Aquatic Monster Models

[Vegeta]

Wow, you guys have been busy >.<  That Colo Claw Fish is really good!  Better than what I was expecting at any rate, just looks like it needs some texture improvements, as you said.  

Oh, and btw, how big is this model in comparison to a basic humanoid playermodel ( like a stormtrooper ) ?

[ChalklYne]

i was going to ask you the same thing lol

some more texture work here n there

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

just noticed i went wayy too dark on that . im gunna have to back a few steps n try again

[Vegeta]

I just noticed, in the reference pictures, the end of the tail is kind of rounded off, but the in the model, it is squared off (or at least it looks that way from the pics)  Also, the colors of the eyes should be yellow with black around the edges.

[ChalklYne]

 

i could add some more polies in there to get the real look if its cool with everybody. i didnt wanna step on any toes as to how many verts n such in case u were planning on having a bunch onscreen.. but yer right i like the real tail too so yeah ill just build it like it looks. i was considering alpha planes but then if u wanted to get nice and close to it you would be able to tell something isnt right. yeah i purposely modelled it kind of just a general idea and saved a buncha polies, but i think it was pointless

 

but at any rate naw its not squared maybe i could have added a little more girth to it right in that beaver tail end ill look at it

 

also... i rigged it just to check it out and get a rough idea of the skeleton i wanted to build for it... and it seems it would be best if it swam something like a mermaid huh?

[Vegeta]

Ah, I found the image, the end of the tail actually looks pretty good 

Yeah, I think that a "mermaid-like" animation would be good for the creature, and it can use as many polies as it needs, lag shouldn't be a real problem as long as the amount is within the JA maximum limit

Edited April 12, 2013 by Vegeta

[ChalklYne]

well its gunna have a custom skele so no MP til they can start cracking sp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i still wanna texture a bit more before i bake in a bump map i made in zbrush for it. im just gunna do a real suttle overlay though nothing too bumpy because i have a real decent normal map i made in zbrush im gunna save for it for later just in case =)

[Vegeta]

Could you make a separate MP version that uses a similar skeleton as the howler to go with it?

Like, have two separate model folders, (colo_sp and colo_mp)  they would both be the same basic model, but the skeletons would be different.  I don't know if it is possible, but what I do know is that the howler works in MP, and my weird Sando based off of it also worked in MP.

Edited April 12, 2013 by Vegeta

[ChalklYne]

yeah im not gunna animate it though im sure u know how to use a lil dragin ill rig it though no worries. ill try but im not sure how the jaw is going to line up but ill get it workable. but youll just have to animate it. hell that means ill b done with this sucker tonight or tomorrow lol sweeet

 

i was going to make a couple of color variations and maybe one with some alpha planed babies swimming underneath it, but ill just leave the textures for u and drop the babies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Vegeta]

Huh, well I have never been able to export any models successfully, just some fancy stuff that I do with the files.  I am only good at mapping and directly editing files from code, (which doesn't usually include models...)  Modeling tutorials never really help me, (mostly because of the terminology and outdated software used)

Anyways, if you want me to animate this thing, I need you to walk me through the basic process (and provide any software used)

[ChalklYne]

if u can add an anim to a howler u can animate this thing. hes pretty animated as it is check him out im pretty sure u can take it from here dude. just put this pk3 in yer base and spawn a howler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.mediafire.com/?bxbthdsts3gvdav

 

we can work on new anims later its mad easy just import this guy into dragon as an avatar and get at it. youll also want a custom npc file and maybe a shader and some sounds.

 

 

ill give u a texture update tomorrow for it... unless u wanna reskin it. this is still by all means a rough draft the teeth and spikes arent textured yet, but i figured u could get a feel for it 

[Vegeta]

Wow, you are really good with modeling.  You made that Colo Claw Fish (rough draft) in like two days time, and it looks far better than most other playermodels that I've seen.

[ChalklYne]

might wanna check my other posts before u go sayin all that...ashuras got a good eye for making horrible stuff look better lol so im just thankful he was online...  and not 2 days... 10 hours  =)  and i bbq'd lol... but glad to help. 

 

if u make him a custom npc file u can change his scale and make it bigger

 

for custom animations youll need this

 

http://jkhub.org/files/file/1471-glamerge/

 

and this

 

http://jkhub.org/files/file/1227-dragon/

 

instructions are on the page just make u a custom avatar and import the clawfish theres tutorials here n there for dragon but mainly the one on that page provided is gunna do it for u. so make u some custom anims while i finish the textures. make u a custom .npc file for it. maybe some bot support. then when i give u the couple of textures youre going to need u can make u a shader. then yer good. 

[Kualan]

Woah, that is some fast model-making! Nice work.

 

Also - is that a JKA model for Karadan Paratus in your signature?!?

[ChalklYne]

theres proof that itll work in dragon so its easy to animate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

as for kazdan

yeah i have him all rigged just need to animate him. which is hell.

http://jkhub.org/topic/700-kazdan-paratus/?hl=kazdan

[Vegeta]

I have been experimenting with the npc in my map, I made a custom npc file for him, and redid the model folder to be separate from the howler model.  He works fine when he is his default size, but if I increase the size, he gets glitchy, just like my Sando did when I scaled him up.  Is it possible to increase the size of the model in whatever software you are usinng so that it is actually possible to interact with him at that large of a scale?

[ChalklYne]

post yer .npc file in a spoiler here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

just put scale 200  or whatever u want scale to be in your npc file

[Vegeta]

I can't figure out how to use the spoiler thing, so I will just paste in all of the code below...

 

 

colo_claw_fish

{

playerModel colo

scale 299

weapon WP_MELEE

health 400

headPitchRangeDown 30

reactions 3

aim 5

move 3

aggression 5

evasion 1

intelligence 5

rank crewman

playerTeam TEAM_FREE

enemyTeam TEAM_FREE

class CLASS_RANCOR

snd rancor

sndcombat rancor

sndextra rancor

yawspeed 40

// walkSpeed 173

// runSpeed 173

walkSpeed 55

runSpeed 200

dismemberProbHead 0

dismemberProbArms 0

dismemberProbLegs 0

dismemberProbHands 0

dismemberProbWaist 0

moveType "flyswim"

}

He functions fine without a scale at all, but once you add a scale, even just 200% of the original size, he can't attack you, and you can pass through him as though using "noclip" The scale size that seams most accurate to actual size is 1000.

[ChalklYne]

oh yeah without a custom skele hes screwed then. because if u want to attack the actual mesh, u need to hit the bounding boxes, which i beleive are created by the skeleton. so yeah yer gunna have clipping and he probably cant attack u because u may actually be in his box lol yeah yer gunna need a custom skele for all that. im guessing

 

and as for that kazdan question see? got him ingame... no anims yet

 

 

 

 

 

 

matter of fact. dont create any animations for this thing yet. im gunna remodel him a bit here and there and see if i can fit him to the skele better without jackin up my uv maps. i woulda done that initially but i thought we were going for custom skele

[Circa]

Bounding boxes are measured by the "height" and "weight" lines in NPC files. To see bounding boxes in game, type "npc showbounds" in the console. Use other NPC files as reference for your height and weight.

[minilogoguy18]

Why are you still using Dragon when you have Softimage?

 

It's like you'd prefer to make fire from rubbing 2 sticks together when you have a propane torch sitting next to you...

 

Dragon sucks for animation. Period.

 

Telling someone to use it for animations is like the worst advice you can give around here.

[Circa]

Why are you still using Dragon when you have Softimage?

 

It's like you'd prefer to make fire from rubbing 2 sticks together when you have a propane torch sitting next to you...

 

Dragon sucks for animation. Period.

 

Telling someone to use it for animations is like the worst advice you can give around here.

Unless they are already used to it and prefer to stick with their routine ways.

[ChalklYne]

yeah i just figured it would be something he's already used. as opposed to learning something new for just a few anims. but yeah im on your side with that one mini.. hey dude i been wanting to ask u so i can finish kazdan... when im keyframing.. i should keyframe all the bones as soon as i get it positioned right? not just the bones im moving? and that being said... do i have to keyframe all constraints and everything too? is there an easier way? like... can i keyframe the sceneroot or something?

[Vegeta]

Bounding boxes are measured by the "height" and "weight" lines in NPC files. To see bounding boxes in game, type "npc showbounds" in the console. Use other NPC files as reference for your height and weight.

 

Is there a "length" value as well?  That would be useful considering the shape of this model...

[minilogoguy18]

Chalk, you might want to watch some videos on animation, there's tons on youtube, you're asking the most basic of questions. When animating if you've set up a rig using constraints all you need to key is the things you're moving, you don't have to key everything unless you're saving a pose that is 1 frame. You also don't have to key bones unless they don't have a controller that influences it. This is why Dragon shouldn't even be used anymore, you can't carry any knowledge over from it to a REAL animation program, you'll always have to start from the beginning when learning.

[Vegeta]

Hmm, I got the Colo Claw Fish fully functioning now, but I still need to get sounds for him... This is going to be the hard part. I will probably end up having to find Star Wars Episode 1 online somewhere, and fast forward to the underwater scene, then record the audio directly from the system sounds ( so that there is no background interference ) and then convert the sounds to the proper format and overwrite all of the howler sounds in the mod.


A few Hours Later...

Sounds are good to go, this will work for now. The only other thing that I can think to add, would be some kind of custom shader to make it glow slightly in certain areas, like in the pic below