Simple Character tutorial

I am trying to find a simple tutorial on how to setup characters.
I know how to model,rig, animate and get into unity.
But, once there how exactly do you setup your third person camera and map your animations.

I went through the lerps tut, but its like..drag this script here and then this script there........
but none of the scripts seem to be default, they are only in that project, and already built, so its hard to tell whats going on.

I also checked out the Character animation scene files under resources but could find NO documentation, its just open it up and try and figure it out.

I am an artist not a programmer so this side of things is totally new and intimidating, and I am trying to make things as simple as possible and focus more on the content creation than learning scripting, but I need to get things moving around too.
thanks

 

You should try out my Advanced Animation tutorial. It'll at least give you the information needed to setup your animations and blend them back and forth.

For the art side, you can probably find good tutorials for your app of choice on Youtube.

 

Well I was able to get a character walking around using the default smooth follow camera script and then the two scripts from the lerps tut, Thirdperson controller, and thirdperson player animation scripts.
But looking at these scripts I see there is a TON of stuff that I don't need or know what is happening.

Is there a simple player controller already included in unity, and how do you tell what the keyboard mapping is, I can't find that buried in the above scripts anywhere.
Thanks

 

That's covered in the Input Managers tutorial, also on my site. ;-)

Anyway, now that I'm done shamelessly advertising myself, check the Edit - Project Settings - Input menu and look at the different input axis. Horizontal and Vertical should hold the key mapping info, and the scripts should call them like this:

Input.GetAxis("Horizontal") and Input.GetAxis("Vertical").

 

Awesome, thanks.

 

Yes this is the area I have been having the most problem with as well

 

My problem is the other way around. I have seen the available options in the Animation class and noticed that Unity supports layers... I have also noticed that my latest version of Maya seems to support layers also... Nice... So erm... How do I use layers in Maya?

I understand the concept of animating only the legs in one layer and animate the upper body in another and inside Unity you can blend your animations together. Sounds great, but if I key my character to have the same animations at frame 1 and 32 and call that my legs animation. Then at frame 33, do I leave my legs at the current position they were at at frame 32 or do I key them back to the default state? So frames 33 to 64 would be my arms animation. After frame 64, I need to set a key on my legs again for the next animation but this would cause an animation between 33 and 64... Does the fact that I have no actual keys set between 33 and 64 mean Unity will not recognize the animation or will it pick it up anyways because it is there?

How do I setup my animations in Maya to make Unity understand "Here I only want to animate the upper body", for example?

Unity's layering system brings up a wealth of ideas, but my lack of understanding layers in Maya is causing me to loose out on this fantastic feature...

 

The way it appears to work is that Unity reads in all the keyframes you create in the time period you specify. Whenever you want an animation, you just have to create the keyframes for the start, end, and midpoints.

Layers just let you know what will overwrite what when animations are played and crossfaded, as far as I can tell.

When it comes to creating separate animations, I like to use multiple Takes inside Cheetah3D. Each animation is held in a different animation sequence, so you don't have to worry about keyframes as much.

 

Gargerath would you set up a tutorial on taking a custom character and putting it in a world, from step 1 - final? That would help many of us I think.

 

Totally agree.....make a boxy guy (the cheetah tuts are pretty good to make a model); and then all the extra needed to bring in Unity (rigging, animations, etc) and you will make happy all the non-artists on this forum

The best thing that i have found until now is the will goldsmith series, plus the blender tutorials...is just that it takes forever since i never do it

 

Not sure why he hasn't posted an announcement here, but... Mike has a new Character Tutorial out for the startlingly low price of $9.99

Good stuff, and fun for the whole family too! check ou the preview video at his site. http://www.unitytutorials.com/


B.

 

Saw tht, but it start with the model already rigged, so no use for me.

The animations and all the other things in that tuts can be extrapolated from the lerpz tut; and if you need animations, you can get bvh files for free or for a small fee and add them to the model that you rigged....the problem is that i am missing the starting part of the procedure (the model itself)

 

There are almost as many modeling videos on the net as there are porn vids. (I've checked out both categories so I can say that with confidence).

Be it Max, Maya , Blender or whatever... like anything else in life, practice makes perfect, and the eternal search for the 'make art' button' doesn't much lead anywhere.

 

I could say the same about both categories lol

I am using at the moment cheetah3d and blender and c4d (depends if i am at home, at work or on my laptop); and the problem is not to make art using a button; but the amount of time needed for me to do something So in my dreams there is a tutorial with one of these software, where starting from a primitive i can get to various models (humanoind, quadruped, architectural and vehicles) and then rig them, so they can be used in the engine.

I am kinda exhausted about the many apps and inconsistencies between 3d apps, so learning something that goes straight to the point would really make my day! The profit now are still too low to even think to hire a modeler for the graphic

 

Damn, no wonder you're exhausted. Working in that many different 3d apps is a clear recipe for frustration and quite counter-productive. Pick your pony, and ride. Choosing your app and developing expertise is the first step to moving forward. Can you image pursuing game development in Unity, Torque and Shiva at the same time?

I tell my college students constantly, that spreading yourself too thin and trying to do/know it all is not a plan. (I will also put their grade in jeopardy for fun and a more tactile display of my displeasure). This is why we have development teams Games, animated shorts, PSAs, commercials, even Indy game projects are rarely done in a vacuum.(least not any worth checking out). That is unless this undertaking is more of a hobby, and you simply want to do it all yourself, in that case, enjoy. But to really get serious? Get focused, get help and avoid dabbling.

Here endeth my unsolicited rant.

 

Here's a good video tutorial series for human modeling with Silo, an excellent low-cost subdivision modeler. The techniques used here are easily transferable to other applications.

http://digitalartistguild.com/SRSilo.html

 

Indeed you are right, but as i said, i was never able to find anything specific, so i jumped from one app to another, trying to find the best tool for the job; but the task is daunting

I would love to stick with one app, but seems that as soon as i get attached to an app, something better and less expensive comes up

 

Sadly i do not own it, but i will take a look at it...after all what i need is the concept, then if a tool is called X in c4d or Y in blender or cheetah is not really an issue

Now i have a doubt: when i rig in cheetah i am creating something that can be animated in Unity right? or do i need to do the rigging in blender?