Beer glass scene creation
This course contains a little bit of everything with modeling, UVing, texturing and dynamics in Maya, as well as compositing multilayered EXR's in Photoshop.
# 1 29-01-2003 , 05:24 PM
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hmm interesting concept

firstly, i dont know where to post this cos its kinda asking a question but also giving an idea kinda thing :s move this if you have to user added image

ok, muscle deformation! user added image
i found a nice way to do this easily, but i believe most of you know it, for those that dont know, and to release some of my excitement, i will tell you user added image

basically, you have the model, and your skeleton, you smooth bind the 2 together
for a muscle, say the bicep (muscle on the top side of your upper arm), create a nurbs sphere (shape it in any way you want) and put it in the place of the muscle on your character, set the nurbs sphere to be an influence object of the skin
now its time for some set driven key user added image
set the wrist translate x (end IK handle) to be the driver, and the nurbs sphere scale to be the driven. When the arm is bent in, scale the muscle so its bulging like a real muscle user added image
now you have to parent the nurbs sphere to a bone in the arm

and there we go user added image its very brief i know, if anyone wants a detailed description, let me know user added image

now heres my problem (dynamics)
we all know that muscles can be "squished" when theyre pressed against a wall or sumthing
how would i simulate that automatically using dynamics?
ive tried converrting the muscle to a soft body, and using active rigid bodies, but not sure how to use it :S


- Simon

My Website: www.Glass-Prison.com
# 2 29-01-2003 , 05:30 PM
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I think i'd use Blend Shapes or a lattice or something for that... using dynamics would seem like an over-kill for something that I would think could be more easily accomplished in other ways.

# 3 29-01-2003 , 07:34 PM
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how would a lattice help?

i thought of dynamics because it would all be automatic, save a lot of time


- Simon

My Website: www.Glass-Prison.com
# 4 29-01-2003 , 07:35 PM
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animate the lattice "squishing" your muscle object.

# 5 29-01-2003 , 10:22 PM
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oh i see user added image thanks mike
are there any reasons why dynamic simulation shouldnt be used for this? or is it just because there are easier ways of setting things up?


- Simon

My Website: www.Glass-Prison.com
# 6 29-01-2003 , 10:43 PM
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it all works. Just if you are able to do it using less computer power, why not? user added image Of course, if you've got the mother of all systems, it's not that big a concern.

# 7 30-01-2003 , 12:36 AM
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i will soon have the mother of all systems, but thats beyond the point user added image well it isnt, but ya no :p
anyways, thanks user added image


- Simon

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# 8 30-01-2003 , 01:26 AM
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While a dynamic simulation will be more automatic, it doesn't give you the same degree of control as an influence object, an animated lattice, or a blend shape. This is actually one area where SDKs really comes in handy. You have explicit control over how a muscle should deform. With a dynamic simulation, you sort of get what the system gives you. Steve Stahlberg over at cgtalk.com has an interesting tutorial on how to use blend shapes to simulate muscle deformations. Seems to work really well.


Danny Ngan
Animator | Amaze Entertainment
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# 9 30-01-2003 , 01:29 AM
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oh yeah i took a look at that, it seemed very hard to set up and use :S
and i was talking about having sdk AND dynamics on one influence object, or is that not possible?


- Simon

My Website: www.Glass-Prison.com
# 10 30-01-2003 , 01:51 AM
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I'm not sure if that is possible. You can try it.

Also, I don't think Maya's dynamics system will work for muscle simulation. If it did, someone would have come up with a solution by now. I have yet to hear of a muscle simulation solution that uses Maya's dynamics system.


Danny Ngan
Animator | Amaze Entertainment
my website | my blog | my job
# 11 31-01-2003 , 12:23 AM
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oooh nice, im gunna be the first user added image
thanks for your help user added image


- Simon

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