**Please note that due to the 2020 COVID Pandemic there were limitations** Intro: For this final project we were tasked with using the previsualized motion capture takes from within Motionbuilder, or another source such as Mixamo. After finding previsualized takes, stitch at least 4 different clips together to create a final piece. These clips together should at least attempt to accomplish one of the following:
My proposal: My project was intended to be an individual performing a series of actions that led to the characters untimely "end":
Working in MotionBuilder: To begin, I started to stitch together different scenes. I placed the default male character (from MotioBuilder) within the scene. Afterwords, I created a custom character using Fuse, this software allows you to adjust small details such as clothing, hair, body/facial features, and textures. I ended up only using the geometry for this assignment as I'm aware of how to render, but this is focused more on the motion of the scene and the previsualization of the content. Bringing this new character into MotionBuilder, I retargeted the skeleton from the old character onto the new one. I also found a revolver model online and attached this to the skeleton. There were a few tweaks here and there to get it to align correctly--one thing I did differently was to scale my character down to about the same height as the default, making the reach/stretch settings much more manageable. Within MotionBuilder, there is a tab called "Story". Within story, you are able to take these pre-animated sequences and stitch them together. This is done by placing each scene back to back, and readjusting the initial position of the character's actions. You can also trim and edit the scenes as needed. On top of this, you can tell a specific scene to only interact with certain body parts. For example, I have my character walking forward. Let's say at a certain point I want my character to wave--bring in the pre-animated "wave" and place it into the story. After this, tell the rig to only be affected by that single arm, rather than the whole body. You can then take the "wave" motion and overlap it with the previous walk motion. This can also be faded into one another--rather than have your character 'jerk' to it's next position there is the ability to overlap actions (much like a cross-dissolve with video, or cross-fade with audio). After all of the minute adjustments to the character motion, there was the task of using physics solvers to create an interactive environment with the character. This process included using ragdoll physics to make the character's body fall and retain physical attributes when striking different objects within the scene. In the figure above, you might notice some barrel-like objects--these were the objects I wanted the ragdoll to interact with. In MotionBuilder, you have the ability to attribute and adjust the ragdoll placed onto the body--below you can find an example of how sinple geometry is used to simulate and reproduce realistic interactions.
Outcomes: I would definitely go back if I had the opportunity to add more to the environment and render out the sequence, but this loses sight of the initial project to begin with. I will say there is a moment where the character stands up after the sliding motion that was never fully fixed--I attempted many different times to make it appear natural, but it is minor enough that it doesn't break the flow of the scene. This project was about the motion of the character and learning the technicalities that came with creating such a scene. Out of all of the software out there for creating previsualized scenes, I can confidently say MotionBuilder is your most important asset in preparing content. Some of the nuanced movement I added to the character (using a control rig and baking the animation back onto the original skeleton) while in motion included:
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May 2020
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