Creating Blendshapes in Zbrush
After getting the UV unwrapped file back from Levena. I started setting up blendshapes in ZBrush was very enjoyable for me. Seeing the expressions on the model reassured me that all the precious time dedicated to the modeling was absolutely worth it. The process gave me great satisfaction and reinforced the value of my efforts. Watching the model come to life with various expressions was incredibly rewarding and made the entire journey feel fulfilling and meaningful.
Exporting blendshapes to Maya
It was very easy to send the blendshapes to Maya using the bridge tool included in Zplugins. The whole process went smoother than I can ever expect.
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Blink_R
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| Blink_C |
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| Squint |
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| BrowsSqueeze |
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BrowsSqueeze_L
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| BrowsSqueeze_R |
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| BrowsUp |
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| BrowsUp_L |
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| BrowsUp_R |
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Jaw_Open
Teeth and gum are separate mesh + blendshapes, connected to this blendshape using Maya Connection editor. So that the teeth and gum move along with the jaw. |
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FClaw_Spread
The claws are separate mesh to the body, so the same method used for jaw opening can be applied to the claws spreading as well |
After I've double-checked everything worked as intended. I send the file to Sala & Levena to start rigging.
Rig update...
I sent the base mesh for UV unwrapping on 20/04 and received it back two days later, on 22/04. Taking the next step, I created all the blendshapes and set them up in Maya on 24/04. However, upon receiving the rigged file back from Levena and Sala on the night of 25/04, I was met with disappointment as the rig was simply unusable...
I chose not to voice my concerns in the group chat as I am also at fault for giving them too little time to rig, especially considering Levena and Sala probably had only used mGear once last year. So instead, I immediately delve into May and try to fix as much as I can. With the formative deadline looming on 26/04 at 5 pm, I had to make the best out of the remaining time.
I soon realized it would be quicker for me to redo the entire rig than salvage what was left. Booting up ZooTools, I used their Hive Auto Rigger to attempt rigging from scratch. Starting with the quadruped template, I modified the guiding points to better fit our creature's structure. ZooTools automatically generated the joints and controllers afterward, streamlining the process significantly.
While the auto rigger operates similarly to mGear, I found its user interface to be more straightforward and clear. This made the rigging process more efficient and intuitive, allowing me to progress swiftly despite the time constraint.
After testing all the controllers, everything seems to be working great. Then, I fired up another tool that I can't live without, ngSkinTools, to proceed with skin weight painting. In my opinion, ngSkinTools was far superior to the default skinning tool in Maya. Its features and efficiency made skin weight painting much smoother for me, allowing for greater control and precision over the process.
Rig Testing
I was able to nail down the basic skin weight around 11pm on 26/04. Although the skin weight was nowhere near perfect, but at least the rig can perform basic movements now. After I uploaded the updated rig file to the formative, I then passed out on the chair for 2 hours.... All I can say was this experience was a bit too extreme, even for me as a veteran deadline fighter(procrastinate as long as I can and then work with 120% to catch up with the progress).
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