1 Tutorials LightWave 3D Cartoon Eye Setup Qui Jan 27, 2011 8:38 pm
Admin
Admin
by Jonny Gorden | |
There are many ways to make cartoony (oval) eyes that can look around, and I've seen them all, from moving textures with nulls to seperate eye and pupil objects. There are 2 things that are most important for a characters eyes, that they look great, and that they're easy to control. If they don't look good, then the character and it's believability suffers. If they're difficult to control, then the animation suffers. The following method is the one that I believe is most convincing, and is easy to create and easy to control. Modeler The first thing we'll do is to create a template object for the eyes. This will give us a guide for tweaking the eye area of the face, as well as creating morph targets for the eyelids. I usually do this fairly early in the modelling process, but I'll show it with a finished model for this example. Step 1: Creating the eye template Bring an empty layer to the foreground, and place your head model layer in the background. Create a ball "Shift-o". Use the default settings "n" except orient it to the Z axis. Move the ball to roughly the center of the left eye socket, and scale it on all axes till it's the right shape. Rotate the eye so it fits nicely in the eye socket. Mirror the eye "Shift-v", so you have reference for both sides of the face. Now you can tweak and morph the face using the template eyes as reference. Step 2: Creating the eye object Now we need to create the actual eyes that we'll be using. In a new layer, with the template eyes in the background layer, create a ball, or alternatively copy in an eye that you've prepared earlier as I have done here. Move "m" the eye so its center is in the same position as the center of the left template eye, and Scale "Shift-h" it so it's roughly the same width as the template eye. Mirror "Shift-v", to create the right eye. Select the polygons of the left eye and give it a new weight "EyeL", then select the polygons of the right eye and give it a new weight "EyeR". Cut "x" the eyes and Paste "v" them into the layer with the head model. Step 3: Save your object and send it to Layout. Layout Step 4: Creating the bones For this step I'm assuming you've already created the skeleton for your character by creating bones or converting skelegons. Create a child bone "+" from the head bone. Call the new bone "EyeL_base". Move the bone so its pivot is exactly at the center of the left eye and, in the Bone Properties panel "p", set its Rest Length so the bone is contained fully within the eye. Set the Strength to "0". Clone "Add/Clone Current Item" the "EyeL_base" bone, and Rename "Replace/Rename Current Item" the clone "EyeR_base". Set the X value of the "EyeR_base" bone to the negative of its current value. These are the bones that we'll use to stretch the eyes into the right shape. Now we need to create the bones that will rotate the eyes to look at stuff. Create a child of each eye bone, calling them "EyeL_rotate" and EyeR_rotate" respectively. Set the Z value of each bone to "0" and set the Rest Length of each so the tip sticks out from the eye, and the Strength to "100". Set the Bone Weight Map for "EyeL_rotate" to the weight "EyeL". Set the Bone Weight Map for "EyeR_rotate" to the weight "EyeR". Select each of the 4 eye bones in turn and hit "r" to activate them. Step 5: Shaping the eyes Now in the Perspective view, rotate the "EyeL_Base" bone so it's oriented to the same angle as the template eye, including the Bank channel. You can see if you've got the bone rotation right, when you select Stretch "h", that the handles appear oriented to the template eye's rotation. Stretch the bone using each of the X Y and Z handles until it's the same shape as the template eye. Repeat with the "EyeR_base" bone, or copy the Rotation and Scale settings from the "EyeL_base" bone, reversing the Heading and Bank rotation. Since you don't need it any more, you can delete "-" the layer with the template eyes. Now you have cartoon eyes all ready for animation. You can test them out by rotating the EyeL_rotate or EyeR_rotate bones. You can see that the eyes retain their shape as they rotate. Step 6: Setting eye targets Create 3 nulls, and name them "Eye_Target", "EyeL" and "EyeR". Parent "EyeL" and "EyeR" to "Eye_Target". Move "EyeL" a little left, and "EyeR" a little right of the "Eye_Target" null. Note: If your characters eyes are facing forwards, then move them almost the same distance apart as the eyes. If your characters eyes are facing outwards, as this example, move them a little further out than the eyes. In the Motions Panel "m" set the "EyeL_Rotate" bone to target the "EyeL"null, and the "EyeR_Rotate" bone to target the "EyeR"null. Then still in the Motions Panel, set the "Eye_Target" null to target the head bone. Now you can move the "Eye_Target" around and watch the eyes follow. Good eye animation can really bring a character to life. These simple steps will ensure that you have great fun animating your characters eyes. To view a test animation of this character click one of the links below. Note: To view the windows video you may need to download DivX 5 here. If you have any questions, please email me at [Tens de ter uma conta e sessão iniciada para poderes visualizar este link]. Jonny |