procedural character generation

nice morph cant wait to see more progress

 

Aliens!!!!!
That`s really cool!

 

Lol
Happy you guys liked it.
Those I´ve wanted to test using werewolf type of legs, to see how it would work with mecanim.

 

Well for palette swap enemies biped monsters are perfect for mecanim.

 

Hello Fernando,

Could you please answer this question from PyroStudios.
Think lots of people wanna know the when this tool comes available.

 

Very Nice Work!!! If you ever sell it I'm buying(-:

 

not for sale Fernando is collaborating with unity asset store to release it for free

 

What about, when creating new creatures, using a "morph" map, that crossfades between two or more normal maps? It would have to be smooth curves all over it of course. Possible?

I think this will be great for procedural games! Really looking forward too it. Now we just need a procedural clothing generator etc.

 

can toon morphs work ?

 

@Veqtor That would be useful on one hand and not on other hand, biggest drawback is that it would create new normal textures and increase drawcalls, unless there is some real normal map blending implemented.

 

Hey!
Sorry taking that long to answer.

It will probably be available in the next 5 months, looks like a lot of time, but we want to have a great and flexible solution for you guys

 

Yep! =D Thanks for helping me out with the answers.

 

It is very possible, but wouldn´t be a generic solution.
This project will be available for free and it will be open, so you´re free to develop specific shaders that might better handle your needs.

 

well i have no chose then to make toon models in Blender just for the prototype

 

A hybrid of Team fortress 2 and the incredibles ?
I´m really curious to see that!
The base topology is quite flexible, with the right shader and texture work, I believe you can get some nice results with our system in the future.
Do you already have a WIP post with your current project? See ya!

 

no im still planning stage on the prototype but fond this http://blendersushi.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/idea-procedural-character-generator.html
this will help me get some placeholder models in the prototype faster.

 

Hey, didn´t knew this one, thanks for sharing =)

 

glad to be of help besieds im Using ORK RPG kit so this will help the prototype development with procedural character generated models

 

I didn't read the whole thread, so maybe it has been answered - you mentioned human zbuilder, does Tsvetomir know about this, does the license allow reusing his assets for later resale with pretty much the same idea in mind but for realtime?

 

Good point but as far as I know, its just a sort of wip reference. Fernando uses his own topology and Tsvetomirs work is just an anatomical guideline.
The normal map he uses as an output, might be based on his work but it could be easily changed and replaced.
I guess creating normal maps, or fast outputs based on morphs, is one of the main selling point, of his pack. The content itself (HighPoly sculpts) will not be part of the character creator

 

Couldn´t answer better than Florian.
It took me more than a month until receiving an answer from Tsvetomir, as his solution had no End-user license agreement document, I had to get some feedback directly from him.
I will include no content from Human Zbuilder in the final version, it´s up to Tsvetomir if it would be a good idea to sell his content on asset store though.
I´ve bought his solution for fast prototyping, as it gives good reference for overall volumes.

Great question Airborn-Studios =D

 

so what models we can manipulate

 

Hi there!
Not sure if I understood what you mean.
Do you want to know if you will be able to edit the base mehes?

Let me give an example:
The human male and female base meshes will be available for everyone for free, and you can edit/modify them if you need.
For most cases, I recommend trying to keep the original basemesh and reach the specific shapes you want using the deformation sliders.
Developers will even be able to add mode deformation sliders, it's just not something I can explain deeply yet.
Keeping the original basemeshs is a guarantee that you will be able to use all clothes produced for human avatars, other side you will need to produce your own content.

 

Hmmm i would have to make toon morphs

 

well i found this out today so i might be able to make 2 base toon morphs male and female

http://cgcookie.com/blender/2012/12/14/cg-cookie-flex-rig-download/

 

but hows progress going so far

 

Hi there =)
Last week focus was optimization. It will be possible to have each entire avatar + clothes spending 1 or 2 drawcalls.
I'm developing this in a way that gives developers freedom to choose between performance for higher number of avatars or quality if focusing cutscenes or main characters.
Most of the code has been rewritten and I'm also working on some tools that will help content makers and developers to configure their custom content.

Hope to be able to show some images on next week.

 

Huh 1 drawcal with all armor and cloths attached, enable_huge_battles = 1.

 

Impressive! This will really give a nice boost to the Unity engine : )

 

This is F***ing amazing! Great work mate! Will this be available on the Asset Store, and if yes, how much do you plan to charge for it? Keep up the good work.

 

Not for sale, Fernando is collaborating with unity asset store to release it for free.

 

Thanks for the fast reply =)

 

Concerning drawcalls, it will mostly depends if you're using a specific shader for hair for example. If you need transparency for hair, it will be necessary to have 2 or more separated materials and in consequence, additional drawcalls.

 

that flex rig will help me make toon base models for this

 

this looks great, when do you think it will be available?

 

ETA is 4.5 months from now, working hard here =)

 

Ok, here we go, this is a big step
Some tests of cloth and shape variation. This cloth piece was a fast test, you can expect better quality content on final version.

(Right click to get high resolution image)

HighPoly version:


Testing variation of texture resolution, 4 different resolution combinations.


Each of those guys generates only one draw call. Of course adding lights / shadows adds more drawcalls.

 

I haven't read through all of this. But I was wondering:
1. Do they come with base characters? Is that the only way we can use it? Or can we import our own?
2. Can we make zombies with the base character? (assuming there is one)
3. How will getting clothing work? Will there be a seperate section in the asset store? Or will it come with the package? If so, with there be a store for base characters as well?
4. Will clothing be free?
5. Will people be able to upload their own clothes to the "store"? Sorry for so many questions!

 

Fernando, this project just baffles me!

I'm actually thinking about creating a whole game just to explore this concept as soon as it's ready.

Thanks for starting and keep on doing this. And thanks for the Unity guys for funding your tool for us to use.

 

looks promising !

Is it just one draw call, because the armor is part of the base mesh ? I was wondering because the metal parts in the sculpt are very hard edged while even the 2048 looks soft and bulgy on the base.

 

1 - It's possible to create your own base meshes and races, but it's not going to be a trivial process. It will require the knowledge that would be necessary to create 3d characters in the traditional way.
2 - This is a very old test, but something similar can be done to reach zombies.

3 - As far as I know, yep, there will be content produced for this system, both clothes and races/base meshes.
4 - There will be both free and paid content in the asset store.
5 - Yep! =D No problem! Questions are aways wellcome.

 

Thank you Erick!
You know, all started with the projects we worked together =) I still remember we playing Fallout 3 and analyzing their avatar creation system

 

Thanks =)
Ohhh, this is just a study, this can be corrected, I just didn't wanted to spend too much time in a temporary content. Final content will get much better.
Again, thanks a LOT Florian! You aways bring important feedback here = )))

 

Yeah, Its not TripleA quality but a nice test sculpt. I'm just curious why it looks that bulgy while the sculpt is edgy and 2048 is by far enough resolution, to get closer to the original
As a potential content creator, I'm wondering what I could do to correct that and why excactly it looks like this.

Why? FERNANDO WHY ? ? ?

1. Is it some sort of displaced basemesh topology that doesn't really represent the normal map ?
2. Could it be a unique mesh that's somehow linked / weighted by its base mesh vertics ?
3. If its already a unique mesh on top of the base, do we have to care about z-fighting ?
4. Could we please see some nude female wires ? I love nude female wires !

 

Thanks for answering!

That doesn't sound creepy at all!

 

What more to say that again great update. With Florians character design skills this project is going hit hard Asset store for sure.

 

Hey =)

About the bulgy, I just didn´t gave as much time and love that the base mesh needed =) As this is just a prototype to see if things work together, I´m not worried about model quality yet .

One big new from my last dev week is that now it´s possible to equip as many acessories / clothes developers wan´t and computers can handle no more limitations about that.

Clothes/equipment can have any topology, I just still won´t be able to explain much of the magic tricks yet

Female avatars are next step, just need some real tests on cloth combination.

 

I really expect there will be many content producers interested in UMA

 

Hey Florian, gave some attention to the lopwpoly mesh.
Higher quality, still one drawcall.
Won´t be spending more time on this one though, need to produce a lot of temporary content to test combinations
The armor itself is 1024x1024.

 

Ok, so who is going to reach post #300 here??? =D