Push Modifier and Cloth Modifier

This is a video of the cloth problems i have been having.
when going to simulate the cloth after applying a biped the cloth seems to ignore the figure and flows through it.

UVW Unwrap

Texture mapping models is something i have never done before but knew that I'd have to learn about it to improve the quality and more importantly the efficiency of my work.

I started out by researching some basic explanations and tutorials of texture wrapping on the internet. One tutorial i found very helpful was:

http://waylon-art.com/uvw_tutorial/uvwtut_01.html

(by Waylon Brinck 2005)

what helped the most was the description at the start which explained why we need to unwrap and the idea of texture mapping:

That's the essence of what a texture map is - a flat drawing that's cut up, rotated, and fitted onto your mesh.

i found parts of th tutorial a bit ard to follow so i looked for other tutorials which would could help, i found video tutorials most helpful, for example this tutorial by Goddessofgodless

Wall Climb clip

one of the short, fast scenes in the trailer.
this is the basic scene layout with a biped which can have a mesh applied to later

Coat Tests

Coat tests using a simple cloth modifier method

Model Version

This is an example of the different version si have created using the different tutorials.
As you can see the Emuel3D contains a lot less information on the anatomy and structure of the model compared to the
model created by Bauervision. The advanced tutorial taught me how to organise the sturcture and more importantly why it was important to organise the structure.
Reason such as other programs might not handle "triangles" the same way as 3D studio max does so it is important to try and keep most of the faces polygons.

Hand-Op

Just a screen shot showing how the new hand is going.
With the new story board having a close up on a hand i felt it's best to re-model the current hand and try and fix a few bugs i had with the rigging.

a comparison with the old and new hand

Box modelling

Just realised that the arm sizes of the mesh were quite far from the basic biped stucutre and the arms looked really bad with out the coat. so i have decided that i will need to re-model the arms and might have to fix some of the other errors up. Unfortunatly i don't really have time to do this but i feel it's nessary and the time spent is worth the risk.

I will follow a tutorial found on Bauervision to help me clean up and improve the mesh.

The video's can be found here:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Fight 01

A clip ot two bipeds fighting, one resulting a foot stamp which can be used in the trailer.

Scenery Models

In addition to the items which will get created i've decided to try import some other models such as
http://www.turbosquid.com/3d-models/free-sailing-boat-3d-model/205784
to try and improve the scenes and create some better environments. Hopefully this will save some time improve the quality with no real hassle.

here's an image of Thorsten Folkers model

Model v01

This is the first version of the model.

Trailer story board 03

A rough story board dipicting what the trailer will consist of.

music is by Jason Hayes. ( i don't own the rights to it)

Upload Errors

Due to an unknown error the blog is having trouble uploading and locating files.
This might be due to a recent URL change and the permilinks have been altered incorrectly.
I'm going to change all uploads of documents to http://www.slideshare.net/ this website will take .ppts, .pdfs as well as .docs and it will keep the server size down as well.
Images can be uploaded to Flicker or any other image hosting website and videos can remain on youtube.

Skin vs Physique

I looked around trying to find some definitive answers to which method of attaching a biped was better, Skin or physique but couldn't really find much. For every discussion for Skin there seemed to be a discussion for Physique. I decided to try look at the reason why there were to modifiers which were so similar and found this:

"Physique vs. Skin

First, a little history. When character studio first came out, there was no modifier in 3ds max that would let you drive the animation of a mesh using bones. So character studio included the Physique modifier as part of the product. The Physique modifier was added to the character mesh objects and then the Biped bones were added to the Physique modifier. Physique created a series of envelopes of influence that directed the relationship between the Biped bones and the mesh vertices's.

Later versions of 3ds max added a default Skin modifier that could be used for the same purpose. This was included for competitive reasons, as other 3D programs came with this feature, and users were not required to pay extra for it. Since character studio was an additional plugin that cost extra, the Skin modifier was originally designed as a "slightly lesser-than" product with simpler UI and fewer bells and whistles.

Over time, however, Skin underwent additional changes and improvements. Vertex painting and the Skin Weight table were added, as well as the ability to mirror skin weights. Meanwhile, the original developer of the Physique module left Unreal Pictures, and development more or less ceased on Physique.

So you have a choice. You can use Physique or you can use Skin.

One advantage of Physique is that it has more control over envelope editing. This can allow you to get a better handle on your mesh deformation at the envelope level before moving on to weighting vertices's. Physique also has a Bulges and Tendons editor that gives you more control over deforming the mesh.

Skin has options similar to Bulge, but the tool set is not as robust. Skin is a newer option for mesh deformation. Features such as the Skin Weight table and mirroring vertex weights are better implemented. Skin is also much more exposed to MAXScript and the custom user interface. The Skin Utils feature works well with Skin.

How to decide which to use? Generally, if you like the process of painting weights, go with Skin. If you like the closer integration with cs and the Bulge editing feature, Physique is the way to go. You may have to try both on a character to make an informed choice.
Skin Your Mesh to Biped Bones"

INSIDE 3DS MAX® 7 By Adobe Creative Team

this was found in a 3D Studio Max 7 book, a little out dated but from what i can see there is still a lot of truth in it.
I think for the model it will be best to go with the Physique modifier for its simplicity with the envelopes and bulges and tendons can be added if the mesh needs to be more detailed or complex.

Skin Modifier

This is another method of connecting the mesh to the biped, the skin modifier