Game Development Community

MakeHuman Goes Standalone.

by Jeffrey Bakker · in Game Design and Creative Issues · 10/27/2005 (3:55 am) · 3 replies

What I gather from the website and SourceForge press release, it looks like the MakeHuman project is going standalone (a C-program instead of python scripts for Blender). If I read it correctly, it seems like all the efforts (previously seperate scripts) of the MH project will be combined into one program, designed specifically for humanoid character design.

I personally, didn't mind modelling humanoid characters from scratch in Blender, but I'd like to see how much production time this tool saves me by creating base meshes for the dozens of extras characters (townspeople, etc. like any RPG will have). Another great open source tool among the many others for use with Torque. :)
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Torque 3D Owner Sparkling
#1
01/17/2006 (6:27 pm)
When you export .OBJ files from Makehuman directly into Milkshape, it causes a fatal crash to desktop. Given that MakeHuman is still in beta phase, and not even all the tools in the program are functional yet, I am hopeful that eventually this little bug will eventually be ironed out. In the mean time....

I found a (long) way around this and was able to get some useable meshes from the Makehuman program. Here is what I did. Maybe it will work for other 3D software programs as well that have crash issues with the MH .obj files (like I have heard that Maya does) also.

First I loaded Make Human. Created the model (the weight gain and age morphs are kinda distorted BTW, but for a beta program it's alright, I can edit it.) then export as an .obj file. You'll notice you don't get a chance to choose the name so just notice the file name and path it assigns it to.

THEN (download, install and) load Blender. (Available from www.blender.com) This is freeware. Load that .obj file in blender. Blender CAN recognise it (I have no clue why the others can't!) as an .obj file. Then use Blender to export it as a .LWO or .OBJ file to the directory and filename of your choice.

THEN load THAT file into Milkshape (or if it is the case, Maya). It worked for me. Maybe it will work for you too! I hope they finish the rest of the features in MakeHuman, looks like it is going to be an awesome program when it is done.

Blessings to you.
-Sparkling
http://www.visionsgame.com


PS - if anyone has any tips on how to quickly and easily reduce the Polycount of these 20k tri models.... I would really appreciate the suggestions! Thanks!

Torque Owner Vernon Finch
#2
01/19/2006 (5:41 am)
The problem I had when I played around with it, was it was really hard to remove the inside of the mouth, with all the teeth and throat. If there was a target to not include that, it would be a lot easier to decimate the mesh.

Torque 3D Owner Sparkling
#3
01/19/2006 (7:56 am)
If you click on emotions, and I think it's the bottom of the 4 tools on the left, you will get a menu of icons along the bottom which allow you to open the mouth (and change the shape of it and all that). Once the mouth is open it is a little easier to remove the teeth, tongue and all that I think. I actually have a team member doing the poly reductions for me in 3ds Max so he would be better to explain how it's done. But as far as MakeHuman is concerned, I think the emotions tool might help you access the polys in the mouth easier.

I had fun with it makeing a pregnant woman yesterday. They don't quite do fat people right though, they just make everyone look pregnant. Needs to be a way to create the "dunlap" syndrome. :) Still, for being in beta release, I'm very impressed with the program. Just would be nice if they had a tool to allow you to choose how many polygons you need and reduce the polycount right in the software. Different applications have different needs. Maybe they will include this in a future release. *hopes*

Good luck!
-Sparkling