A:M Rigging
Rigging & Relationships
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I have somewhat unorthodox problem... I have two instances of a character: 1. Rigged model (not textured) 2. Textured model (not rigged) Spline Mesh of the both models is identical (some CP's are moved around, but no other changes) Could it be possible to take those two instances of a model and make them one ? (the easier way than take rigged model and texture it or vice versa) Any ideas?
Last reply by heyvern, -
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- 10 replies
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Okay here I go again with a question I have been to scared to ask for ages. I have had AM for nearly 4 years and I always give up when it comes to rigging a model. when it comes to Attaching the CP's to the bones I always get CP's that don't look like there are attached to the assigned bone. but when I check the messy Control points weight the reading is always 100%. ( see the Attached picture.) The left thumb has assigned CP's but you can see they have mind of there own. I have spent hours with the putty dude add back bone tutorial assigning bones and getting the same messy results. I sometimes wonder if the people that made the rig dont' want it reused. Even …
Last reply by mtpeak2, -
- 4 replies
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I am working on fan bones. Put a fan bone in my model in the modeling window and assigned the center spline of the joint to it. Selected New Pose, on/off and opened a Relationship window. In the Rel/Window, I picked "Orient Like", selected "compensate mode" and picked the shin bone with an enforcement of 50%. To test this out, I opened an Action window and manipulated the joint. Here is my problem: When I manipulate bones in the action window and want to return them to their original positions, I thought I would just hit "clear" in the contextual menu. When I do that, however, it also seems to clear the work I did in the relationship window. How do I reset the bon…
Last reply by Eric2575, -
- 2 replies
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What happened to it? You used to be able to be in a model window and activate a non-orthographic view by toggling the \ (backslash key) but I see it does not work that way anymore... seem to remember a thread discussing it's new assigned hotkey. WHY would Hash move it? The feature has not been eliminated has it? I'm sure I could go into the interface and reassign it to be where it once was...
Last reply by John Bigboote, -
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- 8 replies
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Hi all, is there a way to copy poses and smart skin relations from one model to another without replacing the rig ? We have 4 models that use identical bodies that have identical poses, but Ive start to do the smart skin on one model and have realised that it will take a bit of time to do the for the other models - I have searched the forum but only game dev posts come up for "smart skin " + " copy " + " re use " - any one know a solution ? Thanks.
Last reply by robcat2075, -
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- 4 replies
- 645 views
Hello again I have added some bone Relationships to my model. They are in action section but I would like to add them to the main model Relationships groups. But I can not figure out how to add them I must have over look it in one of the tutorials.
Last reply by DJBREIT, -
- 1 reply
- 751 views
I've always made walking cycles and added them to the model then move the model bone around and tried to get the walking pace to match, which usually sucks. I would like to however have the model bone move with the hips so when I move the hips forward, though the walk cycle (while in choreography not through action) the model bone follows along without scooting the whole model along. Otherwise the model bone just lags away as I walk the model further and further away. Im sure walk cycles are nice but they look artificial and when a character walks , say up a hill or across rocky surfaces it doesn't look good. See below, I walked the character forward but when I clic…
Last reply by mtpeak2, -
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Andy Gibbons has graciously contributed a quick down and dirty tutorial on importing BVH mo-cap files for use with the Squetch Rig. In his own words, "Once you are used to it you will be able to apply the BVH to the rig in about 5 minutes or so". Very impressive Andy! Note: Andy's original tutorial was in Microsoft Word format and I've converted it to PDF format with a few slight adjustments to image size. Any error in formatting is my own and should not be attributed to Andy. Andy has posted a project file with Squetch Thom and BVH action for viewing in HAMR Viewer/WebHAMR HERE. For more information on the Squetch Rig CLICK HERE. Mo_Cap_int…
Last reply by itsjustme, -
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http://youtu.be/3xklaT-gJNM Joe McPeek demos the ease of use and wonderful end-product of Mixamo.com's free rigging service. The end result, as demo'ed is an incredibly flexible ready-to-animate character. But I don't think the bones and weights and constraints would transfer over into A:M's unique language. Also- I don't think the end result provides any traditional animators 'handles' for hand key-frame animating. Instead, this setup is ideal for BVH motion captured actions, which gamers are ga-ga for, apparently. Anyways, it is a quick video... a good insight to see what the world of rigging has been evolving into, and what I consider a 'dream' rigging utilit…
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 4 replies
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I'm using Steffen's MirrorBones plugin in conjunction with finishing up the LiteFace installation. I've got the "Write Logfile" box checked. midway through I get an error saying "False weighting detected. Look in mbw_conflicts.txt" but I did a search of my whole hard drive and I can't locate this text file. Anyone have any idea where it ends up?
Last reply by yoda64, -
- 3 replies
- 711 views
I still can't get the MirrorBones plugin to work for mirroring cp weighting. I know I saw a thread on this not long ago, but I can't find it now. I've installed the LiteFace rig, weighted the right side, and tried once again, without success, to mirror the weighting. If anyone can direct me to a thread, tutorial, video or fortune cookie on this topic so I can get it to work that would be fantastic. btw I'm doing this on a pc, v. 16RC. but in the past I've never gotten it to work and I end up writing out all the cp weights on paper and redoing the left side manually.
Last reply by Gerry, -
- 12 replies
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Hi- Going thru and learning new stuff via the Saucy(SOCCE) rig at Mechadelphia's website... which is an awesome resource! http://mechadelphia.com/2014/12/the-saucy-rig/ The image says it all... I am not getting my weights to copy with percentages when I run the MirrorBones plugin. Is this the way it is supposed to work?
Last reply by John Bigboote, -
- 0 replies
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Occasionally the "Mirror All Smartskin" command will not work on a model. That is under investigation, but in the meantime, here is a demonstration of a workflow that will get your smartskins mirrored to the other side of your model... SmartskinMirrorManually.mov I'll note that for bones that are oriented in a fashion unlike the leg bones in the video (arms maybe) the correct angle for a mirrored bone may the opposite angle rather than the same angle. Some initial experimentation and observation may be needed before doing any pasting.
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 2 replies
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Hey everyone. I know that I can "Mirror Constraints(which is an awesome feature)......But I was thinking that there use to be a "Mirror CP weights" function somewhere in A:M. But I can't find where that is if it's actually a feature. Anyone know where that may be? Detbear
Last reply by itsjustme, -
- 5 replies
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I was wondering if the Mirror Constraint plugin works for anyone else. Every time I try it it crashes AM. I am starting it from the modeling window. I am using AM v.15d It will be not nice at all to have to constraint the left side (specially the left hand) of the model every time y modify it (I have a base model that I plan to recycle using it to create more models from it and this involves moving bones around a bit according to body constitution). Thanks
Last reply by jakerupert, -
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- 3 replies
- 674 views
I need some help figuring out how to do this correctly. I have a model of a robot that uses the 2008 Rig. The rig is installed according to the tutorial and everything is functioning correctly. I have begun the rigging of the face by rigging, constraining, and creating percentage sliders for the right eye. There are (18) bones in to pose the eyelids and brow shape. I have used the "mirror bone" plugin and now have all the bones in the left eye with the correct CP weighting. PROBLEMS: How do I get the constraints mirrored to these eye bones? I have tried to use "mirror constraints" but it want to mirror ALL the constraints inclu…
Last reply by TNT, -
- 9 replies
- 827 views
Hi, I guess the first things I should check on are... = Is the Mirror Bones Plug-in made to use with the Squetch Rig only? = Are the 'right/left' search strings case sensitive? = Are hidden bones/cps processed? = Are unweighted CP/Bones processed? = Is there a known problem with V14 (latest) and weighted CPs (like repeating a bone name with 0% or garbage%)? Aside from that, I tried using the Mirror Bones Plug-in with the TSM2 rig and, I think it worked with the exception of the item below (realizing that some of this could be from problems with my model): * I got some weird as well as extra new bones and bone structures: Befor…
Last reply by mtpeak2, -
- 6 replies
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At the end of today's Live Q&A I attempted to post a query related to spline controlled animation. I hadn't set up the model very well so there wasn't much to see at the time... translation: it barely worked. After the session I modified the character and inner rig a little more while it was fresh in my mind. I'll be glad to share the setup (minimal man charcter and rig) but it's still barely at the stage of being presentable. The attached video does demonstrate a little of the setup and hopefully demonstrate where I'd like to go with the idea. I mentioned during the session that I'd probably need to set up some use cases to properly demonstrate but the basic…
Last reply by Rodney, -
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The Woz had a question "Is there some way that I can have a minimum scale value on a bone that is set to "Aim At" a target bone (with "Scale to Reach" on)? I want the bone to stay at or above its 100% default at all times." You can't set the If statement to modify itself (at least I can't) so it takes an extra bone that is constrained to AIM AT with Scale TO Reach and the Bone you want to have a Min Scale of 100% is constrained to Orient Like the extra (Dummy) bone and set the Scale for each axis as below Transform.Scale.X = If(..|..|..|..|Dummy.Transform.Scale.X<1,1,..|..|..|..|Dummy.Transform.Scale.X) Transform.Scale.Y = If(..|..|..|..|Dummy.T…
Last reply by Ganthofer, -
- 3 replies
- 625 views
Hello, I'm still not on vacation but continue to explore gently AM. In the case of an object with mechanical articulation (luxo, excavator) is one obliged to have a rigging with bones and a skeleton ? In this case, many 3D software adopt a "simple" hierarchy objects and we can still benefit from IK. Is this possible with AM ? Am I using copy move and rotate constraints to attach objects? thank you see you soon
Last reply by robcat2075, -
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- 2 replies
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Make a null at the root of the bone whose speed is to be measured. Have it translate to the moving bone with a lag of 1 frame. Make a bone that is at the position of the moving bone and aims at the null with scale to reach on. Now you can make a relationship from the z scale of the streatchy bone to whatever you want to be governed by the speed of the bone. Bish bash bosh, Bob's your unkle.
Last reply by Noel, -
- 2 replies
- 932 views
I just exported my choreography action as an MDD... deleted all the actions on the model, and imported the same MDD... it didn't work so well. I was trying to sort of 'bake' the action(s). I used a setting of 1 on the polygon export/import dialogue... I think I may be misusing this feature. Anyone else try such a thing?
Last reply by Xtaz, -
- 1 reply
- 464 views
Hey. I have managed to restrict an bone movement by using Manipulator options, so that my bone eg rotates in z axis. But my question is that: is there possible to restrict the movements even more? like the bone is allowed to move up to 22'?
Last reply by agep, -
- 2 replies
- 546 views
Okay here goes... this is a toughy... Let's say... you have a rig. You want to apply it to a new character. You load the bones into the model... but all of the bones are visible. You want to view only the geometry bones... ...or maybe you want to see only the fan bones... ...or just the control bones... ...For adjustment purposes... My question to all the pro rigging experts... how do you go about managing this while in the model window? I know you can create poses for hiding bones... that works great... My trouble is... is there a way to quickly hide certain "groups" of bones in the model window? I may...... submit the following as a..…
Last reply by heyvern, -
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- 19 replies
- 1.4k views
I've got two gears and a large door. I've given each gear a bone and placed constraints that only allow them to roll. The larger gear is constrained to the first gear so that when the small one turns it turns. Only problem is that the larger gear actually needs to turn the opposite way. Does anyone know what constraints to apply to make this happen, cause I'm stumped.
Last reply by Ilidrake, -
- 7 replies
- 1k views
I've got an action that I'd like to save as a Pose with a percentage slider. Is this possible?
Last reply by Gerry, -
- 4 replies
- 992 views
I love the video tutorials, they make learning some of the more complicated aspects of A:M way easier than reading written tutorials with either no pictures or static pictures. I learn far better by seeing and doing than reading, so was hoping I could find one specific to modeling, and rigging a hand for animation. I've read all the available tutorials, and have actually come up with a fairly decent hand model (using David Rogers book specifically for that tutorial)... However, I'm running into some problems with rigging it, and the written tutorial to rig it is hard to follow. If I could see it being done, I'd have a whole lot more luck...
Last reply by Rodney, -
Hello dudes and dudets, the time has come for me to show Lottar, bones rig'd and not at all finnished. I have no idea how CP weighting works, so I'll have to look into that, links/winks/hints are very welcome. All c&c's are very welcome.
Last reply by Mr. Jaqe, -
- 2 replies
- 529 views
I can't for the life of me remember how to get new constraint .I'm in bones mode r click on the bone but no constraint menu ,What am I doing wrong ,sheesh head like a sieve god I hate getting old using v 13j
Last reply by steve392, -
- 9 replies
- 739 views
I'm looking for an A:M user adept at rigging models (mostly cartoon human and animal) who would be willing to rig some of my models. I've used Anzovin's TSM2, tried to create my own custom rigs, have studied tutorial after tutorial, have experimented with smartskinning and bone constraints, and have achieved mixed results in my rigged models. I've come to realize that my grasp of creating control bones and use of nulls and fan bones is going to be long in coming. I understand that rigging is a deep and complex area, but my needs are probably pretty basic for someone with rigging experience. Thanks, Chris
Last reply by 3DArtZ, -
- 3 replies
- 839 views
I remember a thread where someone at least partially explained how to have multiple keys in a smartskin and get a smoothly interpolating result. Does anyone know where that is or recall what their strategy was?
Last reply by HomeSlice, -
- 2 replies
- 677 views
In David Rogers book : AM 2002: A Complete Guide, David mentions locking bones in the relationship window. What does he mean by that and how is that done? I am attempting to add fan bones to a leg.
Last reply by Eric2575, -
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- 3 replies
- 685 views
I seem to recall that if one were to constrain a bone's orientation to another bone that the first bone could still be re-oriented directly in an action and it would be marked as an offset when then moving the control bone. However it seems now (as of two days ago) I can no longer do this, and when I constrain one bone's orientation to another, the first bone can no longer be rotated at all apart from its control bone. The tech reference mentioned something about a "Lock Offsets" option that I have been unable to find but it seems to describe my problem pretty well. Once I make a constraint, the offsets cannot be changed in an animation and can only be adjusted directly i…
Last reply by SplineSoup, -
- 4 replies
- 947 views
Is it possible to lock the axis movement of a bone within an IK chain? I've locked one but it still rotates in the locked axis when the last in the chain is moved....
Last reply by Gerard, -
- 5 replies
- 688 views
So, thanks to the help of those on the forum in reminding me of a couple of old tricks, I cooked up something for my return to animating. My problem is that I have two teams of 7 that I would like to place and move about on the inner surface of a cylinder. So, to make my life a little easier, I did the following: -Made 14 "pointer" bones for the cylinder. -Made a Constrain to Surface constraint with a separate pointer bone assigned to each player. Now, I wanted to deal with laying people out on a flat version of the cylinder's surface (just easier to think that way), and so I made up 14 nulls to place on a control grid. This control grid related the loc…
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 3 replies
- 841 views
so ive been away from AM for a bit and decided to get back in with ver 17. i tried to install TSM2 and it did not show up in my wizards plug-ins im in 64bit version so im thinking thats why. just need some advice as im not very good with rigging. should i use the lite rig? or is there a new rig version that i should adopt that will work well in ver17? thanks mike
Last reply by Fuchur, -
- 1 follower
- 4 replies
- 588 views
Hey guys, I downloaded Yves' skylight rig in an attempt to glean how to create a "rig" setup for lights in a choreography that I can export and then copy exactly into others. After reading the info file and perusing the various components of the rig it seemed simple enough...which is probably why I couldn't reproduce the concept. Naturally, I think I missed something. =) I can save out the lights themselves. I can also save out their choreography actions, and import both into a new choregraphy, but when I get to the part of joining the lights back with their actions, they won't go. What critical step is missing here? Is there a way to take lighting arrangements I'v…
Last reply by SplineSoup, -
- 3 replies
- 649 views
Hi - I'm following this David Rogers tut: http://am-guide.com/SetUp/ to rig the legs of a "paper" man model I'm working on and I finally got everything constrained properly only to witness a new anamoly with the step "tarsal bone add kinematic chain to Toe Target". The right side constrains fine, but when adding this constraint to the left side I get strange toe displacement. I checked and rechecked my steps more times than I can mention. I've uploaded a project file with only this constraint in the relationship (pose) as thru trial & error I realized this problem happens whether I complete the constraint process or just isolate the toe constraints. …
Last reply by cribbidaj, -
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As I have been working on a face rig I have found late night thinking has been invaluable. In fact last night just as I was drifting off I came up with an idea of how to hide the rig when the pose slider turns off the rig. Since all my nulls and bones are on a mockup of the face to the side of the character I have struggled to hide the text and mockup when the rig is turned off. I will keep you informed as i will test it this evening.
Last reply by Shelton, -
- 4 replies
- 695 views
Hi, Recently someone did an incredible thing with an almost nude, well endowed female model where certain interesting parts jiggled when she walked. I need to find out how to do that but don't even know what to search on. Mainly I want parts of the face and neck to move when the head turns sharply and also some jiggle on teachers flab under the arms. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Thanks, Rusty
Last reply by amarillospider, -
- 2 replies
- 675 views
Hi, It's me with another question. How do I get the Knees to move smoothly, Iwas trying to rig off of the thom model, but didn't get the knees. I'll get to the arms if I can't figure the out myself. Does anyone know how to Rig Knees from the 2001 Universal Skeleton?
Last reply by mtpeak2, -
- 4 replies
- 558 views
Howdy all! I am having some unexpected behaviour with a kinematic constraint to a null. The setup: I have a chain of 8 bones (it's in a tentacle, but that probably doesn't matter much) running vertically (parent is at the top, bone #8 is at the bottom). I have a null that is doing the actual moving around. I apply a Kinematic Constraint from bone # 8 (end of the chain) to the null. Bone #8 now 'moves' over to the null, dragging it's parent bones along (just like if I'd grabbed bone 8 and moved it manually). This is expected. Things go fine until the null raises (translates in the +Y direction) up past about 1/2 the length of the chain. …
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 1 follower
- 6 replies
- 980 views
What's the best way to keyframe poses? [EDIT] This thread started out as BVH and TSM2, but has been edited for the subject you see now.
Last reply by itsjustme, -
- 5 replies
- 660 views
I've been trying to do a walk cycle for a character and copy/paste mirrored does not copy all the bones keyframes reversed. Can anyone give me some pointers for doing this properly?
Last reply by Ilidrake, -
- 1 follower
- 4 replies
- 568 views
I am creating a walk cycle for my robot and am having a problem using "Paste Mirrored". The walk cycle is 24 frames. I have created the first 12 (one stride) the way I think I want it so far. I have been careful not to place keys on channels if they are not needed. The problem is, when I select "copy keyframe" at frame 1 and then "paste mirrored" at frame 13, AM is keying every channel that is previously keyed anywhere in the cycle and not just those keyed at frame 1. I then have a lot of extra keys in the second half of the walk cycle which makes it difficult to tweak later on. Is there a way to have AM "past mirrored" only the keys I have created at…
Last reply by pixelplucker, -
- 12 replies
- 3k views
I have been waiting for this feature for a long time and curious as to what other think? My pitch for an add on to the squetchy rig. Hopefully it will be helpful. Especially to animators new to A:M, allowing them to start animating more quickly. Key Groups What it does : Force's keyframes for a group of bones via an ON/OFF pose. How it works: Takes advantage of the new V13 IK/FK auto constraint keying feature. Using dummy constraints and Null to define what bones to key and what type of key frames to set. Characteristics Speed : Can turn a ten step process into a one step process. E.g. setting keys for all the F.A.C.E nulls or blockin…
Last reply by bobcroucher, -
- 8 replies
- 710 views
I have started rigging my AT-AT and have the front legs boned. The IK chain seems to work and I have added constraints so that the legs will bend in only one direction. After all, the legs are pretty much hinged joints. I am trying to figure out how to keep the feet constrained to the ground, so that they don't go below ground level unless specifically moved there. I have been trying to disect the Rabbit model and have found a number of bones that were hidden and partially undertand what is going on with the bones and the constraints. Is there any documentation or tutorials on how to best accomplish this task and why it is being done the way it is? I w…
Last reply by Tralfaz, -
- 4 replies
- 840 views
Well, I've managed to make a pretty decent (atleast workable, nothin fancy) bone system for a robotic character I'm making (Considering I don't have much experience when it comes to such things). And I recently decided for animation purpose I better find out how to use nulls for the hands and feet so they can stay in place. I have managed get my feet to react to nulls via IK Kinematic constraint, so far so good. Its just I have no clue on how to keep the feet level, I don't want the feet to tilt around the null, I just want them to stay flat (unless the null is rotated of course). Is there a simple way of doing this? -L11-
Last reply by jamagica, -
- 1 reply
- 455 views
Here is one more update on the lens toy. The zip contains the model file and a .exr image file used as a map. benlens4.zip I have decoupled the index of refraction from the wide angle setting. There is now a slider that lets you set the index of refraction. I have added faceting with a displacement map. "Bugeye-number" drives the number of facets. "Bugeye-strength" drives the strength of the displacement. Here is a quick test. NO wide angle, refractivity of 5%, ramping "bugeye-strength" from zero to 10. buglens.MOV
Last reply by John Bigboote, -
- 1 reply
- 754 views
Holmes, I really appreciate the time and effort that went into creating this face rig. I find rigging a bit intimidating, but your step by step tutorials on installing the LiteFace Rig and Weighting a Face really made it easy. I did run into a couple of problems along the way, but it didn't take me long to figure out what was going on… 1) The "Aim At" constraint for both Lips Left Upper and Lips Right Upper had the "Scale to Reach" turned ON. Once I turned this to OFF, both of those bones behaved properly. 2) I also had to edit the Face Constraints relationship because all of those face bones rotated downward. To fix, I reset the XYZ Rotate coordinates to ze…
Last reply by HomeSlice,
