FOR BLENDER 2.9, PROTOTYPE - This is the NEW coding, concentrated on object oriented principles, using classes. Currently, this is a step back from the previous coding, but the coding is far better in terms of quality, understandability, and managability. I am posting this code at this point in case anyone else is interested in using it, building from it . . . Coder : Shawn D Irwin (skywola@hotmail.com)
To run this in Blender, because it is still a prototype, I am running it in the console.
- Copy the file animator00.py and paste it into the console
- Copy the file functions.py and paste it into the console
- Copy the file build.py and paste it into the console
This will create the skeleton, and animate it in place (speed is not yet set up). This has most of all the needed code methods that will be needed to set up the animation capability that is expected to be in the final plugin, that is, when completed, this program will automatically animate a Biped, Quadruped, Bird, or a Spider. Not only that, in this new version, my intent beyond just making it all object oriented is to make it so an artist can use components of it to build practically any character they can imagine, because the torso, pelvis, arm, leg, and head are all separate objects that can work independently! I have not yet included any code for the user interface.
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTIBILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details. For a copy of the GNU General Public License, see http://www.gnu.org/licenses
When this program is completed, it will allow you to animate a biped, bird, quadruped, centaur, or a spider very rapidly in Blender. (See www.blender.org) On completeion of this project, you will be able to click a button to add the bones, parent the character mesh to the bones, hit the play button, set the speed, and off it will go.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR BLENDER 2.79: Run in the console the animator00.py file, then run the build00.py file in the console. Press the play button, and it will start walking. Note that this is VERY early prototype code, so using it for an actual animation at this point is probably possible, but not as good as it will be once the project is finished, there is still a long way to go, still need to add shoulder sway, hip sway, etc. and to put up the user interface.
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When completed, this program will automatically animate a Biped, Quadruped, Bird, Centaur or a Spider . . . in Blender (www.blender.org). This project, (When completed) will allow you to choosing a character type, and it will create the skeleton for the character, skin the character to the skeleton and, when you press the play button the character will walk or run. The quadraped will also hop or gallop. The project will be done via Python, it does not require any fooling with IK, and it has "Stabilization" (it adds bones that allow the character to move freely without major distortions in the character skin), which minimizes having to paint skin weights.
When created, the bones are in the pose position, and you then attach the character to it, click the activate button, hit PLAY, and the character walks or runs away. Just like that . . . . if you hit rewind, you can re-pose the character. You can make the character walk or run in any direction, or create a crowd of characters, all walking or running in different directions. You can manipulate all the fingers of each hand at once, to open or close the hand or you can control the fingers individually.
You can track my progress for this project on Blender Open Artist Group. https://www.linkedin.com/groups/6677523 This is a work in process, so I do upload updates after I create them, you can monitor them.