Muscle "blobs" without requiring smart Bone Actions

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llamapixel
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Joined: Mon Feb 10, 2014 1:52 am

Muscle "blobs" without requiring smart Bone Actions

Post by llamapixel »

Hi Guys,
I am new to Pro 10 and giving it some time for some testing.
I don't mind re-working the vector positions using a smart bone action for certain areas that bend but I think I came up with another way for certain limbs.

This probably doesn't work for all characters but It might for some solutions.
You have normal character shapes and extra shapes that are loosely bound to the limbs
It involves using extra vector shapes that distort in place and some parts of the vector shapes are hiding distorting element.
I have to complete the test by switching over to binding the actual vectors to the correct areas.
The green limb and blob are indicative of one group and the red the other.
Has something like this been explored before? Is there a term already made for something like this.
I had the idea from 3d packages when you can hide other mesh inside to prevent certain distortion like say chest breathing etc.
I coloured the elements to see the distortion and made an example at the end in one tone ( black ) to see the shape it represents.
Do you think these fake muscle concepts could be a feature later down the track somehow?
Anyway, love to hear what you have already covered, explored or tried with something like this.

Image
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llamapixel
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Re: Muscle "blobs" without requiring smart Bone Actions

Post by llamapixel »

Had some inroads but not perfected.
I will need to practice more on that theory.

After some more testing, Internal shapes as muscles using a standard circle hinge came to mind. Image

Alternatively for the first concept which adds complexity, thinking about a completely constrained twin bones in the hinge as another test that I will follow up as I get more time.

Update#1
I keep getting positioning issues and probably need accurate Align - Distribute features before proceeding with these concepts.
Update#2
The classic circle in the joint and free moving muscle seems to be one way to avoid smart bones for some workflows.
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neeters_guy
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Re: Muscle "blobs" without requiring smart Bone Actions

Post by neeters_guy »

I'm not sure I understand how this works...posting a file would help. Also, what is the reason for not using smart bone actions?
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llamapixel
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Re: Muscle "blobs" without requiring smart Bone Actions

Post by llamapixel »

Hello neeters_guy

When you are designing a workflow, that may be repeated by other staff / artists / yourself over many iterations, any way to remove tedious repetitive and non uniform moves is always a bonus.
I am trying to eliminate the need for the step of using / diagnosing visual errors and testing smart bone actions.
I am trying to bring techniques from what I discovered in some 3d lessons and speed up the process.
By certain linking of vertices that act as stretch points or stretching polygon areas in 3d models is the crossover thought.

In the process of producing the correct illusion ( shape ) for the character reducing the steps is always beneficial to your workflow.
Stretching an element other than the original intended objects is it in a nutshell.
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