Help modeling a skeleton

Eyeless · 08-24-2005, 06:47 PM

so okay im trying to do a skeleton, like the ones you find through out the pirates of the carribean ride.... I am trying to model a skeleton in milkshake. Now i have done one where the bones and everything are a texture, but it looked really crappy. I am trying to figure out how to model one, down to each bone...so the spaces between the ribs is transparent and not just a texture...anyone know of anywhere i can find a tutorial on making an actualy skeleton? for any modeler?

I want to make one.. so i can position it for all the different models i want to make. As soon as i figure out how to get them imported into rct3...im still learning i can post pics of what i made so far.

I made the bed the skeleton lays in,
the ghost ship scene with the skeleton steering the ship (no skeleton though),

I made some more treasure piles and stuff like that.

Okie... Thanks for any help!!!!!

joshleafe · 08-24-2005, 08:13 PM

no idea but it sounds good. send me al pics vids and downloads.links to joshleafe@aol.com
Cheers
Josh

marnetmar · 08-24-2005, 10:57 PM

The biggest problem with that is the model file is going to wind up being a Very large one when it's finished. You might try looking at the Tutorials on the Milkshape site, I don't know about skeletons, but they have a lot of different ones there. You can get there from the link in my signature. Good Luck with this, it sounds like a good addition to the game

drucifer67 · 08-25-2005, 02:12 AM

Do you absolutely want to model it yourself? Cuz if not, there's some public-domain stuff available at http://www.3dcafe.com/index.php?opti...pper&Itemid=38

....there's a full skeleton there but I'm not sure if the poly counts would be suitable for the game.

Eyeless · 08-25-2005, 03:02 PM

well i was looking at some of the already present models in rct 3 in the for the spooky theme and a few of them do have all the bones done (the skeleton that jumps out of the coffin, and the skeleton in the cage...) But we will see!!!! haha, the only thing that sucks is i can only kinda work on it for the next 3 weeks, so an hour here an hour there... I work for the California state legislature in the Assembly and its our last 3 weeks of session woohoooooo. But im fairly certain i can get this done... now will it work in RCT3? heheh fingers crossed!

Eyeless · 08-25-2005, 03:04 PM

oh and the reason why i am building my own skeleton is b/c i want to make one that i can position in the different positions on the various other models...

anyone notice yet PoC is my favourite ride?

Can you position the free ones?

GoldDrgn217 · 08-25-2005, 06:52 PM

Making a skeleton really isn't all that hard. I did a rather complex one here: http://files.pyxaron.ath.cx/files/SK...dragon005.jpg. It's an undead dragon though so it's not exactly a person. Still a skeleton though. This particular model was designed for the Unreal 2.5x engine and is not for use in RCT3 as it is 4,500+ polygons. Your best bet is to study the in game skeletons first.

What I find best when working under low polygon limits is to have your shapes represent parts of the body. As seen in my dragon the backbone is realistic except for the last 9 pieces of tail in which I used cylinders, stretched cubes, and then triangle shapes to finish out the tail. I simply could not use the more complicated structures of the rest of the backbone. Do the same and represent what you're modeling.

Also, for things like the fingers or any really small bones you can use flat planes and then apply transparent textures. I planned to do this with the fingers/toes/digits/wing bones but haven't done texturing on this model yet. This works well since the bones are so small and you can freely pose these pieces depending on how you set it all up. The larger more complex skeleton structures (like the backbone or head) always need to be 3d though since they're so big they must have appearances at all angles.

Also, keep in mind that although all of the bones in this model are detached from each other, they all are still the same object and selecting one causes them all to be selected. I've combined each object to make one large one of many components. I didn't bother to animate it yet, but using a bone/joint skeleton in a 3d program will allow you to easily link each bone together and keep them a uniform distance apart and not disturb the integrity of the model.

Eyeless · 08-28-2005, 10:40 PM

what a pain in the butt this is hahaha. I am still trying to figure out how to make ribs, the lowest i have been able to get it is like 2500 polygons!

geez 1000 polygons is the limit in this game?

marnetmar · 08-28-2005, 10:57 PM

You could make it with as many polygons as you want, but the more there is the more of a problem it's going to be with lag & people won't use it.

Eyeless · 08-28-2005, 11:55 PM

does size play a role in the lag? i.e. if its a large piece or a small piece?

marnetmar · 08-29-2005, 01:08 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Eyeless
does size play a role in the lag? i.e. if its a large piece or a small piece?

The size of an individual piece doesn't matter. You could, for example make a square box 1/4 tile size & another that's 5 times as large & it shouldn't cause any more lag than the small one. Same amount of poly's for each.

Eyeless · 08-30-2005, 06:34 PM

ooh i found a good plugin for 3ds max.. poly cruncher. It's supposed to work really good. My friend works for EA and they use it for some game models to cut the poly count...but retains the shape of the model pretty well im going to try it tonight

WalkingSnake · 08-30-2005, 06:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Eyeless
ooh i found a good plugin for 3ds max.. poly cruncher. It's supposed to work really good. My friend works for EA and they use it for some game models to cut the poly count...but retains the shape of the model pretty well im going to try it tonight

Well, first of all, I doubt anyone's going to believe that your friend works for EA.

Second of all, link?

iceatcs · 08-31-2005, 01:27 AM

Remember Google is a friend,

anyway there is a link for polygon cruncher.
http://www.mootools.com/plugins/us/p...cher/index.asp

Eyeless · 08-31-2005, 01:40 PM

oh sorry i didnt put a link. I was given a copy of it and a key...didn't even realize you could download it hehehe.

I have tried it out... it's going to take some playing around with. But the plugin is for lightwave and 3dsmax! though i don't like lightwave, no knock on anyone that likes lightwave =) .

My first try with it it brought the count down from like 8k to 1k but the skeleton was missing its spine and "two-boned" areas like the tibia/fibula and the radius/ulnar they became one "bone-glob" hehehe

But it worked well on the other things. the bed's count way down, and so did the ghost ship background. I'll have pics up as soon as i figure out the jonwil's importer..... I will figure it out! I have a feeling i need to redo the textures... ill search the forum on that. Hopefully, this weekend i can work on this...

08-24-2005, 06:47 PM	#1
Eyeless Registered User Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 95	Help modeling a skeleton so okay im trying to do a skeleton, like the ones you find through out the pirates of the carribean ride.... I am trying to model a skeleton in milkshake. Now i have done one where the bones and everything are a texture, but it looked really crappy. I am trying to figure out how to model one, down to each bone...so the spaces between the ribs is transparent and not just a texture...anyone know of anywhere i can find a tutorial on making an actualy skeleton? for any modeler? I want to make one.. so i can position it for all the different models i want to make. As soon as i figure out how to get them imported into rct3...im still learning i can post pics of what i made so far. I made the bed the skeleton lays in, the ghost ship scene with the skeleton steering the ship (no skeleton though), I made some more treasure piles and stuff like that. Okie... Thanks for any help!!!!!

08-24-2005, 10:57 PM	#3
marnetmar Registered A_Hole Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Kansas City,MO Posts: 7,517	The biggest problem with that is the model file is going to wind up being a Very large one when it's finished. You might try looking at the Tutorials on the Milkshape site, I don't know about skeletons, but they have a lot of different ones there. You can get there from the link in my signature. Good Luck with this, it sounds like a good addition to the game __________________ ModsToTheMax MilkShape Modeling Program

08-25-2005, 02:12 AM	#4
drucifer67 Scenery Creator Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 140	Do you absolutely want to model it yourself? Cuz if not, there's some public-domain stuff available at http://www.3dcafe.com/index.php?opti...pper&Itemid=38 ....there's a full skeleton there but I'm not sure if the poly counts would be suitable for the game. __________________ I may have Alzheimer's, but at least I don't have Alzheimer's.

08-25-2005, 06:52 PM	#7
GoldDrgn217 Big Hungry Dragon Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Hershey, PA Posts: 535	Making a skeleton really isn't all that hard. I did a rather complex one here: http://files.pyxaron.ath.cx/files/SK...dragon005.jpg. It's an undead dragon though so it's not exactly a person. Still a skeleton though. This particular model was designed for the Unreal 2.5x engine and is not for use in RCT3 as it is 4,500+ polygons. Your best bet is to study the in game skeletons first. What I find best when working under low polygon limits is to have your shapes represent parts of the body. As seen in my dragon the backbone is realistic except for the last 9 pieces of tail in which I used cylinders, stretched cubes, and then triangle shapes to finish out the tail. I simply could not use the more complicated structures of the rest of the backbone. Do the same and represent what you're modeling. Also, for things like the fingers or any really small bones you can use flat planes and then apply transparent textures. I planned to do this with the fingers/toes/digits/wing bones but haven't done texturing on this model yet. This works well since the bones are so small and you can freely pose these pieces depending on how you set it all up. The larger more complex skeleton structures (like the backbone or head) always need to be 3d though since they're so big they must have appearances at all angles. Also, keep in mind that although all of the bones in this model are detached from each other, they all are still the same object and selecting one causes them all to be selected. I've combined each object to make one large one of many components. I didn't bother to animate it yet, but using a bone/joint skeleton in a 3d program will allow you to easily link each bone together and keep them a uniform distance apart and not disturb the integrity of the model. __________________ Laptop: Inspiron XPS 2 \| P-M 2.0 GHz \| 2 GB DDR2 533 DC \| 60 GB 72kRPM \| 256 MB Geforce 6800 Ultra \| 6,014 3DM05 \| Beats all Alienware Desktop: Custom \| Asus A7V333-X \| Athlon 2700+ oc'ed \| 1 GB DDR333 \| 2x80 GB WD Raptors \| 128 MB Radeon 9600 Pro VIVO oc'ed

08-28-2005, 10:57 PM	#9
marnetmar Registered A_Hole Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Kansas City,MO Posts: 7,517	You could make it with as many polygons as you want, but the more there is the more of a problem it's going to be with lag & people won't use it. __________________ ModsToTheMax MilkShape Modeling Program

08-24-2005, 08:13 PM	#2
joshleafe Registered User Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 58	no idea but it sounds good. send me al pics vids and downloads.links to joshleafe@aol.com Cheers Josh

08-25-2005, 03:02 PM	#5
Eyeless Registered User Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 95	well i was looking at some of the already present models in rct 3 in the for the spooky theme and a few of them do have all the bones done (the skeleton that jumps out of the coffin, and the skeleton in the cage...) But we will see!!!! haha, the only thing that sucks is i can only kinda work on it for the next 3 weeks, so an hour here an hour there... I work for the California state legislature in the Assembly and its our last 3 weeks of session woohoooooo. But im fairly certain i can get this done... now will it work in RCT3? heheh fingers crossed!

08-25-2005, 03:04 PM	#6
Eyeless Registered User Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 95	oh and the reason why i am building my own skeleton is b/c i want to make one that i can position in the different positions on the various other models... anyone notice yet PoC is my favourite ride? Can you position the free ones?

08-28-2005, 10:40 PM	#8
Eyeless Registered User Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 95	what a pain in the butt this is hahaha. I am still trying to figure out how to make ribs, the lowest i have been able to get it is like 2500 polygons! geez 1000 polygons is the limit in this game?

08-28-2005, 11:55 PM	#10
Eyeless Registered User Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 95	does size play a role in the lag? i.e. if its a large piece or a small piece?

08-30-2005, 06:34 PM	#12
Eyeless Registered User Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 95	ooh i found a good plugin for 3ds max.. poly cruncher. It's supposed to work really good. My friend works for EA and they use it for some game models to cut the poly count...but retains the shape of the model pretty well im going to try it tonight

08-31-2005, 01:27 AM	#14
iceatcs Let Rock! Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 1,606	Remember Google is a friend, anyway there is a link for polygon cruncher. http://www.mootools.com/plugins/us/p...cher/index.asp __________________ List of my custom sceneries - sebar.com/iceatcs Iceatcs' Lord of the Rings Middle Earth website - coming soon LOTR Thread

08-31-2005, 01:40 PM	#15
Eyeless Registered User Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 95	oh sorry i didnt put a link. I was given a copy of it and a key...didn't even realize you could download it hehehe. I have tried it out... it's going to take some playing around with. But the plugin is for lightwave and 3dsmax! though i don't like lightwave, no knock on anyone that likes lightwave =) . My first try with it it brought the count down from like 8k to 1k but the skeleton was missing its spine and "two-boned" areas like the tibia/fibula and the radius/ulnar they became one "bone-glob" hehehe But it worked well on the other things. the bed's count way down, and so did the ghost ship background. I'll have pics up as soon as i figure out the jonwil's importer..... I will figure it out! I have a feeling i need to redo the textures... ill search the forum on that. Hopefully, this weekend i can work on this...

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