by Didik Wijaya
This tutorial needs you to understand basic use of 3dsmax.

Changing one object into another form is called morphing. We have seen a lot in movies, like changing faces, human turn into lion, and many others. A few second of morphing animation is like magic. But, actually creating 3D morphing animation is a job that make any animator gone mad. It's a long and tedious job, moving vertices by vertices. This tutorial will cover how to create morphing animation, turning a human head into werewolf. Divided into 2 Part, the first part covering how to create morphing, and the second part is how integrate texture animation within morphing.

1. Before we go on, download exercise file here. Zip file contains morph_start.max, which you will use in this tutorial. This file contains 2 objects, human head and wolf head. The first one is to be used as morph base, and wolf head is the morph target. When you want to create morphing animation, you need these two kinds of objects. The zip file also contains 2 simple texture images, bitmap material for human and wolf head. You can also find morph_finished.max, showing final result. All 3dsmax files are in 3dsmax 8 format.

2. Human head object is already textured using Unwrap UVW. Bitmap for wolf also created using Unwrap UVW template for human head, because we will use human head as morph base. That makes wolf uses Unwrap UVW coordinat for head too.

3. Before you go to the next step, there's something you should know about morph target object. Morph base and morph target object must have the exact same vertices amount. If not, morphing can not be created. To create morph target object, copy the original object, then you can use copied object as morph target.

4. Next step is modify or move vertices in morph target object. Don't delete any vertices.

5. Move vertices in morph target until you get desired form. Moving vertices is a long and tedious process, so you should be patient. In this tutorial you don't need to move any vertices. I have provided all the objects.

6. Select morph base object (human head). In Modify panel, add Morpher modifier. In Channel Parameters rollout click Pick Object from Scene button, then click wolf object in viewport as morph target. When you select object, that object will be placed in Channel. There are 100 Channel, that means you can select up to 100 morph target.

7. Next, activate Auto Key. Move slider to frame 100. Go to Channel List rollout in Modify Panel. Wolf object is listed in one Channel. Click and drag spinner and watch human head turn into wolf head. Increase value until you reach 100, and turn off Auto Key. Click Play button to wacth the morphing animation.

8. You've got your morphing animation. But, it is not finished yet. In Part 2, we will fix the texture.

Morphing Human Head Into Werewolf Part 1 | Part 2

Any question or comments regarding this tutorial should be sent to:
Didik Wijaya, email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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