Just a little something...
by Demolishun · in Game Design and Creative Issues · 01/15/2006 (8:54 pm) · 10 replies
1. Still need to finish animating (start for that matter).
2. It is rigged with IK to empties on the feet.
3. Got rig working in Blender 2.4. Will have issues exporting I think. (Tried rig under 2.37a and thought I would try 2.4. May have to regress if exporter is not up to snuff.)
4. Need to texture.
5. Need to do a lot of other tasks with a list that seems to be getting bigger and bigger. : )
This ant is based upon Pogonomyrmex desertorum. This is a desert variety harvestor ant. Look at pictures of this ant here:
www.antweb.org/description.do?subfamily=myrmicinae&genus=pogonomyrmex&name=deser...
About the author
I love programming, I love programming things that go click, whirr, boom. For organized T3D Links visit: http://demolishun.com/?page_id=67
#2
01/20/2006 (11:51 am)
Thanks 
#3
01/20/2006 (6:39 pm)
That's a really nice model. Unfortunately, the IK chains aren't currently supported with the existing exporter. They may get incorporated with the Pose module that's in the works, but Joseph is looking into it.
#4
-Keith
01/21/2006 (6:38 am)
The proportions look pretty good. Are you using Blender? From the looks of the bones, the antennae will move seperately?-Keith
#6
The antennae will be independent. I am thinking of a string of independent animations that will cause them to be waving about all the time like real ants. I will have to figure out how to blend it with the head tilting however. The rear end or abdomen will be moving as well with two joints. There is one joint behind the thorax and one near the second part of the abdomen.
Joseph,
The IK is setup with empties with the foot bones having IK turned on on the tips. So adding a bone as a handle should be easy. I have already constrained the motion of the knee and ankle joints and tested by grabbing the empty to ensure good movement. I will be playing with the animation so will let you know how it works out. Also, thanks for working on the exporter. It just keeps getting better all the time.
I am also thinking of doing some realtime IK. It is going to take some work, but I think I may be able to reduce my animation load potentially by going this way. The main limit will be processing time. If it starts to look like a nightmare to calculate or develop I will go back to full animations. I will probably do normal animation on the back four legs no matter what.
01/21/2006 (5:21 pm)
Keith,The antennae will be independent. I am thinking of a string of independent animations that will cause them to be waving about all the time like real ants. I will have to figure out how to blend it with the head tilting however. The rear end or abdomen will be moving as well with two joints. There is one joint behind the thorax and one near the second part of the abdomen.
Joseph,
The IK is setup with empties with the foot bones having IK turned on on the tips. So adding a bone as a handle should be easy. I have already constrained the motion of the knee and ankle joints and tested by grabbing the empty to ensure good movement. I will be playing with the animation so will let you know how it works out. Also, thanks for working on the exporter. It just keeps getting better all the time.
I am also thinking of doing some realtime IK. It is going to take some work, but I think I may be able to reduce my animation load potentially by going this way. The main limit will be processing time. If it starts to look like a nightmare to calculate or develop I will go back to full animations. I will probably do normal animation on the back four legs no matter what.
#8
Thanks. I have not tested this on my ant, but I have been exporting other models with IK very nicely. It works great!
Hey, is the bone length stored in the DTS?
05/27/2006 (2:11 pm)
Joseph:Thanks. I have not tested this on my ant, but I have been exporting other models with IK very nicely. It works great!
Hey, is the bone length stored in the DTS?
#10
05/29/2006 (6:41 pm)
The reason I was asking was so I could check the size for animating some lines to show bone position. I finally used extra bones attached to the end to give me the end position of the bone. I was also going to use this for doing ray casts based upon bone size. 
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