So, back when I made this post about wanting a method for doing more complicated facial expressions on TF2 ragdolls, my secret hope, naturally, was that someone at Valve, like Robin Walker, designer, programmer, not to mention co-creator of the original Team Fortress, for instance, would see it on my blog and forward it to his entire design team in an effort to address my needs, and they would respond with some solutions, as well as the suggestion that I forward their answers to Garry Newman, creator of Garry’s Mod, who would send me back his his own suggestions, which would lead to, among other things, this ridiculously long run-on sentence, but more importantly, a way to do more complicated facial expressions on TF2 ragdolls.
That’s exactly what happened.
Bottom line: like Dorothy, I had the power all along. If you go into G-Mod and use the model browser, you’ll find a folder called “hwm” in the TF2 player folder:
In there are some higher detail models which, when loaded, bring up a higher detail faceposer. And I do mean higher. Eyebrows, scalps, nostrils, dimples, jaws… you name it, it’s got several sliders. It’s not easy — a lot of these sliders need to be used in conjunction with other ones to get a usable expression, but after playing with it for about a half an hour, I’m starting to learn how it works. I made this, too.
So, thanks to Robin and Garry and everyone at Valve. All these extremely talented people are somehow obligated to cater to my every whim. Man. I’m rapidly running out of excuses to not do this comic.
20 responses so far ↓
1 Tom // Mar 9, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Hurrah. That Spy image is awesome.
2 Phil // Mar 9, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Surely the draw of such flexible posing tools will prove too much for your powers of resistance!
3 Alek // Mar 9, 2008 at 4:58 pm
It makes me sad, I see no blue team.. ):
4 Enedok // Mar 9, 2008 at 5:01 pm
Do my eyes spy a little frohman in the heavy?
I dont know if you know this, and I didnt test it on my (weak) computer, but surfing around I came over this command. Maybe you will see a difference.
http://teamfortresstactics.com/tips_and_tricks.php
Console command “mat_picmip -0.9″
(Dont really like the site, it links to ways to haxz)
5 Christopher // Mar 9, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Hey, is that Phil? Phil Phil? The Internet’s Phil?
6 Christopher // Mar 9, 2008 at 5:54 pm
Enedok — thanks, I’ll try that! It’ll probably grind my computer to a halt, but I don’t really need great framerates while in G-Mod anyway.
7 Wossname // Mar 9, 2008 at 8:18 pm
Oh wow, this is awesome. These guys have the capability for some fantastic expressions and it’s great to have access to more sliders.
8 Korota // Mar 9, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Wow, it has sliders to control left and right /nostril flaring/. Now THAT is some detail.
9 Joerdgs // Mar 9, 2008 at 11:22 pm
Haha, Concerned’s fame is haunting you :P
10 Crane // Mar 10, 2008 at 3:17 am
Oho-ho!
C’mon, do a comic! Dooo iiiiiit…
Also, Barney SO needs a cameo in it.
http://hlcomic.com/index.php?date=2005-08-19
11 Phil // Mar 10, 2008 at 5:35 am
@Chris: The very same :)
12 Christopher // Mar 10, 2008 at 6:38 am
Ah, cool! Glad you found the new site, dude!
13 atomicthumbs // Mar 10, 2008 at 7:38 am
THANKS YOU
14 sortie // Mar 10, 2008 at 7:59 am
Awesome post, I had a small ‘lol’ when I saw the “That’s exactly what happened.”. Now to leave this halfassedly missing comic and head over to xkcd. ;-)
15 The Prick of Destiny // Mar 10, 2008 at 8:07 am
Chris, I may have told you already, but you’re my hero. As Demomen say, if I wasn’t the man I was, I’d kiss ye! I’m so testing that in my next issues.
Also, do that comic! Do it! Do it! Do it! You know you (we) want (you) to!
16 Godling // Mar 10, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Is there a way to call these more detailed models when playing back demos for better looking characters for lip syncing when creating machinima?
17 Mythos // Mar 17, 2008 at 6:35 am
Damn it.
Right when I’m finishing a comic with TF2 characters, that shows up.
18 Chapter 1: Interlude 8 « Bleen’s Fortress // Mar 19, 2008 at 7:54 am
[…] Livingston (he of Concerned, again) made a fantastic discovery. Hopefully the expressions for my posed ragdolls will be more intricate in the […]
19 Chapter 1: Part 10 « Bleen’s Fortress // Mar 19, 2008 at 8:04 am
[…] Livingston (he of Concerned, again) made a fantastic discovery. Hopefully the expressions for my posed ragdolls will be more intricate in the […]
20 facial dimples // Apr 27, 2008 at 10:51 pm
[…] someone at Valve, like Robin Walker, designer, programmer, not to mention co-creator of the originahttp://www.1fort.com/blog/prepare-for-some-name-dropping/Human Pedigree Analysis ProjectFacial Dimples. The inheritance of cheek dimples is controlled by a […]
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