Bento Animation Creation

[Jiyunii]

Right, so, I want to get started making animations and the like. I've got 3ds Max, I'm in the process of downloading DAZ.

What I'm not seeing is anything on how to actually make animations except a lot of out of date material dating back years. The best I've been able to find is a "beta" bento skeleton download from back in december, which I've no idea if it's even useable or up to date. People who've posted that they are looking into find resources or creating resources have been incommunicado for months or more now.

Does anyone know of where I might acquire useable resources for animation (and preferably, avatar) creation? 

Anything in any fileformat will help, I'm sure there is a way to pound it into a useable format through voodoo and dark computer magic.

It'd be nice, if anyone from LL is readin this, if an official resources page for content creation could be put up, one with models and files compatible with modern 3d applications. The wiki pages are wildly out of date and there doesn't appear to be any post beta information on the bento skeleton. The "content creator" page that google pulls up for the official site just directs users to 3rd party groups.

[DreamCrawler Martin]

Hello!

I have been creating avatars for a long while now.  If you want a suggestion: forget about 3DSMax. You will be able to export the rigged models, but there is no workflow to export animations from 3DS Max. Believe me, I looked for it for years as a big 3DSMax user i was. Nobody has scripted a good BVH export plugin. I gave up. Started using blender at first, which I dont really like, but it was the only workflow I could use to animate my avatars. Daz & Poser will let you animate their default models (no reference of your avatar on it) with very limited and basic tools IMHO. Now I am working on Maya. had to learn it from scratch, but am really happy I started using it. Just be careful to learn what a transform node is, and how to avoid them when building meshes and rigging. There are scripts for maya that allows you build and export animations from it.

So if you want to do 3DSMax level animations (or better):

try Blender with avastar plugin, specific tool for SL building and animating

Or try Maya with Mayastar, a series of templates and plugins that will help you on the rigging and animating process.  Specially with an scale issue, where you need to model your mesh in CM, but export the animations in a different scale. Otherwise the model will look 100 times larger than it really is. Mayastar fixes that issue automatically. In both cases you can work without them, but for starters I'd go by the hand of one of these two options.

Blender Avastar creator is Gaia Clary and mayastar is Cathy Foil (correct me if i am wrong)

Best of lucks with the animations!

[Medhue Simoni]

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Jiyunii wrote:

Right, so, I want to get started making animations and the like. I've got 3ds Max, I'm in the process of downloading DAZ.

What I'm not seeing is anything on how to actually make animations except a lot of out of date material dating back years. The best I've been able to find is a "beta" bento skeleton download from back in december, which I've no idea if it's even useable or up to date. People who've posted that they are looking into find resources or creating resources have been incommunicado for months or more now.

Does anyone know of where I might acquire useable resources for animation (and preferably, avatar) creation? 

Anything in any fileformat will help, I'm sure there is a way to pound it into a useable format through voodoo and dark computer magic.

It'd be nice, if anyone from LL is readin this, if an official resources page for content creation could be put up, one with models and files compatible with modern 3d applications. The wiki pages are wildly out of date and there doesn't appear to be any post beta information on the bento skeleton. The "content creator" page that google pulls up for the official site just directs users to 3rd party groups.

---

Daz can't really do the job.

Me, I'm a Blenderhead. IMHO, there is no better animation program. Avastar is an Add on for Blender that makes creating Bento creators easier, and animating them easier. With Avastar's animation export, we have access to generating .anim files, which is SL's inherit animation file format, and their own, not the same an Maya's. With anim files, we can use higher priority animation, up to 6, and it animates bento properly. Avastar also comes with a better retargeting system for retargeting animations to the Bento avatar.

If you want to use 3DS Max, then contact Polysail in SL. She is working on the Bento plugin for it, and it comes with an animation exporter.

If you want to use Maya, then contact Cathy Foil in SL. She has a plugin for Maya with all the newest Bento stuff, and an animation exporter.

[GatoUke]

Would you kindly guide me in the right direction onto where to start for create bento compatible animations with Blender? (specifically for bento hand) Aside from obviously donwload Blender, what else do I need? I understand that I need this Avastar add on, but I'm confused as to what version do I need... Is there any tutorials for beginners I can watch?

Thanks before hand

[Medhue Simoni]

---

GatoUke wrote:

Would you kindly guide me in the right direction onto where to start for create

bento

compatible animations with

Blender

? (specifically for

bento hand

) Aside from

obviously

donwload

Blender

, what else do I need? I understand that I need this

Avastar

add on, but I'm confused as to what version do I need... Is there any tutorials for beginners I can watch?

Thanks before hand

---

Avastar2 is the bento version. I have some tutorials on using blender and avastar, especially animation, but I don't have much on Bento yet. Avastar is just getting finalized, so I did not want to make any tutorials until it's ready. Search Medhue on Youtube to find my videos.

 

[GatoUke]

I see, thanks! I'll wait for your tutorials then. I once make some basic animations using your DazStudio tutorials, I hope do the same with blender. Thanks again