Nightly Build - Feet on Ground

[3DNewb]

Hello,
I'm enjoying Windows Nightly 6419 immensely, and had a quick question--during the export process for wavefront .obj, there is an option to save with "Feet on Ground". What does this mean?

In another topic I asked how to have the Model on top of the ground in other apps automatically like in Marvelous Designer, without having to change the coordinates in a program like Blender. Does Feet on Ground pertain to this?

Also, when I checked the Feet on Ground option, I saw no difference in the model when opened. The same goes for when I use that option for collada--nothing happens.

So, what is supposed to happen with "Feet on Ground", and could it help me systematically center avatars above ground without having to rearrange in Blender? Thank you.

[brkurt]

It turns out to be essential when you are exporting to another app. I just discovered this tonight after beating my head against the wall with Marvelous Designer.

'Feet on the ground' in this case meant that the effects of gravity would allow the cloth to drape all the way down to the feet.

I'm still trying to figure out what I did wrong earlier, but it seems that if this box is not checked, a program such as Blender will locate the export center around the belly button.

That's about all I can tell you; you will need to explain your work flow if you run into trouble.

[3DNewb]

Thank you for your prompt reply. It appears that, yes, Feet on Ground places the model higher, but still not high enough to be above the floor plane in Marvelous Designer.

Attached shows two make human models (.obj) in Marvelous Designer. The one above was exported with Feet on Ground, and other was exported without that option checked. The problem is that the feet on ground option still does not place the model high enough to be above the floor plane. (as is the case with the fabric hitting the floor on the right)

So my workflow is simple enough - Model in Make Human > Export as .obj in inches > import to Marvelous Designer as Avatar in inches

Any thoughts of how to remedy the floor plane issue without having to add more steps like Blender, and without manually moving the model up in Marvelous Designer with my mouse? The reason why I'd like to avoid the later is to have perfectly consistent X coordinates for my models.

[duststorm]

during the export process for wavefront .obj, there is an option to save with "Feet on Ground". What does this mean?

The human mesh is modeled so that the origin is at the hips, at the center of the human. Often if you want to place your object in a scene easily, you want the origin to be at the feet. This is what that option does, it offsets the human along the Y (or Z, depending on your coordinate system) axis so that the feet are at height 0.

PS: Make sure you try with the latest svn version before reporting possible bugs.

[duststorm]

(...) with Marvelous Designer (...)
'Feet on the ground' in this case meant that the effects of gravity would allow the cloth to drape all the way down to the feet.

Marvelous Designer probably has some constraint hardcoded that height 0 is the ground and that clothes cannot extend lower. So if your human extends "under the floor" because everything lower than the waist has height <0, it won't work.

In most cases you have to enable "feet on ground". I think the option is enabled as well, and if not, it should be.

[brkurt]

Any thoughts of how to remedy the floor plane issue without having to add more steps like Blender, and without manually moving the model up in Marvelous Designer with my mouse? The reason why I'd like to avoid the later is to have perfectly consistent X coordinates for my models.

Yes, what you need to do is chose a skeleton in MakeHuman for your model; there seems to have been a change between MD2 and MD3 where MD3 requires a rig to set coordinates for Bounding Volumes (BV) and Arrangement Points (AP).

For every BV you need to associate Joint0 to an Armature Bone (I'm using Blender terms here), and then Joint1 to the next linked bone. The changes in BV behavior are complex; without this association, those changes are unpredictable. MD3 is a new piece of software, and is quite buggy.

To solve this problem for sure: I export the Makehuman model to Blender (Collada is fine here); check that the mesh has an Armature modifier; move the model up the Z axis (g + z);
then go to Pose Mode for the Armature, select all bones, and Insert Key (LocRotScale).

This last part is hard, I grant that. But...most of the old MD2 tutorials for bedsheets and pillows omit the Armature / Vertex Group assignment step, and that clobbers the export into MD. For example, I made a vase with a narrowed waist and tried to drape it. Without complete vertex group assignments, those parts of the mesh not assigned to a bone/vertex group are invisible (they don't show up at all, not even in wireframe).

Sorry that this gets so complicated!

[duststorm]

move the model up the Z axis (g + z)

Are you saying that there are export formats that still do not respect the 'feet on ground' option? Please be specific.
Normally when enabling the 'feet on ground' option you no longer need to move the model manually.

[3DNewb]

Hi Duststorm,

Yes, it appears that brkurt and I are experiencing that problem. As mentioned in my earlier post, Feet on Ground does move the model higher up, but not high enough that the feet are on the floor plane in the app Marvelous Designer (shown in my prior pic--higher up model is still below the floor plane, where the fabric is against the floor).

Since it still is not above the floor plane, it requires some manual movement.

[Manuel]

A screenshot would be appreciated.

[3DNewb]

Okay, no problem. I attached the screen shot I did before, but added some clarifying points to illustrate the problem we're having.

Thanks!