You know how when trying to create something new you end up jumping thru so many programs to get the job done? Well I've looked into different ways to accomplish this without too much extra effort. And to make it available for everyone.
I have MAYA MAX MotionBuilder and Lightwave, all pay for use programs. But I've never tried Blender, which is free and opensource. I found that its mostly built on python and pretty modular. I also found several people who have manged to get Blender to talk to servos via ardurino and pyserial, live in real time. If that is possible, then we should be able to get ARC to work nicely with Blender.
Blender supports FBX and 3ds so you could export your max scene.
I've downloaded it and its just like all the others. You learn one animation program they are all basically the same. You just have to find the buttons.
Anyways I'll explore more and download the test with the two servos try and get my head around it and post more here.
@fxrtst Hhhhhhmmmmmm.....I guess it kind of depends on what you are up to!
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I have MAYA MAX MotionBuilder and Lightwave, all pay for use programs.
All of them are available for everyone to use, when you agree on the terms of a student version...so if you are not aiming for a tool which is being sold in tandem with your robot, you are on the safe side! If you plan to do so Blender would be a very good way to go!
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Blender supports FBX and 3ds so you could export your max scene.
Well the scene depends very much on parameter wiring, kind of the same thing which the plugin you are testing in MAYA right now is doing...this cannot be used cross platform.
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You learn one animation program they are all basically the same. You just have to find the buttons.
Which is kind of true when scratching the surface...but once you dig in deeper, you will have to do a lot of scripting, the tools for rigging a model and general workflow are not as easy to learn as shifting a box around your workspace!
Anyways, you can get stuff done in any of those 3D applications, the main problem is that we are still lacking a way to playback our CSV files in ARC.
I will be going to Japan for three weeks...so I am off the grid, but once I am back I will be more than happy to sit down to find a solution for this, I would not mind to take a look at Blender...the last time I tried I found the interface a bit clumsy, but that might have changed in the meantime!
Trust me if this solution is Max Based, then I'm just as happy!I'm going to try this Blender thing because it is already written and I can do some testing with animation and moving the servos.
You are right the interface is a bit clunky but it is pretty powerful. Funny thing i thought it was something that would never make it this far, as far as competing with autodesk and Newtek. But its come a long way. In fact Lightwave development is so far behind Blender. And most companies are now offering a plugin for Blender and no longer for lightwave.
stress
Have a great trip to Japan, chat when you get back.
@fxrtst I made a quick demo on how far I got this...I build an interface in 3ds max to control the robot and edit animations. Those animations can be exported as CSV files.
Also the demo shows how to use the Google Assistant with a custom wakeword, you can always enter your custom Dialogflow Agent, and return back to the Google Assistant!
I did not really have time to put it together, since I am off to Japan tomorrow, but I hope it is OK enough to show where I want to go at some point!
The animation created can be exported to a CSV file...only thing I did not manage so far is building a stable playback Software. I experienced problems playing back frame by frame motion in Arduino and ARC, but maybe @DJSures will build a Plugin?
When I am back from Japan, I will try to use a Rasberry Pi with a servo Controller board...there should be a sollution, its just a matter of fine tuning on whatever platform we will be working on!
@Mickey that's a great video - like the style of the music as well.
If you give me a sample copy of your CSV, i can easily make a plugin for you. There's a new plugin i created last week for @Will that has a few anti-bounce filters. I can incorporate one of those. No need to go a raspberry pi route and write a bunch of code yuck
You know how when trying to create something new you end up jumping thru so many programs to get the job done? Well I've looked into different ways to accomplish this without too much extra effort. And to make it available for everyone.
I have MAYA MAX MotionBuilder and Lightwave, all pay for use programs. But I've never tried Blender, which is free and opensource. I found that its mostly built on python and pretty modular. I also found several people who have manged to get Blender to talk to servos via ardurino and pyserial, live in real time. If that is possible, then we should be able to get ARC to work nicely with Blender.
Blender supports FBX and 3ds so you could export your max scene.
I've downloaded it and its just like all the others. You learn one animation program they are all basically the same. You just have to find the buttons.
Anyways I'll explore more and download the test with the two servos try and get my head around it and post more here.
@fxrtst Hhhhhhmmmmmm.....I guess it kind of depends on what you are up to!
All of them are available for everyone to use, when you agree on the terms of a student version...so if you are not aiming for a tool which is being sold in tandem with your robot, you are on the safe side! If you plan to do so Blender would be a very good way to go! Well the scene depends very much on parameter wiring, kind of the same thing which the plugin you are testing in MAYA right now is doing...this cannot be used cross platform. Which is kind of true when scratching the surface...but once you dig in deeper, you will have to do a lot of scripting, the tools for rigging a model and general workflow are not as easy to learn as shifting a box around your workspace!Anyways, you can get stuff done in any of those 3D applications, the main problem is that we are still lacking a way to playback our CSV files in ARC.
I will be going to Japan for three weeks...so I am off the grid, but once I am back I will be more than happy to sit down to find a solution for this, I would not mind to take a look at Blender...the last time I tried I found the interface a bit clumsy, but that might have changed in the meantime!
Trust me if this solution is Max Based, then I'm just as happy!I'm going to try this Blender thing because it is already written and I can do some testing with animation and moving the servos.
You are right the interface is a bit clunky but it is pretty powerful. Funny thing i thought it was something that would never make it this far, as far as competing with autodesk and Newtek. But its come a long way. In fact Lightwave development is so far behind Blender. And most companies are now offering a plugin for Blender and no longer for lightwave.
stress
Have a great trip to Japan, chat when you get back.
@fxrtst I made a quick demo on how far I got this...I build an interface in 3ds max to control the robot and edit animations. Those animations can be exported as CSV files. Also the demo shows how to use the Google Assistant with a custom wakeword, you can always enter your custom Dialogflow Agent, and return back to the Google Assistant! I did not really have time to put it together, since I am off to Japan tomorrow, but I hope it is OK enough to show where I want to go at some point!
Very cool! You certainly have made it past the first step of POC!
@fxrtst If I would only know what POC is!
The animation created can be exported to a CSV file...only thing I did not manage so far is building a stable playback Software. I experienced problems playing back frame by frame motion in Arduino and ARC, but maybe @DJSures will build a Plugin?
When I am back from Japan, I will try to use a Rasberry Pi with a servo Controller board...there should be a sollution, its just a matter of fine tuning on whatever platform we will be working on!
Proof Of Concept =POC
Have fun in Japan, one of the few countries ive not visited but high on my to go list.
@Mickey that's a great video - like the style of the music as well.
If you give me a sample copy of your CSV, i can easily make a plugin for you. There's a new plugin i created last week for @Will that has a few anti-bounce filters. I can incorporate one of those. No need to go a raspberry pi route and write a bunch of code yuck