Making Multiple Objects In To One?

F

Felasco

0
Making Multiple Objects In To One?

Hi guys,

Very basic questions here.

I have successfully imported a character from MakeHuman, and learned how to manipulate the camera so I can see the character. I am now attempting to animate the character in the most basic manner possible, simply move character from one side of screen to the other.

The character has a mesh and clothes, hair etc. If I select all these objects in the Object Browser I can move and rotate the entire character. However, when I try to animate the same motion, the mesh separates from the clothes etc. Or, one object of the character flys off on it's own. This happens even though I have selected all character objects in the Object Browser.

First question would be, is it possible to join the character mesh and all the different objects that make up the character in to one thing?

Or, is that stupid way to solve the problem and I should instead do, what?

Many thanks!
 
Felasco said:
Hi guys,

Very basic questions here.

I have successfully imported a character from MakeHuman, and learned how to manipulate the camera so I can see the character. I am now attempting to animate the character in the most basic manner possible, simply move character from one side of screen to the other.

The character has a mesh and clothes, hair etc. If I select all these objects in the Object Browser I can move and rotate the entire character. However, when I try to animate the same motion, the mesh separates from the clothes etc. Or, one object of the character flys off on it's own. This happens even though I have selected all character objects in the Object Browser.

First question would be, is it possible to join the character mesh and all the different objects that make up the character in to one thing?

Or, is that stupid way to solve the problem and I should instead do, what?

Many thanks!
Click to expand...

If you just want to slide across the screen with no arm and leg motion,
put the mesh into a folder in Cheetah and keyframe the folder.

For a better evaluation please zip the file and upload it to the forum.

​
 
Have you tried looking at the Alien Walk example file?

Go to:
Help > Cheetah 3d Samples > Animation > Alien walk.jas

I think there are some other posts somewhere about importing mocap files (motion capture). The issue with that is you have to use a skeleton that matches the mocap file. So you would have to replace the standard MH one with an alternate and then re-bind to the mesh.

edit: This post may help some. http://www.cheetah3d.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11449&highlight=mocap
 
Thanks for the replies guys.

I sense I'm probably asking the question poorly, no surprise given how little I know at this point. Your patience is appreciated.

Don't people import characters and their clothes etc in to Cheetah all the time, and then animate those characters? That's what I'm trying to learn. So perhaps we should start there, with the most basic question. Is what I'm trying to do a normal operation in Cheetah?

For example, can Cheetah users buy characters and character assets from DAZ, and then animate those characters in Cheetah? I suspect that's where I'm headed.

If such operations are normal, then I need to figure out why it's not working in this particular case.

I don't know what mocap files are. I'm just exporting out of MakeHuman and then importing in to Cheetah, as we discussed the other day.

However, binding to the mesh sounds like it might be what I'm trying to do. I'll dig in to what you've written above and try to refine my question.

PS: I see the alien walk example, but have no idea what I'm supposed to learn from it.
 
Last edited:
ZooHead said:
If you just want to slide across the screen with no arm and leg motion, put the mesh into a folder in Cheetah and keyframe the folder.
Click to expand...

Do you mean create a folder in the Object Browser, and then put all the character files in that folder? If yes, how does one create a folder in the Object Browser? Thanks.

PS: Ah, so you mean Group the items in the Object Browser, right? I did that, and the character now animates as whole. Thanks for the tip.
 
Last edited:
Apologies for being such a nube. I'm shifting my focus to the manual, which should prevent many dumb questions, and wasting of your time. It seems clear I'm not going to learn 3D by just fiddling around with the software, so it's on to the manual for me. Making some progress there now...
 
Felasco said:
Do you mean create a folder in the Object Browser, and then put all the character files in that folder? If yes, how does one create a folder in the Object Browser? Thanks.

PS: Ah, so you mean Group the items in the Object Browser, right? I did that, and the character now animates as whole. Thanks for the tip.
Click to expand...
Either way, grouping by folder or hierarchy.
You could have also just animated the camera.

To fully animate a character from Makehuman you need to export with bones.
​
Felasco said:
Apologies for being such a nube. I'm shifting my focus to the manual, which should prevent many dumb questions, and wasting of your time. It seems clear I'm not going to learn 3D by just fiddling around with the software, so it's on to the manual for me. Making some progress there now...
Click to expand...
No apologies necessary, we all had to go through the newbie stage.

Don't hesitate to ask any questions, search the forum
and web, and experiment, experiment, experiment.

Also get in the habit of uploading your model and or screenshots so we can understand the problem quickly.

​
 

Attachments

  • Folder Location.jpg
    Folder Location.jpg
    207 KB · Views: 228
  • MH Bones.jpg
    MH Bones.jpg
    167.4 KB · Views: 237
I agree with Zoo, we all started somewhere. I've learned a good bit just messing around. The main goal is just to have fun along the way. Character modeling / animation probably is one of the harder things to do in 3d. So you've picked a good challenge! :D

You can check out Novolume's tutorials. They are all really pretty good.
His C3d website:
http://www.mac3dsoftware.com/

Video on basic character rigging here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uymlc8OUggA
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top