Newbie to Xnalara as from today!

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launok
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Newbie to Xnalara as from today!

Post by launok »

Good day to all!

I am a 60-year old lady who loves 3D design and have installed the latest version of Xnalara to be able to use the models in various scenes. I am not so much into games (yet) and build 3D scenes mostly in Bryce 7. I am glad that Bryce can display the .xna models when exported as .obj with textures and all!

As today is my very first experience with Xnalara, I am quite struggling with the posing of characters. I have downloaded a manual but it seems to be of an older version as the interface differs from XPS 11.8 which I have downloaded/installed today. In the manual it refers to EXTENDED BONE CONTROL to make controlling parts of face and other bones much easier. See the attachment image. My version doesn't show the menu: Ext Bone Control as shown in the interface preview shown in the manual! My figure has a quite strange arm part when moving frontwards at the shoulder, almost as if there is a piece missing. :( - see 2nd attachment.

Pardon me if this is the wrong place to ask questions but where do I post problems, as the above, at this forums? I am quite used with morphing characters and such in Daz Studio but this way is different.

Thank you for the opportunity to be part of a new adventure and community!

Kind regards,

Laura
http://launok.blogspot.co.za/
Capture - xnalara 4.JPG
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Ems
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Re: Newbie to Xnalara as from today!

Post by Ems »

Hello Laura, welcome to the forums.

To not prolong, the guide's preview window picture is from a veeeery old version, extended bone control refers to the "mode" button under the sliders, you can switch between move/rotate/scale, so, same thing, but different versions.

Looking at the bone tree, your model has original bone names, which may suggest it's just converted to XPS format, but wasn't entirely prepared, which includes renaming bones to XPS "standard" (I use "'s because it's agreed-on "standard", and though it makes posing easier and faster, not every person that converts models uses it), and reparenting them. I'd suggest to look for another, polished model.

When you unpacked XPS, it comes with too_lara_1996 model in the data files, if you load her up, you can see how "proper" bone tree looks like.
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launok
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Re: Newbie to Xnalara as from today!

Post by launok »

Ems wrote:Hello Laura, welcome to the forums.

To not prolong, the guide's preview window picture is from a veeeery old version, extended bone control refers to the "mode" button under the sliders, you can switch between move/rotate/scale, so, same thing, but different versions.

Looking at the bone tree, your model has original bone names, which may suggest it's just converted to XPS format, but wasn't entirely prepared, which includes renaming bones to XPS "standard" (I use "'s because it's agreed-on "standard", and though it makes posing easier and faster, not every person that converts models uses it), and reparenting them. I'd suggest to look for another, polished model.

When you unpacked XPS, it comes with too_lara_1996 model in the data files, if you load her up, you can see how "proper" bone tree looks like.
Ems, thank you for your prompt reply, much appreciated! The model I have used I have downloaded from DeviantArt but I will go and have a look at the model mentioned. I have also noticed that one can not successfully re-texture a model exported from Xnalara to Bryce for instance. I have an ungrouped option in Bryce. The jacket and boots plus hair I could re-texture as well as the face and neck part but when try to re-texture hands/arms a great part of the model change to the same texture! I assume it's the way the original model was created. But I am still glad that Bryce reads the original textures.

I have tried to put my avatar, small pic from myself, but for some reason it keeps saying the pixels are too high but yet I have tried to make it small, standing now at only 68kb. Will have to try more as the question mark spoils my profile, lol! ;)
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Re: Newbie to Xnalara as from today!

Post by iheartibuki »

Hi Laura, welcome to the forums! :) In addition to what Ems said, XNALara XPS works quite differently from software like Daz Studio (I have used Daz and am currently playing around with 4.9) and/or Poser in that the former uses global axes to pose while the latter ones use local reference points. For example, if you're trying to pose A-posed models, they are theoretically more difficult to pose realistically than say, T-posed models because of how the parts move in the absolute x, y and z.

Models come from all kinds of sources, though most of them are extracted and ported from games, so you will see a variety of neutral poses for every model out there. Some of them will be T-posed, some A-posed, a few will be X-posed. You will also notice that some models, especially ones from fighting/action games, have more bones than others (typically called adjuster/twist/roll bones) to assist in animation/posing so the characters look more natural in movement. Everything is manually posed, no automatic "adjustments" per what you're normally used to in Daz. XNALara XPS does not support morphs either, so all parts are posed using bones, which, of course, makes things more challenging than Daz/Poser but definitely gives you a lot of flexibility on the upside. This flexibility, of course, depends on the amount of bones a model has. As I've said above, fighting games and action games seem to use models that have a lot of bones with adjusters, than say, MMO games.

You can also take a look at models shared on this forum for the "standard" bone naming Ems spoke of. Please note that when we say "standard", we refer to main limbs/parts. Some of us might rename adjuster bones differently. I personally named some of my adjuster bones differently depending on what game I'm porting from, as models are different and therefore names need to be tailored. I have also shared some natural poses on my dA page, though some of the models that I've used might not be available anymore, plus there's some NSFW stuff in there. :ggl:

If you need something posed you can put a request in in the Requests section. Just specify which model and what kind of pose you need. The ease will depend on the model's rigging, the number of bones available for a more natural look, and whether it uses the "standard" naming.

HTH!

P.S. I noticed there are a lot of folks from South Africa who are part of the Daz/Poser community.
"TheyÔÇÖre not only moron but also Galapagosian Lolita Complexed Chicken."

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Re: Newbie to Xnalara as from today!

Post by RoxasKennedy »

iheartibuki wrote: Some of them will be T-posed, some A-posed, a few will be X-posed.
X posed?
Are you referring to the models that have arms like in the t pose but legs like in A pose or the limbs are literally spread out to make an X? :LOL:




Oh and welcome to the forums Laura! :D
I've never seen a person older then 40 in this community tbh :LOL:
Hey guys, Marlboro-Chan here
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iheartibuki
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Re: Newbie to Xnalara as from today!

Post by iheartibuki »

RoxasKennedy wrote:
iheartibuki wrote: Some of them will be T-posed, some A-posed, a few will be X-posed.
X posed?
Are you referring to the models that have arms like in the t pose but legs like in A pose or the limbs are literally spread out to make an X? :LOL:




Oh and welcome to the forums Laura! :D
I've never seen a person older then 40 in this community tbh :LOL:
First one. :LOL: Like 'em SF4 models.
"TheyÔÇÖre not only moron but also Galapagosian Lolita Complexed Chicken."

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launok
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Re: Newbie to Xnalara as from today!

Post by launok »

iheartibuki wrote:
P.S. I noticed there are a lot of folks from South Africa who are part of the Daz/Poser community.
Yes, I have noticed this myself and 3 people from SA at both Hexagon and Daz Studio forums gave me some lessons on working with clothing. And one of the vendors (3D Universe) are based in Cape Town but unfortunately quite far from where I live to give them a personal visit! I will most definitely put a request in for a model (freebie as I am only a pensioner with little income) of a ventriloquest puppet. Someone made me a male puppet (boy/child) from a freebie head I got online (the only 1 I could get on the web!) but he is not answering my e-mail for another version of a female puppet (girl/child). All I have (some) knowledge off regards modeling are buildings as I have tried a fashion clothing shop in Sketchup, uploaded for free at the Warehouse, and a fabric roll shop cabinet in Bryce shared over at my blog. The Bryce one is just plain and Bryce isn't a proper model creation program, more a landscape editor.

I have noticed that many artists over at DevArt has extracted stuff from games but I am totally clueless of the "how to extract" and from "where". I have seen people sharing game extractions but not necessarily sharing them with download options. If I am looking for something specific am I allowed to extract them from the games sites, or do I have to buy the original model/game first? :?

And many thanks to all people's welcome messages and helpful ideas as well!! <3

Laura
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Ems
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Re: Newbie to Xnalara as from today!

Post by Ems »

launok wrote: I have noticed that many artists over at DevArt has extracted stuff from games but I am totally clueless of the "how to extract" and from "where". I have seen people sharing game extractions but not necessarily sharing them with download options. If I am looking for something specific am I allowed to extract them from the games sites, or do I have to buy the original model/game first?
All depends on game engine. Some are extractable, some will never be cracked. Console games from PS3/PS4/XbOne are unextractable (with very few PS3 exceptions). Generally people develop tools for extracting data from game packages.
Anything that runs on PC under ninjaripper/gameassassin/DXripper ("monitoring" programs that "take 3d screenshots" from games) can be, well, ripped mostly as unrigged objects, while games on Unreal Engine are extractable with their original armature and weights with Glidor's Umodel.
Eventually, everything that can be imported to Blender/3dMax/Noesis can be exported to XPS format, and XPS models can be edited either inside the studio or in text editors, so it's good to know the mesh.ascii format, which XPS uses. The developer works hard so spare us that, but still some things can be done faster in notepad.

As for the game files, all for themselves. We won't ask anyone where and how they got them. We also share them between us. If it's about buying/selling already extracted or converted game assets, this is generally frowned upon, because they're not ours in the first place. Game producers can take legal actions. But they usually ask nicely first, last case I heard about was BioWare about sharing DA:I assets upon the modding sites/forums.

dA is full of XPS models, methods of porting and displayed results vary from person to person.

These forums though are created by XNALara veterans, we're usually friendly and relaxed in our rules, do things for fun, in our own pace :)
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launok
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Re: Newbie to Xnalara as from today!

Post by launok »

Ems wrote:
launok wrote: I have noticed that many artists over at DevArt has extracted stuff from games but I am totally clueless of the "how to extract" and from "where". I have seen people sharing game extractions but not necessarily sharing them with download options. If I am looking for something specific am I allowed to extract them from the games sites, or do I have to buy the original model/game first?
All depends on game engine. Some are extractable, some will never be cracked. Console games from PS3/PS4/XbOne are unextractable (with very few PS3 exceptions). Generally people develop tools for extracting data from game packages.
Anything that runs on PC under ninjaripper/gameassassin/DXripper ("monitoring" programs that "take 3d screenshots" from games) can be, well, ripped mostly as unrigged objects, while games on Unreal Engine are extractable with their original armature and weights with Glidor's Umodel.
Eventually, everything that can be imported to Blender/3dMax/Noesis can be exported to XPS format, and XPS models can be edited either inside the studio or in text editors, so it's good to know the mesh.ascii format, which XPS uses. The developer works hard so spare us that, but still some things can be done faster in notepad.

As for the game files, all for themselves. We won't ask anyone where and how they got them. We also share them between us. If it's about buying/selling already extracted or converted game assets, this is generally frowned upon, because they're not ours in the first place. Game producers can take legal actions. But they usually ask nicely first, last case I heard about was BioWare about sharing DA:I assets upon the modding sites/forums.

dA is full of XPS models, methods of porting and displayed results vary from person to person.

These forums though are created by XNALara veterans, we're usually friendly and relaxed in our rules, do things for fun, in our own pace :)
Ems, thank you for all this info! To start off at 60 is maybe not that easy but anyone can do anything if they are really interested. An old school friend just a bit younger than me, is very interested in animation, i.e. films. Which program(s) can you recommend? I got a free older version of iClone offered at the site of iClone some time back but have never used it. Can I recommend that to him? Any game (building) programs for beginners? Sorry but I am totally clueless! I on the other hand do only 'stills' but maybe can learn with him animation/gaming too, lol :) Pensioners have lots of time! 8-)
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Ems
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Re: Newbie to Xnalara as from today!

Post by Ems »

Can't really help with that, I was never interested in animating. I just pose models for pictures, basically.

A big guess, but people usually seem to start with things like Source Filmmaker or Garry's Mod (through Steam platform usually), then learn programs that they need to use in order to get whatever they want into SFM/GM. Never been into that, so I don't want to misinform.
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