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

Ok ! Thanks for help Chris...
It seems they are several issues with Animation panel now !?!
Hope they can fix it.
6R

 

Here is a video to test dynamic animations made with Megafiers within Unity...
(Quality lost because of video conversions !)

6R

 

An animated .gif using my Blobs and Megafiers to give this kind of Blob Dance :



6R

 

@p6r - Love the video and your blobs, look forward to seeing more on that, do keep me posted. As for the animation window issue, Unity are aware of the bug and it will be fixed in 5.4 they say. https://issuetracker.unity3d.com/is...mponents-cant-be-animated-in-animation-window

 

Thanks for your comments and your help by the Unity team...
Great to know it will be fix "soon" (I hope so !).

And it's interesting because I can make nice 2D "Megafier animated" sprites from the 3D blobs too... thanks to Sprite Maker !!!
So I can use them for, 2D and 3D projects.

6R

 

Have just submitted an update to the Asset Store. This update brings a major change to the internal workings of MegaFiers improving how it manages meshes and their data, this finally stops the false error from appearing when you first add a modifier to an object and more importantly it allows MegaFiers to work correctly with dynamic meshes such as those from assets like Text Mesh Pro. If you do want to use MegaFiers with an asset that is procedurally generated or likely to change vertex counts then just check the Dynamic Mesh check box in the Modify Object inspector and the system will take care of any changes made to the mesh. Note that with Text Mesh Pro sometimes the deformation may not show on the mesh when Play Mode is exited, changing any value in the inspector though will update the view and the mesh to what it should be.

Please note due to the large number changes to the internals of MegaFiers in this update please backup your project before updating the asset.

Short video showing a Text Mesh Pro object being deformed by a path as well as a bend modifier being used to un-roll the text.

Changes in v3.03

• Please make a backup before updating to this version as a lot of internals have been changed.
• Removed a lot of dead code and commented out sections.
• Changed the way meshes are copied and cached to make intial setup quicker, use less memory and stops the false error that would appear when a modifier is first added to a mesh.
• Mesh changes mean system can work with assets like Text Mesh Pro which update their meshes at Start time.
• Added Dynamic Mesh option to Modify Object, turn this option on if your mesh is procedural in any way, ie text , for optimized handling of dynamic mesh data

 

Slightly longer video showing a few more modifiers combined with Text Mesh Pro.

 

Here is a .gif file showing we can morph the simple blob to a "cat" blob at runtime thanks to Megafiers.
With the bend modifier I have made a kind of "Dance" animation.
Then I change the texture...



6R

 

I'm looking for character clothing system, and it seems that I've found nice solution! My own characters + Mega Fiers. I'm really excited! So basically I can use any cloth, without weights of rig, and Mega Fiers will do rest, yes? I need just rigged base character? And cloth will fit to all morphs, yes? How about perfomance?

I'm using MODO as my 3D software. Are there any known incompabilities with it?

 

@p6r - I like it, is that for a game or just for fun, if for a game please do let me know when it is coming out, would love to try it and feature it on our site etc.

@szymonkosok - The wrap system will do that for you, it will allow you to map your clothing to your character and then it will deform along with it, you will not need to rig or skin your clothing item. The performance of the wrapped mesh is as good if not a little better than it being skinned so if you were planning on using skinning anyway then their should not be any difference in using the wrap system. I do not know of any problems with MODO, we do not though have an exporter for MODO, but if you have access to Max, Maya or Blender then you can use those. Just so you know you will need to use the MegaFiers morphing system.

And on another note MegaFiers is fully compatible with Unity 5.4, just submitted the 5.4 version to the asset store.

 

So I need to make morph targets in Blender, yes? Not good. I have zero experience in Blender. No plans for MODO exporter, maybe?

 

Well you can still make them in Modo and then just import the fbx into Blender to use our exporter. No current plans for a MODO exporter, you can also use OBJ files if you want to create morph targets.

 

Thanks SpookyCat.
I'm making the last tests to find the best parameters to all of this. If the start is OK I will have less (?) issues later !?!
And if I can add the SALSA plugin (other tests with the author actually !) to make them speak/sing, it will be great !!!
It can be for 2D/3D games, educational projects or small movies.

Did you test the Animation panel with Modifiers in 5.4 ? Did they really fix the issue ???
6R

 

As of 5.4 Beta 6 the animation window bug is not yet fixed, they did say though that the record function still works so you can make changes in the inspector and they will recorded to the animation, not ideal but might be enough for you. Fingers crossed they do actually fix it before 5.4 is properly released.

 

The record function isn't the problem. It works now too.
The big issue is that we can't use several modifiers at the same time in the Animation panel, for example I can't mix Stretch and Bend !
That's a bad news if they don't fix it in 5.4 for my projects based a lot on these animations directly made in Unity !
It's bad because it worked fine in the old versions of Unity ! What did they change ??? Why ???
You can try with a simple capsule to see what I mean. Add a Bend and a Stretch modifier and look into the Animation panel that we can't work with the both modifiers at the same time.
I have to work another way but it isn't so easy...
6R

 

I am sure it will get fixed, they cant really release with a major bug like that.

 

Just tried to email Chris...the email is getting bounced with an error saying the mail box is full.
I am having an issue with Wraping my characters hair to a morphed object, i need to send the drop off location of the files.

 

Oh I will check that out, we seem to get daily emails of peoples complete projects despite it saying on the support page not to.

 

Thanks Chris, i have just resent it...let me know if its all good ( i haven't got a bounce back message..should be good)

 

Just submitted a small update to the asset store. This stops the error message when using the Wrap system and brings various improvements and bug fixes to the MegaShapes system to make using and editing splines easier.

Changes in v3.04

• Stopped the mesh leak error when remapping the wrap mesh to object in the edit mode.
• Editing of splines is now disabled if an Alt key is down, stops accidental editing of splines while changing the scene view.
• Fixed error with Spline Fill mesh when being used as a collider with zero thickness.
• MegaFiers fully compatible with Unity 5.4
• Fixed a problem in Unity 5.x where zero length tris would cause an error and stop the collider being built.
• Fixed exception in inspector if you happen to create a spline with no knots in it.
• Added option to turn of the autosmooth when a new knot is added to the spline.
• Also added the AutoCurve option when the Add Knot button is clicked

 

Here are some "stretched, bent, twisted,..." morphs from my blob I can use and animate thanks to Megafiers.
6R

 

Wondered at the correct installation process to install megashapes and megafiers. Last time we tried (Unity 5.0) they conflicted horribly when just installed from store.

 

@p6r - Great fun, will have to post that on the facebook page.

@hippocoder - Yeah the new GUID system Unity introduced in 5.0 made things a pain when installing packages that shared code from different assets as it no longer saw files with the same names as the same files so duplicates it all with numbers on the end, I usually install the packages in a copy of Unity 4, MegaFiers then MegaShapes then export that as a combined package. There was a lot of discussion in the Asset Store group about Unity changing the GUID system but not sure if that is something they will do or not.

 

Perhaps you can offer a combined package or something for registered users or a cleanup tool that would fix it or something as it'll break each time I update, it's so far put me off using both.

I need to make ziplines - I don't actually need megashapes installed for that do I?

 

I will look at that, both good ideas will have a think as to which would be best. If you just want to turn splines into meshes then the version of MegaShapes included in MegaFiers will do that for you.

 

Just tested installing MegaFiers and MegaShapes in Unity 5.3.2 and it seems Unity have changed the GUID system as apart from one file which is in the wrong place somehow in MegaFiers so duplicated there are no longer any conflicts when installing MegaShapes on top of MegaFiers.

 

I want to evaluate splines fast at runtime, as I need characters to also sample a point along a spline so I can travel down them as well as make them visually (just cables really). If that's fine in megafiers then it's probably all I need - thanks for support

 

The full API for spline interpolation is in the MegaFiers version as well and so is the path follow component. If you want to attach a Rigidbody object to the spline then their is also the MegaShapeRbodyPathNew component in the MegaFiers version so yeah you should just need MegaFiers

 

Here is another one with my favourite message...
6R

 

What's about this ???
6R

 

@p6r - Looks like Unity have fixed the Animation bug in 5.4 B7 release.

 

If you can see/modify several modifiers in the Animation panel (and before running the Scene), it means they have fix the bug !?!
Hope so...
Thanks for your support.
6R

 

Mix of Megafiers and Salsa plugins to add words or songs to my Blob environment :

6R

 

@p6r - Great fun, you can sing better than I can Just tested the Unity Animation system bug in 5.4 B7 and it all working fine.

 

That's great !
I wait for the 5.4 final release...

Ha ! Ha ! Thanks ! Can we really call that "sing" ???
6R

 

Do you know the blendshapes we can find in the Skinned Mesh Renderer when we drag and drop a Daz character (saved with the blendshapes) disappear as soon as we add a modifier ???

Do you know if you could fix that ??? Because I need the blendshapes to use SALSA to make my blob speak.
But if I add a modifier to make it speak + dance for example it's impossible because of the disappearing of the blendshapes !
6R

 

That is due to Unity not exposing any of the blendshape data to allow us to duplicate or do anything with it, we can only copy the data that Unity allows us to, maybe Unity will expose the data in 5.4 or 6. I do not know Salsa but could there not be a way to connect the code that drives Unity Blendshapes to drive MegaFier morphs?

 

As you cans see here Unity exposes the Blendshapes data in the Skinned Mesh Renderer !!!
And I can use them without issues with SALSA !

BUT they disappear as soon as I add a modifier : Unity suddenly deletes the Blendshapes !
Try to insert a daz character (saved with blendshapes). Look at the mesh Renderer if they are present... and add a modifier. You will see what I mean.

6R

 

Yes Unity knows about the data and shows the channels and weights it in its own inspector but there is no way for a script to be able to access the core data, for whatever reason Unity has decided they do not want users to access the data so we can not duplicate it. All they allow scripts to see is the number of blendshapes and the weight of each one nothing else.

 

Submitted a new version which now copies Unity BlendShape data with the mesh, so you should still be able to use the Unity blendshapes and MegaFier modifiers together, this is in alpha as a feature but let me know via our support tickets if you have any problems, also MegaWrap will not currently wrap to Unity blendshape deformations, we are looking at getting this working in a future update, but should be no problem if you are using Unity Blendshapes for facial stuff and lip sync.

Changes in v3.05

• Updated Mesh copy functions so Unity Blendshape data is preserved.

 

Until now it seems to work fine : GREAT !!!
You're a genious ! I ask for something not so easy and you do it within a few minutes or hours ! Crazy !
Now I can mix Megafiers and Salsa !

Thanks a lot SpookyCat...
6R

 

Hi,
I am running into an issue when i try create a prefab on a object that has a megamorph and a wrapped object.
I get the following errors ( the actual morph mesh disappears and non of the wrapped objects deform)
-----
Instantiating mesh due to calling MeshFilter.mesh during edit mode. This will leak meshes. Please use MeshFilter.sharedMesh instead.
UnityEngine.MeshFilter:get_mesh()
MegaWrap:SetMesh() (at Assets/Mega-Fiers/Scripts/MegaFiers/Utils/MegaWrap.cs:193)
MegaWrapoUpdate() (at Assets/Mega-Fiers/Scripts/MegaFiers/Utils/MegaWrap.cs:471)
MegaWrap:LateUpdate() (at Assets/Mega-Fiers/Scripts/MegaFiers/Utils/MegaWrap.cs:434)
-------
IndexOutOfRangeException: Array index is out of range.
MegaWrap.DoUpdate () (at Assets/Mega-Fiers/Scripts/MegaFiers/Utils/MegaWrap.cs:532)
MegaWrap.LateUpdate () (at Assets/Mega-Fiers/Scripts/MegaFiers/Utils/MegaWrap.cs:434)
---------------------
I am using Create Mega Prefab from the GameObject drop down. Am i missing out a step ?

 

@wargod - If you can submit a support ticket at the website we can help you out.

 

Ok Perfect. Just Submitted one a request on the website. Thanks

 

Just submitted a small update to the AssetStore this version now enables CanEditMultipleObjects on all parts of the MegaFiers system, it also fixes a problem in the Create Prefab system when a MegaWrap component was attached to a gameobject with no meshfilter, and removed a leaked mesh warning that could happen in the Copy Object system in Edit Mode.

Changes in v3.06

• CanEditMultipleObjects now works on all components.
• Fixed mesh instead of sharedmesh being used in part of the copy object, so no more leaked mesh errors in edit mode when copying.
• Added a check in Create Prefab system for when a MegaWrap component is attached to a gameobject with no meshfilter which broke the copy system.

 

Another quick update, this brings some fixes to the Prefab and Copy systems, there were cases when things would not work correctly or give errors, namely when the ModifyObject component was attached to an object with no mesh so a mesh from a child was being deformed, and depending on the order of meshes or skinned meshes in the children there was a chance a wrong mesh would be set. Also if a MegaWrap component was attached to a an object with no mesh errors would be generated after the prefab was made. We also added copying of Unity blendshapes to the Wrap system in case you may have used them.

Changes in v3.07

• Fixed an issue in the Make Prefab system if a ModifyObject was attached to an object with no mesh data.
• Fixed an issue with the Make Prefab system if there were copies of the same mesh in the hierarchy
• Fixed an issue in the Make Prefab system where meshes could be swapped depending on order of skinned and normal meshes in the children.
• Fixed the above also for Copy Object.
• MegaWrap system now copies Unity BlendShape data to preserve any blendshapes that may be attached to a wrapped item.
• MegaWrapRef system now copies Unity BlendShape data to preserve any blendshapes that may be attached to a wrapped item.

 

Hi, i'm having trouble with getting megacache to work. If the build was placed on another system, the megacache animations just doesn't play back.On the system the build was created the megachache animations play fine. Is there something to consider using megachache or building the project regarding this problem?

 

@j-su - If you could submit a support ticket at our website and if you can include some grabs showing the inspector settings for the MegaCache component we can help you out.

 

After further research, I assume that it might be related to having absolute paths declared for the megacache-files. Is there an option for declaring relative paths? Whatever syntax I use for declaring a relative path, the relative path declaration resets back to the absolute path declaration in the inspector once I play the scene in Unity editor.

 

@j-su - If you could submit a support ticket at the website we can help you out.