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[3DSmax] Morph Targets

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Zielan KoRnified View user's profile Send private message

Reply with quote Friday, August 19, 2011

Hello, in this tutorial I aim to show you on how to create and use morpher modifier which is used for vertex animations (expressions,hair movements,cloth movements etc.)

Step 1.
Load up your model in 3ds Max.



Step 2.
Duplicate the mesh you want to give morph targets to.
Each expression should have a separate mesh.



Step 3.
Edit the duplicate meshes to the expressions,hair movements etc. you aim for.



Step 4.
In the main mesh add a "Morpher" modifier.



Step 5.
Use the "Pick object from scene" option and select the edited mesh.



Step 6.
Use the scrollers to morph the original mesh into the morph target.You can use multiple morph targets at once and combine expressions.




Steps 1-6 bigger explanations:

1) Loading the model up: This is basically the easiest thing to do in 3DS Max. Click on file (Autodesk icon) and click open. Find the file you want to open and hit okay.

2)Select the Mesh you want, and just clone it. Repeat this process for all morph targets you need. Each morph target mesh should be a duplicate of the original mesh (Not the other duplicates).

3)Select any of the clones you've made. Go to the modifiers tab,select "Editable Mesh/Poly" modifier and start tweaking around until you have satisfying expression,hair movement etc. .

4)Go back to the original mesh(The one you were duplicating)and add the "Morpher" modifier.

5)Scroll down the "Morpher" modifiers options and find "Pick object from scene".After you've done that move your mouse over one of your duplicates until the cursor changed and left click it.

6)You should see that one of the "empty" tabs has changed and is named after the duplicate you've selected. If you look at the right side of the tab you should see 0,0 with two arrows, these are the scrollers that you'll use to determine the percentage of your main mesh morphing into it's modified duplicate.
You can select other tabs and add other morph targets.Combine those together in order to create more advanced movements or expressions.

Side note : Please don't mind my horrible English.(This time Mima didn't help me with the longer explanations.)

Shenku RiO Incarnate View user's profile Send private message

Reply with quote Friday, August 19, 2011

Your explanation was pretty spot on actually, I saw no errors, but there's a few key points to remember when doing morph targets.

Everytime you make a duplicate of the original model, be sure to name the duplicate according to the morph you plan on making, so you know which ones do what. Something simple is fine, such as "eyebrows down" or "mouth angry" will do.

Second, and this one is the most important thing to remember, once you start making morph targets, you can not change the original model's geometry anymore, or the morph targets won't work, meaning you would need to start over remaking each expression again. So, make sure you have the model exactly how you need before you start making morphs for it.

Thirdly, morph targets can be applied under the skin modifier without affecting the rig, so if you don't have morphs setup for say, cloth animations, you can add them later without needing to re-rig the model.

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