Advanced Character Design

Course Overvie

Using Noesis Interactive’s ‘Advanced Character Design’ video courseware, students build their content creation knowledge in Autodesk|Softimage® to produce game-ready assets outside of initial Source® engine specifications. Particular attention is paid to developing custom rigs and using professional techniques for retargeting existing animation onto them. Advanced animation techniques including motion capture and real-time device capture are also explored. Both biped and quadruped rigs are discussed.

Objective

Retarget existing animation data from a standard Source character onto a non-standard character and create a custom rig for a non-biped animated creature. Both assets will be compiled and tested in game.

Supplemental Materials

The recommended Noesis materials, class discussions and video courseware assignments can be augmented as necessary to integrate with existing course outlines. Likewise, additional professor selected readings or research assignments may benefit students during the practical lesson projects above.

Course Outline

Week 1: Course Introduction

Course begins with an explanation of class format, required materials and Noesis lesson curriculum. Raise a brief discussion of character design considerations and objectives. Outline final project and intermediary steps required for completion.

Week 2: Default Animation Limitations

Advanced Character Animation – Section 1 (intro)

Advanced Character Animation – Section 2 (Setup & Rigging)

Advanced Character Animation – Section 3 (Exporting to HL2)

Why is everyone in Half-Life 2 the same height? Discuss benefits (reusability) and limitations (common proportions) of Source engine skeletal animation system. What are the challenges of creating a character outside the conventions?

[Students revisit the Softimage biped guide rigging tool and quickly create a Valve supported rig of non-standard proportions. Immediate obstacles, such as the inability to use default animations on non-characters are encountered and begin to be circumvented]

Week 3: Animation Cycles & Mixer

Advanced Character Animation – Section 4 (Character Animation)

Advanced Character Animation – Section 5 (MoCap with Mixer)

Discuss the usefulness of motion capture and the importance of a key framing foundation. Outline various mocap systems and data formats including .bvh and .c3d as well as more proprietary formats. (Re)Introduce concept of non-linear or layered animation.

[Students learn basic 3d animation keyframing to produce a looping idle animation and walk cycle for their character. Non-linear animation is also exercised via the Softimage Animation Mixer as is the ability to apply motion capture data]

Week 4: Retargeting Animation Data

Advanced Character Animation – Section 6 (MoCap with MOTOR)

Define ‘animation retargeting’ and discuss its practicality in a production environment. Many examples in both games and film are available – such as the facial retargeting in the 2005 blockbuster King Kong.

[Students learn to apply and adjust .bvh mocap data to their characters as well as blend animation using layers and import/retarget the existing HL2 animation library to their custom character]

Week 5: Compiling Notes

Advanced Character Animation – Section 7 (Triggering HL2 Sequences)

Advanced Character Animation – Section 8 (HL2 Multi-Player)

Advanced Character Animation – Section 9 (Compiling Problems)

Recap of basic compiling procedures and differences in HL2MP. Discuss differences between scripted animations and standard procedural animations.

[Students export their assets and compile a complete non-standard character for HL2 – including custom retargeted animation. Scripted sequences are also illustrated in game]

Week 6: Rigging Fundamentals

Source Creature Rigging – Section 1 (Getting Started)

Source Creature Rigging – Section 2 (Skeletons)

Source Creature Rigging – Section 3 (Constraints)

Source Creature Rigging – Section 4 (Mesh Deformation)

Discuss skeletal rigging and constraints. What makes a ‘good’ rig? Stress the importance of pre-planning and organization. It is important to know how you would like to animate you character prior to rigging. What is your character expected to do? How does body motion interrelate?

[Students create a biped rig from scratch, not using construction aids. Simple manual deformation enveloping and adjustments are also introduced]

Week 7: Rigging Techniques

Source Creature Rigging – Section 5 (Shadow Rig)

Source Creature Rigging – Section 6 (Enveloping)

Source Creature Rigging – Section 7 (Guides & Rigs)

Dicuss usage/benefits of shadow rigs while enveloping and animating (i.e. abilty to keep envelope weighting intact while modifying rig). Explore how scene layers and object viewers can reduce scene clutter.

[Students create a shadow rig parented to their skeleton using nulls and simple scripting. Character meshes are then weighted to this shadow rig]

Week 8: Creature Rigging

Source Creature Rigging – Section 8 (Creature Rigging)

Recap previous weeks topics and check in with students regarding final project and current status.

[The previous week’s skills are put to use during a exercise in which students rig, weight and animate a winged quadruped model of a dragon, then export into the Source Model Viewer]

Week 9: Real-Time Animation Setup

Real-time Character Animation – Section 1 (Creating Animation Clips)

Real-time Character Animation – Section 2 (Blending Animations)

Real-time Character Animation – Section 3 (Creating Custom Parameters)

Real-time Character Animation – Section 4 (Animation Mixer Cleanup)

Real-time Character Animation – Section 5 (Linked Parameters)

Real-time Character Animation – Section 6 (Multi Linked Parameters)

Discuss benefits of rapid prototyping blended animation outside a game engine as well as creating animation from analog input devices.

[Students lean techniques for animation scripting by creating and linking custom designed controls and parameters]

Week 10: Animation Capture

Real-time Character Animation – Section 7 (Animating Poses)

Real-time Character Animation – Section 8 (Device Capture)

Real-time Character Animation – Section 9 (Real-time Shadows)

Further previous discussion regarding motion control exploring alternate capture methods and their benefits.

[Students use their mouse and custom controls to capture animation data and plot it to their rig.]

Week 11: Final Project

Lab Review / Working on Final

Week 12: Final Project

Lab Review / Working on Final

Week 13: Final Project

Lab Review / Working on Final

Week 14: Final Project

Lab Review / Working on Final

Week 15: Final Project

Lab Review / Working on Final

Assessments

1) 10% - A first online quiz will be given at the end of week five to assess student knowledge of retargeting and motion capture data

2) 30% - A midterm assessment in the form of an online test will be given in week ten and will encompass rigging, weighting, linked parameters, and animation retargeting

3) 60% - A final project in the form of a custom non-standard (scale/proportion/extremity) character model must be complied as either an NPC or dynamic prop. NPCs may use retargeted data to compose the standard animations while dynamic props must contain several more intricate blended animation sequences. All scene files and compiled assets must be submitted for review.

Evaluation Policy

This course emphasizes conceptual understanding, creativity and execution. 3D art and design skills are not the dominant factor during student evaluation however specific attention should be paid to organization and tidiness in your scene files . The first online quiz will account for 10% of your total graded assessment. The open book midterm will account for 30% of your total grade, and the final is worth 60%.