Character customization
by ArchieMD User · in Torque 3D Professional · 07/12/2011 (11:56 am) · 3 replies
Dear forum members,
I am trying to create 3d game assets for a future character customization inside the game engine. I have some general questions regarding the workflow of development.
I would appreciate any advice and help.
1. How did you achieve dynamic morphing inside the engine? Through skeletal morphing , vertex morphing (moving each vertex to a new preset location), combination of both, or creation of custom deformers ?
2. Is the head morphs separated from the body morphs? If yes, then is the facial morphing, just a replacement of the default character head, with preset head targets? Do u ever use just replacement of default character, with preset morphed models stored in engines library, rather than doing dynamic morphing on fly inside engine?
3. How I can apply the same skinning weights (influence from skeleton joints to vertex) to the morphed custom models inside the engine? Do I have to store somehow the skinning weight information�s from the default character and after morphing to "call" them back and apply them on the new character?
4. How can I succeed morphing in height inside the engine? Skeleton resizing?
5. Are the clothes sets treated as separated characters, made with same Universal skeleton system as the Character, and "sitting" on top of the character? Or when you are importing your main default characters all possibilities of head-body morphs and clothes-set have been bonded on the same and only one skeleton system, and just been hidden, until user select an option? (example: user is selecting a preset jacket , then the jacket appears on top of the character's skin, but really was always stored there, just without been called and rendered)
6. If morphing of the default character happens on fly inside the game engine, then how morphing occurs for the clothes-set which the user will select? With other words if user creates by dynamic vertex morphing an obese character, and later he selects a jacket, then how the jacket morphs to an obese jacket so it can fit to the morphed character? Is a way been set inside the engine to calculate morphing of default character and change accordingly the morphing to all props (clothes, hats. glasses etch) so they can fit to the new morphed character?
thank you very much!
SDimis
I am trying to create 3d game assets for a future character customization inside the game engine. I have some general questions regarding the workflow of development.
I would appreciate any advice and help.
1. How did you achieve dynamic morphing inside the engine? Through skeletal morphing , vertex morphing (moving each vertex to a new preset location), combination of both, or creation of custom deformers ?
2. Is the head morphs separated from the body morphs? If yes, then is the facial morphing, just a replacement of the default character head, with preset head targets? Do u ever use just replacement of default character, with preset morphed models stored in engines library, rather than doing dynamic morphing on fly inside engine?
3. How I can apply the same skinning weights (influence from skeleton joints to vertex) to the morphed custom models inside the engine? Do I have to store somehow the skinning weight information�s from the default character and after morphing to "call" them back and apply them on the new character?
4. How can I succeed morphing in height inside the engine? Skeleton resizing?
5. Are the clothes sets treated as separated characters, made with same Universal skeleton system as the Character, and "sitting" on top of the character? Or when you are importing your main default characters all possibilities of head-body morphs and clothes-set have been bonded on the same and only one skeleton system, and just been hidden, until user select an option? (example: user is selecting a preset jacket , then the jacket appears on top of the character's skin, but really was always stored there, just without been called and rendered)
6. If morphing of the default character happens on fly inside the game engine, then how morphing occurs for the clothes-set which the user will select? With other words if user creates by dynamic vertex morphing an obese character, and later he selects a jacket, then how the jacket morphs to an obese jacket so it can fit to the morphed character? Is a way been set inside the engine to calculate morphing of default character and change accordingly the morphing to all props (clothes, hats. glasses etch) so they can fit to the new morphed character?
thank you very much!
SDimis
About the author
#2
I am thinking that dynamic vertex morphing can occure if we know the two important parameters of each vertex of the 3d model.One is its position values in space (XYZ), the other is the value of influence from the skeleton joints(nodes)on it.
So if we can create in the engine a way to store: position values and influence values of the default character and the possible morph targets this character can take, then dynamic morphing will be nothing more than applying these values to all model's vertex.
A step further, if these position values can be stored in an XML file, and the inluence values even better to a black to white map, for each target, then through dynamic morphing we will have the ability to reach the inbetween values from default character to target character, and generate this way multiple in between morphs.
(same effect as the slider we see in some video games for customization of body and face structure of a character)
Well, at least in theory this is my concept.Coming from an Art tech background, I have no idea, if my thoughts can be developed with code in Torque3D , and that is where I ask your opinion.
SDimis
07/13/2011 (8:40 am)
Dear Rex, thank you for your prompt replyI am thinking that dynamic vertex morphing can occure if we know the two important parameters of each vertex of the 3d model.One is its position values in space (XYZ), the other is the value of influence from the skeleton joints(nodes)on it.
So if we can create in the engine a way to store: position values and influence values of the default character and the possible morph targets this character can take, then dynamic morphing will be nothing more than applying these values to all model's vertex.
A step further, if these position values can be stored in an XML file, and the inluence values even better to a black to white map, for each target, then through dynamic morphing we will have the ability to reach the inbetween values from default character to target character, and generate this way multiple in between morphs.
(same effect as the slider we see in some video games for customization of body and face structure of a character)
Well, at least in theory this is my concept.Coming from an Art tech background, I have no idea, if my thoughts can be developed with code in Torque3D , and that is where I ask your opinion.
SDimis
#3
Example of the main character is headless, after choice head type i make a mount the head like like a helmet, then the hair and after the whiskers.
But this requires great accuracy in the placement and color not to distinguish the welding.
example image:
07/16/2011 (11:42 am)
Because of that I work in an MMO is to solve the problem with character used tricks. Example of the main character is headless, after choice head type i make a mount the head like like a helmet, then the hair and after the whiskers.
But this requires great accuracy in the placement and color not to distinguish the welding.
example image:
Torque Owner Rex
BrokeAss Games
You can meshHide geometry inside a DTS shape during runtime, you can addMesh geometry to a DTS shape with the Shape Editor as it gets loaded to memory.
...sounds like you have some ambitious plans for T3D! Keep at it and let us all know how it works out.