Experience Xsi: The Official softimage XSI 4 Guide to Character Creation

by Sims, Aaron

• ISBN13: 9781592002108
• ISBN10: 1592002102
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-06-21
• Publisher: Cengage Learning Ptr

Summary

XSI is the next generation in digital animation software. It was used to create some of the first realistic CG characters developed for film and it continues to be used by artists and animators worldwide in new and creative ways and in many different fields-from computer games to the film industry, from commercials to music videos. This official Softimage guide will show you how you can effectively use XSI to create compelling, lifelike characters. You'll cover each step-from designing and modeling to rendering and compositing. Learn how you can use Behavior to create intelligent characters that can interact with one another to form a realistic 3D animated crowd. You'll also cover scripting and how it can be used to save time and increase productivity.

Author Biography

Aaron Sims joined Rick Baker's Academy Award winning Cinovation Studios, Inc. in 1988.

Table of Contents

Introduction	xix
Why XSI?	xix
What's in This Book?	xix
The Interface	1	(12)
The Hot Key List	1	(3)
The Left-Side Toolbars	4	(3)
The Model Toolbar	4	(1)
The Animate Toolbar	4	(1)
The Render Toolbar	5	(1)
The Simulate Toolbar	5	(1)
Hair Mode	5	(2)
Weight Panel	7	(1)
Palettes and Display Types Toolbar	7	(1)
The Right-Side Toolbar	7	(2)
Layers	7	(1)
Select	7	(1)
Transform	8	(1)
Snap	8	(1)
Constrain	9	(1)
Edit	9	(1)
The Top Toolbar	9	(1)
The Bottom Toolbar	9	(1)
Working within the View Ports	10	(1)
Changing Views	10	(1)
Changing Display Methods	10	(1)
Starting a Project and Saving a Scene	10	(1)
Summary	11	(2)
Designing and Modeling a Character	13	(32)
What to Think about When Designing a 3D Character	13	(2)
Modeling Overview	15	(1)
Basic Modeling in XSI	15	(8)
Primitives and the Primitive Menu	15	(1)
Null 16
Curve	16	(1)
Polygon Mesh	16	(1)
Surface	17	(1)
Implicit	17	(1)
Primitive Models	18	(1)
The Create Menu	19	(1)
Creating Curves	19	(2)
Creating Surface Mesh	21	(1)
Creating Polygon Mesh	21	(1)
Drawing Polygons	22	(1)
Using the Modeling Tools	23	(6)
Proportional Modeling	23	(1)
Polygon Modeling Exercise	24	(5)
Modeling Your Design	29	(14)
Roughing out the Body and Head	29	(5)
Roughing out the Arms and Legs	34	(9)
Summary	43	(2)
Texturing Your Character	45	(34)
Texturing Overview	45	(11)
Material Shader Basics	46	(4)
Texturing Basics: Using the Render Tree and the Texture Layer Editor	50	(6)
Texture Editor Overview	56	(12)
Setting Up UV Coordinates Using the Texture Editor	57	(5)
Adding Texture to Your Character Using the Texture Editor	62	(6)
Working with 3D Paint Programs to Texture Your Character	68	(2)
Finalizing Your Textures in the Render Tree	70	(8)
Texturing Eyes and Nails	72	(2)
Working with Hair	74	(4)
Summary	78	(1)
Character Setup	79	(36)
Template-Based Character Setup	80	(1)
Guide Proportioning	80	(11)
Rig Construction	84	(4)
Enveloping	88	(2)
Setting up a Synoptic	90	(1)
Advanced Character Setup	91	(19)
Gluing Parts Together	92	(1)
Parenting	92	(1)
Pivots	92	(2)
Constraints	94	(1)
Expressions	95	(1)
Scripted Operators	95	(2)
Springs	97	(1)
Character Components	97	(1)
Spine	98	(1)
Tail	98	(1)
Dog Leg	99	(1)
Understanding Inverse Kinematics	99	(1)
Cosine Law for Two-Bone Chains	100	(1)
Deformations	101	(1)
Enveloping Algorithms	101	(2)
Shrink Wrap	103	(2)
Cage Deform	105	(1)
Control Splines	106	(2)
Shape	108	(2)
Smoothing / Relaxing	110	(1)
Deforming with Hair and Springs	110	(1)
Character Engineering at a Production Scale	110	(4)
Automating Character Setup with Scripting	110	(1)
Object-Oriented Scripting	111	(1)
Rigging SDK	111	(1)
Referencing	112	(1)
Libraries	113	(1)
Custom Interface	113	(1)
Asset Management	113	(1)
Inter-Group Workflow	114	(1)
Summary	114	(1)
Animating Your Character	115	(26)
Character Animation Overview	115	(1)
Basic Keyframing	116	(7)
What Is Keyframing?	116	(1)
Some of the Tools Used for Animation	117	(1)
Applying Keyframes	118	(5)
Using Referenced Models for Animation	123	(1)
Using Synoptic View	123	(1)
Using Marking Sets to Animate	124	(1)
Walk Cycle Animation	124	(5)
Using the Rig to Put the Character in a Proper Pose for Animating	125	(4)
Run Cycle Animation	129	(1)
The Animation Editor	129	(4)
Editing Your Animation Using the Animation Editor	130	(3)
The Dopesheet	133	(1)
Storing Your Animation	133	(1)
Working with the Animation Mixer	134	(2)
Shape Animation Overview	136	(3)
Storing Your Shapes	136	(3)
Working with Shape Animation	139	(1)
Summary	140	(1)
Scripting in XSI	141	(34)
Simple Scripting	141	(5)
Passing a Scripting Object	143	(1)
Tweaking between the Commas	144	(1)
Looping	145	(1)
Types of Containers and Lists	146	(8)
Collections	146	(2)
Arrays	148	(1)
Scripting Structure and Organization	149	(1)
Functions	149	(2)
Objects	151	(3)
Approaching Problems with Scripting	154	(1)
A Broad Overview of Scripting Tasks	154	(1)
Automation	154	(1)
Organization	154	(1)
Decision-Making	155	(1)
Controlling Space with Math	155	(13)
Vectors	156	(5)
Curves	161	(2)
Rotations	163	(5)
Making Geometry	168	(2)
Creating User Interfaces	170	(4)
Making Sliders	170	(1)
Formatting	171	(1)
Logic	172	(1)
Advanced UI	173	(1)
Summary	174	(1)
Lighting, Rendering, and Compositing Your Character	175	(28)
Lighting Overview	175	(3)
Different Types of Lights in XSI	178	(11)
Setting Ambience for Your Scene	179	(1)
Using Volumic and Lens Flares for Lighting FX	179	(2)
Basic Light Adjustments	181	(2)
Setting Up Lights for Your Character	183	(2)
Using HDR Maps	185	(1)
Matching the Rotoscope to Your Lighting	186	(3)
Using the Light Rig from Image Feature	189	(1)
Rendering Overview	189	(9)
Different Rendering Techniques	190	(1)
Raytracing	190	(1)
Scanline	191	(1)
Global Illumination	191	(1)
Final Gathering	191	(2)
Caustics	193	(1)
Setting Up a Render for Your Character	193	(1)
Rendering Different Passes	194	(1)
Beauty Pass	195	(2)
Highlight Pass	197	(1)
Compositing Overview	198	(4)
Using the FX Tree to Composite Your Character	198	(1)
FX Tree Overview	198	(1)
Bringing Passes In and Rendering the Final Composite Using the FX Tree	199	(3)
Summary	202	(1)
Making Crowds and Character Logic with Behavior	203	(12)
Behavior Introduction	203	(1)
Dropping a Cube in XSI	204	(1)
Dropping a Cube in Behavior	204	(5)
Loading Actors in Behavior	204	(1)
Scripting in Behavior	205	(1)
Activities in Behavior	206	(1)
Creating a Simple State Machine	207	(2)
Making a Crowd Shot	209	(5)
Preparing Actors	209	(1)
Simplified Character Strategy	209	(1)
Tagging Your Character	210	(1)
Scripting a Crowd Shot	211	(2)
Rendering a Crowd Shot	213	(1)
Summary	214	(1)
Image Gallery	215	(30)
Index	245