I Built a Modular Character with AI (Full Workflow) — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00AI can generate 3D
2. 0:01characters, solid and static.
3. 0:04But can it actually
4. 0:05create modular character systems
5. 0:07like different outfits, weapons,
6. 0:10accessories and all interchangeable?
7. 0:13Sounds interesting, right?
8. 0:15In this video, I
9. 0:16gonna show you my
10. 0:17exact workflow, how I
11. 0:19take one concept image
12. 0:21and turn it into
13. 0:22full modular character system,
14. 0:24step by step.
15. 0:25I also gonna show
16. 0:27you a new tool
17. 0:28that makes this process
18. 0:29insanely faster.
19. 0:31It takes one image
20. 0:32and breaks it into
21. 0:33parts automatically.
22. 0:35Then we gonna generate
23. 0:35variations and turn them
24. 0:37all into 3D with
25. 0:39best 3D AI available
26. 0:40right now.
27. 0:41And of course, we
28. 0:42gonna bring it to
29. 0:43Unreal Engine and how
30. 0:44to interchange outfits, weapons,
31. 0:47accessories in real time.
32. 0:49This is probably one
33. 0:50of the fastest and
34. 0:51most practical workflow that
35. 0:53you can use right
36. 0:54now.
37. 0:55Steph here, let's start.
38. 0:56As always, it all
39. 0:57starts with the idea.
40. 0:59Luckily for me, I
41. 1:00already brainstormed some idea
42. 1:02with ChatGPT and I
43. 1:03got something like this.
44. 1:05So, first of all,
45. 1:06I'm absolutely enchanted by
46. 1:08Japanese culture and there
47. 1:09is a kitsune, you
48. 1:10might know, this white
49. 1:12fox with plenty of
50. 1:13tails.
51. 1:14We gonna take this
52. 1:15concept and we gonna
53. 1:16create some variations of
54. 1:18top outfit, bottom outfit,
55. 1:20gonna create two bag
56. 1:21accessories and two weapons.
57. 1:23Sounds cool?
58. 1:24Let's get started.
59. 1:25One thing I did
60. 1:26before start is that
61. 1:27I made cleaner version
62. 1:28of character sheet and
63. 1:30I do have a
64. 1:30dedicated video about it.
65. 1:32The link will be
66. 1:32somewhere here.
67. 1:33When we do have
68. 1:34it, we gonna jump
69. 1:35into next stage.
70. 1:36And today, I gonna
71. 1:37present you one really,
72. 1:39really cool finding.
73. 1:40The name is AssetHub
74. 1:42and these guys created
75. 1:43a really usable tool
76. 1:45or I should say,
77. 1:46workflow, putting all the
78. 1:48best tools in one
79. 1:50place.
80. 1:50Let me show you
81. 1:51how it works.
82. 1:52So, let's go to
83. 1:53workflows, create new workflow.
84. 1:55Let's call it Hero
85. 1:56Assets, simple, create.
86. 1:57And now, it suggests
87. 1:59to upload the assets.
88. 2:00And that's exactly what
89. 2:01we gonna need to
90. 2:01do.
91. 2:02We gonna upload the
92. 2:03image that we prepared.
93. 2:04Here we go.
94. 2:05Whenever we upload the
95. 2:06image, image better to
96. 2:07be in A or
97. 2:08T post.
98. 2:09It works better that
99. 2:10way.
100. 2:10And when the image
101. 2:11is uploaded, let's press
102. 2:13start 3D production.
103. 2:14And it will start
104. 2:15processing.
105. 2:16So, you see, it
106. 2:17already is starting to
107. 2:18detect post.
108. 2:19And this tool works
109. 2:20best with A or
110. 2:21T post characters.
111. 2:23Okay, we gonna give
112. 2:24it some time.
113. 2:25And here, you can
114. 2:26also choose the allowed
115. 2:28models.
116. 2:28This will be basically
117. 2:29needed for the later
118. 2:30stage.
119. 2:31We gonna leave only
120. 2:323.3.1, but
121. 2:33maybe we gonna use
122. 2:343.3.1 actually.
123. 2:36You can change it
124. 2:36later.
125. 2:37Okay, so we can
126. 2:38see A post detected
127. 2:39and it actually started
128. 2:40to do analysis.
129. 2:41Analysis basically means it
130. 2:44actually extracted some parts
131. 2:45that you can see
132. 2:46here.
133. 2:47And I'm pretty happy
134. 2:47with that.
135. 2:48We gonna press confirm
136. 2:49and start.
137. 2:50And voila, instead of
138. 2:52doing all of that
139. 2:53manually, prompting through not
140. 2:55a banana, as I
141. 2:56was usually doing, we
142. 2:58creating this at one
143. 2:59click of a button.
144. 3:00How cool is that?
145. 3:02I don't know.
146. 3:03This is absolutely must
147. 3:04have feature everywhere.
148. 3:06And these guys are
149. 3:07first to introduce it.
150. 3:08So, after a while,
151. 3:09we do have all
152. 3:10parts.
153. 3:10And they are amazing.
154. 3:12Not all of them,
155. 3:13but that's easy to
156. 3:14address.
157. 3:14So, let's say I'm
158. 3:15not happy with the
159. 3:16head.
160. 3:16I gonna press reject.
161. 3:18And here, I gonna
162. 3:19drop the prompts that
163. 3:20will contain ears.
164. 3:22Or you can simply
165. 3:22also say like, fox
166. 3:24head with ears.
167. 3:25And that will also
168. 3:26work.
169. 3:26And then press regenerate.
170. 3:28Other than that, I'm
171. 3:28pretty happy with the
172. 3:29result.
173. 3:30We can go accept
174. 3:31them.
175. 3:31Everything cool.
176. 3:33Okay.
177. 3:34Also, while we're waiting
178. 3:35for a head, let
179. 3:36me show you something
180. 3:36cool what you can
181. 3:37do more here.
182. 3:38You can actually take
183. 3:39any image, drag this
184. 3:41line, and add a
185. 3:42node like multi-view
186. 3:43generation and create a
187. 3:45multi-view for a
188. 3:46specific asset.
189. 3:47There is option to
190. 3:48select two or four
191. 3:49multi-view.
192. 3:49We're gonna go with
193. 3:50two for now.
194. 3:51And here, you can
195. 3:52see the results for
196. 3:53a build.
197. 3:54How cool is that?
198. 3:55Just one node and
199. 3:56you create multi-view
200. 3:57images.
201. 3:58You are not happy
202. 3:58with it.
203. 3:59You just recreate it.
204. 4:00All in one place.
205. 4:01Forget about prompting.
206. 4:02Moreover, you can use
207. 4:04split images, which will
208. 4:05basically split already created
209. 4:08part into some sub
210. 4:09parts like that.
211. 4:11That might be very,
212. 4:12very useful if you
213. 4:13want to create some
214. 4:14specific element and be
215. 4:15flexible how you control
216. 4:16it.
217. 4:17Also very useful.
218. 4:18Now, you can see
219. 4:19that from my image,
220. 4:21the katana wasn't generated.
221. 4:22So you can rerun
222. 4:24this process, but you
223. 4:25can also do that
224. 4:26easier.
225. 4:26We can go and
226. 4:27create node called generate
227. 4:29image, which is basically
228. 4:30nano banana.
229. 4:31So you don't need
230. 4:32to go nano banana
231. 4:33from here, which is
232. 4:34for me already a
233. 4:35lot of time saved.
234. 4:36And I'm gonna drop
235. 4:37the prompt I created
236. 4:38with GPT to extract
237. 4:39the katana alone.
238. 4:41And here in batch
239. 4:41size, I'll just set
240. 4:43it to a few
241. 4:43more images and let's
242. 4:45run it.
243. 4:46And here we go.
244. 4:47One of the image
245. 4:48is exactly what I
246. 4:49need.
247. 4:49One image actually failed,
248. 4:50but that happens all
249. 4:52the time.
250. 4:52Let's take this image
251. 4:54for the katana.
252. 4:55When we have parts
253. 4:56extracted, it's time to
254. 4:57start creating 3D models.
255. 4:59What we're gonna do
256. 5:00is that we're gonna
257. 5:01select with shift all
258. 5:03the parts that we're
259. 5:04happy with.
260. 5:04I'm gonna choose outfit
261. 5:05accessories first.
262. 5:07Then we're gonna need
263. 5:08to press this button,
264. 5:09this cube, which will
265. 5:10basically create 3D generation
266. 5:12nodes from all of
267. 5:14them in a batch.
268. 5:15For all these parts,
269. 5:16I'm gonna choose 3
270. 5:17.1 just to preserve
271. 5:19more details on geometry.
272. 5:20And on asset hub,
273. 5:21it will not create
274. 5:22like millions of polygon.
275. 5:24It will suggest optimal
276. 5:25amounts.
277. 5:26Let's press generate.
278. 5:27And here we go.
279. 5:28It automatically created all
280. 5:29the nodes and I
281. 5:30can run them all
282. 5:31at once.
283. 5:32That's amazing time save.
284. 5:33In reality, you don't
285. 5:35need to create two
286. 5:36shoes, two bracers.
287. 5:38This is only for
288. 5:39demonstration.
289. 5:40But we'll be able
290. 5:41to choose the best
291. 5:41one and use it
292. 5:42later.
293. 5:43All right.
294. 5:44And we're gonna do
295. 5:45the same exactly for
296. 5:46the head and for
297. 5:48the body.
298. 5:49But here we're gonna
299. 5:49choose a triple P1
300. 5:51because shape of the
301. 5:52head and body is
302. 5:53simpler and I want
303. 5:54it to be a
304. 5:55low poly right away.
305. 5:56And let's review the
306. 5:57results.
307. 5:58Here we have all
308. 5:58the models generated and
309. 6:00the body with the
310. 6:01head.
311. 6:01And I think the
312. 6:02result is amazing.
313. 6:03The head is awesome
314. 6:04and it's already low
315. 6:06poly.
316. 6:06Cool.
317. 6:07You can preview the
318. 6:08mesh here.
319. 6:09Just an amazing job.
320. 6:10There is some problem
321. 6:11with normal map, but
322. 6:12I think we can
323. 6:13address that easily.
324. 6:14Okay, here we can
325. 6:15preview the pants and
326. 6:16you can see it's
327. 6:17not million of polygons.
328. 6:18It's like around 100K
329. 6:20and we'll be able
330. 6:21to reduce that later.
331. 6:22Or maybe I'll just
332. 6:23recreate it with P1
333. 6:24and see which version
334. 6:25I like more.
335. 6:26If you don't know
336. 6:27guys, triple is right
337. 6:28now definitely the best
338. 6:29model.
339. 6:30It is really cool
340. 6:30that asset hub already
341. 6:31integrates them.
342. 6:32By the way, there
343. 6:33is a full video
344. 6:34review on my channel
345. 6:35about triple.
346. 6:36Take a look if
347. 6:36you missed it.
348. 6:37It's insane how good
349. 6:38it is.
350. 6:39And it all already
351. 6:40available in asset hub
352. 6:41as well.
353. 6:42So just like that,
354. 6:42we created all the
355. 6:43base assets and they
356. 6:44look quite well.
357. 6:45We don't need to
358. 6:46jump to another tools.
359. 6:47And the next step,
360. 6:48of course, we're going
361. 6:48to need to create
362. 6:49some variations as I
363. 6:51promised.
364. 6:52So how are we
365. 6:52going to do that?
366. 6:53Like there's multiple ways
367. 6:54to do that.
368. 6:55I could have basically
369. 6:55used nano banana, but
370. 6:57I will do that
371. 6:57right here.
372. 6:58Can I go generate
373. 6:59image?
374. 7:00And here we're going
375. 7:01to drop a prompt
376. 7:02that will create a
377. 7:03variation.
378. 7:04Of course, the prompt
379. 7:05was created with JGPT
380. 7:06guys.
381. 7:07No magic, no hard
382. 7:08skills.
383. 7:09Just explain what you
384. 7:10want, the variation, how
385. 7:11it should look.
386. 7:12And let's create a
387. 7:12lot of variations and
388. 7:14choose like the best.
389. 7:15Okay, let's run it.
390. 7:16And here we go.
391. 7:17Pretty nice options.
392. 7:18And I'm going to
393. 7:19choose this one.
394. 7:20Okay, so and from
395. 7:21this one, we're going
396. 7:22to extract the top
397. 7:24and shorts, right?
398. 7:26We can actually try
399. 7:27to do that with
400. 7:28this split image.
401. 7:29And we can also
402. 7:30try to generate multi
403. 7:31-view image.
404. 7:32Also, I'm going to
405. 7:32need another weapon.
406. 7:34So we're going to
407. 7:35add another node image
408. 7:37generation.
409. 7:37And here I created
410. 7:38a prompt that will
411. 7:40create a sickle stylize
412. 7:42it that fits my
413. 7:43character.
414. 7:43So here you can
415. 7:44see the prompt preview.
416. 7:45Pretty much what GPT
417. 7:46gave me.
418. 7:47Let's increase the batch
419. 7:48size and let's do
420. 7:49that.
421. 7:50So here are the
422. 7:51results.
423. 7:52Okay, we do have
424. 7:53some cool examples.
425. 7:54I think I'm going
426. 7:56to choose this one.
427. 7:57Okay, we're going to
428. 7:58take it and we
429. 7:59can create 3D model
430. 8:00of it right away.
431. 8:01We select node image
432. 8:02to mesh.
433. 8:02And of course, we're
434. 8:03going to choose triple
435. 8:043.1 or triple
436. 8:05P1, up to you.
437. 8:08And here we can
438. 8:08see the model.
439. 8:09We can preview that.
440. 8:10And the result is
441. 8:11amazing.
442. 8:12Result is amazing.
443. 8:13But there's quite a
444. 8:14lot of polygons because
445. 8:15it's set to polycount
446. 8:17adapter.
447. 8:18So we can easily
448. 8:19fix that.
449. 8:20How do we address
450. 8:20it?
451. 8:20We press here and
452. 8:22we choose the polycount.
453. 8:23Let's say for this
454. 8:24object, I think 8K
455. 8:25will be enough.
456. 8:27So we're going to
457. 8:27recreate in 8K.
458. 8:29And after it's done,
459. 8:30we can take a
460. 8:31look again.
461. 8:32And yeah, that's exactly
462. 8:33what we need.
463. 8:348K for this asset
464. 8:35is okay.
465. 8:36The similar way you
466. 8:37can process all the
467. 8:38assets as well.
468. 8:39Okay, let's go back
469. 8:40to where we did
470. 8:42a split image of
471. 8:43our character.
472. 8:44And here's one very
473. 8:45interesting image that we
474. 8:46want.
475. 8:47I already used it
476. 8:48and split image into
477. 8:50three parts.
478. 8:51And I got exactly
479. 8:52what I need.
480. 8:52I got the top
481. 8:54and the shorts.
482. 8:55That will be my
483. 8:56variations of top and
484. 8:57bottom.
485. 8:57And we're going to
486. 8:58create 3D models as
487. 9:00well.
488. 9:00Lastly, I need a
489. 9:01variation for a back
490. 9:02accessory instead of a
491. 9:03hat.
492. 9:04So we're going to
493. 9:05take a multi-view
494. 9:06image that we just
495. 9:07created.
496. 9:07Form that second variation.
497. 9:09We're going to go
498. 9:10and use generate image
499. 9:13node.
500. 9:13The prompt says generate
501. 9:14only a stylized travel
502. 9:16backpack as a standalone
503. 9:183D asset.
504. 9:19That will fit my
505. 9:20character, blah, blah, blah.
506. 9:21Instead of a hat.
507. 9:22Always ask GPT to
508. 9:24help you with the
509. 9:24prompting.
510. 9:25It's really good in
511. 9:26that.
512. 9:26And just like that,
513. 9:27we do have the
514. 9:28backpacks.
515. 9:29Okay, here are the
516. 9:30results.
517. 9:30And I really like
518. 9:32this one.
519. 9:32So we're going to
520. 9:33go and create 3D
521. 9:35model from it.
522. 9:36Image to mesh, choose
523. 9:37the right model.
524. 9:38We can try P1
525. 9:39in this case and
526. 9:41just run the node.
527. 9:41All right, so it's
528. 9:43time to review results.
529. 9:45Here we go.
530. 9:46And just like that,
531. 9:47we created all needed
532. 9:49parts guys in one
533. 9:51place.
534. 9:51Look, how cool is
535. 9:52that?
536. 9:53Like we can see
537. 9:54all the process.
538. 9:55We can go back.
539. 9:55We can iterate.
540. 9:56Everything is connected and
541. 9:58logical.
542. 9:58I think it's quite
543. 9:59an amazing tool.
544. 10:00And if you guys
545. 10:01want to try this
546. 10:01amazing tool, the link
547. 10:03and all the details
548. 10:04is of course in
549. 10:05the description.
550. 10:06When that's done, it's
551. 10:07time to download all
552. 10:08the assets and bring
553. 10:09them to Blender.
554. 10:10Okay, so now it's
555. 10:12time to cook in
556. 10:13Blender.
557. 10:13So first thing first,
558. 10:14we're going to assemble
559. 10:15body.
560. 10:16That will be our
561. 10:17base.
562. 10:17So let's drop head,
563. 10:19body and bracers to
564. 10:21the Blender.
565. 10:22So I just gonna
566. 10:22drag and drop them.
567. 10:24And here we are.
568. 10:25Of course, it makes
569. 10:25sense to name them
570. 10:26properly to not be
571. 10:28confused.
572. 10:28And let's actually start
573. 10:30positioning them.
574. 10:31So if you watch
575. 10:32my previous video, you
576. 10:33already know that there
577. 10:34are a few things
578. 10:35that you always need
579. 10:36to do is to
580. 10:37merge vertices by distance.
581. 10:39Especially if you exported
582. 10:41it as GLP.
583. 10:42So basically select all
584. 10:43mesh, go edit modes,
585. 10:45press M on the
586. 10:46keyboard and choose by
587. 10:47distance.
588. 10:48Another thing might be
589. 10:49is to fix the
590. 10:50shading.
591. 10:51So you can see
592. 10:51it's sort of like
593. 10:52flat shaded.
594. 10:53We're going to go
595. 10:53add modifier called normals,
596. 10:55weighted normal.
597. 10:57And that we're going
598. 10:57to fix it.
599. 10:58And we're going to
600. 10:59choose copy to select.
601. 11:00Basically to add the
602. 11:01same modifier for all
603. 11:03of the objects.
604. 11:04Now we can apply
605. 11:05modifier by control A.
606. 11:07And let's do some
607. 11:08positioning.
608. 11:08So I do use
609. 11:10some hotkeys, but you
610. 11:11can do the same
611. 11:12thing exactly with the
612. 11:13transforms here.
613. 11:14I of course have
614. 11:15a video explaining the
615. 11:17bare minimum that you
616. 11:18need to know about
617. 11:18controls in Blender to
618. 11:19be able to do
619. 11:20exact same thing in
620. 11:22no time.
621. 11:23Okay, when the objects
622. 11:24are positioned, we might
623. 11:25need to use sculpt
624. 11:28modes.
625. 11:29And there is like
626. 11:29an amazing elastic grab
627. 11:31brush, which is absolutely
628. 11:33amazing.
629. 11:34You just grab some
630. 11:34parts and extend helps
631. 11:36to align objects.
632. 11:37We're going to use
633. 11:38it pretty much all
634. 11:39the time today.
635. 11:40And you can see
636. 11:41like the things getting
637. 11:42better and better.
638. 11:43I also spot some
639. 11:44issue with roughness map.
640. 11:46So I'm going to
641. 11:47disable roughness map and
642. 11:49set it to be
643. 11:50more rough called mate.
644. 11:53Okay.
645. 11:53Then of course, we're
646. 11:55going to go select
647. 11:56all objects, press control
648. 11:58A and select rotation
649. 11:59and scale, or even
650. 12:01all transforms.
651. 12:02We will basically say
652. 12:03that this current position
653. 12:04is the new original
654. 12:06position.
655. 12:07Now we can add
656. 12:08mirror modifier, choose Y
657. 12:09axis and mirror object
658. 12:11as a body.
659. 12:12And here we go.
660. 12:13We already have mirrored
661. 12:14our bracer.
662. 12:15So pretty much we
663. 12:17are happy.
664. 12:18I'm going to go
665. 12:19remove some polygons that
666. 12:21are intersecting on the
667. 12:23head.
668. 12:23I'm going to select
669. 12:24them with the hotkeys
670. 12:24or you can select
671. 12:25them otherwise.
672. 12:26Boom, removed.
673. 12:28And just so we
674. 12:29don't have some hidden
675. 12:29stuff.
676. 12:30And again, in sculpt
677. 12:32modes using the same
678. 12:33elastic grab, just adjust
679. 12:35the shape a little
680. 12:36bit.
681. 12:36When that's done, let's
682. 12:37join all objects by
683. 12:39selecting them and pressing
684. 12:40control J.
685. 12:41And that will be
686. 12:42our new object called
687. 12:44body.
688. 12:44Let's also position it
689. 12:46at above the ground.
690. 12:47And now first step
691. 12:48here is done.
692. 12:49And guys, before we
693. 12:49continue, I really want
694. 12:51you to ask to
695. 12:51like and subscribe to
696. 12:53my channel because more
697. 12:54than 80% of
698. 12:55viewers are watching without
699. 12:57subscription.
700. 12:57Please press that button.
701. 12:59So more people can
702. 13:00watch this amazing tutorials
703. 13:01and I have more
704. 13:02motivation.
705. 13:03Now it's time to
706. 13:04add all the assets
707. 13:05to the scene and
708. 13:06start aligning them.
709. 13:07So this will be
710. 13:09pretty much exactly the
711. 13:10same process.
712. 13:11So always remember a
713. 13:12few things that you
714. 13:13need to do.
715. 13:14Usually you're going to
716. 13:14need to fix shading.
717. 13:16Like you can do
718. 13:17that with shade out
719. 13:18the smooth or weighted
720. 13:19normals and stuff like
721. 13:21that.
722. 13:21When that fix it,
723. 13:22if you import as
724. 13:23GLB, don't forget to
725. 13:24go and merge vertices.
726. 13:26You go and edit
727. 13:27mode, merge vertices, merge
728. 13:29by distance, usually with
729. 13:30default settings.
730. 13:31And lastly, when you
731. 13:32position the object correctly,
732. 13:34press control A on
733. 13:36the object and apply
734. 13:38rotation and scale at
735. 13:39least, or maybe apply
736. 13:41all the rotations.
737. 13:42And also, if you
738. 13:42want to work with
739. 13:44mirror modifier or you
740. 13:45want correct export to
741. 13:48any other software, you
742. 13:50might need to set
743. 13:51the origin to 3D
744. 13:52cursor, which basically located
745. 13:54in the word origin.
746. 13:55And it will make
747. 13:56sure that all objects
748. 13:57are showed the same
749. 13:58way in Unreal Engine,
750. 14:00or we're going to
751. 14:00use accurate for rigging.
752. 14:01Make sure you follow
753. 14:02all the simple steps.
754. 14:03And of course, there's
755. 14:04more videos on my
756. 14:05channel, explaining this in
757. 14:06more details.
758. 14:07So as you can
759. 14:08see, I'm just using
760. 14:09sculpting to adjust the
761. 14:11shape.
762. 14:12There is a brush
763. 14:12called elastic wrap, one
764. 14:14of my favorite.
765. 14:15You just basically drag
766. 14:16it as you do
767. 14:17it in real life
768. 14:18and fix the alignment.
769. 14:20How cool is that?
770. 14:21There's also like clay
771. 14:22brush that you can
772. 14:23like add or remove
773. 14:24a little bit volume.
774. 14:26Always with most of
775. 14:27the brushes, you can
776. 14:28press control and while
777. 14:30holding control, it will
778. 14:31be inversed.
779. 14:32You cannot inverse elastic
780. 14:33wrap.
781. 14:34It basically moves mesh
782. 14:35where you move it.
783. 14:36And so just like
784. 14:37that, I basically adjusted
785. 14:39every part that we
786. 14:40created.
787. 14:41Luckily for me, most
788. 14:42of them was fitting
789. 14:43almost perfect.
790. 14:44So I didn't need
791. 14:45to spend too much
792. 14:46time.
793. 14:47A bit troubles with
794. 14:48shorts, but that all
795. 14:49also manageable.
796. 14:50Let's also position weapons
797. 14:52in right place.
798. 14:53And of course, we're
799. 14:54going to need to
800. 14:54position the variations of
801. 14:56top and bottom outfits
802. 14:59as well as back
803. 15:00accessories, such as hat,
804. 15:02backpack, and also later
805. 15:04we're going to need
806. 15:04tail of course.
807. 15:05This whole step all
808. 15:07together took me around
809. 15:0820 minutes of real
810. 15:10time.
811. 15:10The next step will
812. 15:11be is to optimize
813. 15:13our mesh a little
814. 15:14bit.
815. 15:14So what I want
816. 15:15to show you is
817. 15:16that in game, usually
818. 15:17if there is a
819. 15:19parts that are covered
820. 15:20and never seen, like
821. 15:21let's say we do
822. 15:23have shorts and long
823. 15:24pants and there will
824. 15:25be a part of
825. 15:25legs that will never
826. 15:26be shown.
827. 15:27So we can actually
828. 15:28remove it.
829. 15:29So in my case,
830. 15:30I will remove this
831. 15:31parts under the pants
832. 15:33and we can technically
833. 15:34remove this parts under
834. 15:36the scarf because it
835. 15:37will always be covered.
836. 15:39It's not only optimization
837. 15:40issue, it's also that
838. 15:42you'll have less problems
839. 15:44with rigging.
840. 15:45Imagine like the knee
841. 15:46will never go through
842. 15:47the pants because there
843. 15:49is no knee physically
844. 15:50there, but it will
845. 15:51look the same.
846. 15:52However, if you intend
847. 15:53to show him without
848. 15:54shorts or pants, it
849. 15:56is of course making
850. 15:57sense to keep it.
851. 15:58So the logic here
852. 15:59is simple.
853. 16:00I'll just remove the
854. 16:01polygons that are covered.
855. 16:03So here's the results.
856. 16:05You can of course
857. 16:05cut it more nicely,
858. 16:07but we're not going
859. 16:08to spend more time
860. 16:09on this.
861. 16:09This is just an
862. 16:10example.
863. 16:11All right, now it's
864. 16:12time to actually do
865. 16:13a rigging.
866. 16:14So many people think
867. 16:15that you can rig
868. 16:16one object at once,
869. 16:17but you're actually not.
870. 16:18You can rig as
871. 16:19much as object as
872. 16:20you want or the
873. 16:21limit of the software.
874. 16:22So in my case,
875. 16:23we're gonna export all
876. 16:24objects that needs to
877. 16:25be rigged except rigid
878. 16:27objects.
879. 16:27What is the rigid
880. 16:28object?
881. 16:29This is a katana,
882. 16:30a seat, a hat.
883. 16:31Why?
884. 16:31Because katana are not
885. 16:32moving according to the
886. 16:34leg.
887. 16:34Is a rigid object
888. 16:35that is usually stick
889. 16:37to one point, to
890. 16:38the belt, for example.
891. 16:40Same as hat.
892. 16:40We can keep backpack
893. 16:42because backpack is not
894. 16:43rigid.
895. 16:44Okay, let's select all
896. 16:45the parts and we're
897. 16:46gonna export it as
898. 16:47FBX.
899. 16:48Here in export setting,
900. 16:50choose selected objects only.
901. 16:52And in armature, don't
902. 16:53forget to uncheck add
903. 16:55leave bones just in
904. 16:56case for later.
905. 16:57Now we're gonna go
906. 16:58to AcroRig, which is
907. 16:59a free software, but
908. 17:00some of the advanced
909. 17:01asset packs, like animation
910. 17:03packs are paid here.
911. 17:04So I think that's
912. 17:05a fair model.
913. 17:06You are not forced
914. 17:07to buy them.
915. 17:07You'll have a basic
916. 17:09animation pack available after
917. 17:11you rig the character.
918. 17:12And you can map
919. 17:13another animation for the
920. 17:14skeleton in Unreal Engine,
921. 17:15for example.
922. 17:16So the process here
923. 17:17is simple.
924. 17:19This software will guide
925. 17:20you through all the
926. 17:21steps.
927. 17:21Put the character in
928. 17:22the right pose, set
929. 17:24the points where they
930. 17:25should be.
931. 17:26There are more than
932. 17:27in Mixamo.
933. 17:28So it's like more
934. 17:29accurate.
935. 17:29You set the points
936. 17:30for the body.
937. 17:31Then you do same
938. 17:32thing for the hands
939. 17:33and rig it.
940. 17:34When it's rigged, you
941. 17:35can calibrate it.
942. 17:36This is quite important
943. 17:37step.
944. 17:37Sometimes you need to
945. 17:39adjust bones so the
946. 17:41movement look natural, especially
947. 17:43it is valid for
948. 17:44characters that might have
949. 17:46fat belly or non
950. 17:47-standard proportions.
951. 17:48So here you can
952. 17:49choose the pose and
953. 17:50adjust the bone movement
954. 17:52a little bit until
955. 17:53it look natural.
956. 17:54So this is exactly
957. 17:55what I did.
958. 17:55And we have nicer
959. 17:57look.
960. 17:57When that's done, there
961. 17:58is one cool thing
962. 17:59here that will save
963. 18:00us time.
964. 18:01That we can actually
965. 18:02export it as Unreal
966. 18:03Engine skeleton.
967. 18:04That's exactly what we
968. 18:06want.
969. 18:06Let's export it as
970. 18:07FBX.
971. 18:08Then continue in Blender.
972. 18:09Okay, now we do
973. 18:10have an armature.
974. 18:12And this is the
975. 18:13time to add last
976. 18:14pieces like tail and
977. 18:16rigid accessories.
978. 18:17So behind the scene,
979. 18:18I also generate a
980. 18:19tail because I forgot
981. 18:19to make it.
982. 18:20And here's how the
983. 18:21process look.
984. 18:22We'll basically need to
985. 18:24add this tail to
986. 18:25the armature.
987. 18:26And here I show
988. 18:27you some advanced technique.
989. 18:29I'll add bones to
990. 18:30this tail and then
991. 18:31attach these bones to
992. 18:33a base armature.
993. 18:34Those will not be
994. 18:35animated but we're gonna
995. 18:36animate them in Unreal
996. 18:38Engine with physics.
997. 18:40So we're gonna not
998. 18:41focus on this part
999. 18:42in this tutorial.
1000. 18:43This is an extra.
1001. 18:45You might not have
1002. 18:46a character with tail
1003. 18:47but let me know
1004. 18:48if you want more
1005. 18:49details on that.
1006. 18:50For now, it's gonna
1007. 18:50be time-lapse.
1008. 18:51So we save time
1009. 18:52for another stuff to
1010. 18:53not make this video
1011. 18:55too long.
1012. 18:55So the final result
1013. 18:56of this step is
1014. 18:57that tail connected and
1015. 18:59each tail has its
1016. 19:00own bones.
1017. 19:01They are not animated
1018. 19:02yet.
1019. 19:02They're static.
1020. 19:03They just connected to
1021. 19:04one bone of main
1022. 19:06skeleton.
1023. 19:07That's exactly what we
1024. 19:08need to set the
1025. 19:09physics.
1026. 19:09But one thing that
1027. 19:10you need to know
1028. 19:11is how to add
1029. 19:12a static objects like
1030. 19:14rigid one.
1031. 19:14So here's the simplest
1032. 19:16way to do that.
1033. 19:17First of all, make
1034. 19:18sure all transforms are
1035. 19:19applied with control A,
1036. 19:21rotation, scale, transform A,
1037. 19:23all transformation, all of
1038. 19:24that.
1039. 19:24Now with shift, I
1040. 19:25selected all objects and
1041. 19:27then I selected the
1042. 19:28armature.
1043. 19:28We're gonna press control
1044. 19:30P and choose with
1045. 19:31empty groups.
1046. 19:33That will basically parent
1047. 19:34all these objects to
1048. 19:35armature but with no
1049. 19:37weights assigned.
1050. 19:38That's cool because now
1051. 19:40we can go to
1052. 19:40data tab and here
1053. 19:42in vertex groups, we're
1054. 19:44gonna need to find
1055. 19:45pelvis.
1056. 19:45That's the center bone
1057. 19:46that's usually represent the
1058. 19:49base of a character.
1059. 19:49See that katana is
1060. 19:51now selected and then
1061. 19:52I can go to
1062. 19:53weight paint.
1063. 19:54Here, we're gonna choose
1064. 19:54gradient paints and we'll
1065. 19:56just need to make
1066. 19:56sure this katana will
1067. 19:58be now red.
1068. 19:59So what's happening right
1069. 20:00now, I selected pelvis
1070. 20:02bone and I assigning
1071. 20:04like 100% weight
1072. 20:05to that bone of
1073. 20:06the katana, which means
1074. 20:08that katana will 100
1075. 20:09% follow the pelvis
1076. 20:11movement.
1077. 20:12So you can see
1078. 20:12if I press on
1079. 20:13any other bone and
1080. 20:14it will be blue,
1081. 20:15which means zero.
1082. 20:16Same exact thing we're
1083. 20:17gonna need to do
1084. 20:18for sit.
1085. 20:19Okay, make it red.
1086. 20:21But for the head,
1087. 20:22we're gonna need to
1088. 20:22choose another bone.
1089. 20:24First of all, let's
1090. 20:24align it a little
1091. 20:25bit better.
1092. 20:26Make sure all transformations
1093. 20:27are applied and here
1094. 20:29we're gonna choose neck
1095. 20:3101 bone.
1096. 20:32Apply the weights with
1097. 20:33gradient painting and now
1098. 20:35if we go to
1099. 20:36the pose mode and
1100. 20:37try to move this
1101. 20:38neck one, you can
1102. 20:39see how it works,
1103. 20:40right?
1104. 20:40So like whenever neck
1105. 20:41is moving, on head
1106. 20:43is following neck exactly
1107. 20:44and same will happen
1108. 20:45with four pelvis.
1109. 20:46If we move the
1110. 20:47character moves, weapons follows.
1111. 20:50Now we're finally ready
1112. 20:51to move to Unreal
1113. 20:52Engine.
1114. 20:53What I'm gonna do
1115. 20:54now is I'll assign
1116. 20:55proper names to all
1117. 20:56objects to be able
1118. 20:57to manage them in
1119. 20:58Unreal Engine, of course.
1120. 21:00Then I'm gonna export
1121. 21:01them one by one
1122. 21:02by logical parts.
1123. 21:03So if you're gonna
1124. 21:04use selected objects, make
1125. 21:06sure the armature and
1126. 21:07the object on it
1127. 21:08is selected.
1128. 21:09So object is expert
1129. 21:10with armature.
1130. 21:11So we're gonna export
1131. 21:12main body, backpack, we're
1132. 21:14gonna export hats.
1133. 21:15We're gonna export top
1134. 21:16outfits alone, weapons and
1135. 21:19so forth.
1136. 21:20Pretty much the same
1137. 21:21logic.
1138. 21:21Technically you can also
1139. 21:22export them all together
1140. 21:24but it will be
1141. 21:25a little bit more
1142. 21:25difficult to manage in
1143. 21:26Unreal Engine.
1144. 21:27So here's the final
1145. 21:28list of objects we
1146. 21:29have.
1147. 21:30Main body to top
1148. 21:31outfits to bottom outfits
1149. 21:33to weapons and to
1150. 21:35back accessory.
1151. 21:36And it means it's
1152. 21:37finally time to open
1153. 21:38Unreal Engine and create
1154. 21:40a third person template.
1155. 21:42Let's do that.
1156. 21:43Okay, so here we're
1157. 21:44gonna do some Unreal
1158. 21:45Engine match.
1159. 21:46We're gonna not go
1160. 21:47into every detail, but
1161. 21:49of course, guys, if
1162. 21:50you want me to
1163. 21:51go deep into this,
1164. 21:52let me know in
1165. 21:53the comments and maybe
1166. 21:54consider a video how
1167. 21:55I do that.
1168. 21:56The whole thing here
1169. 21:57will be to import
1170. 21:59the body first and
1171. 22:00we're gonna replace default
1172. 22:01third character to our
1173. 22:02character.
1174. 22:03How it's done, we
1175. 22:04basically import main body
1176. 22:05first.
1177. 22:06Then we're gonna also
1178. 22:07assign some shaders and
1179. 22:09stuff.
1180. 22:09I use here the
1181. 22:10same toon shader that
1182. 22:11I used in my
1183. 22:12video where I created
1184. 22:13the whole scene.
1185. 22:14You're gonna definitely want
1186. 22:15to take a look
1187. 22:16on that one.
1188. 22:16That's a toon shader
1189. 22:17script that you drop
1190. 22:18it here and it
1191. 22:19allow you to create
1192. 22:20toon material, quite easy.
1193. 22:22Okay, so here we
1194. 22:23can preview this.
1195. 22:24And the first thing
1196. 22:25we're gonna need to
1197. 22:26retarget animation and skeleton.
1198. 22:28So we're gonna go
1199. 22:29find ABP many, retarget
1200. 22:31animations, choose our main
1201. 22:33body and basically try
1202. 22:35to retarget everything.
1203. 22:36Since we exported skeleton
1204. 22:37from acrylic, we should
1205. 22:39have everything all fine
1206. 22:41and we're gonna need
1207. 22:42to export all the
1208. 22:43animations.
1209. 22:44We'll just need to
1210. 22:44set prefix as Fox,
1211. 22:47I think.
1212. 22:47All right, and we
1213. 22:48do have all animations.
1214. 22:50So now we go
1215. 22:51to characters, Fox.
1216. 22:52We see all the
1217. 22:53animations export, which is
1218. 22:54cool.
1219. 22:55And we might see
1220. 22:55like one animations is
1221. 22:57broken and I figured
1222. 22:58out that you can
1223. 22:59fix it.
1224. 22:59If you go here,
1225. 23:01you can go here,
1226. 23:02you can go to
1227. 23:02compression error threshold, set
1228. 23:04it to zero and
1229. 23:05then set it to
1230. 23:05one again and it
1231. 23:06sort of fixes.
1232. 23:07Later we go to
1233. 23:08find the BP third
1234. 23:10person, which is this
1235. 23:12one.
1236. 23:12You can create a
1237. 23:13child blueprint or we
1238. 23:14can replace it right
1239. 23:15here.
1240. 23:16So here in skeletal
1241. 23:17mesh assets, we're just
1242. 23:18gonna select our skeletal
1243. 23:20assets.
1244. 23:20And for animation class,
1245. 23:22we're gonna select Fox
1246. 23:24ABP many, which we
1247. 23:25just got from retargeting.
1248. 23:27And here's the result
1249. 23:28so far already.
1250. 23:29So we already have
1251. 23:30something moving.
1252. 23:31That's the long story
1253. 23:31short.
1254. 23:32After that, we need
1255. 23:33to start adding the
1256. 23:34rest of the accessories.
1257. 23:35So we're gonna just
1258. 23:36import them, create them,
1259. 23:38make sure we have
1260. 23:38the right shader, then
1261. 23:40add all the objects
1262. 23:42on same blueprints, basically
1263. 23:44parenting them to main
1264. 23:46mesh.
1265. 23:46And to make sure
1266. 23:47the animation works together,
1267. 23:49we're gonna go to
1268. 23:50main mesh, the blueprints
1269. 23:51and find set leader
1270. 23:54pose, drag and drop
1271. 23:55this Katana here and
1272. 23:56set it to a
1273. 23:57target.
1274. 23:58So basically it will
1275. 23:59all take the animation
1276. 24:01from main body.
1277. 24:02The same way I
1278. 24:03will add all the
1279. 24:03assets and connect them
1280. 24:05in the blueprints, right?
1281. 24:06Just like that.
1282. 24:07And if you did
1283. 24:07everything right, we can
1284. 24:08actually preview the results
1285. 24:11and go play around.
1286. 24:12How cool is that?
1287. 24:13And of course the
1288. 24:14tail is not working.
1289. 24:16That's okay.
1290. 24:16I will add the
1291. 24:18physics to them.
1292. 24:18This is a little
1293. 24:19bit advanced, but it's
1294. 24:20easy to learn.
1295. 24:21We'll basically go to
1296. 24:21the skeleton, find those
1297. 24:23bones and add a
1298. 24:25physics to them.
1299. 24:25You're gonna enjoy the
1300. 24:26time-lapse and I'm
1301. 24:28gonna do a sip
1302. 24:28of water.
1303. 24:39So it took me
1304. 24:39a while to figure
1305. 24:40out and set the
1306. 24:42best configuration, but here
1307. 24:43we go.
1308. 24:44Here's the results.
1309. 24:45I think it looks
1310. 24:46really cool, guys.
1311. 24:47Guys, I think I
1312. 24:48deserve like for it.
1313. 24:50Please hit that button
1314. 24:51and also subscribe to
1315. 24:52this channel to not
1316. 24:53miss out the very
1317. 24:54cool content that I'm
1318. 24:55doing for you guys.
1319. 24:57And now how do
1320. 24:57we interchange the assets?
1321. 24:59So the logic here
1322. 25:00will be very simple.
1323. 25:02We're just gonna drop
1324. 25:03some assets across this
1325. 25:05scene and then we're
1326. 25:06gonna create some sort
1327. 25:07of podiums for them.
1328. 25:08My logic is simple.
1329. 25:10Since all the assets
1330. 25:11are already on the
1331. 25:12character, I'm gonna make
1332. 25:14some of them invisible.
1333. 25:16There is a visibility
1334. 25:17flag on that blueprint.
1335. 25:19And when we're gonna
1336. 25:20collision to a podium
1337. 25:21or cylinder that is
1338. 25:23near to some asset,
1339. 25:25one asset will be
1340. 25:26set invisible and other
1341. 25:28asset will be visible.
1342. 25:29So this simple logic,
1343. 25:31here's how I did
1344. 25:31that.
1345. 25:32On the character, there's
1346. 25:33a blueprint that makes
1347. 25:35one asset of the
1348. 25:36same group invisible if
1349. 25:38one become visible or
1350. 25:40change the invisibility.
1351. 25:41So let's say we
1352. 25:42have shorts.
1353. 25:43Maybe there is definitely
1354. 25:45a better way to
1355. 25:45do that, but this
1356. 25:46is the only thing
1357. 25:47came in my mind
1358. 25:48while recording this video.
1359. 25:49And there will also
1360. 25:50be a simple blueprint
1361. 25:51that will detect the
1362. 25:52collision with the character.
1363. 25:53And then we're gonna
1364. 25:54change the parts.
1365. 25:55So that was actually
1366. 25:57a lot of things
1367. 25:58to do.
1368. 25:59From the concept, we
1369. 26:00extracted a lot of
1370. 26:01parts, created models for
1371. 26:03them, created variations all
1372. 26:05in one place.
1373. 26:06Then we brought that
1374. 26:06in Blender, simply align
1375. 26:08objects to the body.
1376. 26:10Then we rigged that
1377. 26:10in Acro Rig.
1378. 26:12Well, rigid objects, we
1379. 26:13assigned it right in
1380. 26:14Blender since they need
1381. 26:15to be attached to
1382. 26:16one bone only.
1383. 26:17Then we set it
1384. 26:18in Unreal Engine, applied
1385. 26:19Toon Shader, retarget animations
1386. 26:22for our character and
1387. 26:23replace a default character
1388. 26:24with our character in
1389. 26:26the base blueprint.
1390. 26:27And now we did
1391. 26:27simple logic on collision
1392. 26:29with some objects.
1393. 26:30We're gonna change them.
1394. 26:31We're gonna show, hide
1395. 26:32them on the character.
1396. 26:34Let's review the results.
1397. 26:48Hope you enjoyed the
1398. 26:49video.
1399. 26:50More content coming soon.
1400. 26:51Like and subscribe and
1401. 26:52see you in the
1402. 26:53next one.