Can you give us a Roadmap for how FF Actors were created?

[smgreenfield]

Sorry if this has been published before, but can you explain the workflow used to CREATE the actual "actors" that come with FF? What application were they generated with? How were they prepared and then exported into FF?

[Innoventive Software, LLC]

Sorry if this has been published before, but can you explain the workflow used to CREATE the actual "actors" that come with FF? What application were they generated with? How were they prepared and then exported into FF?

They were modeled and rigged in Maya, then exported to FBX format and converted using our publicly available FBX to FrameForge converter.

If you have a serious and experienced modeller, we can supply them with the base skeleton so that anything they create can be attached to our heads and use the existing poses or relations, or they can create their own rigged models from scratch.

Modeling and rigging, however, are not skills that one just picks up, but generally take intensive training and years of practice to become good at.

[smgreenfield]

Modeling and rigging, however, are not skills that one just picks up, but generally take intensive training and years of practice to become good at.

Fair enough. Can you provide contacts for some 3rd-party folks who have done this already?

Perhaps a mini-manual/FAQ on the subject could be useful for those skilled in Maya & rigging to know what they need to take their own designs and connect them to FF.

I'm guessing it's not specifically YOUR skeleton and head that's required, but rather specific part / field names that must match? What detailed skeleton info is needed to convert other models to work with FF once imported via FBX?

[Innoventive Software, LLC]

I'm guessing it's not specifically YOUR skeleton and head that's required, but rather specific part / field names that must match? What detailed skeleton info is needed to convert other models to
work with FF once imported via FBX?

No, it's not even that UNLESS you want existing poses/relationships to work with the new characters. Otherwise you can use any skeletal/naming structure you like as long as the models meet the following conditions:

Here are our overall modeling "rules" needed for producing models for our software:

FINAL FORMAT:
All rigged models must be exported in FBX Format (make sure you have the latest plug-in from AutoDesk) so that it can be imported with the FBX Converter that we supply.

OBJECT DESIGN:
We recommend that the object/character should be designed to be as user-manipulatable as possible, thus when appropriate, optional / colorable parts should be modeled as separate objects so that they could be removed or individually colored.

POLYGON COUNT:
Our ultimate target is a real-time environment, so the models should be as low polygon as possible while maintaining a natural look. We are not necessarily looking for game-level counts, but polycount and texture usage can be real speed considerations.

While texturing can and should be used to supply details that the model lacks, you have to take into account end-user flexibility on what gets textured and what gets modeled. Any part that the end-user might want to change the color of should be modeled when possible.

RIGGING:
All rigged models must have a SINGLE ROOT BONE,
Rigging cannot use MIRRORED or REFLECTED Bones

TEXTURES:
Texture maps should be no larger than 512 x 512 and, when possible, an object should use a single map.

If there is any likelihood that a user would want to apply a decal to a part of the model, that part cannot use any mirrored / duplicated UVs.

You cannot use Alpha Layers nor transparency on textures.

Hope this helps.

[smgreenfield]

No, it's not even that UNLESS you want existing poses/relationships to work with the new characters. Otherwise you can use any skeletal/naming structure you like as long as the models meet the following conditions:

And IF one wishes to use existing poses/relationships? Are there skeletal naming conventions that must be obeyed?

Very helpful, thanks.

[Innoventive Software, LLC]

No, it's not even that UNLESS you want existing poses/relationships to work with the new characters. Otherwise you can use any skeletal/naming structure you like as long as the models meet the following conditions:

And IF one wishes to use existing poses/relationships? Are there skeletal naming conventions that must be obeyed?

Very helpful, thanks.

You'd actually need to use the existing skeleton, otherwise they'd come out distorted.

[niverik2k]

I realize that this is a really old thread, but i didn't want to restart a new thread. I am familiar with rigging, where can I find a copy of the standard armature or armatures? Is the children's one different from the Adult armature, etc? Should I model anything for the head at all, or will facegen do it all? Thankyou.

[Innoventive Software, LLC]

I realize that this is a really old thread, but i didn't want to restart a new thread.

Thanks for the courtesy!

I am familiar with rigging, where can I find a copy of the standard armature or armatures?

You can download our base adult man/woman models in FBX format from: http://www.frameforge3d.com/outgoing/FF3D-basemodels.zip

Are the children's one different from the Adult armature, etc?

They are the same in terms of number of bones and naming conventions but I believe they have a slightly different ratio of sizes (legs vs. torso, etc.) due to the differences in anatomy between a kid and an adult.

Should I model anything for the head at all, or will facegen do it all?

If you are going to use FaceGen then it will do it all, BUT you must keep the neck seams of your model identical to the ones in our base models or you will get gaps.