i add my little comments here. maybe its any worth for you.
i dont use the shape manager at all so far. i have a facial setup
where i have the controls as splines directly on the face. upon the
position of these controls shapes get blend in and out via linked with
connections.
to illustrate, i have a mouth corner controls. when i push it outwards
the mouth corner out shape is used. when i push it up, the mouth
corner up shapes is mixed in, and so forth.
so i dont have facial expressions stored in the shapes, but the basic
building blocks. thats why i know that i wont need more or less
shapes.
i exclusively work with ref models and i heavily work on the basic
shapes while i am animating to meet certain needs or correct mistakes.
when the ref model is loaded in the scene the first time i tick the
everything on BUT shape/audio. thats the important thing. otherwise it
saves the shape animation with the scene, but there is no real
animation. because its all linked. the animation gets stored in the control splines.
now i am actually able to swap the whole/partially shape set (like
with gator), work on dedicated shapes by had and replace shape keys,
and still have all connections working and all ref models updated
throught the scenes.
i would be able to add special shapes and blend them in via a
cporperty etc. i dunno, but with this setup i never felt the need for
the shape manager, because i am happy, flexible and fast.
i have to admit that i didnt really checked the shape manger out yet.
ciao
franky
Saturday, December 2, 2006, 2:53:50 PM, you wrote:
MM> Well, that's good to hear Jeff... The majority of the problems I've had are
MM> related to ref models to be fair - specifically when you open the mixer on a
MM> ref model it will prompt to enable local mixer saving, but opening the shape
MM> manager doesn't give any warning, so that animators animate their scene and
MM> it doesn't save when reloading - and if it is enabled then its tricky to
MM> update the ref model with new shapes etc as the mixer is stored locally. How
MM> do you deal with that, or do you not use ref models?
MM> I do also have problems with the shape manager sliders losing their
MM> connection to the shapes, but I can't recreate it easily, but can fix it by
MM> deleting the compound clip and re-opening the shape manager, so its a minor
MM> thing.
MM> On 01/12/06, Jeff Wilson <jwilson(at)blur.com> wrote:
>>
>> I dunno... we animate in the shape manager day in and day out and never
>> have any problems to speak of. We aren't doing a lot of animation
>> importing/exporting, but we have done some when necessary and it seems
>> fine. We have probably used it on half a dozen projects now including
>> the last short, so it seems production ready for what we do.
>>
>> jeff
>>
>> Matt Morris wrote:
>> > its a bad idea to animate directly in the shape manager, its just not
>> > production safe... especially if you are importing/exporting from the
>> > mixer or using ref models. great for creating shapes but make a cpset
>> > to animate - this can be scripted pretty quickly to create sliders
>> > based on what you have in the manager.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > On 01/12/06, *Oscar Juarez* <send.me(at)antropomorphia.com
>> > <mailto:send.me(at)antropomorphia.com>> wrote:
>> >
>> > Shape manager its just a direct connection to weights on the tracks
>> of
>> > the mixer
>> > it will create a compound clip... with all the shapes. when you
>> > animate
>> > in the shape
>> > manager you are really animating weights on the mixer.
>> >
>> > Its like proxy parameters but don´t really exist.
>> >
>> >
>> > dbarosin(at)optonline.net <mailto:dbarosin(at)optonline.net> wrote:
>> > > Making a ppg and putting parameters on it is a way to go.
>> > >
>> > > Not sure of the logic here but when you make the shapes using
>> > 'select
>> > > shape key' a ppg is generated but the shape manager does not
>> > create a
>> > > ppg. Not sure where the shape manager stores it's
>> > parameters. Seems
>> > > that the shape manager doesn't add to an existing shapeWeights ppg
>> > > either.
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > ----- Original Message -----
>> > > From: Mario Ucci
>> > > Date: Friday, December 1, 2006 9:08 am
>> > > Subject: RE: Hybrid Actionclip?
>> > > To: XSI(at)Softimage.COM <mailto:XSI(at)Softimage.COM>
>> > >
>> > > >
>> > > >
>> > > > Hi Dbarosin,
>> > > >
>> > > > Thanks! That makes sense.
>> > > >
>> > > > Ive animated the shapes using shape manager, also used to create
>> > > > them.. and it didnt get stored with the clip automatically.
>> > > > Maybe I should create a custom ps and animate them there rather
>> > > > than using the SM...
>> > > >
>> > > > thoughts?
>> > > >
>> > > > cheers man
>> > > >
>> > > > Mario
>> > > >
>> > > >
>> > > >
>> > > >
>> > > > -----Original Message-----
>> > > > From: owner-xsi(at)Softimage.COM <mailto:owner-xsi(at)Softimage.COM>
>> > on behalf of dbarosin(at)optonline.net <mailto:dbarosin(at)optonline.net>
>> > > > Sent: Fri 12/1/2006 1:21 PM
>> > > > To: XSI(at)Softimage.COM <mailto:XSI(at)Softimage.COM>
>> > > > Subject: Re: Hybrid Actionclip?
>> > > >
>> > > > Well if your shapes are a standard set for the character you can
>> > > > drive the shapes using a custom property page with sliders for
>> > > > each shape. That could then be stored in an animation clip
>> > > > rather than shape clips storing the animation directly.Your
>> > > > shape clips would be on the mixer with the parent In and parent
>> > > > Out time range checked. Depending on how you create the shapes
>> > > > XSI will make the ppg with shape sliders for you (i.e. shape
>> > > > manager). ----- Original Message -----From: Mario Ucci Date:
>> > > > Friday, December 1, 2006 8:07 amSubject: Hybrid Actionclip?To:
>> > > > XSI(at)Softimage.COM <mailto:XSI(at)Softimage.COM>> > > Hello guys,>
>> > > > I am creating several
>> > > > different animations for the same shot > with the same character
>> > > > (and rig/shapes) and then storing > animation as an action and
>> > > > importing all variations into a > single scene.> > My question
>> > > > s, Is it possible to store bone animations and shape >
>> > > > animations in the same clip? if so how and if not, wouldnt that
>> > > > > be very good?> > > It could generate both different clips at
>> > > > once at least and then > when u add it to the track it splits
>> > > > into shape and animation > tracks as it happens when you import
>> > > > some footage into an > editing soft. and the video goes to one
>> > > > track and the audio to > the other but you only import one
>> > > > file.> > ok. cheers lads> > Mario> >
>> > > >
>> > > >
>> >
>> >
>> > ---
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>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > www.mattmos.com <http://www.mattmos.com> | www.xsilondon.com
>> > <http://www.xsilondon.com>
>>
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