UMA Wizard

hi guys,

my name is erwin, and i'm developing the tool called UMA Wizard.

UMA Wizard will allow you to create and edit UMA recipes. it's in its initial stage, but it's already functional. there are lots of new features coming in the the next weeks. you can see it in action in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1IzfTuI8lI

please note that this version is not the one currently in the asset store, but i expect it to be on monday or tuesday.

i would very much appreciate if you guys give me any feedback you can think of. whether is stuff you want added, or bugs you found, your impressions, complaints, anything is greatly appreciated. i'll be posting more stuff here and in the blog (http://umawizard.blogspot.com/).

this coming week, besides going through the roadmap list, i'll be adding some art too (slots mainly and basic overlays). these is what i intend to do, please drop any requests:

1. male jeans
2. several styles of sun glasses
3. male and female watch (something low poly and basic for the moment, i'll add more fancy styles later)
4. something close to uma thurman's yellow outfit in kill bill
5. if i have time, a male suit (you probably know where i'm going.. i just thought of showing uma crowd in action with an example and it made sense. will try to do it in a way i don't get into trouble )

i'll do shoes two weeks from now.

thank you for your support!

the tool is available here:

http://u3d.as/content/erwin-saavedra/uma-wizard

 

Just picked this up thanks for the hard work. I am certain I will have a number of questions mainly around up coming features. Maybe something like NGUI integration for your wizard functionality. I don't know I will be honest I just watched the video so I will wait to ask more well thought out questions once I have gone though the scripts.

 

hi, thanks. please note that the youtube video uses a newer version that the one in the asset store. i expect the asset store one to match youtube's on monday or tuesday. please let me know about any suggestions, requests, bugs, anything. the scripts are also more organized in the update, and i'm organizing it a bit more now for the next update. i'll accumulate progress and resubmit by wednesday or thursday to avoid becoming annoying with the updates. i'll try to post what are the features being added or fixed for you guys to track progress and make suggestions.
i have ngui, i'll add integration into the to-do list, thanks for the suggestion.

 

Will do I tossed up a review for this as well. Thank you for the fast update.

edit: Wow that was fast... Looks like you already responded to that too.

 

First off, thanks for what looks like a very useful new UMA tool. I just thought I'd give some feedback on my first tests.

1. When I replace the standard UMAGenerator script with the UMAGeneratorThreaded version from the Power Tools pack, I'm getting some pretty severe flickering from idle to T-pose whenever the "Texture" button is selected in UMA Wizard. It all still works, but it's really distracting. Testing with and without the threaded version indicates there are some other compatibility problems between it and UMA Wizard. Lots of errors and glitches everywhere. Any idea what's happening here? I'd really like to continue using the threaded version, since it reduces the resulting avatar's bone count significantly. I'd hate to have to choose between using it, and using UMA Wizard.

2. When picking colors, choices often show up in several places. I understand why this needs to happen in most cases, and expect to find body color listed under several categories, such as face, torso, legs, and hands, but shouldn't shirt color just be on the torso? I could see it also extending to the legs, for a long shirt, but not to the feet as it does now, or jeans color being on the hands. It clutters things up, and makes it harder to find the settings you're really looking for among all the duplicates.

3. I'm not sure if this is a bug, or just something I'm doing wrong, but I've tried saving UMA Wizard avatars several times using the UMA Power Tools extension. I always get an error, and the mecanim animation component is missing from the new prefab, making it not function properly. Here's the error:



and here's the resulting prefab:



For comparison, this is a "normal" saved prefab:



FYI, besides Power Tools, I also have UMA Helper Pack installed, if either of them could be a factor. I reverted UMAGenerator to its default script for this test, but it made no difference. If your tests don't confirm this behavior, do you have any suggestions as to what's causing it?

 

hi, thank you very much for your comments!

i haven't tested with the power tools yet, but i'll get into that now. my thinking is precisely to complement the tools, so this is something i must do. please give me a couple of days. i'll also get the helper pack and test all the tools together.

also, the UMA Wizard version in the asset store got several modifications which were already submitted. waiting for it to be updated in the store. one of them is the folder where the scripts and assets will be stored. although i don't think this will solve any of the above, please do have it in mind.

now, regarding your observations:

1. yes! i need to get the power tools and replicate the same situation. the idea is for everything to work fine all together. any fixes i find, i will inform them through here, for you guys to know they are coming. please note the updates take a bit while they get checked, so i'll let you guys know.

2. you are right! and if you parse the recipe with a json viewer, the overlay appears on each of the slots that may be involved. in other words, the issue is saved in the recipe. let me check if its my doing, or its something with the UMA save avatar script (that is the one getting called), as the recipes that come with the UMA project have the same issue. at this moment it occurs to me is the way UMA works, so if that is the case i'll implement a routine to override this copies and only assign the overlay to the proper filter option, for you to find the overlay where one would only expected it, and only one copy of it.

3. once again, i don't have the power tools yet, but i'll get into it right now. i'll feedback my findings, and comment on any change you guys can code while the fix gets updated.

thank you once again!

 

Hi there @esaavedra76, I´m really happy you´re working hard to get your tool working together with the other tools available at AssetStore! =)
If you use skype and would like to talk to other developers using UMA and tool creators, send me a PM with your skype ID and I´ll be able too add you to the skype group.
The group itself is open to all developers and has been a good place to share knowledge and get fast feedback.
Cheers!

 

hi,
the flicker problem you tell me about.. i believe it was solved on the updated version sent this last friday. as soon as the package gets updated in the asset store, please verify if its gone. the reason was that the avatar was being redrawn constantly, and not only when modified. this should be the reason for the flickering. it was solved and resubmitted, i'm sure the update will be ready soon.

i'm working on the rest of the issues right now, thank you for your patience!

 

Great. I've been talking to Kirby, and some of the others. You all seem to be working hard to make UMA as awesome as possible, so I'm willing to wait a while if that's what it takes. I'll say the same to you as I said to him: Nobody expects version 1.0 to be perfect. Take your time, and sort it all out. It's taking me a while to get up to speed on the rest of UMA anyway, so just do what you can. It's good to know some great tools will be waiting when I'm finally ready to use them.

Cheers.

 

of course! thank you for your patience! i'll keep updating as things evolve, please check often.

 

hi guys, the update has been released. one major change was the folder, so please have this in mind when you update your project.

the flickering issue should also be gone. the videos should now match the version on the asset store, they are labeled 1.01. the videos labeled as 1.02 are for the next release.

there are new features and other small changes on the structures on the 1.02 version that will be submitted by thursday. i'll let you know. after that, changes will likely only be regarding the scripts and not the folder and menu organization. please note many things in UMA are also converging, reason for the changes on the wizard too, please be patient, we are all working as fast as possible.

i will be uploading videos with the new features, so any input is appreciated.

 

Good to see some more activity on UMA.

Is anybody thinking about making a tool that adds weapons / holsters to UMAs after they are created, or is that a dumb idea?

 

hi! not at all, i'm working on that as we speak. i have spent these few days fighting with the bones, as i'm adding a feature to allow the wizard to easily add animations to bones, to textures, etc. i demoed the texture animation one on a video in the youtube channel (which will be improved from the one shown in the video), and will soon add one showing how to enable moving breasts on female avatars. after that i'll show how to animate bones available in the slots, like belts, hair and stuff like that. finally i'll add a feature to easily assign weapons, gear, etc. to specific bones in the avatar.

the way all this is going to work, is that uma wizard will generate a script that will be added to the avatars, kind like the umagenerator one. it will then control all the animations, whether in the textures or the meshes, place weapons and gear, etc. the script will be documented for you guys to access its functions from your own scripts. i'll have it all laid down, is just a matter of a few days while i get the first examples working. all these will be available in version 1.02, which will hopefully be submitted by the end of this week.

btw, i know that the wizard is gaining so many functions, and will have so much more, that i'll have to do a proper GUI for it. i'm leaving that for last, but it will very likely have a new look and feel by early february.

please be patient, there are lots of features coming in,... this is just the beginning

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCskM-0rqcO2YTfEGuGZQqWQ

 

^^ All of that sounds awesome! I can't wait to see it.

 

hi guys, for those of you with the male jeans poking issue, please watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQUPlO4lVy4

 

hi guys, a new video that shows current work for adding items into the avatars in a fast and easy way. i wanted to lay down all the major features the wizard will have for now, and then focus on the low level and stability stuff. i will keep posting videos with updates. please note that the next version will take me until monday or tuesday to submit, so it must become available by friday next week. lots of interesting features!! hope its worth the wait.

i'm aware the GUI needs work. i'll do that after the next update.

thank you for your support! please share comments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBhdlNMYfA0

 

Just looked at your video. Great work. This will be in 1.02 next week?

 

hi mikie, yes indeed, it will be ready next week with some other features i haven't showed on youtube yet. i will also test them for stability to make sure the package is robust and works well with power tools. i expect this to take me a couple of days, so i think the update will be submitted by tuesday next week. please note that this implies it will likely be ready for you guys by friday. thank you for your patience.

i'm now concerned about the GUI, there is too much information, so i'll work on this after i submit the update.

 

IMPORTANT: THE NEW VERSION OF UMA HAS SOME CHANGES THAT WILL PROBABLY MAKE YOUR UMA WIZARD CRASH. THIS IS CURRENTLY FIXED AND WILL BE UPLOADED WITH TUESDAY'S UPDATE. APOLOGIES FOR THE INCONVENIENCE.

the new version number will now be uma wizard 1.10. there were lots of changes and new features added. to avoid confusion a video with all these will be uploaded to youtbe as soon as the update gets submitted to the asset store and not before. this include the fix due to the new changes in the uma project. once again, apologies for the inconvenience.

new features:
- almost everything is now done in edit mode, and within the scene view. you do not require power tools for this, although compatibility for using it will also be provided.
- changed the way the wizard options are laid down, being more contextual. in this way all the buttons for the new features won't saturate the screen.
- new wizard scripts!!! you can now add items into your uma avatar, schedule a shape modification, an overlay change and moving breasts for females. adding physics to parts of slot meshes will come on the next update. all these is done via scripts that you can access from your own code to activate and control. a video is worth more than one thousand words.. so it will become clear in a few days.
- uma wizard own compression/packaging format. this is meant for including the action scripts and the items with one single recipe. a script will be provided to translate the uma wizard format to any one of the others currently supported.

- more features coming in after this update, they are a surprise!

the current update was big, and it has taken some time. it also included code refactoring. it is planned for submission on tuesday, and likely available to you by friday. for those of you who need a fix to the current uma project update issue before this, please let me know and i'll show you what to change on the scripts. the fixes are simple and short. please let me know if you guys need this right now, or if you can wait a couple days more.

thanks!

 

I take full blame on this one. We'll look into having a proper update mechanism to avoid this happening in the future!

 

hi guys,

i was going to post how to fix the issue, it's kind of simple. it occurs to me though, that many of you don't want to mess with the code, and i'm getting help to get the changes updated into the asset store as soon as possible.

so please wait a bit and the fix to current issue will be available with some of the new features. also, we already discussed this problem with the uma project group, and measures were taken to avoid it happening again; not only with uma wizard, but with future third parties products that service it.

i'll keep you guys posted. thank you for your patience and understanding

 

hi guys, the version 1.10 was submitted for review. will hopefully be available very soon. please check this video for instructions:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChK36RF2Fzw

 

version 1.10 - known bugs

you should be able to work without problems, but the following is known to happen:

1. you should always press "Done" once you are finished. don't forget to update or save your recipe!!! if not you'll loose your work. i'll add a reminder next time to avoid accidents.

2. if you forget to press "Done" and enter play mode, nothing wrong will happen, you'll just get two copies of your avatar . when you get out of play mode, press "Done".

3. the zooming depending on sections only works if the animations are turned on. this will be soon fixed, it should be one of those dumb things.

4. changes are drawn in edit mode the hard way. so it may have a small impact in performance. one noticeable effect is that if you drag the color you will feel the bump. this is also being solved, and will be ready on 1.11. meanwhile, please click above the color and don't drag if you desire better performance.

i'm not aware of any other issue at this moment. if you do find one please let me know. version 1.11 will be submitted in a couple of days, including enabling extra bones (in slots), include the textures animation scripts and implementing the items system. a compression script will also be provided. one surprise feature will be included once the scheduled updates are properly integrated.

version 1.10 was meant to solve the bugs brought with the uma project update to 1.0.10.0. you should be able to continue using the wizard for generating your recipes without any problems now (once it becomes available at the asset store).

 

Hi esaavedra76 ,
i recently bought "UMA wizzard" I'm having some errors:

Assets/UMA/Extensions/UMAWizard/Scripts/UMAWHumanoid.cs(162,40): error CS0122: `SlotLibrary.slotDictionary' is inaccessible due to its protection level

Assets/UMA/Extensions/UMAWizard/Scripts/UMAWHumanoid.cs(308,43): error CS0122: `OverlayLibrary.overlayDictionary' is inaccessible due to its protection level

Assets/UMA/Extensions/UMAWizard/Scripts/UMAWHumanoid.cs(496,47): error CS1502: The best overloaded method match for `UMARecipeBase.Save(UMA.UMAData.UMARecipe, UMAContext)' has some invalid arguments

Assets/UMA/Extensions/UMAWizard/Scripts/UMAWHumanoid.cs(496,47): error CS1503: Argument `#1' cannot convert `UMA.UMAData' expression to type `UMA.UMAData.UMARecipe'

Is this due to changes in the new version of UMA? if so, there is no hurry and will wait for the new version of UMA wizzard.

Thank you very much.

 

hi antigono, yes indeed! those are the issues. if you are comfortable editing the scripts, i can show you how to change them. if you are able to wait, the updated version was already submitted and should become available in the asset store within the next days. thank you!

 

thanks for the reply!. I m comfortable with the code, but I'm in no hurry, so I'll wait until the new version is available.

Thank you very much!

 

thanks to you!! i'll let you know when the update becomes available for everybody.

 

hi guys, the new v1.10 is available at the asset store!

please download and check everything got back to normal. do let me know if you guys find any inconveniences. i'll start posting videos about 1.11 tomorrow with the new features including the item library, and likely submit for revision on thursday. (thanks to unity for the quick response!)

 

I'd love to try the latest version of UMA Wizard, but the Asset Store says I need to upgrade to Unity 4.3.3 first, which I'm avoiding due to reported bugs. Does the new version actually require features only available in 4.3.3, or is this just the usual Asset Store hype to force users to go to the latest Unity version? Most of the time, there's nothing in a lot of these packages that actually REQUIRES the latest version of Unity, other than that the store won't let me download them without it.

 

hi! omg sorry, it's my bad. i had forgotten about that, and i tend to use the latest version. i'm downloading 4.3.0 now, and will use that one from now on. please send me an email and we'll figure something out meanwhile.

 

Hi esaavedra, better download unity 4.3.1 since UMA only works with this version and forward ones

Looks what the store says: "Requires Unity 4.3.1 or higher."

 

hey kirby! thanks, will do!

 

Sorry for the rant about the Unity version requirements. I thought about the reasons a bit and realized that developers are in a bit of a tough spot. You need to have an older version of Unity to publish your assets, or they won't work on the older versions that some of your clients might be locked into. At the same time, you need to test them on the latest Unity release as well, and anything in between, to make sure they're still compatible. I can see why many just go with the latest and keep it simple. That said, Joen mentioned in an earlier post that he was still using Unity 4.3.1, so his tools, and UMA itself, seem to be optimized for that. I'm using 4.3.2, and others are using 4.3.3, so small bugs might creep in, depending on which versions of Unity and UMA a given client is using with your pack. It must be hard to satisfy everyone.

 

What bugs in 4.3.3? I haven't heard of anything except some obscure Windows store stuff. 4.x release cycle has had some rough patches but it seems to have smoothed out.

 

hi guys! well, i downloaded 4.3.1 already. i'm working on several new additional exciting features that i more or less hinted on previous videos, so all this uma 1.0.10.0 and the 4.3.3 issues got me in the middle of the process, which was supposed to be ready by now. i'm also trying to avoid uploading future versions to youtube, as small changes may happen (specially on the gui), and i also generate some confusion on what is available and what is to come.

so long story short, please let me reach the current milestone, i'm sure you guys will enjoy. and i'll get into changing the uma wizard requirements to 4.3.1. i'll likely generate another free license for myself... the thing are the assets i already bought and are required for testing.. well, i'll figure it out. hope unity gets to a stable 4.3.4. soon, to avoid all this trouble.

btw, i left the moving breasts script with the current wizard 1.10 already available in the store. it got improved on the upcoming version, but meanwhile, if anybody is using it already, and if you don't mind going through the code, the 'frontStretch' variable on lines 100 - 102 in Scripts/Actions/JiggleBone.cs must be inverted (as the skeleton has the axis inverted). so please change it to '-frontStretch', and the effect should be better.

once i know i won't move the gui, i'll upload videos about uma wizard 1.20.

 

I'm not sure there are any bugs at all, but have heard reports of people having problems with shadow bias and displaying debug information from the console, among other things. Until I can confirm that my project won't be impacted by these issues, I've taken a wait and see stance before upgrading, since I've been burned before. Unfortunately, the internet is full of rumors and bad info, so maybe that's all this is. I just can't take chances while in the middle of something.

 

Can you downgrade the requirement to 4.3.1 on the asset because I cannot buy this asset.

Cheers

 

hi rocki, yes it will be downgraded with the update that will be submitted tomorrow!

 

hi guys,

a big update is about to be released. it is focused on helper scripts and solving known bugs. i'm very confident you guys will enjoy, so please be patient. if i don't have it ready today, it will be tomorrow. i'll post a video once it gets submitted. thank you for your support!!

cheers

 

hi guys,

this update will take me a couple of days more, apologies for the inconveniences. the wizard just got a lot bigger with this one, so there's a lot of work involved. although it will get some improvements, the last youtube video shows the item system in a more practical way. comments are appreciated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeQufBkoCFU

 

Hi I'm currently using UMA in conjuction with UMAWizard for a game project I'm currently working on that with allow players to create their own avatars.

I've managed to port the UMAWizard into a running web and binary windows build.

I'm down to my last issue which when running the compiled versions, the textures for the overlays are not rendering or not being set for some reason.

Now I double checked with the UMACrowd class and I'm adding the new over lays to my characters slots using

EX: slots.AddOverlay(overlayLibrary.InstantiateOverlay("FemaleHead01", skinColor));

the same way its done in UMACrowd

The weird part is that the slots themselves are working and I'm able to add clothes, hair, the ears or nose, even a blocky set up of programmer art shoes I made for testing adding new content.

In the overlay class I'm storing all the textures from each overlay in a list and displaying them as labels in a debug window. They show meaning that they properly compiled into the build.

I'm still a noob to the system so I was wondering if you could point me in the right direction to getting these overlay textures to properly apply.
View attachment 84920

 

hi guys! the tools to allow you to use many of the wizard methods in play mode were added to the new version. that should solve some of the requests i have received and make things easier to use. if you are please able to wait until this monday, it should be submitted by then... and i'll provide a class for you guys to use while the asset store gets the update.

thank you for your support and patience!!

 

almost ready...

 

great! i'm looking forward the new version..

 

Hi,

I got many errors when setting the build to IOS.

Assets/UMA/Extensions/UMAWizard/Scripts/AvatarTools.cs(2,7): error CS0246: The type or namespace name `UnityEditor' could not be found. Are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?
Assets/UMA/Extensions/UMAWizard/Scripts/EnviromentTools.cs(2,7): error CS0246: The type or namespace name `UnityEditor' could not be found. Are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?

 

hi rocki, that's strange. let me check and i'll get back to you.

 

hi rocki, i'm still asleep, lol. what happens is that on version 1.10, the wizard is designed to work only on edit mode AND i didn't placed the conditionals to avoid the compiling giving errors. the new version will have special scripts to be used in play mode and a demo scene. and i'll place hte precompiler conditions for you guys to avoid receiving these errors when compiling.

the list of changes for 1.20 was big, and changed the code to allow a feature requried for the animation player and the item creator. i also changed the way the scripts work to allow you guys to use the wizard in play mode and made the scene folders cleaner, so once you are done you can simply press a button and remove all the wizard infrastructure out of the way.

the slots and item libraries now use previews, im trying to also get this on play mode, but that will likely be for 1.21. i also added several fun action scripts besides the moving boobs one that is the only one i have shown on videos. i hope im able to get all ready today.

long story short, apologies for this inconvenience. all is properly fixed on 1.20, that is very delayed i know, but i made lots of changes. hope the wait is worth it.

cheers

 

guys, in general the thing is that at first the wizard was conceived as a recipe creator. it worked at the beginning on play mode, because i was making use of the generator that comes with uma, which works on play mode. then when the items and actions scripts were conceived, syncing them between play mode and edit mode became a p.i.a. so i added a generator that could run the code and render the visuals on edit mode, and moved everything into edit mode. this is the current 1.10 version, which was also published to solve an issue with an uma update, and i had to rush it.

the problem was that i didn't realized that many of you were using the wizard for having players modify the avatars within the game, which ironically was possible with the initial versions of the wizard.

and since now the wizard is becoming more an avatar framework supported on uma, a big amount of code had to be rewritten and retested.

so most of the issues you guys are facing will be solved with the 1.20. the remaining ones with 1.21. and then i'll continue with making the wizard more a full featured avatar framework than just a slot and overlay editor. 1.20 will be available at any moment now... hopefully a matter of hours to two more days, assuming i won't run into any strange bug when testing all possible scenarios before submitting. i have avoided making videos until the package is ready.

as always, thank you for your support and patience! apologies for the inconveniences.

 

Thanks for the progress report. Nice to know where things are at, and see a bit of the roadmap for the future. It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling about where UMA is going.

 

hi.. ohh, let me assure you, this (UMA) thing is going to be great! adding all the stuff the guys from the uma group are doing and the things that i am doing now... wow!!! i just don't want to spoil the wow effect. the guy from props animations has been helping me with some animations for a full game under 15 mins with uma+uma wizard+props animations. i plan this for wizard 1.22, hopefully in a week from now.

i won't say more, i'm trying to get 1.20 submitted asap, and then i'll focus on that. and i'm pretty confident you guys will be very pleased

and i'm not even considering all the art and additional stuff everybody else is working on... UMA is going to be big!! once there's more art, base models, animal bases, etc. i see this displacing every other avatar system/model out there!