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[Released] Mega-Fiers. A mesh deformation system - RELEASE

Discussion in 'Assets and Asset Store' started by SpookyCat, May 18, 2011.

  1. SpookyCat

    SpookyCat

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    @Drowning-Monkeys - Not had a ticket come through, did you include an invoice number as it states in the support page?
     
  2. Drowning-Monkeys

    Drowning-Monkeys

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    @SpookyCat was worried about that as i didn't see a specific "Support Ticket" section. I went to the uservoice site, and clicked "Contact Support" and put the IO in the message field. Should it have been in the subject?
     
  3. SpookyCat

    SpookyCat

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    As long as the invoice number is present somewhere in the email it will get put in the action queue, if you included the invoice number then did you maybe attach a large file, again it does say on the support page that if you try and send a file the message will not make it to us. We have very very slow internet here and we used to have people emailing us files of 100's of MB which would stop our internet for a couple of days so we had to block any files of 1MB or more.
     
  4. Drowning-Monkeys

    Drowning-Monkeys

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    Ah. The file i attached was 8MB. I'll send a link instead.
     
  5. Drowning-Monkeys

    Drowning-Monkeys

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    okay i got an auto-response, so im guessing this one went through this time.
     
  6. SpookyCat

    SpookyCat

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    Just to let you know we have an update coming that will fix the problem some people are having using PositionHandles when editing splines, ie they cant be selected and dragged for some reason. There seems to be some bug in Unity causing the problem, we have tried 3 different ways of doing it and they all have issues, so we have written a custom PositionHandle that works. Just so you know if you are having problems then switch to Free handles as they work fine.
     
  7. SpookyCat

    SpookyCat

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    Just submitted an update to address the problem with PositionHandles not working. The new update uses a custom PositionHandle to get around the problem that seems to be internal to Unity. We also fixed the error you would get when building for Windows App platform due to the recently added OBJ Exporter system.

    Changes in v3.30
    • Fixed a problem with the Position handles when editing splines.
    • Splines now default to Free Handle mode for editing.
    • Fixed problem when building for Windows App platform with the OBJ Exporter.
     
  8. brian-wanamaker

    brian-wanamaker

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    Is there a list of known issues for Megafiers? I've reviewed the FAQ at the official website, but it doesn't show bugs or unexpected behavior, e.g. Gizmo Handles can be toggled, but the resize slider does not affect their size. I'd like to report a few things I've found, but don't want to duplicate known issues.

    My actual question: Is there documentation, or a text or video tutorial for the Collision Deformation megafier as shown on the Chris West YouTube channel?


    I'm wanting to use it to squeeze a cylinder into a tube, but when I set up objects as similarly as possible to the video, it does not behave similarly.
     
  9. SpookyCat

    SpookyCat

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    @brian-wanamaker - We do try and fix any problems as they are reported, not sure what you mean by the resize slider there is no resize slider in the MegaFiers inspector except in the FFD modifiers.
    The collision deform modifier was added as a test for a client it is still an alpha modifier and not documented, I believe the original client extended it to their needs.
     
  10. brian-wanamaker

    brian-wanamaker

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    @SpookyCat Thanks for your fast response! Yes, I was referring to the handle size in the FFD modifier; I can toggle visibility, but their size slider does not behave as shown on the tutorial videos. I'll gather some data and report it through your support page.

    Thanks as well for the insight on Mega Collision Deform; because there are visible variables added in the standard version of Megafiers, I assumed they were usable. Are there any plans to bring it past alpha implementation?
     
  11. SpookyCat

    SpookyCat

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    For some reason, looking at the code, I took the gizmo scaling and coloring out, I have put it back in for the next update. Also seems FFD meshes were not being updated when the handles were being dragged in Unity 5 again fixed that and also made it so that when editing a modifier value only the current selected object Update is called instead of all the MegaModify objects in the scene which helps if you have a lot of deforming objects in one scene. New update will come this week sometime.
     
  12. SpookyCat

    SpookyCat

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    I have had a couple of requests for the Collision deformer to be worked on, it is quite a tricky to make work for all cases, it was originally added for a client with a very specific need which it worked for but to make it work for all cases is a lot tougher and the thought of the support requests giving endless cases for when it doesn't work does worry me.
     
  13. brian-wanamaker

    brian-wanamaker

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    Thank you for your responses on both the FFD and Collision Deform, @SpookyCat . I was about to ask about Handle updating in the FFD modifier, and I'm relieved that you're already addressing them.

    I wanted to use Collision Deform to perform a medical animation of a stent inside a sheathe; as the sheathe withdraws, the stent expands to its normal size. Collision Deform would have done that handily but perhaps not performantly. Taper now seems the intuitive candidate, but controlling its maximum "squish" so it doesn't fan-tail and spread out past its tapered point is a problem.

    To all the Megafier users here, is there a method to make sure the Taper stops at its most-narrow state?
     
    Last edited: Feb 7, 2017
  14. SpookyCat

    SpookyCat

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    I cant quite visualize what you are trying to do, is it possible to send a video of the effect you looking to create so I can have a think about the best approach. I know we have a lot of medical application developers using MegaFiers in their projects and it maybe there is a better modifier to use, or failing that an existing one could be extended.
     
  15. brian-wanamaker

    brian-wanamaker

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    @SpookyCat - Thanks for your continued responses and willingness to help! I achieved the effect I was looking for by using Taper modifier and then constraining it with Do Region to prevent excessive deformation. Thanks very much.
     
  16. SpookyCat

    SpookyCat

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    Just submitted an update to the Asset store and our web store, this fixes the issues with FFD handles not using the size or color options and also the mesh not deforming as the handles are dragged. We also stopped Updates being called on all modified objects in the editor when editing values on another object, so if you had a lot of deformed objects in the scene it could slow the editing experience down. We also added an experimental alpha modifier called Hit Deform which will deform a mesh on collision so you can try that out.

    Changes in v3.31
    • Size value now works for FFD handles.
    • Gizmo col alpha will effect FFD handles.
    • Stopped all MegaModify objects in the scene being updated when editing another.
    • Fixed FFD handles not changing mesh while dragging.
    • Added experimental Hit Deform modifier for deformations when your object hits something.
     
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  17. BBB_brunoma

    BBB_brunoma

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    I was looking at megafiers as a way to support wrapping clothes to our morph-enabled characters, and was wondering how it would handle decorative components (like a bow for example). The bow would need to be displaced along with the base mesh when morphed, but its vertices shouldn't be affected otherwise. What would be the best way to handle this situation with megafiers?
     
  18. SpookyCat

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    @BBB_brunoma - MegaFiers does have an attach system for sticking objects to a deforming mesh, in the videos below you can see an example of an object attached to a morphing hand and in the second video a propeller attached to a deforming rocket ship.

     
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  19. brian-wanamaker

    brian-wanamaker

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    I was feeling pretty inspired after getting Taper to do just what I want, and have been trying to get an object to move along Mega Path Deform.

    Using Unity's animation system to add the Mega Path Deform's Percent property, then changing values at keyframes hasn't worked. When I do this with Transform properties it behaves as expected. I'm sure I'm missing something obvious; can someone clue me in?
     
  20. SpookyCat

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    @brian-wanamaker - Have you maybe set the option to use the distance value instead of the percent value in the Path Deform modifier.
     
  21. brian-wanamaker

    brian-wanamaker

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    Thank you for your help.

    That Use Distance checkbox is unchecked. Looking at the west-racing.com documentation for this megafier, I don't see what that option does. Should I use it instead?

    Using the Percent value, I have set it to "0" at the first keyframe, and "50" at the second, but the value does not stay set for the 2nd keyframe. If I go back to the first keyframe, it's 0; when I go to the keyframe where I had set it to 50, it's 0.
     
    Last edited: Feb 10, 2017
  22. SpookyCat

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    Have you got the animation box checked on the Path Deform modifier? If so it will be trying to do its own animate using the speed value which is probably set to the default of 0 meaning it will keep setting the percent to 0.
     
  23. brian-wanamaker

    brian-wanamaker

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    Animate checkbox is unchecked. I assumed that was for animating the path, so I left it unchecked. I did try it in desperation once, I'll admit. ;-)

    Please confirm: Using Unity's basic animation system, after adding the Percentage property, I should be able to set the component's Percentage value at various keyframes, and have it store those values, correct?

    Right now it doesn't store the value while the Animation "record mode" (play/pause buttons turn red) is active. Percentage value returns to default (0) when selecting any key frame where a value had been set. It also sets Percentage to 0 if a different value was set in the scene prior to animating.

    This is also true for Distance, if I check Use Distance and select that property in the Animation view.
     
  24. SpookyCat

    SpookyCat

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    I will take a look at this today, not had any other reports of Anim system not working, could you possibly submit a support ticket outlining the steps you are taking and given the version of Unity you are using.
     
  25. brian-wanamaker

    brian-wanamaker

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    Thanks very much, @SpookyCat !

    I've submitted a bug via your UserVoice page, including my Unity Store Invoice Number in the body of the report.

    Unity version 5.4.2f2
    Megafiers v3.31
    Steps to repeat:
    1. Create Megashape Circle
    2. Create 3D Object Cylinder (alternately, drag .FBX object from Assets into scene, then Break Prefab Instance)
    3. Add property: Path Deform to cylinder; confirm Use Distance and Animate checkboxes are not-checked
    4. Assign Megashape Circle to component's Path
    5. With cylinder selected, go to Animation panel, Create New Clip
    6. Under clip panel, Add Property: Percent -- this is the only Property I want to animate; toggle the Record on. The Play/Pause buttons in the authoring tool turn from grey to red.
    7. With the first Keyframe selected in Animation, go to the Percent value in the Path Deform component, set Percentage to 10
    8. Similarly, go to the second Keyframe in Animation, then set Percent value in the component view to 60.
    9. Use Animate view's jump-to-keyframe controls (|< or >|) to jump back to the first Keyframe: the value has returned to "0" - jump to the second keyframe, and note the value here is "0"
    Expected results: During animation, property value assignment should show what was set for each keyframe.
     
  26. SpookyCat

    SpookyCat

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    That is odd, for the time being until I can figure out what the problem could be you can still use the curve option in the animation window and either drag the keyframes or right click the key frame and edit the value there.
     
  27. brian-wanamaker

    brian-wanamaker

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    Thanks, @SpookyCat . At this point, I'm happy that I'm not crazy and/or doing it wrong. I'll use the Right-Click edit on the Animation > Curves panel for now, though hopefully you can suss out why the component's exposed variables are not being retained.
     
  28. brian-wanamaker

    brian-wanamaker

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    @SpookyCat , I'm increasingly of the opinion that most people are using Megafiers in code, and I'm only finding problems because I'm using everything at the Component level, using only the most rudimentary things.

    I have two separate objects in the Project's Hierarchy, hollow tubes; they are both created from the same .FBX geometry asset, but I have used Break Prefab Instance on each so they are entirely discrete objects. One is a vein, the other is a catheter which will animate inside it, ideally using the same path.

    I used GameObject > Create Other > MegaShape > Line Shape to make a path.

    Using World Path Deform, on the vein, I assigned the Line Shape as its Path. The vein geometry moves to the Megafier Path. Using World Path Deform's Gizmo Scale I have scaled the vein larger and longer. So far, so good.

    When I add a World Path Deform component to the 2nd tube and assign the same Line Shape for Path, the geometry is no longer rendered as expected. With the object selected in Hierarchy, both the geometry and gizmo wireframes are displayed, but geometry is not rendered despite having the Mesh Renderer and Material identical to the first tube.

    Here is a screengrab from the authoring tool, 1st tube looking great, 2nd one selected but not being rendered:
    http://imgur.com/WQwLFQq
     
  29. brian-wanamaker

    brian-wanamaker

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    For what it's worth, this is also occurs if I duplicate the Path object in the Hierarchy and assign that duplicated path to the 2nd object.
     
  30. SpookyCat

    SpookyCat

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    If you wanting to use the same mesh object and have then deform independently then you will need to use the option in GameObject menu to duplicate the mesh this will make a duplicate of the object and a totally new copy of the mesh which Unity will not have any connection to.
     
  31. brian-wanamaker

    brian-wanamaker

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    Thank you!

    Would that be Mega Duplicate Object New, Mega Duplicate Object (old), or Mega Deep Copy? I'm guessing New, but why does Edit > Duplicate have a different result than any of those, if Break Prefab Instance has been used?
     
  32. SpookyCat

    SpookyCat

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    Mega Duplicate Object New is the one to use. Unity was not designed to work with procedural meshes or meshes that change, it assumes that the mesh data will remain the same so when copying objects using the Unity copy it will just reference any meshes, and even after you break a prefab Unity will still hold a reference to the mesh. So we had to extend the existing methods for copying objects, making prefabs etc to use all new meshes to make sure Unity does not hold any references to the original. It has been a constant headache as every new version of Unity since 3.5 has changed the way it all works and meant a constant rewrite of the various work arounds we have had to come up with to make it all work.
     
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  33. brian-wanamaker

    brian-wanamaker

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    Thank you for that clarification. I've seen Unity version changes cause a lot of headaches. I'm grateful that you've stayed on top of them.

    Currently, I'm trying to use both Taper with an animated Gizmo offset AND a World Path Deform. The tapered mesh needs to move into place on a path, then "unfurl" via the Taper, by animating its gizmo Offset.

    Unfortunately, the Taper Gizmo Offset seems to prevent the mesh from moving while the World Path Deform Percent value is animating.

    Is there a way to move a mesh along its World Path Deform, THEN animate its Taper gizmo?
     
  34. SpookyCat

    SpookyCat

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    Sounds like you are applying the Path Deform modifier before the taper, if you try changing the order of the modifiers so the taper happens first then that should help. Tricky to say for sure without a test project to look at, but should be no reason why changing the taper offset should the path deform from working.
     
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  35. brian-wanamaker

    brian-wanamaker

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    Hi, @SpookyCat - thanks for responding to this, and in the UserVoice bug mail. I'm curious when the Component's exposed variable values will be retained for animation keyframe editing. Is there an ETA?
     
  36. Circlenumber

    Circlenumber

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    With Mega Point Cash,How to set play back one time?
     
  37. SpookyCat

    SpookyCat

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    @brian-wanamaker - I did reply to your email on that did you not get it?

    @Circlenumber - Please can you submit a support ticket at our website so we can help you out.
     
  38. brian-wanamaker

    brian-wanamaker

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    Thanks for your response. The last mail on the topic I received was this:
    If you've mailed anything after that on this topic, it did not come through.
    If you've got an ETA for the fix, restoring the ability for values entered in the component to be kept in keyframes during animation, I would like to integrate that fix into my own production schedule.

    Thanks!

    Edit: I also responded to the UserVoice mail, but wasn't sure if it went through to you or not.
     
  39. SpookyCat

    SpookyCat

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  40. Der_Kevin

    Der_Kevin

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  41. SpookyCat

    SpookyCat

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    @Der_Kevin - Arr that is not part of any off our available assets that is a system I did for our own game project. It might be released after our game is done but no telling when that will be.
     
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  42. plokkum

    plokkum

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    I'm trying to import a point cache animation from 3ds Max into Unity using MegaFiers. It looks like whenever I'm trying to bake in a FFD modifier to modify the scale, I'm getting a "Mapping of [object] failed!".

    It also looks like regular scaling animations are not respected. Loading a point cache file in 3ds Max where I animated the scale transform works just fine. But using MegaFiers the scaling won't show up. Any suggestions?
     
  43. SpookyCat

    SpookyCat

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    @plokkum - If you could submit a support ticket we can help you out.
     
  44. SpookyCat

    SpookyCat

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    @plokkum - I haven't had a support request from you yet?
     
  45. Mboko

    Mboko

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    Hi SpookyCat!

    Really interesting in purchasing Mega-Fiers but had one question that may have already been addressed - I'm really interesting in the Bezier animation patch and was wondering if this also can be animated using Unity animation via the Mega Morph Anim? I assume it is as your website states morphs can be animated and the Bezier is one of the morphs available.

    Looking forward to your confirmation!
     
  46. SpookyCat

    SpookyCat

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    @Mboko - The Bezier Patch modifier is not a Morph so the Morph Anim system will not control it. The Bezier patch though has its own Animation system built in so you can add multiple states and move between them, the time value is a public value so you can control that as are the control point values so again you can change them from script if you want or use the Unity Animation system to change them. The video shows the multiple warp states being animated between.
     
  47. Mboko

    Mboko

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    @SpookyCat

    Thanks for the quick response!

    Just a couple of things to clarify: Using the Unity Animation I could select what warp state to transition to and set the switch time if I want to?

    For an example using the video linked, I could start with "Normal", animate to "Fit", then animate to "Big", then back to "Normal" again? Is this correct?

    It seems to animate on its own, can I make sure it doesn't transition unless I do it through animations built in Unity?

    Thanks again for clearing this up, I've been looking for a solution like this for a while and I hope I've found it with MegaFiers :)
     
  48. SpookyCat

    SpookyCat

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    Yes that would be no problem. The current system does cycle through the list of warps but it would be simple for me to add an API where you would just call a method such As ChangeTo(int warp, float time) or ChangeTo(string warp, float time) and it would transition from the current state to the new one in the time given. The current functionality was what was requested when we were asked to add the system a while back.
     
  49. Mboko

    Mboko

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    This would be exactly what I need - my scripting knowledge is pretty shoddy, but if this could be exposed to the Unity animation system so I could time the transitions (hell even if I could just send the message and time the rest of the animation knowing that deform will complete in X amount of time) then I'm sold.

    Please let me know how to get this sorted with you, send you an invoice # first perhaps to verify I purchased your asset? Very exciting, let me know!
     
  50. Mboko

    Mboko

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    @SpookyCat

    Hi Spooky, sent you a PM with more detail on this, thanks again. Looking forward to using MegaFiers!