Blog for Jeff Gran at GarageGames.com

3D Language:Spain available for purchase

Jeff Gran — 2006-01-01T22:42:25+00:00

From the desk of Coccinella Development's mastermind David Dunlap:

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Coccinella Development, Inc. is proud to announce that our flagship product, 3DLanguage:Spain v0.8, is
now available for purchase through our website (click here).

Background:
3DLanguage has been a labor of love. I was working as an airline pilot and had the idea for 3DLanguage around 1999. I needed some help retaining my hard-won Italian language skills. The problem was that starting a software company seemed awfully risky. Then, on September 11th 2001, I was flying the only airplane from Boston to LA that didn't get hijacked. Let's just say that my ideas about risk-taking changed.

Doug Whetter, Jeff Gran, my wife Lori and I have been working on this for longer than I care to remember, and we feel we have something very special in 3DL. Our philosophy as a company is to try to over deliver and to really listen to the input and opinions of our customers. We have completed a series of rigorous market validation surveys and have interviewed over 100 language learners, teachers, and linguists. We will continue to listen to the input of our customers, and are excited that the first release of 3DLanguage will expose us to a much broader audience.

The Problem:
Our market validation survey uncovered three major sources of pain for language learners:
No place to practice
Stage fright
Let me learn my way

Our Solutions:
No place to practice
There is no good way to practice a language short of going to the country. We wanted to bridge the gap between existing software and materials (some of them quite good) and a visit to a country. We, as gamers, know the immersive power of a good game environment. And for our first release we tried to model a village in Spain as closely as possible I even went so far as to live in Sevilla for a time to gather ideas. Think of 3DL as a flight simulator for language.

Stage fright
The number one fear most people have is public speaking (death is a close second!) Our market validation subjects told us in no uncertain terms that the ability to practice in a safe environment was one of the major draws of 3DL. We give you an opportunity to close the door, shutter the windows, and make as many stupid mistakes as you need to before venturing out into the real world.

My way
We made 3DL extremely flexible and configurable. Our goal is to let you learn what you want to learn the way you want to learn it. That's why you can turn the phonetics on and off. That's why you can turn the characters or user dialog boxes off, or move the dialog box to different parts of the screen, or turn the walking speed up, etc. We want to give you the tools you need and then let you customize them.

Business model:
Our market research showed that when people make a commitment to learn a new language, they are making a commitment of time more than money. The average language student buys 4-5 products to help them master the language. (Interestingly, most of those products proclaim that they are "all you'll ever need!") We've designed 3DL to play well with other products, so if you have a book or a DVD or another piece of software, 3DL will be even more valuable to you.

Thoughts on pricing:
We've set the launch price of 3DLanguage artificially low. We want to get 3DL in the hands of early adopters quickly so that we can hear and respond to their feedback. We will also show our gratitude to the first thousand customers by giving them everything from this version all the way to version 2.0 for their initial $20 investment.

What to expect in the future:
We have some very cool stuff that will be released in the near future. First out of the gate will be metrics feedback (a record of your scores and progress). After that will come more dialogs, new stores, more animation, new characters, a schoolhouse mode, etc.
We are also thinking about opening our authoring tools to users so that they can create and sell dialogs through our web site (similar to the Garage Games' content model).
We want your opinion about all of the above!

Company culture:
We like our customers. No, really! Shocking I know, but we actually want to hear your opinions, complaints, and compliments. Do not hesitate to contact us by email or phone:
ddunlap@3dlanguage.net or 520.245.4879.

Be a part of the team:
If you feel you have something to contribute to Coccinella Development, whether it's language or programming related, contact us at the above numbers.

We would like to thank the Garage Game community for it's continued support! We'd also like to thank the many GG beta testers, I would like to personally thank Jeff Tunnell for telling me I'd be "an idiot" for using the Quake engine. And finally I'd like to thank Pat Gunderson; a GG member and our first paying customer. He was a Beta tester and a great booster! Pat, you're the man, Thanks!

Dave Dunlap
President
Coccinella Development, Inc.

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Happy New Year!

Saturday Nov 12 3:45

Jeff Gran — 2005-11-12T03:45:14+00:00

Animation transfer.

I did it. :D

Animation Transfer
I can now transfer keyframe animation for the Torque Skeleton with correctly weighted tangents back and forth betweem Max and Maya. One thing this means is that the Soldier Pack will soon be updated with native Maya files. How soon? Who knows... ;)

I had to make a few more small changes to the Maya TSG script to get it to work, so there's a new version on the resource page.

TSG Pro?
The animation import/export utility is not very user-friendly at the moment unless you're me. And there are still some kinks to be worked out to allow maximum transferability (ie from different "style" and differently proportioned rigs), so I won't release this to the public just yet. Plus, I think I may make this the first of many new features that I will roll into a Torque Skeleton Generator Pro version, for sale. Other feature ideas I have are:

- the ability to generate the rig in any pose
- other helpful animation tools like a selection window to easily select and keyframe groups of bones like the hands or arms
- custom grip controls for the fingers, optional look-at constraint to control the head and neck, instead of manually.
- a walk cycle/run cycle generator
- a utility that will save the "Prop control" hand poses, and will be able to switch them out with a click, so you can save different weapon-holding poses and apply them to the same run/backpedal/walk, etc animation easily.

I'm interested to hear if this would be worth money to people. I've put a lot of work into this so far and I love working on it, but at some point I hope to start getting something back...

Blender
My next immediate plan is to get the Blender version working. I know I can do it with Blender 2.4, the problem is that the Armature module of the Python API is broken in the current alpha so I can't start working on it yet. But I'm amped about getting this to the lower-budget crowd, since that's what Garage Games and Torque is all about in the first place.

Animation Pack
After that my plan is to start work on an animation add-on pack for the Soldier and other TorqueSkeleton characters. What I'm looking for here is a partner - someone to develop an upgraded player class that can use all of the animations I produce - things like crouching, prone, swimming, and also platformer stuff like grabbing onto ledges and shimmying along them and climing ropes, trees, etc, the double-jump flip deally, etc. By that time the animations will be able to be released in MAX, Maya (and hopefully Blender, possibly XSI), all native and easily editable, compatible with the Soldier and other characters. I do the animations, you make them work like they should in Torque, we split the profit. Any interested parties?

3D Language: Spain
We just packaged up our final beta release, and anyone interested in trying it out is welcome to get on the list. Get more info at www.3dlanguage.net.

Thanks for reading. :)

Thursday Nov 3 19:01

Jeff Gran — 2005-11-03T19:01:42+00:00

Torque Skeleton Generator update

I just released a 2 new versions of the Torque Skeleton Generator script.

The MEL version is now fully up-to-date with the Max version, including the super-nifty (IMHO) Prop Control generator.

The Max version just added the hands to the "reset rig" because I had forgotten to do it before.

See the resource page for details.

This is exciting for me because now I'm on to the last step of the first phase. Today I begin writing the animation exporter/importer, so that all the Torque Skeleton animations will be available for transfer from any program to any program. This will facilitate the ability for content packs to be released with native (actual keyframe) animations in multiple applications. To my knowlege, this has never been done before. Basically, it's like CS Biped, but not as robust (yet), but for multiple applications.

And on that note, I'll also mention here that the alpha version of Blender 2.4 is looking VERY promising. It fixes most of the issues with the animation system that were preventing a TSG port before. (... just checked the Blender site and the alpha 2 build was just released today! gotta check that out...)

Oh, and for anyone wondering about 3D Language, it is coming along swimmingly, and although we didn't hit the Nov. 1 deadline, we are extremely close, just fixing the last remaining bugs, and will begin a final round of testing in the next week or so.

Thanks for reading.

Sunday Sep 4 0:25

Jeff Gran — 2005-09-04T00:25:18+00:00

Torque Skel MAX v 1.5 released

Check out the Torque Skeleton Resource Page for more info.

The major addition is the Prop Control and Prop Control Animation Utility. It helps animate things where the two hands need to be "attached" to a single item, be it a gun, a broom, a box, whatever.

Here's a video of it in action. (DivX AVI)

I also upgraded the docs site and added a section about using the Prop Control.

Next up on the list (starting tomorrow) is a full upgrade of the Maya version. There have been a couple of bugs reported recently and it is falling behind the Max version.

Also, a Milkshape port of the skeleton is in the works (with a little help from some friends :))

Jeff

Monday Aug 15 11:28

Jeff Gran — 2005-08-15T11:28:31+00:00

I made a Parent Constraint

Yeah, I figured out how to use Blender's Object ScriptLinks to define custom controllers for objects. It's actually extremely powerful. Anything you can express in code you can use to control your objects.

I was annoyed by the fact that (a) there's no parent constraint or position/rotation constraint with offsets, and (b) You currently can't create constraints from script. But now I can have an object be the "parent" of another object, with my own custom and dynamic offset values, all without actually affecting the hierarchy - both objects are still at the scene root. I'm sure it doesn't sound that exciting to most, but I'm jazzed that I figured it out and it opens up a lot of possibilities with my python scripting that I thought were dead ends. So, progress on TorqueSkel Blender continues.

Here's the code for the hell of it - pretty simple really (now that it's here in front of me :))

import Blender
##########################
parent =  Blender.Object.Get("Sphere")
###################################


obj = Blender.link

obj.addProperty("offsetX", (obj.LocX - parent.LocX), "FLOAT")
obj.addProperty("offsetY", (obj.LocY - parent.LocY), "FLOAT")
obj.addProperty("offsetZ", (obj.LocZ - parent.LocZ), "FLOAT")

LV=Blender.Mathutils.Vector([obj.getProperty("offsetX").getData(),obj.getProperty("offsetY").getData(),obj.getProperty("offsetZ").getData()])

PM = parent.getMatrix()
PM = PM.rotationPart()

newX = (LV.x * PM[0][0]) + (LV.y * PM[1][0]) + (LV.z * PM[2][0])
newY = (LV.x * PM[0][1]) + (LV.y * PM[1][1]) + (LV.z * PM[2][1])
newZ = (LV.x * PM[0][2]) + (LV.y * PM[1][2]) + (LV.z * PM[2][2])

obj.loc = [parent.LocX + newX, parent.LocY + newY, parent.LocZ + newZ]
obj.rot = parent.rot

Oh, and I also have a super-spiffy addition to TorqueSkel MAX almost finished... but I'll wait 'till it's done and tested to unveil it.

Monday Jul 25 18:44

Jeff Gran — 2005-07-25T18:44:04+00:00

Torque Skeleton for Blender alpha v. 0.1

Check it out.

Step 1:

Step 2:

:)

It's far from done - right now it just makes the bones. The arms and hands creation parts are not done yet. And the hardest part is ahead: creating the control structure. I'm afraid that some of the functionality from the other versions might have to be cut out because "you can't do that in Blender", but I also don't want to overlook alternate ways of doing things that I don't know about because of my inexperience with the program.

Any Blender for Torque experts out there want to help me out and play with this and answer some questions for me?

Sunday Jul 17 14:28

Jeff Gran — 2005-07-17T14:28:47+00:00

Jeff Gran's Grand Plan for Torque Characters

What you're looking at is the soldier (which uses a TorqueSkeleton) from the upcoming Soldier Pack by Ben "Djaggernaut" Chavigner (model and texture) and me (rig and animation), as exported from Maya, playing a dsq which was animated in and exported from 3DStudio Max. Exciting, isn't it? Well, it is to me at least.

I just updated the TorqueSkeleton Generator page with the latest version of the script for Maya 6.5. It now works correctly with the units set as Meters (which is what Danny Ngan suggests and is the best way to keep your scaling accurate), and works with the Z-up coordinate system that both 3DS Max and TGE use (it's an option in Maya but not the default).

There is also a newer version of the MAX script with a few bug fixes.

I now have a solid pipeline for taking Torque characters which use my skeleton system back and forth between MAX and Maya. This is cool because now the scripts are fully compatible with each other.

The process is: I get the character all set up with the skeleton in one app. I export the mesh to FBX (because FBX meshes come with the vertices ordered correctly), then import the mesh to the other. I use my skeleton script and the previously saved Marker Locations file to generate an identical skeleton in the 2nd app. I bind the skin, and use another script to import the skin weights from the first app. There is a very cool 3DS Max script out there called SkinOrDie which lets you import and export skin weighting information in a very simply structured text file. So I wrote a compatible importer/exporter for Maya. It needs a GUI and error-checking and stuff, but it works.

So now I can get the mesh and the weighting information across very easily once it is set up in one program. And the bones and rig is already there waiting for me, with the correct proportions based on the locations file. Are you excited yet?

The next step is to write an importer/exporter for animation keys based on my skeleton rig. I've already looked into it and it doesn't look like it will be too hard. The hardest part will be writing the GUI so it's all nice and user friendly.

What you're looking at now is a character in the (as yet) secret game project I'm working on, which (...duh) uses my skeleton system. She's playing the same exact .dsq file that the soldier is playing above. Pretty cool, huh? So, say her left hand doesn't exactly line up with the gun when it's mounted in her right (it doesn't). Import the animation (into whatever app you're using) with my upcoming animation file format, and move all the keys for that IK handle down a little bit, re-export, and BAM! She's gunning folks down. Then again, say you don't care all that much that her hand isn't aligned perfectly, and you don't have a 3D application handy or don't know how to use one that well. It works pretty well anyway!

Add to all this the fact that I can write versions of all these scripts for any app with scripting abilities, and the possibilities are endless. I've already started working on a version of the skeleton script for Blender 3D, and the instant that the upcoming XSI exporter hits the market I'll be there working on a version for that.

Are you excited yet?! We can have a bank of animations that all work for all the characters that use this system, and will all be editable and tweakable in any application that the system supports. Once I get the system set up for Blender, my next plan is to do a set of animations, including but not limited to: crouching (with forward, back, and side), prone (with forward, back and side), swimming (with forward, back side, up and down), and whatever else I get requests for, and release it as an animation content pack. I may need a collaborator to help get the character's movements set up in game, but the principle is there, and the animations will be usable by anyone. If there is likewise a bank of character packs that use the system (starting with this Soldier Pack), it will be like a mix and match character buffet. "I'll take the old woman character..... and the... karate -no wait... the jujitsu animations, please." Mo-cap, anyone?

I know I'm excited. I'm all giddy inside from the thought of it.

Saturday Apr 30 4:43

Jeff Gran — 2005-04-30T04:43:19+00:00

TorqueSkeleton Script: MAX and Maya version complete.

This plan is mostly in response to comments posted on my last .plan, but also to spread the news about my auto-rig script and announce the Maya version:

Quote:
whats the status of this plugin????

Mario and others: Sorry it's been so long! I know I said "next week-ish" before, but this time I mean it! Since I posted this I've written the Maya version, done some testing with the Associates, and made multiple revisions to try to make it really easy to understand and to use. Among the things I added is a very low-poly, "base" character that I modeled to fit with the default joint positions, as a demonstration of how to set up your character's stance, and also possibly as a base for creating your own character for use with the script. All that is left to be done is some fine tuning with the UI (both versions) and then whatever packaging and documentation is required.

Quote:
Let me get this straight.... This is a 3DSMax plugin. You put in all the joints(which is easy to do) and it rigs everything for you(which is difficult to do)?

Chris: Right. You don't even have to put the joints in, really. The script creates them for you and you just move them to where you want them to be. :)

Quote:
Well this seems amazing but...I can't afford 3D studio and my trial has long since expired.

Quote:
Blender!,Blender!,Blender!

Midhir and Dreamer: I am definitely interested in providing options for the hobbyists and low-budget teams that can't afford Max or Maya. Hopefully I or someone will be able to adapt this tool for Blender... unfortunately I've never used it and don't know the first thing about scripting for it. Is there even a scripting language or would I have to write in C?

Wednesday Mar 30 21:28

Jeff Gran — 2005-03-30T21:28:04+00:00

Torque Skeleton Generator

Well, I've gotten seriously side-tracked from work on my character content pack. The issue was that we needed a skeleton that could be common across all human characters released and supported by Garage Games.

I had tried to come up with a workflow using the BraveTree Girl Pack's skeleton and editing it to work with other models, but it proved to be too much work for the result. The other problem was getting animations to play across different characters, which didn't work because of the different starting rotations of the bones.

Then I went to GDC, and saw a presentation by a major game company explaining how they tackled this problem with a script that generates the same skeleton each time, based on user-input joint locations.

So I took the idea and made my own script that generates a skeleton, at the correct scale and orientation for Torque, with the DTS hierarchy automatically created, bounding box, optional mount points, customized IK foot controls and spine controls, and a choice between IK and FK for the arms. If you turn off these customized controls, the bones will be generated but no control rig will, so advanced riggers or people with special needs can make their own custom controls.

You create the joint markers with a button, move them to your character's joint locations, and the script creates the skeleton - already ready to export. The joint rotations are zero-ed out as part of the creation process, so animations made with one character will play correctly on any other character that uses a skeleton generated by the script, as long as you use the "blend" animation type.

Also, you can save out the locations of your joint markers as a tiny text file, so if you want to have someone do animations for your character, all they need is the script and the locations and they can recreate the exact skeleton and export DSQs that will work perfectly for said character.

I put the finishing touches on the MaxScript version yesterday, and have passed it along to certain associates for testing. Next I will be making a MEL (Maya) version that will function exactly the same way (and soon after there are plans to get versions for other 3d packages). The marker location files will be cross-compatible, so you can give your locations to someone using another software package and they can use it to make animations as mentioned above.

Also, Chris Calef's pre-canned rag-doll animations will soon be compatible with this skeleton system, so any character using a script-generated skeleton will be able to use his animation pack.

Finally, here's a screenshot to prove it's real:

Saturday Feb 19 19:06

Jeff Gran — 2005-02-19T19:06:30+00:00

Character Pack Screenshot.

So my first full week as an intern is over. It's been a fun one. I've been learning a lot. I've made sure to take time away from sitting and painting to go leech as much knowledge as I can from the other artists and programmers here. It's so nice to be able to ask the guy that wrote some code why it works the way it does, and to ask artists who have been through all the kinks of getting things working in-game about specific problems I might be having. One of the things I might be doing later on in my internship is to revise or rewrite some of the art pipeline documentation, to make it more clear and concise, but also to address common problems people have that seem to come up in the forums every couple of weeks. I know I did my share of forum searching after not finding the info I needed in the docs.

OK so let's get to the pictures:

So this is where I'm at. I hope the colors and values look alright... when I got home and looked at these just now they were WAY darker than they were on my monitor at GG, so I lightened them up a lot...

The character's eyelids will have bones so that he can blink, because I believe that blinking adds an incredible amount of believeablility to a character, for very little cost.

I will be creating animations for the character next. The animations will be non-FPS style. My intention is that these characters will be able to be used for architectural visualisation, 'extra' -type characters for games set in modern times, like GTA or Tony Hawk for example, or whatever. The beauty of it, though, will be that my animations will be interchangeable with Joe's Girl Pack animations, so buyers of both can use the FPS animations on my characters, and make his girl walk around in a less aggressive way.

Stay tuned for more updates. I hope to get this pack done as soon as possible, but there's a lot else on my plate right now too, so who knows.