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[Released] Mega-Fiers. A mesh deformation system - RELEASE

Discussion in 'Assets and Asset Store' started by SpookyCat, May 18, 2011.

  1. angel_m

    angel_m

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    Yes, I reimported all the files and the error was fixed.
    Thanks.
     
  2. SpookyCat

    SpookyCat

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  3. elbows

    elbows

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    Wahey, congratulations in overcoming the recent hurdles that prevented the update from being published, wow what a slog! I know the problem was not of your making, so I just wanted to say how much I appreciate your persistence and calmness in the face of much frustration.

    Not tried the new version myself yet, its on the agenda for this afternoon.
     
  4. SpookyCat

    SpookyCat

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    The congrats should go to the Unity boffins they figured out and fixed the issues, main upshot is don't submit assets if you are have the webplayer platform set in build settings, odd bug but still.

    Just another note I have my brother working on a new test object/scene which will be used to produce a video guide of each modifier in the system for adding to the docs web site and for giving a better visual guide to what each param does, hes a busy chap with other projects so not sure when they will start to go up. Just need to find some good voice changing software otherwise it will have to be captions :)
     
  5. keely

    keely

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    Not that it matters, but I'm willing to bet my money on the fact that this has something to do with Web Player security sandbox simulation shebang. In a way it makes sense.
     
  6. Deleted User

    Deleted User

    Guest

    Hi SpookyCat,

    You may remember I created a procedural race track building thing using your Megashapes awhile back. Well, today I finally upgraded to Unity 3.5, and it broke my Mega-Fiers procedural stuff. I've updated Mega-Fiers to the brand new 1.84, but still no luck. I am sure it is my fault because Mega-Fiers appears to work fine outside of my procedural hack. So.. before I rebuild my procedural stuff I wanted to see if you have any ETA for your Loft system. From the video on your website, it looks like exactly what I need.

    Thanks,
    Shawn
     
  7. SpookyCat

    SpookyCat

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    Hi MooseMouse
    I do indeed and I keep checking your site for updates :) Mmm for the stuff you are using the only thing that changed was how the handles are displayed and the display of the knot and line gizmo sizes was tinkered with a bit. If you can let me know via email/pm if you prefer what changes you made (if any) or how you are using it for your tracks I am sure we can track down what needs to be done to get it working again.

    As for Shapes it is very close, I need to do some web page docs for it and tidy up the code I have and do some videos but it is very close it will certainly be this month, and yeah I think it is a system you could make rather good use of :) I really would like to get the test scene sorted for it as well and that needs my brother, hes the art side and he gets a bit grumpy if I release stuff with my art in :)
    Chris
     
  8. elbows

    elbows

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    I've been looking at the mesh prefab issue with the MegaShapes version that comes with Mega-Fiers.

    Simplest solution I've found for those who want the MegaShape script to remain part of the prefab and be able to manipulate the spline mesh at runtime, is to add a Start function to MegaShapes that runs the MegaShapes BuildMesh function. And make a couple of other changes so that if materials already exist, don't replace them with empty ones.

    For a different scenario, where you want to keep the resulting mesh as an asset but remove the spline script once you are happy with the mesh, I suppose there are a few approaches. Its not really clear to me if mesh assets can be saved into the asset database in the way many other types of content can, but could use something like the obj creator script to create an empty object that MegaShapes then uses to store the generated mesh. Or more simply, if we are leaving the creation/selection of the 'dummy' mesh asset up to the user, modify MegaShapes so that the script can either be added to a game object that already has a mesh filter without MegaShapes reassigning a new mesh to the mesh filter. Or alternatively change MegaShapes so that the user can drag an existing mesh object onto a variable slot, and that mesh will be used rather than creating a new one.

    Perhaps there are prefab bug fixes which will make this stuff easier for you, but when attempting to learn about this stuff I haven't come across anything which made me appreciate exactly what fix would make these sorts of issues easier to deal with. When it comes to prefabs that are not living in the scene at startup, doesn't a megafied mesh either needs to live in a mesh asset or be generated when the prefab is instantiated? Thats been the assumption that dawned on me when playing with the MegaShapes side of things and hacking together a fix that doesn't require scripts to be added/activated/reset on the prefabs in question.

    On a somewhat related note, you may recall that when I first talked about instances etc ages ago, it was because I had confused myself in the editor when duplicating Megafied objects that are going to be animated at runtime. The duplicates were referring to the originals mesh instance (or a similar sharedMesh issue) which meant that the modifier on the original object was influencing all the duplicates, and the scripts on the duplicate were ignored. There were ways to fix this by resetting certain things, in a way thats probably not a million miles away from the above MegaShapes stuff. And under some situations its actually a good thing, if you want all instances to animate in exactly the same way then you save a lot of calculations by only having one MegaFier mesh doing the work. Anyway at the time I was looking at this as more something I had to remember when using the editor, but Im thinking that this issue may raise its head when fixing the prefab issue. Do people expect each instance of the prefab to be independent, with its own mesh instance, or not? Clarity and choice could be achieved in numerous different ways Im sure. Personally Im probably going to structure my projects with the idea that anything with a megafiers script on it will be independent of other instances. And on occasions where I want multiple instances of an animated megafied object to be driven/calculated by just one instance of a set of modifiers, the clones will just be game objects with a mesh filter that is pointing to the mesh thats being modified by the master instance of the object that has the Modifier scripts on it.

    make any sense? Real issues? Or am I barking up the wrong tree?
     
    Last edited: Mar 9, 2012
  9. elbows

    elbows

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    Just had a go at the prefab issue using Modifiers rather than MegaShapes.

    Looks real easy to deal with for the scenario where megafiers scripts are left attached to the prefab, as you already have suitable stuff in Start function, and we already have the base mesh asset in the project.

    All you need to do after turning the Megafied object into a prefab, is to go to the prefab in the project window, and drag the original mesh asset from wherever it lives in your project folder, onto the mesh variable of the Mesh filter component. Now when you instantiate this prefab, it does exactly what Megafiers does when you first modify an object in the editor - it creates a new mesh instance using whatever mesh asset the mesh filter is using, and then modifies that instance.

    Groovy :)
     
    Last edited: Mar 9, 2012
  10. elbows

    elbows

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    Sorry for all the words, but while Im in a state where I (perhaps foolishly) think I've got my head around the issue, I'd like to summarise my conclusions so far:

    At the heart of the issue is that prefabs won't store a mesh that only exists as an instance in the scene, which sort of makes sense as that instance could be destroyed, although can also see why this causes issues and may feel broken, especially as I assume that things like knots, morphs, point caches etc that exist as instances of your script variables are saved. Issue could be thought of as a limitation of the mesh filter, this component doesn't store its mesh when turned into a prefab, its more of a mere reference to a mesh than a safe home for the mesh.

    Solution for situations where your scripts are to remain attached to the prefab simply require the right things to happen during Start function, and when it comes to Modifiers rather than MegaShapes, perhaps a little bit of action in an editor script, if its possible for the script to know when its object is being turned into a prefab, it could change the mesh filter to reference the asset mesh rather than the instance.

    Solution for situations where people use your scripts to generate or modify stuff in the editor but don't use them at runtime, requires some sort of save function that will actually make a permanent change to an existing mesh asset (or create a new one), rather than relying on the mesh instance which for all practical purposes only exists so long as the relevant game object exists in the scene. Possible alternative solution is for you to store the actual mesh in an additional way inside instances of your script, and then this will get saved in the prefab like morphs etc do (at least I hope they do, I haven't actually tried this with prefabs recently). But Im not sure this alternative solution is the best one, personally if Im keeping a modified mesh in the project then it may as well be as a normal mesh asset that I can see in the project browser and access like any other mesh asset.
     
    Last edited: Mar 9, 2012
  11. elbows

    elbows

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    lol oops there is an obvious flaw in my 'possible alternative solution' at end of last post - what use is it to store the mesh in a script if the usage scenario is for people who don't have your script attached to the object by that point?

    But who knows, if you are against the idea of modifying underlying mesh project assets or there are tech probs with doing this, then this idea is an alternative way to store the mesh info in a prefab. A script that only stores the info, and uses the info to create a mesh instance at runtime and make the mesh filter use it, would be all people would need to keep attached to the object.

    Not that I actually use MegaFiers only in the editor myself, I use it for runtime animation so keep scripts attached, but I've covered this scenario in case some of your other users use it that way.
     
  12. Deleted User

    Deleted User

    Guest

    Thanks for the offer of help :) Unfortunately I've got some server issues that are taking all of my time right now, so I'm not sure when I will get back to this. I will definitely email you if I find something, but hopefully your loft system will be ready by then :cool:
     
  13. SpookyCat

    SpookyCat

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    Thanks elbows for the ideas, I will be looking at the prefab side soon, I was in the process of adding some buttons to the inspector to make a prefab via code out of the objects and do a copy button that doesnt end up being an instance.
     
  14. nrlnd

    nrlnd

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    Hello and thank you SpookyCat! I got mega fiers this week and im very very satisfied : ) So what about MegaMesh Boolean?
    Cant wait for that one, when will it surface? eta?

    /superawesomesatisfiedcustomer
     
  15. SpookyCat

    SpookyCat

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    @nrldn - Good to hear you are having fun, if you make anything cool please do post a screen shot or video would love to see more of what it is being used for :) MegaMesh will be coming after I get MegaShapes out the door, not sure on time frame it depends on how much I want to get in the initial release of bothe Shapes and Mesh.

    Also as a side note I see a lot of people arnt upgrading to 3.5 until they see it a little more stable (not seen any problems myself I have to say) so if anyone is thinking of purchasing the system but cant because they are using an older version of Unity then pm me and we can work something out.
    Chris
     
  16. pixelsteam

    pixelsteam

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    Just started playing with Megafiers today after having owned it for awhile....OMG why didn't I look at this sooner.

     
    Last edited: Mar 14, 2012
  17. hay78

    hay78

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    Hi Chris

    Appreciate your help last time, and now we have some new issue, about animations.

    At the moment, the avatars customization working nicely with the ability to morph/change parts realtime.
    We have 9 differents part for each character with few of them have these megafier morpher applied:
    1) Head (morph, only facial expression)
    2) Hair
    3) Head accesories
    4) Jacket (morph, skinny < normal > fat)
    5) Pant (morph, skinny < normal > fat)
    6) Shoe (morph, skinny < normal > fat)
    7) Backpack (morph, skinny < normal > fat)
    8) Badge (morph, skinny < normal > fat)
    9) Hand item


    Player start by selecting/changing parts, and once they finish , they will confirm and these avatars parts will be combined into one single game object.
    According to our programmer, the animations will work well after it combined into 1 single object but not when selecting parts, some of parts will not sync the animation with other part.
    And i do want to have animations like
    eg: When selecting/changing jacket, it will play "look at jacket" animation
    When selecting/changing pant, it will play "look at pant" animation and so on, similar to unity character
    customization sample.

    Anyway to workaround these?

    Looking forward for your help again :D
     
  18. macspeedee

    macspeedee

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    That looks excellent. loads of character in your, well, character. I look forward to seeing what else you get him doing.
     
  19. SpookyCat

    SpookyCat

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    @hay78 - If the morphs have all come from the same scene in your 3d package where all the morphs work and animate together then you should be able to get it to be in sync with seperate morphs. By animation I assume you mean bone based on the whole character, if so then there shouldnt be a problem, the morph changes the vertex local positions but the weights stay the same so animations will be fine.
     
  20. hay78

    hay78

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    Yes, the whole character parts are using one bone setup. The animations play nicely in 3ds max and even in unity. Only concern is at customization scene where player changing parts real time. I also thought it wouldn't be problem too.
    Thank you for the confirmation. :)
     
  21. MikeUpchat

    MikeUpchat

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    @24pfilms - That is a nice character and it works really well with the wave and I hope you show more, that is the thing I find with MegaFiers the more I use it and the more I play with the options the more I find it can do and the more ideas I get of things I can do with it. I would encourage SpookyCat to do some more videos one per modifier to really show off what each param can do to really show the power of the system as even with the videos that are out there they hardly scratch the surface of what it can do.

    There are some great assets on the store doing some amazing things but MegaFiers is by far, IMHO, the most fun, easy to use and most impressive instant results for no coding asset in the store.
     
    Last edited: Mar 16, 2012
  22. SpookyCat

    SpookyCat

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    I am planning a series of videos, hoping the first one will b eup next week.
     
  23. Slipangle

    Slipangle

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    Sorry for the hijacking, any news on the tire deformation system and MegaCar package?
     
  24. pixelsteam

    pixelsteam

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    Here is another character test with some Megafier love.

    Sorry it is so subtle. Will do some crazy transforms soon. Character does blink, I just haven't applied it yet.

    http://www.pixelbuz.com/web_3/web_3.html
     
  25. SpookyCat

    SpookyCat

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    @Slipangle - MegaCar is still under development as it is something we are using in our game as well, lots of nice features going in but I cant really say when it will be ready for release as I have two other systems to get out before and still need to work on our game.

    @24pfilms - That is quite lovely, he really is a cute little fella it really is motivational to see the system in use so thank you for that. Looking forward to seeing where you go with it all :)
     
  26. hay78

    hay78

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    Hi Chris

    We're looking to integrate a "lip sync" feature for the avatars. Our avatars don't use mouth bone rigging, so it's impossible to use bone animation. So our option would be using morph. The lip sync would NOT be highly detail, i probably only will create each vowel sound mouth morph.
    I've found ispeech and voice o matic that would do the "auto" lip sync.
    I'm assuming that this software will automaticly animate/ play those vowel sound morphs channel base on the recorded conversation/audio.
    Which one would be more compatible with megafiers?

    Thank you for your help
     
  27. SpookyCat

    SpookyCat

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    That is a good question, in theory both should be good, the chaps at iSpeech were integrating MegaFiers into their system for Unity but they have been very quiet recently so not sure how far along they are with that you can probably pm them, they discussed it in this thread http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/10...phs-into-Unity?p=680630&viewfull=1#post680630
    As for Voice O Matic that should work fine as it is a max based system, and with MegaFiers supporting Morph O Matic as well as regular morphs and animations you should have no problem with that system either especially with the Morph Animator clip system to allow for easy playing back of sections of animations ie vowels http://www.west-racing.com/mf/?page_id=1108
     
  28. p6r

    p6r

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    @24pfilms : I like the character and the movement is great !!!
    I suppose you don't need my tutorials anymore !!! :)
    Simply try the various effects of the Megafiers and see... As I did... and you did here (with a lot of success !) !!!

    6R
     
  29. pixelsteam

    pixelsteam

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    My exploration has come from your great work p6r. I am now onto figuring out morph animation.

    T
     
  30. SpookyCat

    SpookyCat

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    Forgot to add the video of the Mesh building options included in MegaFiers. Clicking the image takes you to my Blog Page


     
  31. S0ULART

    S0ULART

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    i'm curious whether its possible to change/edit existing meshes/objects with megashapes ?
     
  32. SpookyCat

    SpookyCat

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    Not with MegaShapes no it is purely a make meshes from splines system, you can though use the Path Deform modifier if you want to deform a mesh along a spline.

     
  33. KRGraphics

    KRGraphics

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    hey man...I've been looking for a Morph based system for my project, but it is not really easy to do with bones... Would there be a way to make this work with XSI? All I would have to do is export my FBX with the morph targets in them, and it would be a snap. Would megafiers be able to detect the morphs appropriately...? I just have a few morphs per character...

    Thanks a bunch
     
  34. SpookyCat

    SpookyCat

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    Hi There
    I currently don't have an exporter for SoftImage, though I have had a couple of requests, so you need to export the morph targets to OBJ files and then load those as shown in the video below. Other users have exported via FBX to blender, max or maya and then used the MegaFiers exporter to make life a little easier until I can find the time to do exporters for the 3d packages that I have missed so far. But if you only have a few targets then the OBJ method isn't too much extra work. More info on using OBJs and the morph system in general can be found on the website at http://www.west-racing.com/mf/?page_id=257
    Chris
    [video=youtube;GIgRGxHW3cc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIgRGxHW3cc
     
    Last edited: Mar 1, 2013
  35. KRGraphics

    KRGraphics

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    So I would have to export the entire body mesh with the morph applied... sounds good to me... I only have morphs for grimace, eyes, and pain
     
  36. aigam

    aigam

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    Any date for the fantastic Mega-Fiers? :)
     
  37. MikeUpchat

    MikeUpchat

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    @aigam - Its been in the Asset Store for quite a while :)

    @Neptune)Imaging - You export the base mesh as normal and import into unity and then you just need to export the morph targets to OBJ files and import them via the Morph Inspector, you also need a mapping file which is just an OBJ version of the FBX.
     
  38. aigam

    aigam

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    Sorry! I mean the new MegaShapes ^^UUUU
     
  39. S0ULART

    S0ULART

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  40. SpookyCat

    SpookyCat

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    The MegaFiers window is opened by clicking the MegaFiers option in the 'Components' menu. Is that option not there for you?

    Aigam, I am busy doing a code tidy on MegaShapes then I need to do some example videos which needs Tony (my brother and Artist) to create a few objects for, then build the demo scene and do the website docs, so could be a week if everything goes smoothly.
     
  41. S0ULART

    S0ULART

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    ah it works now, started a new project and reimported all now it shows up!
    thanks :)
     
  42. SpookyCat

    SpookyCat

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    Just put up a new blog post on a new dynamic water modifier I have just started for MegaFiers, more info can be found on the website.

     
  43. jeffweber

    jeffweber

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    Wow, that's impressive!
     
  44. SpookyCat

    SpookyCat

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    Thanks Jeff, just been improving it, physics core updated and optimized, more params to control and obstacle support.

     
  45. pixelsteam

    pixelsteam

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    Last edited: Mar 22, 2012
  46. wimeck

    wimeck

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    Hi Chris,

    I recently got Mega-Fiers, it is really amazing, you are doing an awesome job!!! I posted some time ago on this thread about using live webcam-footage for mega-displace, back then you didn't have Unity 3.5 installed yet. I didn't get it working myself yet, could you made have a look too? Thanks in advance!!!
     
  47. SpookyCat

    SpookyCat

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    @24pfilms - Is that using the Ripple warp or something else? Also what is the music?

    @wimeck - Arr yes, I did actually get the webcam setup so I can have a look at that, Ill have to do some reading first not used webcams and unity together before.
     
  48. pixelsteam

    pixelsteam

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    No it is done of off a shader. And the music is done by a composer I met here on the forums. Aakaash Rao.
     
  49. SpookyCat

    SpookyCat

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    Last edited: Mar 1, 2013
  50. wimeck

    wimeck

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    Hi Chris,

    Wow, awesome! Is there a way for me to get this myself already right now?
    Thanks again!!!