Game Flow

This is how we see our opening screen looking when the player enters the game.

Mudbox Texture

This is an early image of what the textures will look like, made up of four separate parts (layers) that are used to help create the overall effect of the ice above a original cave wall.

Mudbox

Everything is finally in Mudbox, with its detail rising (normal maps) and raided to be texture and brought into UDK. Of course this is now where the problem comes from, Mudbox doesn't use the same type of mapping as say Maya or 3D max, meaning you can't just place a texture on the model and have it tile. Instead you must paint the texture onto the mesh itself, this wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the fact that the only way to do that is to project an image of the texture onto the model and then paint it on. 

This is an annoying and so what time wasting mention but this is the only way Mudbox can apply its textures.

The below image is just a quick pieces of work done in about 20 minutes with lighting and shadowing applied in Mudbox. For as annoying and time wasting as it is, it turns out an awesome looking piece.

UDK Crashes

While trying to Import my character as a default following this tutorial
Epic Tutorials
I kept getting the same error when altering my customPawn script
in the default properties, line placed in
AnimTreeTemplate=AnimTree'NeasaRonayneAssets.SadbhCharacter.Walking'
Error:
C:\UDK\UDK-2011-01\Development\Src\NeasaRonayne\Classes\CustomPawn.uc(57) : Warning, Unknown property in defaults: AnimTreeTemplate=AnimTree'NeasaRonayneAssets.SadbhCharacter.Walking' (looked in CustomPawn)

To see whether or not my character would load i decided to alter the original file as a tester and then later solve this problem.  When I compiled my script there were no errors.
But while loading my level it repeated crashed UDK.exe
Reasons unknown

I then got some advice from Gemma and she posted her scripted which i followed and build proceeded with these errors

Script:

class CustomPawn extends UTPawn;

var int RegenPerSecond;
//variable for player in volume
//var bool bRegenVolume;
var float ElapsedTime;
var float DamageTime;

simulated event PostBeginPlay()
{
super.PostBeginPlay();

//print to show code is working
`Log("USING CUSTOM PAWN CALLED CustomPawn.");

//set the timer for 1 second
SetTimer(1.0,true);

}


function Timer ()
{
//if the pawn is in the water regenerate health
if(PhysicsVolume.bRegenVolume == true)
{
if (Controller.IsA('PlayerController') && !IsInPain() && Health<HealthMax)
{
Health = Min(Health+RegenPerSecond, HealthMax);
}
}

//if(PhysicsVolume.bDamageVolume == true)
//{
//calculate elapsed time
//ElapsedTime += DeltaTime;
 
//has enough time elapsed?
//if(ElapsedTime >= DamageTime)
//{
//DamagePerSec;
//}
//}
}


DefaultProperties
{
//breathing time
UnderWaterTime=+00000.000000
//set the variables
RegenPerSecond = 2
//set defaults for regeneration properties
DamageTime=1


Begin Object Class=SkeletalMeshComponent Name=PlayerSkeletalMeshComponent
//assigning mesh to environment
LightEnvironment=MyLightEnvironment
CastShadow=true
bCastDynamicShadow=true
bOwnerNoSee=false
bHasPhysicsAssetInstance=true
bEnableSoftBodySimulation=true
bSoftBodyAwakeonStartup=True
//PhysicsAsset=PhysicsAsset'HM01_Cecilia.Physics.girl_mesh_Physics'
SkeletalMesh=SkeletalMesh'NeasaRonayne.SadbhCharacter.Sadbh'
AnimSets(0)=AnimSet 'NeasaRonayne.CharacterSadbh.aT_bending'
AnimTreeTemplate=AnimTree'NeasaRonayne.CharacterSadbh.Walking'

HiddenGame=false
HiddenEditor=false
End Object

}
Note to be figured out

Floating

While playing the bending animation in the anim editor in UDK the character begins to float.  Trying to solve this problem.

Editing Animation using Motion Builder

Under the navigator click character and double click your character1, select 'Plot Character...' and firstly click bake animation to skeleton, reselect then bake animation to control rig.
The characters control rig will appear.  For further help in tweening animations click the link below.

Animation Editing 

Characterization Control Rig

Motion Capture Results

Finally after another long day in the MoCap room we actually managed to export some good looking animations.  This is the result in Motion Builder.  Thanks to Gemma it was simple to set up as she set up a tutorial on her blog (Import to Motion Builder) This is only one animation (animation begins on 0:10)

The reason there is only a video of one animation is as stated by gemma you can import a marker instead of creating new one each time you bring in an .c3d file but when I clicked active the whole Actor would collapse.

Fear

When skinning my character I ran into a problem that some of the bones orientation had changed, i fear this will impact on the animation. I am trying to figure out how to change the orientation, as I am newish to MAYA.

Begin Smoothing the rigging

This still needs to be tweaked, to have no pull on the mesh and then its off to motion builder

Character Rigging

While trying to figure out the animations from the mocap sessions, I have been rigging the character this is proving to be very difficult as MAYA2012 keeps crashing on me when trying to select the model. I will perservere and hope I can actually produce some work.

Programming

Looking at what we need to be working for our VIVA, I have been looking at the pickup and drop code.  I have this working on a single point, but I cannot seem to get a dynamic trigger to work.  I am unable to load a video as I do not have the software.  This is done in Kismet and this maybe the problem why it is picking up and dropping on the same spot.

MoCap

Again could not get the biped to match up with the motion data.  We proceeded to capture all the ranges of motion we needed and tomorrow are planning on joining them up to the skeletons specific bones to clean up the data.