LIFE FORMS™ FOR STUDIOPRO USERS
Contents
1. point and drag it CLOSE TO but not ON the figure OR Grab the Look At point with the Object Move tool then hold down the Option key Macintosh or the Alt key Windows and drag to the figure The figure highlights in green to indicate that the camera is aimed at it but not locked onto it Switch to the Front view then grab the camera and raise it so it s approximately at waist level on the figure Select Camera 1 from the Windows gt Camera Windows pop up to open the Camera window You can make any last minute adjustments in this window 7 With the Option key Macintosh or the Alt key Windows depressed select Fit Views to All from the Windows menu Using the Option Alt key also includes the animation path to fit in the view 8 Move the Current Time pointer to the Cut Out point ga waaar eee ee a ae ey on 00 08 12 S thi EEN A GG Ol eH a a ng B ual 15m ue Curent Time Pointer 9 With both the figure and the Camera selected grab the line that runs e between the camera and the cam era s Look At point and drag to the end of the figure s animation path If the figure is not also selected you won t be able to see it s animation path so it s important that both are selected Grab this line and drag NOTE By grabbing the line a between the camera and its Look At point BOTH the camera AND the Look At point move together La The model titled Model3 smd includes all of the steps up2. Open As Use the Open or Open As commands in the File menu to open an SHM file in a new modeling window in StudioPro This new model contains the IK hierarchy and its associated animation data only It does not contain any geometry tex tures etc until you create or apply them Import Use this command to import motion data into an existing StudioPro model When you import an SHM file the software checks to see if there is already an IK struc ture of the same name If not the IK structure is imported along with the motion data If the IK structure is already present in the model the new motion data replaces updates its old animation data Only the animation data is imported This is a very powerful feature which allows you to work in StudioPro and Life Forms simultaneously For example perhaps you ve created and animated an IK structure in Life Forms exported it as an SHM file brought it into StudioPro and added geometry Now you decide to tweak the motion of the IK slightly You don t have to export the file out of StudioPro and back into Life Forms Instead just work with the original file in Life Forms change the animation as desired then use Life Form s Export command to save the file as an SHM file Now use StudioPro s Import command to import the file into StudioPro Only the animation information is imported to the associated IK struc ture replacing all of the previous animation data but leaving all of the other data int
3. animation by expanding or compressing a range of frames
4. short pre made sequences When you paste one animation in front of after or in the middle of another animation Life Forms auto matically recalculates the location values to produce a continuous path e reuse predefined animation Life Forms enables you to paste motion sequences from one model to another The Joint Map editor lets you control how motion data is applied from the a source to a destination model e blend the actions of various body joints by pasting motion of selected body parts from one animation to another MOTION EDITOR Life Forms takes the guess work out of motion editing by providing easy to understand ways for you to make adjustments to your animation This is why Life Forms is increas ing used for projects which have large animation component Game character anima tion and crowd scenes are just a few examples e Editing a Range of frames The Range edit feature enables you to apply a relative or absolute rotation to one or more joints over a range of frames For example you have sequence that is perfect for your needs except that the head should be looking down instead of forward In Life Forms this is simple matter to fix Simply select all frames and apply an absolute or relative rotation to the head so that it faces the desired posi tion Editing the Path Life Forms has simple and effective controls for rotating and trans lating a path Adjusting the timing You can quickly change the duration of the
5. Display method to Shaded 3 Use the Select All command from the Edit menu to select all of the spheres 4 Select the Metaballs command from the Modeling menu All the spheres will melt together 5 Play with the Influence slider on the left side of the Metaballs Object Properties pal ette until you re satisfied with the look of the figure Ob ject Transform Texture 3 156 Use the slider to adjust the influ Ka ence between spheres B Ko LI Absolute EJ One sided NOTE You can always use the UnMetaballs command if necessary to re align or otherwise manipulate the individual spheres You may want to make the spheres that you created for the lower arms or torso narrower to prevent them from metabal ling together The moda tited Model1 smd includes all of the steps up to this point Itis located in the Life Forms 3 Demo folder gt Strata folder on the Installer CD SAVE THE MODEL THEN CONVERT Now s a good time to save the model because once you convert it into a polygonal mesh you can t convert it back to a Metaballs object again and you won t have any further access to the spheres 1 Save the model Then use the Save a Copy As command to save a version of your model that has not been converted to poly mesh Then select the Convert command in the Modeling menu From the Convert dialog select Polygon Mesh then click OK ATTACH THE POLY MESH Make sure the Display Met
6. STRATA STUDIO P70 LIFE FORMS FOR STUDIOPRO USERS version 2 5 3 MACINTOSH WINDOWS Strata Incorporated 2 West St George Blvd Ancestor Square Suite 2100 St George Utah 84770 435 628 5218 Technical Support 435 628 9751 FAX 435 628 9756 Home Page http www strata3d com Copyright 1998 Strata Inc All rights reserved e mail support strata3d com USING MOTION CAPTURE DATA IN YOUR STUDIOPRO MODEL Credo Interactive Inc s Life Forms now supports Strata s new SHM Strata Hierar chical Motion extension making it possible to use both StudioPro and Life Forms to make animations easier You can animate IK structures in Life Forms then bring them into StudioPro and add geometry textures etc This document explains how to use this new feature and includes a tutorial The SHM import export extension requires StudioPro v2 5 3 or later and works in con junction with the IK feature in Strata s Power Module 1 TO EXPORT SHM FILES FROM LIFE FORMS Life Forms is a motion editing and design software see Animating in Life Forms 3 on page 21 Life Forms now imports and exports the SHM file format This file format allows you to bring motion capture and other pre made keyframed sequences from Life Forms into Strata Studio Pro Life Forms can export any Life Forms animation file as a SHM file When a model s ani mation is exported to a SHM file the animation is represented by a bone figure cr
7. act TO EXPORT SHM FILES OUT OF STUDIOPRO Save As If you ve altered the animation of the Life Forms model in StudioPro you can use the Save As command to save the file as an SHM file All IK and animation data are saved and can be opened in Life Forms Only IK and motion data are included no geometry textures etc The SHM filename must contain the shm suffix Macintosh users If you enable the Save with file type suffix checkbox on the General tab of the Preferences dialog Stu dioPro will do this for you automatically Then once you ve finished animating the IK structure and have exported it from Life Forms as an SHM file you can use the Import command in StudioPro to import only the animation data back into your StudioPro model This animation data is once again assigned to the original IK structure TUTORIAL This tutorial will guide you through the process of creating and animating a figure using StudioPro and a file imported from Credo Interactive s Life Forms 3 This is an advanced tutorial designed for people who are familiar with Strata StudioPro New StudioPro users should familiarize themselves with the basics of the application before trying this tutorial For beginner tutorials see StudioPro Basics in the User manual In the Life Forms 3 Demo folder gt Strata folder you will find the Life Forms file you will need as well as models of this tutorial in various stages of completion You can creat
8. e your own model or use the models provided Look for the Strata icon to identify the model that includes all of the steps up to that point EXPORTING MOTION FROM LIFE FORMS The first step is to export motion data from Life Forms For this tutorial we exported a run to a SHM file called Run shm The following steps describe how to do this If you wish to skip this step you may do so 1 Choose File menu Browse This opens the File Browser In the File Browser browse to the Animation Gallery folder Run folder Select Run2 lfa To export the run animation choose File menu gt Export In the Export dialog box select Strata SHM from the Export List Do not select any of the export options that appear Click OK Name the file Run shm and click OK IMPORT IK STRUCTURE AND ITS MOTION Launch StudioPro and select New from the File menu to open a new Modeling win dow Select Import from the File menu Select the Run shm file located in the Life Forms 3 Demo folder Strata folder Select Fit Views to All from the Windows menu The Life Forms IK structure will open in meters so it may appear extremely large Choose Right from the View Orientation pop up This will give you a face on view of the IK structure CREATE A BODY 1 Change the Display Method pop up to PointCloud The appearance of the IK struc ture won t change much in this display mode but the bones
9. eated from the model s geometry Because the model s geometry affects the bone setup cre ated in the SHM file you should carefully choose the model you use for creating motion data that for Strata Studio Pro The geometry of the model is not exported at the present time Tip Life Forms allows you to paste keyframes from one model to another You can make use of this function to apply existing motion to simpler models before exporting SHM files To export SHM files from Life Forms 1 Choose File menu gt Export 2 Select Strata SHM in the Format List 3 You will see the following options in the Export dialog box e Scale to Original size Check this option if you have scaled the SHM bone figure in Life Forms Life Forms remembers the original size of the figure Checking this option allows Life Forms to scale the motion data back to its original size e Export one figure per file This option is selected by default When this option is checked Life Forms exports only one figure per file This option must be checked if your animation contains more than one figure TO OPEN SHM FILES IN LIFE FORMS Motion data in SHM files can go both ways into and out of Life Forms To import SHM files in Life Forms 1 In Life Forms choose File menu gt Open 2 In the File types menu select Strata SHM 3 Browse and select the SHM file you want to open 4 Click Open TO OPEN SHM FILES IN STUDIOPRO Open
10. erface is ideal for creating keyframed animation as well as for editing motion capture data Seasoned 3D Artists that are getting into the character ani mation business as well as professional animators will find Life Forms useful for quickly adding motion to their projects and for working with motion captured data sets Here are a few reasons why we think so A KEYFRANER Life Forms is a specialist in Keyframing When you want to create custom animations from scratch Life Forms is the tool to use It has e a Figure Editor for fast and accurate positioning of joints e simple controls for adjusting location and facing angle of the figure in the Stage window e graphical Timeline that gives you the ability navigate through the animation and expand or contract selected frames Life Forms allows you to explore exercise and expand your character animation skills A LIBRARY OF MOTIONS Life Forms Studio 3 comes with a library of models and motions called PowerMoves This library contains 120 motion captured sequences and over 600 other sequences that you can reuse as is recombine or modify The non Studio version of Life Forms does not include the PowerMoves 1 amp lI Library but still provides a starter set of motions and models SMART PASTE FUNCTIONS Life Form s Smart Paste functions make it unique These functions save you a lot of trouble by enabling you to e assemble a longer animation from
11. hod is set to PointCloud In the Project window Show the hidden IK structure IK Actor 1 by clicking the Hide Show icon Select the Attach tool on the main Tool palette Hold down the Option key Macintosh or the Alt key Windows then select the IK and drag to the poly mesh When both the IK and the mesh highlight in red the attachment is complete Without the Option Alt key only a single bone becomes attached to the entire IK structure HINT If you ve successfully attached the entire IK structure to the poly mesh the Mesh entry in the Project window changes to IK Mesh If instead you ve acci dentally attached a single bone to the poly mesh the Mesh entry is placed INSIDE the IK Actor 1 entry and no longer appears on the main level If this occurs you can use the Undo command to undo the action but only if you use it immediately after attaching If you can t Undo you must use the Detach tool to detach the mesh from the single bone and try again Be sure you depress the Option key Macintosh or Alt key Windows BEFORE you select the IK structure with the Attach tool FINE TUNE PROCEDURES You must make sure that each piece of the poly mesh is associated to the proper bone in the IK structure Otherwise the geometry will tear as points try to move with the wrong bone This procedure tends to be the most tedious part of process so be patient Depending on the machine you re u
12. lected as well Without this key you may miss some of the vertex points in the back 5 On the Object Properties palette change the Flex slider to FI zero to prevent the geometry from bulging as the figure is ii animated 6 Select each bone in the list to make sure that the appropriate points are associated with it Also check the Flex setting for each bone and make sure its set to zero 7 If there are points that aren t associated with ANY bone stray points those points will appear BLUE Be sure to check the Stray Point field directly below the scrolling list to see if there are any unassociated points If there are you must locate them and assign them to a bone If you don t these unassociated points won t move with the figure when it s animated Instead they ll remain fixed in their present position 8 Select the End Reshape Edit command from the Modeling menu to exit Reshape mode The model titled Model2 smd includes all of the steps up to this point All of the vertex points in this model are assigned to the proper bones APPLY A TEXTURE AND LINK THE IK MESH TO THE BONES Once you ve finished assigning all the vertex points to bones you ll need to link the mesh to the IK structure so when you animate the figure the geometry moves with the bones But first select a texture and apply it to the mesh 1 Select the IK Mesh in the Modeling window 2 Select a texture from the Textures tab of
13. sing and the complexity of the IK structure this may require a substantial amount of time to redraw the screen between tasks 1 Select the IK Actor 1 Use the Control key Macintosh or the right mouse button Windows if necessary to prevent select ing the IK Mesh instead or select the IK Actor 1 in the Project window IK Actor 1 isan ai 2 Select the Reshape command in the Model ing menu or click the Reshape button on the Button bar 3 Select the Vertex tool LA from the Reshape tool palette With this tool selected the points of geometry associated with the bone selected in the Object Properties palette appear RED Points associated with other bones appear GREEN Points not associ ated with ANY bone appear BLUE Object Transform Vhen you select a bone E IK Actar1 in this list Bone left_elbow left_finge sasoia appear red L Make Geometry Shy PUMN M Flex ae loo Stray Point The number of points not associ Bal Oo ated with ANY bone appear in a the Stray Points field These points appear blue You won t need to change any of the rotation constraints This infomation is part of the SHM file inqported from Life Fonts 4 Hold down the Command key Macintosh or the Ctrl key Windows then use the Vertex tool to select all points and the geometry they control that you want associ ated with the selected bone This modifier key ensures that all points on the depth axis are se
14. the Resource palette then click the Apply button to apply the texture to the mesh The texture on our model is Metal Pattern 1 It s located in the Stone s Throw folder 3 Select the Link tool 4 Select the mesh first then drag to select the IK w EE Marne Both the mesh and the IK structure highlight to indicate the link is complete CA a Collision Object NOTE Once properly linked the IK Mesh entry no longer appears in the top level of the Project window Instead it disappears into a Link node inside the IK Actor 1 s Object Properties f Rotation Fosition F Link node gt IK Mesh gt Base Properties F Ob ject Properties GET READY TO RENDER 1 On the Ground tab of the Environment palette check the Ground Plane box then select a texture We used the Old Copper texture located in the Direct Imagina tion folder NOTE You may want to use a large flattened cube instead of a ground plane to reduce the amount of time required for rendering 2 Select Top from the View Orientation pop up 4 Topview 3 Select the Camera tool then insert a camera beside below the figure You many need to If the camera s Look At point isn t visible grab and drag the zoom out to place the camera far enough l aed from the figure to keep it in the camera s view Seinen odine isit oue at all times where the carrera is pointing With the Object Move tool grab the Look At
15. to this point Every thing is all set to begin the rendering RENDER THE ANIMATION 1 Double click on the camera icon in the Modeling window to open its Camera win dow or select Camera 1 from the Windows gt Camera Windows pop up 2 Select the Render command from the Rendering menu 3 Select Scanline Good from the Renderer pop up 4 Click the Expert button to display the Scanline Esoterica Scanline Esoterica dialog Maximum sampling interval 5 Check the Shadows checkbox to enable shadows then click OK to close the dia Texture sampling threshold log Maximum transparency recursion 6 In the Render dialog click the All button Maximum visible light samples to render all of the frames in the anima Wicible light threshold tion EJ Shadows LI Cast volume shadows LI Soft shadows Shadow softness EJ Reflections L Transparency 7 Click Render then name the file and select a compression format from the dialogs that follow When all of the frames complete rendering the animation opens in a playback window Click the Play button to view the anima tion Ex Keep backfacinq polygons OR You can view our pre rendered animation by opening the CredoStrataMan mov in the Life Forms 3 Demo folder gt Strata folder on the Installer CD ANIMATING IN LIFE FORMS 3 Life Forms has a simplified yet highly effective interface for animating segmented char acters and bones This int
16. won t be obscured by the geometry as you create it 2 Select the Sphere tool on the main Tool palette Place the cursor on the center of one of the upper arms then hold down the Option key Macintosh or Alt key Windows and drag outward to create an oblong shape that s centered on the bone and is roughly the size of the upper arm bone NOTE Using the Option key Macintosh or the Alt key Windows draws the sphere fromthe center This is the easiest way to center the sphere on the bone 3 Select the Move tool then Option drag Macintosh or Alt drag Windows the same sphere to the other upper arm segment This creates an identical copy This is the quickest way to create matching limbs for a body 4 Repeat steps 1 and 2 to add a sphere to each arm and leg bone Use the Zoom tool if necessary to adjust your view of the model 5 Use a large sphere for the torso and a smaller sphere for the head Fill in the neck and shoulder areas with small spheres 6 Switch to the Top view to add spheres for the feet 7 Switch back to the Right view when you re through creating the body Your figure should look similar to this when all of the spheres have been added METABALL Use the Metaball feature to smooth the figure s geometry 1 In the Project window hide the IK Actor 1 by clicking the Hide Show icon next to its name Click the Eye icon to togde between HIDE and SHOW 2 Change the
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