UMA - Unity Multipurpose Avatar on the Asset Store!

I would recommend you creating some overlays, this way you could have custom content without the need to handle those import/export problems. Overlays will only require Photoshop or Gimp, and you can start by editing existing duplicated content.

 

@davidosullivan Have you tried importing an FBX to Max? I just imported the one in the content folder and it seems to import fine. Didn't check the weighting on it. There's actually a tutorial for Max. Seemed like the process was similar whenever I saw it last.

http://uma.unity3d.com/wiki/index.php/Content_Creation_-_3ds_Max

 

I already shared this video tutorial but he didn't managed to get it working.
Do you have a 3d max scene with UMA Base content? If you could share it I can provide it on GIT.

 

I've produced almost every half baked thing I've ever made in in MAX, all based around the FBX unified male from the content creator pack. There are some dodgy scaling issues but you can work around them until you come to rig your clothes.

I have however had some unexpected problems creating slots from my fbx files in UMA 2. As a work around I have been making my slots in UMA 1 then converting to UMA 2 which has been successful 100% of the time.

Perhaps I should document some of this and make myself useful eh

 

@justb , are you having the same issue? I was not aware of this problem. I might be able to help finding out what is generating this problem.
Cheers =)

 

Wow, that Fuse looks pretty impressive. Downloading now. I'm not sure what I'm downloading though... Anyway, it's free . For access to that amount of free content I would actually pay. Is there even a pro version/account? I can't find anything.

 

Max tutorial works fine. You just have to follow the steps closely. There's no real Scene needed. Just use the provided FBX should work fine.

 

No pro version, all free for now. I suggest you start a new topic rather than clutter the UMA thread. Sorry, guys.

 

@FernandoRibeiro The issue with the slots has been bug reported.

https://github.com/huika/UMA/issues/38

You can't have 2 materials on a slot or part of the slot will disappear (hopefully this will be fixed soon). Makes updating a large amount of items longer.

Other than that. The Max workflow seems to work fine here.

 

If you really need the Max files. Includes Male/ Fem separated and swap head:

 

@SecretAnorak ,Can you confirm this is the problem you had?

Since multi-material support didn't even existed when I started creating content, I aways avoided it =)

 

Here we go @davidosullivan , please check if it works for you. I'll get those into GIT.

 

Unfortunately no. I had a problem with half of my vertices being scrambled after conversion in UMA 2, but the slots build perfectly in UMA 1. I was never too sure if it was my ropey modelling or not, so I haven't tried it since. I'll have a go at replicating the error with the latest release.

Edit: Here we go, This is the result of using the UMA2 slot builder with my dodgy mesh.


Here is the offending FBX File: Tunic

 

Hello!

Newbie here. First of all, great work! Thanks for all UMA contributors for all your work.

I have one question, is there way to use different shader for body textures? Ie. I don't want body overlays, instead I want use some kind of cartoon(-ish) skin shader? It is possible?

PS. SecretAnorak, great work with YouTube tutorials! I've learned so much from them!

 

Good News, you can use any shader you like, have a look on page 59 of this thread , I posted a quick guide. (My 3rd post on that page)

Hope that helps.

 

@SecretAnorak Have you tried setting the scale to 100 instead of the default 1?

 

Why doesn't anyone ever report bugs?

It looks like there is a scale on the imported mesh and rig - did you apply modifiers at export?

 

@justb It makes no difference unfortunately.

I didn't report it as I was fairly certain it was something I was doing wrong. However the fact that UMA 1 handles it ok suggests it is a bug.

The mesh only had the skin modifier on it at export. I'll run through the whole process again and see if I can identify what I've done wrong.

 

The thing that looks suspicious to me is that if I just import the .fbx and look inside the asset, both the Tunic and UMA_Male_Rig objects have their scale set to 0.01.

 

I've just made a new slot from scratch and ensured that the scales are all set to 1 with exactly the same result. Works with UMA1 but not with UMA2. (very sad smiley face)

Here it is: New Top

 

BTW, imagine my expression upon seeing SecretAnorak's 17th video!

It's a beginner's guide to using expressions with UMA! Now you know how to turn on eyeblinks and saccades, among other things.

 

Another video! Time to make some popcorn.

 

I don't know if this has any bearing on issues recently discussed in this thread, but I was just reading in another thread that mecanim may occasionally be crossing L and R arms on models. At least one of those models is a Blender model, but maybe not all of them.

 

Hi there!
Could you provide me with the .Blend file? I could check it right away =)
Cheers

 

Sorry Fernando, I'm using 3ds MAX to ruin UMA2, I'm going to try my same workflow using justb's max files as a starting point and see what results I get.

Gimme 10 mins to knock another slot up

 

Thank you a lot =) Just uploaded the file to Git.
Cheers!

 

Argh! Sorry, I've been doing so many things at the same time I forgot it was about Max : PPP

 

No worries Fernando, "easily confused" is my middle name.

I'm getting the same result with justb's files as a starting point. I'm beginning to wonder if it's my version of MAX. I'm using 2012 and the FBX2012 format. I have tried dropping to FBX2010 with no joy.

@justb what version of Max (or more importantly) FBX are you using?

Please keep in mind however that all of these slots work perfectly if I create them in UMA1 and then convert to UMA2.

 

MAX 2012, FBX settings from the tut vid.

You'll get issues like your having if you use binary 7.4. Try using ascii. I think it's mentioned in the video.

 

@SecretAnorak

 

Grr, Same result with ASCII Export.

 

Hi there everyone!
Full plate armor is looking amazing =) Take a look here:

This is LOD0, we will be providing 3 LODs and a set of texture packs will be sold separately, as well as different helmets.
As soon it's done I'll start a new thread specifically for those new assets.

 

Small request. Could we get proper releases going on github that correspond to what's in the asset store?

 

Just wanted to pass on a big thank you to all who have helped me on this so far! Finally managed to get my new low poly race integrated with UMA and everything works just great with it so far! Just had to figure out how to properly export from blender and import into unity was where I was having most troubles, apart from that everything worked as I would expect it to

 

@SecretAnorak as a max user wanting to expand the usage of UMA with my custom race.I am following your plight on creating custom races and wanting to give you a hearty pat on the back for your efforts.

this is a great asset, just needs a little TLC

 

I'm sure there is something I am personally doing wrong. Rest assured, I am determined to work out what it is, by repeatedly battering my head against MAX until I get it to work. I promise to share the fruits of my pain when I'm done.

 

People continue to have difficulty with this, so if you have any observations to add, please do so.

I'm sure there must be at least one thing that was a hangup for you ... something you didn't realize was important at first, or that you thought you were doing right but weren't, or something like that.

 

It was pretty much trial and error, applying rotation and scale values of things in Blender so that they're always 1. Then in unity setting the import settings for the two imported fbx files so that their scale factor is 100.

The original strange ballerina style pose I was experiencing was because of the model being rotated on import, and the tiny size was a combination of scale values being set to anything but 1 in Blender and needing to set scale factor to 100.

Setting DNA values and creating DNA Converter Behaviours is really just very intuitive after looking at the code a little.

Still a long way to go with this stuff, hopefully if other race creators come across the same issues I'll be able to help out with some of the mistakes I've made over the past month.

 

Looks like a Slot Builder bug, and it's being triggered by those particular .FBX files because of something in the way Max is creating the skeletons.

 

Thanks for stopping me before I needed medical assistance.

When this is fixed I promise to do some 3ds MAX content creation videos in celebration.

 

Dude! You are my hero!

 

https://github.com/huika/UMA/commit...6b5cc84#diff-0769d73b484da4ec6ebb4af86326aae3

Don't know when that will show up in the Asset Store version, but it's a one line change if you want to try it locally.

 

Hi! I'm still learning how to use UMA and I'm trying to create a race (following the werewolf videos), and I'm stuck because of missing files and a script that should load but it does not.

Would anyone help me?

1- I didn't find the Mecanim template file that Fernando used in the video (it's probably not there because something changed and that file is not needed anymore... is this it? Maybe the automatic generation is working properly now)

2- Major problem comes when I try to copy and load components from Male prefab to the new Werewolf prefab. There's an important component called UMAData (script) that is not loading. It shows a red button "clear" in the inspector bar, and when I Click, I get this:

NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
UMAEditor.CharacterBaseEditor.ToolbarGUI () (at Assets/Standard Assets/Editor/UMA/Core/CharacterBaseEditor.cs:877)
UMAEditor.CharacterBaseEditor.OnInspectorGUI () (at Assets/Standard Assets/Editor/UMA/Core/CharacterBaseEditor.cs:834)
UMAEditor.UMADataEditor.OnInspectorGUI () (at Assets/Standard Assets/Editor/UMA/Core/UMADataEditor.cs:47)
UnityEditor.InspectorWindow.DrawEditor (UnityEditor.Editor editor, Int32 editorIndex, Boolean forceDirty, System.Boolean& showImportedObjectBarNext, UnityEngine.Rect& importedObjectBarRect, Boolean eyeDropperDirty) (at C:/buildslave/unity/build/Editor/Mono/Inspector/InspectorWindow.cs:1162)
UnityEditor.DockArea:OnGUI()


One more question:

Would anyone kindly explain the UMA folder structure to me? Why is there a UMA folder inside the Standard Assets and another outside?
I would like to create a clean project, with just my new created races, DNAs, slots, overlays, without importing together Fernando's models, examples and etc. What do I need from all those folders?

 

Hello
First of all big thank you to everyone involved in UMA making and Secret Anorak for making UMA less of a secret to me
Since I bought several packs for UMA, I wanted to contribute with some suggestions to people who make stuff for UMA.
First of all clearly some rules for making pieces should be set and everyone should follow them to avoid problems with different packs from different people. So here are my suggestions:
1. When making high heel shoes, do not make whole leg replacement, because it interferes with pants that also replace legs, thus when updating shoes with legs I also replace pants if high heel shoes need full legs. I suggest using ankles matching with standard UMA legs, for any gaps that appear between shoes and legs after replacing feet.
2. When making replacement pants or shirts, always use standard uma and without other stuff you made if it matches, that is the only way different stuff will match. I've bough few packs that match with the same pack content, but leave gaps if other pants or shirts are used. (the workaround is to put clothing on top of the body, but it is not optimal).
3. Hats and hair is another problem, they usually do not go together very well, because hats are made on bold uma.

That's all so far

 

Eli, you are a gentleman and a scholar!

My badly crafted slots now work perfectly with UMA2. Finally I can dress my UMAs in poorly made polygons with a much neater workflow. Unfortunately, since I started shooting my mouth off, I now have to record some asset creation videos as penance. Bah!

Better hurry up and finish off the practical guide this weekend so I can move on.

Thanks again Eli

 

Hi Augis1980.

I can see exactly where you're coming from. Having a fixed standard for content creators to work to would be wonderful for end users.

However, it also defeats the entire point of UMA. The beauty of the system is that it allows you to work in any way you like. and unfortunately my idea of how things should fit together will invariably impose limitations for other people's ideas. For example; I started thinking about a hair system, where there are 2 versions of every hair model. One complete and one with the top half missing to accommodate hats. This would mean all of the hats in my set would have to stop at the same point on the head, but I could combine them all. Immediately I have set a limitation that others may not want to follow.

The best you can hope for is that individual asset creators ensure that their own assets are compatible with each other. (Which generally they are). Try mailing the author of any assets you feel need adjustment. Most of the asset creators I have spoken with are happy to make corrections or adjustments to keep their customers happy, but if they are unaware of the limitations imposed by another author's work they cannot accommodate for them. I cannot imagine anyone refusing to improve the compatibility of their assets as it can only improve customer satisfaction and review scores.

Ultimately some artistic decisions will always involve compromise. The high heels are a perfect example, because of the way re-targetable animation works, high heels will always require a replacement mesh to work with flat footed animations. The only other option would be to make a completely different set of animations with the foot bones tilted forward exclusively for high heel wearing characters. This is obviously not an option for anyone who is using pre-made animations.

The bottom line is that for complete creative control without making any compromises you have to start looking into creating your own assets.

This is, of course, only my opinion based on my experiences so far, perhaps a more accomplished artist can wade in and contradict me here.

hope that helps,

 

Are you talking about the Mecanim avatar / TPose? That's still required and you need to configure it from the button in the "Rig" tab of the inspector for your base model, then generate the UMA TPose asset from that.

The race prefab is no longer used in UMA 2, you don't need to create or configure this.

In theory UMA only requires the content inside Standard Assets to run and the rest of the content is just samples and utilities, but I don't know if anybody has actually tried stripping everything out of a project and just running with their own content. It's mostly separated out as an indication of which parts the end users might be editing versus which are API stuff that you probably shouldn't modify but there's also some savings on compilation times in the editor to have the stuff that won't change in Standard Assets.

 

Hi Ecurtz, thanks for the answer!
I found out how to create the race and the slots.

I'm creating the overlays now, but the material builder from UMA's menu that was supposed to put together specular texture and normal texture is now "legacy" (yet work).

What is the right way to create an overlay from 3 textures (difuse, normal, specular) for this new UMA version?

 

Are you going to use PBR on Unity 5 and UMA 2? In that case there's no need to use the material builder.
http://uma.unity3d.com/wiki/index.php/UMA_2.0_Overlay_and_Material_Creation

We are not using AO right now, but @justb contacted me concerning this subject and we might be able to support it on the near future.
Cheers

 

UNity 5 + UMA2.

What is PBR?