Character Interaction
R1CH1
Posts: 80
hey,
so one question I have is: can two figures be parented at different targets? For instance, in the below image, I carefully parent one figure's hands to the other's opposites. What I want to happen, is to be able to move both of one figure's arms, and for the other figure's hands to pull to their parented source, creating like a rubber band effect. But what happens is that only one hand will parent at a time. If I parent a second the first lets go. Any ideas?
Also, in general, if anyone knows any tricks for creating natural interaction, particularly in animation.. please post. Like when one charcter makes contact with another. Too bad there's no colision detction... or is there? Another one, is how to simulate gravity. As it is now for me, when one figure picks up another, its looks like picking a weightless maniquin frozen in its pose. I try to use nulls , but the targets don't obey them correctly..
again any knowledge about this would be appreciated.
thanks
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Check out mcasuals many free scripts for DS. There are a number of them that will probably allow you to do what you want to acheive, includining AutoLimb and Holdon, as well as prototype physics engines. He's got multiple threads running in the freebies section, or you can go directly to his webpage at https://sites.google.com/site/mcasualsdazscripts6/home
Warning - Experimenting with these can lead to large sections of "missing time."
In Carrara I would suggest IK tracking and Target Helper Objects (nulls). Software agnostically, what I can suggest is that to grab the hands and hold on, you will want to parent a null object to figure A's hand, and then have figure B's hand track the null object. You will probably need to offset the null object from Figure A's hand slightly to avoid collisions with Figure B's hand, as the tracking hand on figure B will track the hot point of the null object, which is why it looks like crap trying to track hand to hand as the hotpoint for the hand is located at the wrist.
It should be noted, that I am assuming that Studio has some form of IK tracking option. Where it is, what it is called and how to turn it on and off, I leave for the Studio users to point out.
These are some examples of using target helper objects (nulls) and IK tracking in Carrara to assist and even automate animations:
I used target helpers and IK tracking to automate V4 riding a bike. The hands are tracking target helpers parented to the handle bars to keep them in place. The feet are tracking helpers parented to the pedals, which drives the leg movement as the sprocket rotates. The torso animation is keyframed by me so it doesn't look quite so stiff.
The Black Hole video uses a target helper parented to the wrench which the astronaut's hand is tracking. The wrench turning is what drives the animation of the arm and torso. The other astronaut that is holding the pipe also uses target helpers to keep a grip on the pipe. The animation is done by moving the torso head, etc.
You can use target helpers (nulls) to also help your figures interact with themselves. I used a target parented to the hip (and offset) of this cheesecake A3 and had her hand track it. The hand and arm follow the roll and motion of the hip, which adds an organic element to the animation I think.
Again, I realize you are asking about Studio, but if Studio has nulls and some kind of IK tracking, then the principles should still apply, even if the jargon is slightly different or it is accessed by some other method. If Studio does not have the ability, and this is something you really want to do, then it should be noted that Carrara is a great value! ;-)
If I parent 2 human figures to a cube that I've loaded into the scene, both figures will move with it when I move the cube. Maybe if you parent a hand from each figure to a cube, and move the cube, the hands will pull the rest of the body along (then make the cube invisible).
Yeah, a cube or a null should work if I understand what you're wanting to do.
One of the biggest things to watch out for in couples images in DAZ Studio art is the eye position. If two characters are interracting, they usually will be looking at eachother. Learning to point the eyes of a character at another to create a more convincing degree of realism.
If you guys have some kind of Point At modifier, you can have the eyes from each figure point to the other figure's eyes.
I've taken to implanting cameras in my character's faces to get eye lines right. :)
Which yet another of the many mcasual scripts does, I might add. It really eliminates all of the guess work and eyeballing.
That actually doesn't always work as well as you'd think in DS. When someone is looking at something close up the eyes will naturally cross as the adjust convergence on the parallax, whereas pointing eye to eye can give too much of a straight-ahead raptor look if the heads are on the same incline, or a cantlelevered look if the tilts are in different directions. There are some good scripts for eyelines, but I find a better result in using the head-camera trick to get the direction right, then focusing the eyes on null objects.
you know,, I didn't try that.... Maybe I can control the targets on both figures through moving the nulls instead of the arms.. I'll try it.. thanks
I was going to mention the cross-eyed problem, as well. I usually just set the Look At for one eye, then manually adjust the other so it looks natural. That works when the eyelines don't need to be cheated, and with profiles or over the shoulder, they usually do. In many movies, in certain types of shots the actors are not actually looking at one another, but are "cheating" one side or the other. That way neither is upstaged. and the audience gets to see more of the characters faces.
If you want eye contact parallax, set an object in the back of the hair on each. A camera, a light that's off, small sphere with the transparency turned all the way up, whatever, as long as it's parented in place to the figure's head or hair. If you're looking into someone's eyes, the eyelines will naturally converge somewhere close behind the other party.
Of course, if they're close enough for a kiss, then close their eyes.
A null would make a better point-at target in DS - Create>New Null
But both of mcasual scripts, which are great, do point the head/eyes to a camera only, not to a specified object, right? Maybe I'm missing out something?
I generally place a null around the point I want to be connected and parent them both to the null.
https://sites.google.com/site/mcasualsdazscripts5/mcjmakeheadcam
You see what the character "sees".
I don't know if Studio has any IK Tracker.. i don't know too much about the IK. What I do know , is the IK is buggy when pulling the limbs from a parented object. Like, when I pull the hand just using the universal tool, the rest of the arm and torso follow, seeming pretty natural. But if I parent the hand to an object and pull the hand from the parent object, just the hand moves. the IK doesn't seem to work with that.