Lesson Today
Since today was designated for feedback, I implemented revisions based on my tutor’s guidance and recommendations.
Project Progress
The changes and progress of my project are outlined as follows.
Model and Rigging for the other character
For the secondary fish interacting with the main character, I conducted online research to determine suitable fish models. Initially, I aimed to select more realistic fish models to contrast with the main character. This distinction helps convey to the audience that the main fish, feeling different from the others, is anxious about its unfamiliar environment. The following are a few models I have considered.
However, even if the other fish have different styles or color schemes from the main character, their similar species may make it challenging to convey the protagonist’s fear effectively, especially within a 30-second animation. Therefore, I decided to use a shark as the other character to communicate this idea more directly.
Animation
I tested the timing and positioning of the fish in Maya. To assist with this, I saved the UE environment as an FBX file and imported it into Maya, using it as a reference for the distance the fish need to move and the appropriate scaling.
However, I encountered several issues:
- I struggled to achieve accurate sizing and positioning for the fish.
- Despite adjustments, the camera angle in Maya remains noticeably different from the one in UE.
2. I was unable to import the animation from Maya into UE.
- There seem to be issues with the rig or model that prevent me from importing the fish into UE (with the rig and animation separately), as it repeatedly flags naming issues.
- I attempted several methods in Maya, such as combining meshes, deleting history, adjusting skeleton hierarchy naming or namespaces, and modifying various settings. Despite these efforts, the animation still cannot be imported into UE.
After multiple attempts to resolve this issue without success, I decided to create the animations directly in UE. I am now in the process of re-rigging the fish within UE.