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3D software and animating characters
Author
I want to create some characters animations for my 3d isometric tile game. What is the most adapted sofware for designing such stuff ? I have 3DSmax V3 ...
Have you any tutorials to help me or even mesh files?
Do you know some website where i can found rotoscoping sequence
capture? it will certainly much more easy to create animations ...
Thierry
You could use Poser, which is a separate program from MetaCreations that has a built-in library of 3D figure models. These can be animated and exported to 3DSMax easily I believe, including the motion data.
Other than that the only thing I know of is Character Studio, which is an add-on for 3DSMax, but I''ve never used that so I don''t know what it''s like.
Other than that the only thing I know of is Character Studio, which is an add-on for 3DSMax, but I''ve never used that so I don''t know what it''s like.
3DS Max seems to be the industry standard for game development. By itself, the bones and skinning for R3 are vastly improved over R2.5. If you want to do some motion capture or use some predefined animation, get Character Studio. The interface (at least for R2.5) is pretty crappy, but once you figure it out you''ll be able to string together a bunch of pre-defined animations to create your own.
Personally, I went from 3DS Max to Softimage and now Maya (which I''ve been using since version 1 and love it). Both Softimage and Maya completely blow Max''s animation tools away, but you have to pay for that power.
If I had a choice, I''d choose Maya all the way. (Although I haven''t played with Softimage XSI yet, the non-linear animation has me intrigued!)
To give you an idea, Softimage and Maya are outstanding software packages and primarily thier power is focused on television and movies, whereas 3DS Max is primarily a game development tool. (There are exceptions, of course. SquareSoft uses Softimage and now Maya for game and movie development (and a lot of proprietary software) while some smaller production houses use 3DS Max for television and movies. If I remember right, the opening sequence of Lost In Space was done with 3DS Max).
Mechasam also mentioned Poser, which is a decent program for using pre-modeled meshes (which, btw, anyone can spot instantly, so I wouldn''t suggest using them in a final production) to animate your walk cycles and such.
For tutorials, you need look no further than the Online Help that accompanies your software, or the manuals. There are several web sites like www.3dcafe.com that link to multitudes of resources on the web. Also, www.discreet.com would be a good place to look for resources since they own 3DS Max and Kinetix now. For forums specific to the software you''re using, go to www.highend3d.com. Those forums have a wealth of animating and modeling tips and techniques. Excellent website!
The rotoscoping technique could be accomplished with an .avi (or targa sequence) as the background of your viewport. I think the Online Help explains how to do that. Just look under Viewports or Backgrounds or something similar...
Hope that helped!
Personally, I went from 3DS Max to Softimage and now Maya (which I''ve been using since version 1 and love it). Both Softimage and Maya completely blow Max''s animation tools away, but you have to pay for that power.
If I had a choice, I''d choose Maya all the way. (Although I haven''t played with Softimage XSI yet, the non-linear animation has me intrigued!)
To give you an idea, Softimage and Maya are outstanding software packages and primarily thier power is focused on television and movies, whereas 3DS Max is primarily a game development tool. (There are exceptions, of course. SquareSoft uses Softimage and now Maya for game and movie development (and a lot of proprietary software) while some smaller production houses use 3DS Max for television and movies. If I remember right, the opening sequence of Lost In Space was done with 3DS Max).
Mechasam also mentioned Poser, which is a decent program for using pre-modeled meshes (which, btw, anyone can spot instantly, so I wouldn''t suggest using them in a final production) to animate your walk cycles and such.
For tutorials, you need look no further than the Online Help that accompanies your software, or the manuals. There are several web sites like www.3dcafe.com that link to multitudes of resources on the web. Also, www.discreet.com would be a good place to look for resources since they own 3DS Max and Kinetix now. For forums specific to the software you''re using, go to www.highend3d.com. Those forums have a wealth of animating and modeling tips and techniques. Excellent website!
The rotoscoping technique could be accomplished with an .avi (or targa sequence) as the background of your viewport. I think the Online Help explains how to do that. Just look under Viewports or Backgrounds or something similar...
Hope that helped!
On the other hand, if you don''t have the several thousand dollars that any of these lovely packages will cost... Hash Inc.''s Animation Master is a very nice character-animation-oriented package for $300. ($200 student price). It uses spline-based modelling, including five-point patches and hooks to simplify meshes, mixable forward and inverse kinematics, smartskin for bone-driven point animation, spring systems, cloth generator, toon rendering, all sorts of stuff. On the flip side, it''s not entirely stable (save often!) and it has a few odd quirks, (none of which I can actually remember since I''m so used to them by now), but I''d say it''s worth it.
-Moth
-Moth
Well since you guys are bringing in the really expensive 3DSMax, I guess I should bring up that they are going to release a streamlined version specifically for game design purposes. Woohoo! Anyway, its a lot cheaper, don''t think its free though 
Oh,well check it out on their website ....I think....
Oh,well check it out on their website ....I think....This topic is closed to new replies.
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