A:M Rigging
Rigging & Relationships
Subforums
-
- 4.9k
- posts
-
- 40
- posts
573 topics in this forum
-
- 3 replies
- 719 views
What i am looking for is information. I am trying to find a way to rig a models head to some form of target. I need the head to stay focused on a point that I define. Yet the only thing I have found is rigging it to a null bone. But that only angles it like the null bone. I want it to be able to follow the target that I set. Any thoughts?
Last reply by noober, -
- 4 replies
- 620 views
Hi i've been working on John for a while and i need help rigging him. here's his WIP http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=22000 If any one can rig him please send him back to me at the_dude.3214 @ yahoo.com some one PLEASE help me john_needs_rig.zip
Last reply by trajcedrv, -
- 5 replies
- 1.2k views
This is Gus Gizmo, known in his universe as a Gizmo Mk I series robot (and origin of my username). I originally built him around October 2000, after having AM about 2 months, and had no idea what I was doing when I built him. He's had a few minor upgrades to his mesh since then, but I was never satisfied with the original skeleton I built for him. It was just simple bones linked together and very difficult to control since the bones were just standard daisy chain format and had no interaction in terms of maintaining balance, etc. I'd like to set him up with one of the later rigs for ease of control. I made an attempt at fitting him with the TSM2 rig, but that…
Last reply by GizmoMkI, -
- 5 replies
- 673 views
Hi Riggers I seem to have run into a problem with Rabbit. He needs to see an eye doctor. Please help.
Last reply by oakchas, -
- 1 follower
- 2 replies
- 717 views
Hi, apparently the ARM isn't being updated anymore so Vern told me we have to post new tutorials here. I wanted to add my motion tracking tutorial which is also linked to in another post but I think it would be good to post it here too. The tutorial shows how to use my program 'ICAM' to convert Icarus motion tracking data into A:M project files. link: www.zigncreations.com/icam
Last reply by Luuk Steitner, -
- 1 follower
- 62 replies
- 8.1k views
Hey guys, so, I've been knocking myself out trying to work through what I suppose is potential smart easy way to handle a pure on off IK/FK switch and as far as I know, it is currently not possible to do in software. But for anyone interested in killing a few moments to read here is the idea.... 1. have regular arm bones, shoulder, bicep, foream, hand. 2. have normal IK set up.... hash 2001 style. 3.have ON/Offpose called IKpose, where the IK constraints get activated. 4.have ON/Offpose called FKpose where the FK stuff gets activated.... basically just locking the bones but with this addition. Constraints that manuvuer the ik bones to exactly where they WOU…
Last reply by Dagooos, -
- 1 reply
- 522 views
Does anyone know how to render one picture rather than a film?
Last reply by trajcedrv, -
- 1 follower
- 8 replies
- 926 views
Is it possible to link a bone from one MDL file to another imported MDL file while retaining the existing rigging? I've been able import a model into another, but the imported model, in an action has to be positioned seperatly.
Last reply by rbjohnsn, -
- 2 replies
- 430 views
I have a head model that I've tried adding a tounge to. The tounge has all the relationships and work with in the model. My problem is the tounge never moves with the head. I've given the main bone in the tounge two constraints, Translate to, and orient like the head bone. I am baffeled in that the tounge never moves with the head. Any thought wise ones?
Last reply by rbjohnsn, -
- 2 followers
- 9 replies
- 1.1k views
I placed Rabbit into a new project (I have all rights to Rabbit). I then imported the Walk Action from the Hash Folder and the resulting action has Rabbit twisted into a pretzel with no changes made by me. Attached is the project. This is version 10.5. Any help would be appreciated.warpedrabbit.prj
Last reply by kalibur, -
- 0 replies
- 500 views
After several attempts to use bvh files on AM I seem to get the root of the error I experienced. I always used a model with a rig on them, but then got blocked by the fact that the account of bones in the bvh file does not correspond to the ones Animation Master uses. So to get rid of this error of attaching bones to the bvh, I just got the idea to use a boneless model, make the set up with an imported bvh file, and then attach the bones in the model window viewing in the action window if they confirm to the ones in the bvh file. As soon this is done in a global scale, it becomes matter to attach a IKbone to the corresponding hip bone. Then make all the other bones "…
Last reply by Madfox, -
- 1 reply
- 647 views
Let us say that..., I'm rigging..., "challenged." I am not going to remain so, a I plan on devoting much time to it in future, but for now I need easy solutions. So, I'm looking for some pre-fab' rigs that will work great. I used to have the setup machine, but I haven't kept up with the various versions so I don't know if that's the answer. Knowledge, anyone? Sterling
Last reply by kuep, -
- 1 follower
- 11 replies
- 1.1k views
Say I have three bones next to each other in a vertical arrangement. The center bone is the control bone. The outside bones have constraints of "orient like" with target center bone. Now, as you change the orientation of the center bone, the outside bones will follow. Swing center bone left, both outside bones swing left. Swing right, etc. How can I get one of the outside bones to orient inversely to the center bone? So when I swing the center bone left, one of the outside bones will swing left, while the other outside bone swings right?
Last reply by Eric2575, -
- 1 follower
- 3 replies
- 658 views
By complete accident, we set the skeleton of our character to invisible with Shift+I. Strangely, it seems that the same key combination will not toggle the bones back on. Shift+J is the shortcut to make the skeleton visible again and it works in this regard. However, it makes all of the bones visible including every single fan bone and control bone, leaving the screen an utter mess. Is there some happy medium between the two? Some means by which to revert to the original visible states of the bones? Thanks, Chris
Last reply by heyvern, -
- 5 replies
- 533 views
Hi, I'm just looking at the squetch rig for the first time, but I don't want to install the face rig because I have my own face rig that works better for me. Is this easily achievable?
Last reply by itsjustme, -
- 2 replies
- 534 views
There's no shortage of tuts that tell about how to install a rig and they often make mention of specific constraints to apply in specific places. But I often find my self wishing there were a more basic tut I could refer new users to that covers these constraints in sort of a "what they do and why that is useful" manner. I'm thinking a good constraints intro would cover essentials like Aim At, Kinematic, Orient like, and Translate To and talk about their potential uses in rigging situations rather than identifying them as being in a certain rig in a certain spot. Is there anything like that already? Actually there was a book called "Charater Animation …
Last reply by Mechadelphia, -
- 11 replies
- 1.1k views
So, I've got a bunch of bones representing a cloak. Those bones are constrained to control bones, and the constraints have been set with various degrees of lag to make the cloak flow more realistically. However, for certain kinds of quick motion, there are times when I need to minimize the lag. Ideally I'd like to have a "cloak lag" percentage pose, allowing me to shift from low lag to high lag as the animation requires. But since lags are a sub-property of each individual constraint, I don't see a way to separate these into their own pose slider. Does anyone know a simple way for me to selectively control my constraint lag? I realize there might be a clumsy way…
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 6 replies
- 799 views
So, against my better judgment, I'm working on a new rig for my cloak (it's less complicated than it looks). [attachmentid=14395] As you can see, I've got a chain of bones running down each spline of the cloak. I'm using some constraints to make the upper part of the chain wrap around the wearer's shoulder and arms, but the lower part of the chain is sticking straight out, since each link is a child of the one above it. Obviously, I'd like the lower links in each chain to swing freely in accordance with gravity and inertia. (Maybe the middle link could be set at 50% to ease the transition.) I thought about using lag, but it seems like dynamic constraints m…
Last reply by robcat2075, -
- 13 replies
- 1.3k views
Hello all, Is there an error in the 2001rig in the data file just downloaded from the hash site. When I turn on Ik Arms Setup the right arm points to the sky. Does it do this for anyone else? Thanks in advance to all those who reply. Andrew
Last reply by pixelplucker, -
- 10 replies
- 1k views
I'm trying to rig a bouncing ball. I've set up squash and stretch, which is pretty easy. What I'm trying to do now is allow the angle of the squash and stretch to change without rotating the ball. Any ideas?
Last reply by 3DArtZ, -
- 2 followers
- 27 replies
- 5.7k views
Hi there, I have a rig that I was working on a while ago. I am quite pleased with some of the features. It isn't finished yet and consequently the right half of the body isn't rigged as it should be. (**NOTE, ONLY THE LEFT SIDE OF THE BODY IS RIGGED PROPERLY** You may notice odd twitches from the right leg. This doesn't happen with the left. Some of the deformation is off because I removed geometry for the sake of sensorship and copyright.) **UPDATE** I POSTED A MORE COMPLETE VERSION OF THE RIG ON THE BOTTOM OF PAGE 1 Here are some instructions and notes (please forgive my wierd naming conventions): --------------------------------------…
Last reply by John Keates, -
- 4 replies
- 1.5k views
I realise this is a bit of an open question, for which my apologies. I'm working away on a sequence were the figure rises to standing, turn, shifts weight and settles. Thought it was ok until I noticed some joint pops and went to look what was causing it. The interpolation is set to spline. There is a four frame space between one pose and the next but, as you can see, on frames 16-17, there is a definite pop in the joint. Leg_pop.mov Is there a way around that ? The key is on 15, the pop on 16 and 17 and the next key on 20. Its not too big but it is noticeable and, if anyone has a suggestion as to cause and possible cure I would be very grateful. reg…
Last reply by Simon Edmondson, -
- 17 replies
- 2.1k views
A recent topic which I cannot at the moment relocate, bemoaned the lack of trajectory display in A:M. There were suggestions about hiding parts of your model and using onion skin, but those didn't satuisfy me. So I built a little joint tracker. This is a prototype model, but it shows the possibilities. How To: 1. Add joint tracker model to your Choreography 2. Constrain root bone of Joiinttracker to bone you want tracked 3. Turn on wireframe or combo display mode 4. Turn on tracking pose in Joint tracker model you should now see a realtime motion arc for ten frames before and after the joint. I built this in v12, but it shouldn't matter. edi…
Last reply by Bendytoons, -
- 2 replies
- 716 views
Hey Riggers, with my hosting company situation settled I've added a slight update to my website. The update is basically a couple more vids and a web download for my Joint tutorial CD, at a lower price. Any interested individuals can find more about it at 3D ArtZ or a mirror site vrcops.com Any questions or comments can be sent emailed to me. If you're curious about how the content is delivered you can view the chapter on installing the rig or read through the decal/relationship tutorial under the free section. Thanks Mike Fitz www.3dartz.com
Last reply by GAngus, -
- 1 reply
- 647 views
Hi folks! Simple Question: Is there a graph-editor for changing the interpolation of the CP-movement of smart skinning? I have a "jumpy" CP in a smart-skin relationship because of the default A:M interpolation-method. Where can I change this? I've only found the keys I made in this relationship for this particular CP but they don't have a curve attached to them. Cheers, DJ
Last reply by entity, -
- 1 reply
- 755 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, -
- 1 reply
- 456 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, -
- 4 replies
- 842 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, -
- 8 replies
- 711 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, -
- 12 replies
- 3.1k 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, -
- 1 follower
- 4 replies
- 572 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, -
- 5 replies
- 663 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
- 6 replies
- 986 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, -
- 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, -
- 2 replies
- 676 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
- 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, -
- 1 follower
- 0 replies
- 1.6k views
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, -
- 3 replies
- 652 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, -
- 1 follower
- 4 replies
- 592 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
- 848 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, -
- 5 replies
- 693 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, -
- 4 replies
- 954 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, -
- 1 follower
- 3 replies
- 688 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, -
- 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, -
- 3 replies
- 841 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, -
- 9 replies
- 740 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, -
- 2 replies
- 530 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, -
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, -
- 4 replies
- 994 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, -
- 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,