I have somewhat of a general animation/rigging question. Lets say I purchase a 3D model of a rabbit off of the asset store that comes complete with several animations (running, hopping, eating, etc…). Now lets say I purchase a newer (but different) 3D model of a rabbit from somewhere else. Could I, technically, skin the new rabbits mesh to the old rabbits rigging, and still use the animations that came with the old rabbit (but with the new rabbit mesh)?
Of course, the hardest part would be rigging the new mesh to the old rig correct?
I’m just wondering if this works as a general matter.
Not in Unity - afaik.
This could be done in Max in less than an hour with the skin wrap modifier as long as you have the fbx file.
If the new rabbit had the same skeletal structure as the old rabbit with the bones named the same I think you could retarget in Unity using generic rig setup, but not reskin.
If you can’t find an alternate or internal solution - let me know via PM - I’ll help you out in Max.
Right, okay. Ya I was thinking not in Unity per-se, but in any 3D modeling package like Maya or 3ds Max as you mentioned. If you import the .fbx of the old rabbit into 3ds Max (I’m assuming the rigging gets imported too?) and hide or delete the old rabbit mesh, but keep the rigging. Then import the new rabbit mesh into Max and skin it (rig it) to the old rabbits rigging. Then save that, and import it into Unity. Will the animations work with the “new rabbit mesh/ old rabbit rig” model?
I’m just trying to wrap my mind around this, be patient with me lol.
Yes - when you import a fbx file into Max the rig, skinning data and animations all come in with it. Everything that is in the fbx that you see in Unity or another animation package - you will see in Max.
The skin wrap modifier in Max references the skinning data on the old rabbit mesh and projects (basically) the skinning data onto a different mesh - in this case a completely new rabbit mesh.
After fiddling with the settings to get the new rabbit mesh to match the deformations properly - the skinwrap modifier can be converted into a skin modifier.
After the skinwrap modifier is converted to a skin modifier - the old rabbit mesh can be deleted completely and the new rabbit mesh will be skinned to the original bones with all the animations in tact.
Then export as fbx with normal animated model settings to Unity.
It’s a pretty simple process - the most difficult parts are getting a new mesh to match the same dimensions and shape of an existing mesh, and to adjust the skin wrap settings so the new mesh deforms with the existing bone rig correctly.
Additional vertex skinning adjustments can be performed after the skin wrap modifier is converted to a skin modifier, just as if the new rabbit model was originally rigged/skinned to the bone setup.
Note: The autodesk skin wrap reference above does not show this process - this is a game development process that uses the skin wrap modifier to successfully reskin models onto an existing animated rig.
Aside - The skin wrap modifier can also be used as an alternative useful process for creating accessories and articles of clothing to conform to a animated model - after a model has been created, animated and setup in Unity.
Excellent. I was hoping it was able to be done. So, I’m assuming you know how to do this? I’m not ready to do it yet, I was just preparing, but there’s a good chance I need this done on quite a few models as well. I might try to teach myself, but it will be time consuming. So I was also thinking about hiring someone to do it for me. Are you available ANMATOR?
