Corwin 03 May 2009 06:17 PM

josh, where are you? Do not stop:)

:lol:  Thanks Corwin!  I’m working on a shark rig, I hope to post that up today.  I’ve been playing with the new modeling tools, and working with how Max 2010 64bit works on a Mac using VMware Fusion (so I don’t have to re-boot every time I want to work in Max).  So far it’s been working great, -the biggest difference is Fusion w/ Max = working in Open GL (If I want to work in DirectX, then I need to use Bootcamp).

Shark
Zip file with rig attached.
In zip; Shark.rg3 , SharkSwim.cmp .  If the Max file is needed, I’ll be glad to post it up.  New rig was created in Max 2010 64bit, CAT Version 3, Build Number 2009041613 .

The CATMotion preset (.cmp) did not seem to save the Tail Phase Bias (Motion panel > CATMotion Tail > Tail Phase Bias curve values).
I’ve attached a pic of the Shark’s Tail Phase Bias settings for entering on the rig manually.  Glad to help with any questions on it.

For the custom shark rig parts I used the ‘Sandbar Shark’ for reference from Toucan Virtual Museum’s Free 3D Models; http://toucan.web.infoseek.co.jp/3DCG/3ds/FishModelsE.html .

Statement from Toucan Virtual Museum;

These items may be used on any website, including those for businesses. You may modify any of the content as you like. Selling content on the web or by other media and redistributed is prohibited.

I did not include the shark model.  The Sandbar Shark model can be downloaded for free from Toucan Virtual Museum’s Free 3D Models.  My big Thanks to the Toucan Virtual Museum :) !

(click on the attached shark gif image to preview animation)

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19091_yFR3UGaabcOEiUt0Ylxf.zip

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Ooooo, beautiful shark.
And I will wait a time, till sp1, also till most useful plugins will release, then I will check up 2010… but I think… let’s wait a few more months, MAX 2011 will be release :))

Hi,
Beautiful rigs. Man there is is so much less information on the internet on CAT.. That makes you the GOD of CAT purple

Wanted your help on how I can edit/tweak these presets and is there a way i can make my own walkcycle / .cmp file?

Thanks Again

tejus_v 06 May 2009 09:56 AM

Hi,
Beautiful rigs. Man there is is so much less information on the internet on CAT.. That makes you the GOD of CAT purple

Wanted your help on how I can edit/tweak these presets and is there a way i can make my own walkcycle / .cmp file?

Thanks Again

Thank you Tejus_v :) , I appreciate the kind words.  To keep things honest, the God of CAT is Philip Taylor, -a brilliant man & a very nice guy :) !  He, along with the CAT Team (from many years back, -including the Beta Testers) created CAT.  There are a lot of extremely talented Max users who know a great deal more about CAT than I ( including the current Autodesk team of developers working on CAT :) ).  I’m just a long time user of CAT :D .

Pardon if you’ve seen these links, but hopefully they might help;

Autodesk 3ds Max CAT:  http://download.autodesk.com/esd/3dsmax/cat-help-2010/index.html
CAT How-to Movies:  http://www.autodesk.com/us/3dsmax/CAT-how-to-movies/index.html
Louis Marcoux CAT Tutorials:  http://area.autodesk.com/forum/index.php/profiles/louis_marcoux/
The online CAT wiki:  http://cat.wiki.softimage.com/index.php/Main_Page (which, I think, is very similar to the first link above).
Gråck’s Tutorials* and a bunch of CAT tutorial videos:  http://jp.joshpurple.com/Lots_of_CAT_video_Tuts.zip
Note: You may need a video codec to see some of these, -and I can’t remember which codec(s)… I hope they work for everyone.
There are a total of 22 videos in that zip file (which is pretty big in file size; 295 MB zipped .  Sorry for any long download times), -including the old CATMuscle Reference Manual .  3 of the videos are just the ‘Ninja Muscle’ videos, -I include them to show/demo what CATMuscle can do.**

Be sure to understand that some of the info is older and out of date.  It would not be a bad idea to check any of the info with what is now posted for the top link I’ve posted above, ‘Autodesk 3ds Max CAT.’ ( <-- that has some of the most updated info on CAT )

Another tip, -check your rig file formats.  If you see you are using a .rig file for a CAT rig, re-save it.  Max should save it as a .rg3 file (the .rig format is the old CAT file format ).

For making your own CAT walk cycle, I would first recommend using the CATMotion dia. box, & adjusting the motion curves for the various CAT parts to create your own unique walk cycle (then save it out as a .cmp ).  Or you could use an Abs (Absolute) layer and create your walk cycle animation (without using the procedural CATMotion), and save it out as a CAT clip file.  If you go with the Abs layer, CAT currently uses by default an HD (History Dependent) controller, -which creates some issues for creating walk cycle animations.  See my thread here; http://area.autodesk.com/for...-reverse-foot-rig-set-up/ “CAT Reverse Foot Rig set-up.” That goes into more detail on it.  I’ve got the CAT rig done for that thread, and I hope to post that up very soon ( just gotta’ find the time :) ).

*(Gråck, my sincere apologies if you do not want thess tuts posted here.  If there is any issue with my posting / sharing of them, I’ll take them down ASAP.  I remember I mentioned it back on the old CAT forum site, -and I thought it sounded like you did not mind me sharing the CAT resources.  They are some of the best CAT tutorials I’ve seen :) .  Thank you again for them! ).

**For CATMuscle be sure to check this thread here; http://area.autodesk.com/for...e-muscle-strands-and-you/ <--there’s more info and discussion on CATMuscle (hopefully some good tips on using CATMuscle).

Hope that helps :) , and feel free to ask questions / send notes / messages / emails ( my email is:  and Gmail works best for emails sent outside of the United States ) / etc. , and I’ll be glad to try and help.

Thank you, josh, for tutorials. All this together make good basis for working with CAT. I have found a lot of answers to my questions:) If you know more tutorials or if you will find in future - put here the links, ok?:)

Hey Josh,
thanks for the great rigs and all the efford to publish the stuff here on the AREA. For a newbe in CAT like me, these are a great resources for learning and understanding CAT. Please keep up posting and many thanks again. You are the ONE! :-)

Greets
SpaceWarp

QuadCore2 Extreme Q6850 @ 3.0 GHz, 8 GByte RAM, 2 x Nvidia GTX 580, Win7 64Bit
- Never underestimate the power of a dark clown -

Hi josh,
Just want to say thanks for all your rigs, but I think your site is down.
Any news when it might be back up, trying to get the dog rig

cheers

Hi josh,
Just want to say thanks for all your rigs, but I think your site is down.
Any news when it might be back up, trying to get the dog rig

cheers

Hi josh,
Just want to say thanks for all your rigs, but I think your site is down.
Any news when it might be back up, trying to get the dog rig

cheers