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05/06/2016 15:27:31

ziggy72Muvizu mogulExperimental user
ziggy72
Posts: 1988

This is the link to my FBX arms, meant for attaching to characters (mainly the standard 'potato heads') or as standalone objects to help you fake your videos

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=49D7234E5E7C54B9%21173

NEW - Mobile phone set, including both hands and a smartphone :



https://1drv.ms/u/s!ALlUfF5OI9dJgTM


Use blender (or similar) to import the hands to add objects (and then re-export as FBX, Geometry Smoothing set to Faces (not Normals, unless you want them all segmented)). Use the UV maps as your guide to paint the arms - they are a default flesh colour, but that won't match your character (usually) so you'll have to alter the textures to match clothing, skin colour, etc. Additionally, when importing into a 3D package they may appear really tiny (they are scaled to fit Muvizu characters regardless of the character's own scale setting, and it's quite a range) so some resizing will be required, I reckon.

These are a work-in-progress set, so they all have different file structures (as I tried to find a standard) and I would appreciate any feedback on problems you may encounter, missing textures, collision oddness, etc. Due to my experiments with 3D Coat making these, the UV maps may be a little wonky - I can work with them, but I'm interested to see if the rest of you can

These are just the test pieces - eventually I want to create an entire set, based on this list :

Holding a tray (DONE)
Holding a gun
Holding a phone
Holding a phone (old school) (DONE)
Using a mobile/tablet (DONE)
Holding a cup
Holding a utensil
An extended fist (DONE)
Smoking position (pipe or cig)
Generic position (for scratching head or whatever)
Middle finger (thanks TheOtherGuy)
Pinched (holding something really small or smoking) (thanks MrDrWho13)

Further suggestions are welcome.
edited by ziggy72 on 01/08/2016
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05/06/2016 15:29:49

MrDrWho13Muvizu mogulExperimental user
MrDrWho13
Posts: 2220 		+1 For the pun.
I'm not sure if the smoking one covers this, but how about a pinching position?
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05/06/2016 20:46:43

PatMarrNCMuvizu mogul
PatMarrNC
Posts: 1738 		thanks, ziggy! that will be a very useful set for everybody!
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16/07/2016 22:47:20

Tangledbliss
Tangledbliss
Posts: 66 		Many Thanks yet again Ziggy
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17/07/2016 14:07:08

drewiMuvizu mogulExperimental user
drewi
Posts: 306 		Yet another wonderful much appreciated contribution to the all sir...thanks.Cool
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25/07/2016 18:00:15

christian_clavet
christian_clavet
Posts: 26 		Hi, I'm intrigued by this... Are there bones in the arm that will work with Muzivu? Or the arm are in fixed position?
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26/07/2016 10:23:05

MrDrWho13Muvizu mogulExperimental user
MrDrWho13
Posts: 2220 		christian_clavet wrote:
Hi, I'm intrigued by this... Are there bones in the arm that will work with Muzivu? Or the arm are in fixed position?

The arms are in a fixed position. We can't currently import anything that's rigged.
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29/03/2017 16:54:48

theotherguy
theotherguy
Posts: 176 		Has anyone tried MOHO for this? I noticed MOHO debut is on sale for $35 and I was thinking for stuff like talking on cellphones etc. I could copy the characters arms/hands with the object in them, add a bit of movement, then render them off and add them as a separate layer in my video editor. The downside would be that it's only good for one angle, but in some cases that's all I'd need.
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29/03/2017 18:17:09

PatMarrNCMuvizu mogul
PatMarrNC
Posts: 1738 		that's true (at least I think so, others might disagree)

Other things that make MOHO worthy of a spot in anyone's animation tool box:

1) it outputs AVI that works on Muvizu backdrops.

2) It can be used to create AVI for Rod's multi-mesh animation... and because it is a full fledged animation program in its own right, it has a timeline that helps you to synch your animations with music and/or sound effects

3) you can take screen shots of a muvizu character then separate it into arms, legs , body, head etc and rig it in Moho to create actions that don't exist in Muvizu

the fiddle player in this video was animated in MOHO (When it was still called Anime Studio)
https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=lKxFVoYWMQY

I think this was my first Muvizu video, so view it as such. ;-)

I still have all the elements for the video, so maybe they could be rearranged into a tutorial....
edited by PatMarrNC on 30/03/2017
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30/03/2017 13:23:47

PatMarrNCMuvizu mogul
PatMarrNC
Posts: 1738 		here is somebody else's tutorial on how to start with a static picture (like a screen shot of your Muvizu character) then cut it into animatable pieces and rig it in Anime Studio (now known as MOHO)




Once you have your MOHO animation, you can either merge it with your Muvizu scene in a photo editor (preferred) or you can export from Moho as uncompressed AVI then apply it to a backdrop in Muvizu. By default, Moho exports scenes with Alpha background (assuming the graphics you used for your rigging have alpha background)

If you put your animation on a backdrop with alpha background, it will cast shadows in the muvizu environment, which helps to make it fit. This approach is best suited to the standard Muvizu lighting, since turning down the ambient light then lighting the scene with area lights won't light a backdrop animation the same as it will the rest of your scene.

As stated in a previous post, advantages of including Moho as part of your animation toolbox include the ability to create truly original characters, and pretty much ANY kind of action

Disadvantages include: much slower animation process, as you have to create the characters, rig them, and manually create every aspect of the animation
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30/03/2017 13:35:11

theotherguy
theotherguy
Posts: 176 		Thanks Pat, I will try this, I have some experience with anime studio so I don't have to sit through this guys tiresome tutorial!
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30/03/2017 13:35:50

PatMarrNCMuvizu mogul
PatMarrNC
Posts: 1738 		christian_clavet wrote:
Hi, I'm intrigued by this... Are there bones in the arm that will work with Muzivu? Or the arm are in fixed position?


while we're on the topic of extending Muvizu's capability with other animation software that you might already have:

POSER has a cheap version which goes on sale a couple times each year. Characters in Poser are completely posable (hence the name).. and the program includes a set of posable hands.

You can import props as OBJ files (like an iPad, for example... ), and pose character or hands around the props to get any usage position your scene requires.

Then you can export the results as OBJ file and convert it to ASE or FBX

If you don't want to use the results as static object in Muvizu, you can also create animations in the Poser environment, then export as green screen, and merge the output with your Muvizu scene in a video editor.

DAZ studio is free, and it might have the same capability.

Or... you could bring Ziggy's arms into Blender and rig them in that environment (lots of tutorials on youtube)... once they are rigged, you can configure the hands any way you want them.
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30/03/2017 16:50:40

theotherguy
theotherguy
Posts: 176 		I have version 11 of Poser and I can see the potential, in the far future, for using it for something. Unfortunately, the problem with 3-D programs is that they involve a huge time commitment to animate and render things, that isn't to say they aren't worth getting, some of the objects and sets in Poser are useful, although probably not in the way the software designers envisioned.
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30/03/2017 19:33:36

PatMarrNCMuvizu mogul
PatMarrNC
Posts: 1738 		well, you don't have to render items that are just being posed and exported. That's how I use poser most of the time. For example, I'm currently working on a multimesh animated upright bass player character for a bluegrass song. I modelled the upright bass and imported it to poser as OBJ.

Then I opened one of Poser's cartoon characters and posed him in 3 different hand configurations with the bass. I exported each pose separately as OBJ.

Then I opened the 3 models in SILO, and merged all 3 sets of arms onto one body. After UVMapping the arms and putting the maps on one graphic, I animated the textures to make it look like the hands are playing the bass. It would have been harder to pose the hands without poser.
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31/03/2017 04:55:10

theotherguy
theotherguy
Posts: 176 		I think we are going in slightly different directions, Pat, I'm more in the 'South Park' style general-idea camp! I just purchased MOHO 12 debut and from what I've seen, and remember from using an earlier version, it'll do the trick.

I'd love to know my way around 3-D and the related OBJ and UVmapping but I'm too impatient, I've had a couple of breakthroughs with backdrops, textures, and environments and you'll see them in my next episode.
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31/03/2017 22:53:34

PatMarrNCMuvizu mogul
PatMarrNC
Posts: 1738 		theotherguy wrote:
I've had a couple of breakthroughs with backdrops, textures, and environments and you'll see them in my next episode.


looking forward to it!
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