A new version of Cineversity has been launched. This legacy site and its tutorials will remain accessible for a limited transition period

Visit the New Cineversity
   
 
Animating a rigged model from Mixamo / Animation basics
Posted: 27 March 2020 10:49 PM   [ Ignore ]  
Total Posts:  2
Joined  2020-03-27

Hello, hopefully this is in the right place.

So as a new user of C4D, the program itself is very intimidating. I’ve tried to watch a lot of tutorials but often it feels like even the basic ones skip critical information, the uploader jumps from A to B without explaining, or expects you to already have information that I don’t.

I made a joke model in Character Creator, and have been so far successful in uploading that that character to Mixamo, auto-rigging it, exporting this model in T-Pose, and then importing the .fbx file to C4D. Unfortunately, once I get the model in C4D, I don’t quite understand how to manipulate the limbs in order to keyframe and animate. It feels like I’m missing a step. I tried selecting CC_base_body, and everything else in the hierarchy section, and making it a child of “Character” because I thought that was was the issue. But that didn’t work either. The animate tab doesn’t show up on any limb or part of the body of my model. Maybe I’m misunderstanding the hierarchy?

Can someone provide some advice or a beginner’s tutorial to let me know what I’m doing wrong? I’ve attached a pic of what my setup looks like at this time.

Edit: the attachment function doesn’t seem to be working, so here’s an imgur link:

https://imgur.com/a/UJq53tH

Profile
 
 
Posted: 28 March 2020 01:48 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 1 ]  
Administrator
Avatar
Total Posts:  12043
Joined  2011-03-04

Hi throwawaygiraffe989,

The simple idea of character animation is moving points. These points are the base of edges/polygons. All comes down to moving points. The points keep the X, Y, and Z information. A change of that information, over time, results in animation.

Now we want to move these points. In Character animation, this is done with joints, like bones. (Two joints create a bone, bones can share joints). As in reality, not every spot of skin is only moved by one bone. So we need to create information that distributes the joint/bone movement-information to the points.
This is called Weighting. Each point gets 100% influence from one or many joints/bones. Not more, not less, precisely 100%, or parts of the object move slower or faster. So, 100%.

This information is then used within the Skin Object, which is a sophisticated Deformer, who mixes the weight, the joints, to information that moves the points with the joints, always based on weighting. Like point #432 in a mesh has 60% influence from joint A and 40% influence of joint B.

The Skin Object/Deformer sits under the Polygon object, to do its work.

The Character Object itself is a joint/bone set up and “moving-machine”. It creates options to set up a Rig and creates controllers. This Character object also provides the option to bind the joints and the mesh. That is called binding.

Joints, Mesh, Weighting, Skin, and Binding are the terms that need to be clear. Yes, that sounds simple, but all of that is a job in its own right, often even split to provide the best results. It is not something a few tutorials can provide to master this to the fullest. So your frustration with the material is understandable. Let’s have a closer look into it.

Most tutorials dealing with Character Animation assume a good understanding of most parts of the application, like modeling, or mechanical animation, the timeline, as well as all kinds of deformers, besides a little bit of Xpresso. It is not just a beginner session, and you’re done with it. So, take your time, endure the frustration as a growing pain. Yes, the target is always to make this as pleasurable as possible. So, we have some courses that deal with deformer animation and modeling and so on. Even the Character object is quite simple to use until you want to break apart from the suggested use, like building your own template.

I often go so far to say, there is nothing in Cinema 4D that is not basic, but lots of those essential parts are in need to play together, then the complexity and the magic starts. That requires some time. Any fundamental element that is not understood works like a black hole. It sucks all the fun out of the exploration.

In a hands-on class, I never would start with the Character object nor with Mixamo. For many reasons, but mostly, I believe in progressive education, and not doing it with a hammer. Example:
Set up a simple object, make it editable. Set some Joints, and bind them, change the weight of one joint. Do that for an hour to get really some muscle memory with it. This hour will pay off big times. This is the basic that anyone expects from a Character Rigging Tutorial, at least.

I certainly understand the wish to do the complicated things first, and I really think it is a bad idea to take on too complex things too early.

So here is my suggestion:
https://www.cineversity.com/vidplaylist/an_artists_guide_to_all_deformers_full_series/
https://www.cineversity.com/vidplaylist/injecting_character_into_objects_in_cinema_4d/
https://www.cineversity.com/vidplaylist/creating_a_cartoon_character_in_cineversity_brand_id/creating_a_cartoon_character_in_cineversity_brand_id_series_introduction
https://www.cineversity.com/vidplaylist/mixamo_to_cinema_4d_character_workflow/mixamo_to_cinema_4d_character_workflow_series_introduction

This should give you good progress in this fascinating field.

Enjoy

P.S.: I have sent an upload link to your Cineversity Private message.

 Signature 

Dr. Sassi V. Sassmannshausen Ph.D.
Cinema 4D Mentor since 2004
Maxon Master Trainer, VES, DCS

Photography For C4D Artists: 200 Free Tutorials.
https://www.youtube.com/user/DrSassiLA/playlists

NEW:

NEW: Cineversity [CV4]

Profile
 
 
Posted: 28 March 2020 09:09 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 2 ]  
Total Posts:  3
Joined  2020-03-19

Oh, that’s a cool list to check!
Especially deformers!
Thanks Dr.Sassi!

Profile
 
 
Posted: 28 March 2020 03:04 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 3 ]  
Administrator
Avatar
Total Posts:  12043
Joined  2011-03-04

You’re very welcome, alexey.garmash, thanks for the feedback.

I hope you enjoy the series, and if there is any question about, please use the “? - Help” button below the video clip.

Cheers

 Signature 

Dr. Sassi V. Sassmannshausen Ph.D.
Cinema 4D Mentor since 2004
Maxon Master Trainer, VES, DCS

Photography For C4D Artists: 200 Free Tutorials.
https://www.youtube.com/user/DrSassiLA/playlists

NEW:

NEW: Cineversity [CV4]

Profile
 
 
Posted: 29 March 2020 02:54 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 4 ]  
Total Posts:  2
Joined  2020-03-27

Dr. Sassi,

Thank you for your informative reply. I’ll take a look at the videos you recommended and hopefully this will give me a better understanding of what I need to make sense of the workflow.

Thanks for your help!

Profile
 
 
Posted: 29 March 2020 04:23 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 5 ]  
Administrator
Avatar
Total Posts:  12043
Joined  2011-03-04

You’re very welcome, throwawaygiraffe989, thanks for the reply.

Everyone learns differently and has an individual background. It is not easy to find a sweet spot for training content. To ease this challenge, we have the Q&A forum, and I hope we will find the key to unlock what you need to know.

Please note that I always write a little bit broader than the question. This is not an evaluation of the one asking, it is more an assumption what a group of people with a similar interest might need right now.

I have gotten the comment that this forum (and to a certain degree the first version of it) is like a WIKI. So, please ask anything specific to Cinema 4D, as it might benefit many more people.

Keep it real.

Have a great Sunday.

 Signature 

Dr. Sassi V. Sassmannshausen Ph.D.
Cinema 4D Mentor since 2004
Maxon Master Trainer, VES, DCS

Photography For C4D Artists: 200 Free Tutorials.
https://www.youtube.com/user/DrSassiLA/playlists

NEW:

NEW: Cineversity [CV4]

Profile