3d Character working work-flow (%99 works

Hi guys, after öy many tests with different modeling, texturing and exporting I've finally figured out the best way to use 3d characters in Visionaire. Still can't say that it works %100 but %99 its working now. Here are my steps.

1-) I 3d modeled the character with T-pose in 3ds max. (Legs, torso, hands, head, shoes modeled seperatly). IMPORTANT, try not to work very hi-res.
2-) Exported the model to ZBrush for sculpting then export as obj.
3-) Unwraped the exported model for texturing and did the texturing in Mari. (Textures are 1024x1024, higher resolutions have issues in Visionaire)
* Till now its more or less a standard character development procedure.
4-) Then I Imported the model into 3ds max again. In 3ds max, I've merged all the parts (Legs, head, torso etc..) into 1 mesh.
5-) Then I used biped for rigging the character.
6-) After rigging, I skinned the model and animate it. Now model is ready for exporting, which is the other important part!

Exporting
7-) I used Alin Direct-X exporter (free-version). Download link: http://www.cgdev.net/download.php

Export settings;

* In GENERAL TAB just select (scene root, material, bone, mesh, skin, animation). Leave all others unchecked!
* In VERTEXT ELEMENTS TAB just select (Textcoords). Leave all others unchecked!
* In TEXTURES TAB just select (Textures and overwrite). Leave all others unchecked!
* In MULTIPLE UV SETS TAB. Leave all others unchecked!
* In ANIMATIONS TAB. Write down your animations. Uncheck keyframes
* In TIME LINE TAB. Uncheck 3ds max and select custom with the parameter 1.
* In STANDARD material TAB. Uncheck all
* In DIRECT X SHADER TAB. Uncheck all
* In COORDINATE SYSTEMnTAB. Uncheck all (If model looks weird then try to check Right-handed)
* X-File format should be text.

In Visioanaire Studio, you should adjust the settings for the camera height and angle to match the character angle with your scene.

p.s 1, This work-flow work most of the times for me but I think there are some bugs related with 3d in Visionaire. And when I use higher-res models with high-res textures then Visionaire starts to suffer and shuts down

thank you, AkcayKaraazmak. We'll update the wiki information with your guide. Let's wait for the next Visionaire release before we investigate any further problems.

Pleasure mate, hope next version will solve the 3d problems.

Thanks for the list Akçay!

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(Textures are 1024x1024, higher resolutions have issues in Visionaire)

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Are you using only one texture sheet per a whole character? Because standard workflow around this is to have two texture sheets for a character (one for body, one for face). Anyhow 1024x1024 is ridiculously small resolution for 3D character in 2014's game.

BTW could you elaborate a little bit on walking animations? How is done its transition from standing pose to walk cycle? Is there a possibility to set somehow a smooth transition?

You are welcome Gusty ...

I used 6 different maps for 6 different parts of the model (Head, t-shirt, jeans, boots, skin, eyes). First maps were 4K then lowered them 2K and now just eyes and boots are 512 others are 1024. For my opinion if you don't show the character at very close-up shots then you don't need hi-res textures. We are doing point&click advs so cameras not very close to characters. Not like the real-time 3d games.

For the char animations, in 3ds max I used biped and manually animated the character. To mix the motions I use motion-mixer of 3ds max. Then note the first and last frame of animations. For example, 0-15 walk, 25-100 idle, 115-150 take etc... I exported my animations as 1 mocap file. And then import it to character's skeleton and then export the character with direct-X exporter as I wrote up. I did the smooth transitions manually between the 2 different animation cycles.

I havent used yet the transition in Visionare between character's animation cycles.

But I think it should be like this, lets say walk is 0-20. 21-30 walk2idle transition and 30-50 walk.
So when character stop walking, then on the mouse on-release event call playAnimation function for the walk2idle cycle and when its finished call idle. Haven't test this transition thing yet but I think it should work. By the way have you ever used change character function? I couldn't make it work.

I think the change character thing was a bug when changing between regular characters & 3d model characters. I believe I got same bug a while ago when I was having a little mess around with the zombie character Alex mentioned, as I was testing it in a .ved file where I already had a 2d character.

Yea Lee. Hope it will be fixed in the next version.

Hi, this sounds very interesting.
I can't work in 3ds max, but I think it's important how perfect the obj.-file is at the end, isn't it?

In cinema4d I work with lowpoly meshs and use a nurb tool to make it soft and hires, but I stay only IN Cinema4d to make animations. I can't export the hires nurb mesh. It would be nice to see one of your characters, because Z-brush seems to me like a poly and detail overkill... :-)
How many polys has your character before you import it into Vis?

Machtnix

Kurze Ani, vimeo.com/32682615

Hi Machtnix, sorry just read your post. Don't remember the poly count now for the hi-res n low-res versions. But exported .x models for visionaire are; the hi-res is 18 MB and the low-res is 8 MB. But these sizes are the ones with bones export. Without bones they are almost the half size. Yea sure I will upload some screen-shots or renders for you.

By the way Z-brush is a great software. Yea models u work there are millions of polys but you don't use them directly how u sculpt them there. After hi-res sculpting, I render out the displacement n normal maps and use them on the low-res version of the model to have it look like hi-res. And sure I do the retopolgy if needed. But sure Visionaire doesn't support the normal maps :\ but I use them for the game cinematics. Developers said that very soon there will be the new version of Vis, so hope we wont have these issues again

Hi, AkcayKaraazmak (I have to copy and paste your nickname :-)

Whow, 8 MB lowres is a lot, but ok for them with bones.

Btw: you use the term "bones". Most 3d-tools today use "joints" so I think, "bones" are obsolete. Newest Cinema4d cannot work with "bones" any longer - I used them in my oldfashioned Cinema version, that's the reason why I can't work together with other developer now.

Are you sure, you mean "bones" as a deformer object? With weighting maps on the mesh? I don't know a lot about 3ds Max, but I believe nowadays it works with "joints" too. Cinema4d has a "skin"-tag now, it's more comfortable to exchange between different meshs. You can't do this with my old tool, called "Claude Bonet" (thats developer humour...), you have to paint directly on the mesh and ONLY for this one... :-(
Can I import this old "bone"-rig-thing into Vis????

I haven't Z-Brush, it looks great, but.... (I look for a no-money-smiley....) and there is a problem with low memory. I think it's very good for hires close-shot-characters (maybe TLoU).

If I realize my new game, my characters will be hand-drawed (yes, with ink on on paper-sheets! Anybody else knows what a paper-sheet is?... ;-) ;-).

Machtnix

No mate, bones are the skeleton parts for the rigging process. Its been always bones In max it called bones, in maya joints and also as you said in cinema 4d its called joints but they are all same thing. And sure after you made the skeleton of your character with joints or bones you should skin it to make your mesh deformable in the way you want.

You could import any kind of bones system into Vis if only the your direct x exporter can export it as .X file. Also .collada works in Vis but what I see from my results are the .x files works better in Vis. Or I maybe It was my fault not to get good results with collada exports for Vis.

I would like to see your hand-drawing characters bro