PhysX Pipeline/ Characters In Torque
by Sunder Studios · in Torque 3D Professional · 02/16/2010 (1:41 pm) · 6 replies
Hi there,
Could someone please briefly explain to me the pipeline for using characters with PhysX inside of Maya?
I know how to to use maya and create skinned DTS character animation and what physics engines do, but I need to know the pipeline and how the files are intended to work together. I don't know this because I've never had to use a 3rd party physics engine before and I can't find anything in the documentation regarding characters and PhysX. I'm a maya guy not a coder and the coders I work with aren't 3D application people, So bear with me.
Some things I need to know:
-I would just like to know what the best usages of PhysX are so we can take the best advantage of it. I have seen the breakable object and cloth examples but what about characters.
- What is typical usage (Any examples?) for PhysX with skinned characters in torque, or is this completely experimental with Torque? For example, should PhysX be used any time a character is hit by another character via rigid bodies? Or are rigid body ragdolls only used for when the character is falling or colliding with a surface plane?
- Is a PhysX ragdoll needed to be applied to the character in order for a character to hit and/or break another physX object or is there an easier way to do this?
- Is the PhysX data transferred to the DTS files some way or is the PhysX data exported differently?
Could someone please briefly explain to me the pipeline for using characters with PhysX inside of Maya?
I know how to to use maya and create skinned DTS character animation and what physics engines do, but I need to know the pipeline and how the files are intended to work together. I don't know this because I've never had to use a 3rd party physics engine before and I can't find anything in the documentation regarding characters and PhysX. I'm a maya guy not a coder and the coders I work with aren't 3D application people, So bear with me.
Some things I need to know:
-I would just like to know what the best usages of PhysX are so we can take the best advantage of it. I have seen the breakable object and cloth examples but what about characters.
- What is typical usage (Any examples?) for PhysX with skinned characters in torque, or is this completely experimental with Torque? For example, should PhysX be used any time a character is hit by another character via rigid bodies? Or are rigid body ragdolls only used for when the character is falling or colliding with a surface plane?
- Is a PhysX ragdoll needed to be applied to the character in order for a character to hit and/or break another physX object or is there an easier way to do this?
- Is the PhysX data transferred to the DTS files some way or is the PhysX data exported differently?
#2
AFAIK there will be ragdolls and maybe physics animation in the future.
You need c++ programmer skills for doing ragdoll and physics animation by yourself(just synchronize all animated character bones with physx actors, but it is not easy).
02/16/2010 (5:39 pm)
Physx character is a capsule or a box in Torque now and there is no ragdoll implemented yet and no physics animation too.AFAIK there will be ragdolls and maybe physics animation in the future.
You need c++ programmer skills for doing ragdoll and physics animation by yourself(just synchronize all animated character bones with physx actors, but it is not easy).
#3
02/16/2010 (5:44 pm)
Using a box or a capsule like character replica it is a common practice, so do not worry about it , but when character is dying there definetely has to be a ragdoll, not animation.
#4
02/16/2010 (5:50 pm)
I would add bone/jointed-actors/etc automation functionality to my 3dsMax Physit! tool if Ragdolls became an integral part of the engine.
#5
02/16/2010 (6:22 pm)
Ok, I'm going to discuss this with my coding peeps. Thanks for the replies. 
#6
02/18/2010 (6:33 pm)
Torque will have ragdoll support eventually... its just been lower priority than other core physics issues. 
Torque Owner TheGasMan
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