcome on my project blog, on the side bar you can find some additional information. The specialization project is a mandatory course at our school, in which you are allowed to come up with your own plan and outcome. The final result has to be realised within the course of 15 weeks.
I will share my full plan which I delivered to my supervisor.
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The aim of the specialization project is to find a solution for the changing topology and rig of a character during a transformation animation real-time in a game. 

The transformation animation for this project is a humanoid character model that can transform into a monster character model. To be more specific it is a human character with two forms. The first form is a bipedal werewolf, so the human character can transforms into a bipedal werewolf. The second form is a quadruped werewolf, this means that the bipedal werewolf is able to transform into the quadruped werewolf. 
The quadruped werewolf model will have changed topology, with an increase of geometry (fur patches, tail, claws) and a reposed or different rig after the transformation in comparison to the human model. 

During the specialization a lot of research will be done in bipedal and quadruped type rigs and their differences in setting up the rigs, the anatomy, the posing and also the motion. Also how to make the model and rig work together, see if it is possible to blend over one another, making use of one or multiple rigs that can scale or reform. All this is needed to make sure the transformation will look fluid. 
As for the models a few methods will be researched which will be used for the transformation animation. These are character morphing, model swapping and texture blending. The idea is to find a possible combination between these methods that will work together to create the transformation animation for the character in real-time. 

Both the rigs and the methods for the models have to be tested to make sure it they can be used in a game engine. The engine that is preferred for this project is the Unreal Development Kit, UDK. The unique point of this assignment is to create a creative solution for a fluid transformation animation and overcome the difficulty of changing one bipedal rig with a quadruped rig. 

During the research process and testing phases the design for the character will be created. This will include documentation and concept art work. The design will set the restrictions for the character and its transformation. For instance how the character should look before, during and after the transformation. How the animation should look and how long this animation should last. Also the topology of the humanoid character model, the topology of the character after the transformation and the amount of polygons are described in the design. Included as well are the placement of the UV’s and the texture sizes for the character. These restrictions will be influenced also by the outcome of the research and tests.
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My project is focused on research & testing.

In the end I will have formed a possible set up for a  transformation for a real-time in-game character. This solution should work in the Unreal Development Kit, UDK. 

The idea is to have the final product feature complete, mainly the changing rig structure of the character working in UDK. 

I will try and give an update status of my project regularly.