3–D Human Modeling and Animation

Peter Ratner is a professor of 3–D computer animation in the School of Art and Art History at James Madison University. He is the founder of the computer animation program at the university and started the first animation concentration in the state of Virginia. In addition to teaching, writing and illustrating five books, and authoring articles for HDRI 3D magazine, he has exhibited his oil paintings, animations, and computer graphics in numerous national and international juried exhibitions.

Preface viii
About the DVD xi
CHAPTER 1: BEGINNING MODELING TECHNIQUES 1
CREATIVITY AND ANIMATION 1
MODELING SIMPLE OBJECTS WITH POLYGONS 2
THE BASIC MODELING TOOL SET 2
MODELING A HAMMER 4
MODELING AN EASY CHAIR 9
MODELING A SOFA 12
MODELING A BOOKSHELF 15
MODELING A CABINET ONWHEELS 17
MODELING SIMPLE OBJECTS WITH SPLINES OR NURBS 22
MODELING A NURBS FLOOR LAMP 23
MODELING A NURBS END TABLE 24
MODELING A NURBS OFFICE CHAIR 26
CHAPTER 2: INTERMEDIATE MODELING TECHNIQUES 31
CREATIVITY AND ANIMATION 31
NURBS PATCH MODELING: A SIMPLE EXERCISE 32
INTERMEDIATE NURBS MODELING: CREATING A CARTOON CHICKEN 34
INTERMEDIATE POLYGON MODELING: CREATING A CARTOON CHICKEN 40
CREATING A CARTOON COW WITH POLYGONS 45
INTERMEDIATE LEVEL POLYGON MODELING 2: CREATING A CARTOON PERSON 56
CHAPTER 3: ANATOMY OF THE HUMAN FIGURE 79
SOME ANATOMICAL CONSIDERATIONS 79
PROPORTION 79
THE SKELETON 81
THE SKULL 83
THE SKELETON OF THE TORSO 85
THE BONES OF THE ARM 88
THE BONES OF THE LEG 89
THE MUSCLES 92
The MUSCLES OF THE HEAD 92
THE MUSCLES OF THE NECK 92
THE MUSCLES OF THE TORSO 94
THE MUSCLES OF THE ARM 97
THE MUSCLES OF THE LEG 99
CHAPTER 4: ADVANCED MODELING TECHNIQUES, PART 1 101
THE CREATIVE PROCESS OF 3–D MODELING AND ANIMATION 101
MODELING THE HEAD WITH POLYGONS 102
TOPOLOGY CONSIDERATIONS 103
PREPARATION FORMODELING 104
GETTING STARTED 104
ADDING A FEW EDGES TO THE MALE HEAD 138
SUMMARY 138
CHAPTER 5: ADVANCED MODELING TECHNIQUES, PART 2: THE TORSO 139
MODELING THE FEMALE TORSO 140
MODELING THE MALE TORSO 160
CHAPTER 6: ADVANCED MODELING TECHNIQUES, PART 3: THE ARM AND HAND 175
MODELING THE FEMALE ARM 175
MODELING THE MALE ARM 178
MODELING THE HAND 183
CHAPTER 7: ADVANCED MODELING TECHNIQUES, PART 4: THE LEG AND FOOT 201
ANIMATION AND CONFIDENCE 201
MODELING THE FEMALE LEG 203
MODELING THE MALE LEG 207
MODELING THE FEMALE AND MALE FOOT 212
CONCLUSION 224
CHAPTER 8: ADVANCED MODELING TECHNIQUES, PART 5: FINAL PARTS 231
DIRECTED IMAGINATION 231
THE FINAL PARTS OF THE 3–D HUMAN 231
MODELING AND TEXTURING THE EYEBALL 232
MODELING EYELASHES 234
MODELING TEETH, GUMS, AND A TONGUE 238
POLYGON HAIR VS HAIR GENERATOR SYSTEM 240
MODELING AND TEXTURING POLYGON HAIR 241
USING A DYNAMIC HAIR SYSTEM 245
LOFTING THE CURVES 247
CREATING THE REMAINING HAIR CURVES 249
MIRRORING HAIR 251
CREATING STRAY HAIRS 251
MAKING A PONYTAIL SECTION 251
RANDOMIZING POINTS ON THE WIG 253
CONVERTING NURBS CURVES TO HAIR SYSTEMS 253
TURNING OFF HAIR DYNAMICS 254
SETTING THE HAIR ATTRIBUTES 255
CLUMP AND HAIR SHAPE 255
DYNAMICS 256
CONCLUSION 260
CHAPTER 9: SURFACING AND LIGHTING DETAILS 261
UV–MAPPING A HUMAN HEAD 261
IMPORTANT SHADED UV VIEW ALTERNATIVE TO THE WIREFRAME UV SNAPSHOT 266
CREATING THE TEXTURES IN AN IMAGE EDITING PROGRAM 267
APPLYING THE TEXTURES IN MAYA 268
USING THE MENTAL RAY FAST SKIN SHADER 269
ADJUSTING THE IMAGE MAPS 270
UV–MAPPING AN ENTIRE BODY 270
VERTEX PAINTING: AN ALTERNATIVE TO UV MAPPING 272
ADDING THE MISSS—FAST—SKIN—MAYA SUBSURFACE SCATTERING MENTAL RAY NODE 274
LIGHTING CHARACTERS AND SCENES 275
LIGHT TYPES 275
LIGHTING ARRANGEMENTS 276
MOOD LIGHTING 279
CHAPTER 10: SETTING UP THE HUMAN MODEL FOR ANIMATION 281
THE WORKFLOW 281
MAKING BLEND SHAPES FOR FACIAL EXPRESSIONS 282
CREATING THE BLEND SHAPES FOR THE BROWS, EYELIDS, NOSE, AND CHEEKS 287
PART 1: WORKING WITH AN FBIK RIG 289
PART 2: SETTING UP YOUR OWN FBIK RIG 291
PARENTING THE TEETH, TONGUE, AND EYEBALLS TO THE HEAD JOINT 295
CONTROLLING THE MOVEMENT OF THE EYES 296
CREATING AND EDITING EYELASH CLUSTER WEIGHTS 297
USING BLEND SHAPES TO DRIVE THE ROTATION OF THE TEETH AND TONGUE 297
BINDING THE MODEL TO THE RIG 301
SMOOTH BINDING A HUMAN MODEL TO THE RIG 302
SMOOTH BINDING THE MESH 302
USING THE PAINT SKIN WEIGHTS TOOL 302
USING THE COMPONENT EDITOR TO FIX WEIGHTS 305
ADDINGWEIGHTS AND SUBTRACTING WEIGHTS IN THE COMPONENT EDITOR 306
CONCLUSION 307
USING BLEND SHAPES TO FIX DEFORMATIONS 307
CREATING IN–BETWEEN BLEND SHAPES 312
MAKING MUSCLE DEFORMATIONS WITH SET DRIVEN KEYS DRIVING CLUSTER DEFORMERS 313
ADJUSTING THE CONTROLLER 314
RIGID BINDING A HUMAN MODEL TO THE RIG 314
ADDING FLEXORS 314
HIP AND SHOULDER PROBLEMS 315
PAINT SET MEMBERSHIP 315
CONCLUSION 316
CHAPTER 11: FUNDAMENTALS OF HUMAN ANIMATION 317
SOME ANIMATION POINTERS 317
ANIMATING IN STAGES 319
USING THE GRAPH EDITOR TO ALTER A CLIP 320
ANIMATING A BALL THROUGH THE GRAPH EDITOR 320
USING THE GRAPH EDITOR TO ALTER A DIGITAL HUMAN S MOTION 322
ANIMATING THE ARM 322
ALTERING THE HAND WAVE IN THE GRAPH EDITOR 324
CREATING A WALK CYCLE USING CHARACTER SETS 325
CREATING A WALK ANIMATION 329
USING THE TRAX EDITOR TO REPEAT THE WALK CYCLE 334
REDIRECTING A WALK ANIMATION 337
MAKING A CLIP OF THE HANDWAVE ANIMATION 338
ADDING THE HANDWAVE AND HEAD TURN CLIPS TO THE WALK CYCLE ANIMATION 339
ENTERING THE GRAPH EDITOR FROM TRAX TO ALTER A CLIP 341
CONCLUSION 341
CHAPTER 12: HUMAN ANIMATION PRINCIPLES 345
DIALOGUE 345
DIALOGUE ESSENTIALS 345
WAYS OF MAKING THEM TALK 346
USING AN EXPOSURE SHEET 346
WORKING WITH DIALOGUE AND SOUND CLIPS IN THE TRAX EDITOR 347
STORYBOARDING 355
ROTOSCOPING 356
THE 12 PRINCIPLES OF ANIMATION 358
1 SQUASH AND STRETCH (WEIGHT AND RECOIL) 358
2 ANTICIPATION 359
3 STAGING 359
4 STRAIGHT– AHEAD VERSUS POSE– TO– POSE ACTION 360
5 FOLLOW– THROUGH AND OVERLAPPING ACTION 361
6 SLOW IN AND SLOW OUT 361
7 ARCS 362
8 SECONDARY ACTIONS 362
9 TIMING 363
10 EXAGGERATION 364
11 SOLID DRAWING 364
12 APPEAL 365
THE ELEMENTS OF ANIMATION 365
1 PACING AND IMPACT 365
2 ACTION REACTION 366
3 RHYTHM AND LINES OF ACTION 366
4 PATHS OF ACTION 366
5 SPATIAL RELATIONSHIPS 367
6 ACCENTS 367
7 CYCLES 367
8 POSTURES 367
9 THE TAKE 368
10 EMOTIONS 368
11 BALANCE/IMBALANCE 368
12 WEIGHT, MASS, ANDGRAVITY 368
USING CLOTH DYNAMICS FOR FOLLOW– THROUGH AND OVERLAPPING ACTION 369
MODELING THE CLOTHES 369
CONVERTING THE DRESS INTO AN NCLOTH OBJECT 373
CREATING A COLLISION OR PASSIVE OBJECT 374
CONSTRAINING CLOTHES TO MOVE ALONG WITH A CHARACTER 375
RENDERING 376
TERMINALWINDOW RENDERING 376
MAC OS X INSTRUCTIONS 378
WINDOWS INSTRUCTIONS 378
CONCLUSION 378
Bibliography 379
Index 381