itsjustme

I'm assuming you used one of the Posable installations that Mark made the tutorial for? If that is the case, I'm also assuming you (in this order): 1. Exported the model from the installation Action. 2. Opened the exported model and deleted the Installation Poses. 3. Ran the InstallRig plugin and saved the model. 4. Reset the compensates according to the text file that was included in the Zip file with the installation models. 5. If the arms or legs are modeled bent, you set the "Minimum" of the 'X' on the euler limit on the forearm/calf bones to compensate for the bend. The "quick and dirty" way to start assigning CP's would be to have the "geom" bones as the only visible bones in the Modeling window (which is what happens after running the InstallRig plugin), hide the FACE geometry, hide the shoulder fan, stomach_IO and chest_IO bones, hide the thigh fan bones, hide all of the head bones except for the "head_geom_front" bone, go into Bones mode, right mouse click and select "Auto Assign Bones"...that will rough things in. Then, you can go through and get more specific. If you're looking for the Poses (which would include IK stuff), they are in the "Animation_Controls" folder in the "Pose Sliders" menu...you will run across a few of them while resetting the compensates. Hope that helps, Eric.

There is something going on in there that I haven't identified yet...it doesn't happen on Squetchy Sam or any other setup I've tested yet, but there is some rotation ('Z' axis) on the wrist fan bones in this model that I can't explain yet. I'm doing some more tests...hopefully, I'll have an answer soon.

No wisdom from me...the "quick and dirty" way to start would be to have the "geom" bones as the only visible bones in the Modeling window (which is what happens after running the InstallRig plugin), hide the FACE geometry, hide the shoulder fan, stomach_IO and chest_IO bones, hide all of the head bones except for the "head_geom_front" bone, go into Bones mode, right mouse click and select "Auto Assign Bones"...that will rough things in. Then, you can go through and get more specific. Hope that helps, Dhar.

I would check your CP weighting before resetting anything. Hope that helps, Dhar.

No sir, on the Squetchy Sam I have, they are both set to 50%...did you open the Pose? If you just look at the constraint without opening the Pose, it will say 100% even if it's not. The only accurate way to check is to open the Pose. Same thing with this one, 10% is correct...that's what is on my version of Sam. You need to open the Pose to check the percentages. I don't think that one is on the compensates list, is it? If it isn't, then don't reset its' compensate. Shoot it at me and I'll take a look late tonight, Rusty.

There are constraints on the "FACE Interface - Master" bone in the "Animation_Controls/FACE Interface/Constraints (do not touch)/Face Control Constraints" pose that make it "orient like" and "translate to" the "head_control" bone. The constraints are set to 0% enforcement and can be applied with a compensate once everything has been positioned to keep the FACE controls tied to the head. Hope that helps, Dhar.

It makes me think that one of the constraints on the "right_wrist_fan_geom" bone doesn't have any enforcement applied. Check that bone in the "Rig_Components/arm_constraints_folder/arm_constraints" Pose. There should be a "Roll like right_forearm_bow_3_geom" constraint set at 100% in there. Also check to make sure that the two "Orient like" constraints are set at 50% and that "Store roll" is turned of on them. I checked Squetchy Sam, he didn't have the problem. Does it do that on both wrists? I'll take a look at the installation rigs later tonight. If that doesn't fix the problem, I can take a look at it, Rusty.

It looks like you might have skipped a few compensates or did them in a different order or something, Dhar. Hard to tell without seeing the actual model though. It also looks like some of the CP's in the character's face got assigned to the underlying FACE controller bones...which isn't right. If you can't get it figured out, I can take a look at it for you.

If you rotated the forearms on the 'X' axis during installation, you will need to make the adjustment. It looks to me like you have something like a 3-5 degree bend in those arms...you can check by opening an Action, selecting a forearm, use rotate mode by hitting the "R" key and rotating the forearm on the 'X' axis until it is perfectly straight. Once you know the degree of bend, you can use that number for the "Minimum" setting of the euler limit on the forearms. For a 5 degree bend, the number would be "-5", but I usually add a degree or two to cover any slop....so maybe "-7" to make sure. Hope that helps, Dhar.

Mark was referring to Barry Zundel's training videos...they are located here.

I found a free program here that says it can do the job. Quicktime Pro can do the conversion as well, it's around $30. Hope that helps.

One option would be to re-model the shirt sleeve. You can accomplish the same thing with weighting without re-modeling, but it will take more trial and error and figuring. It's just easier if the shirt sleeve has roughly the same density and layout. If the added density or different layout is absolutely necessary, then it's just going to be tougher to weight. In my mind, a different layout would only be necessary if you put folds in the sleeve (otherwise it would loosely conform to the shape of the bicep) and a high density would only be necessary if you are using cloth, then the weighting would be totally different for the sleeve. If you opt for leaving the modeling as-is, I would still weight the underlying arm and then use that information to help figure out the weighting for the sleeve...it's just not going to be a one-to-one transfer of the weighting. Hope that helps, Rusty.

Fantastic work so far, Kevin!

What kind of compression is on the AVI? Maybe another compression will work for you. Have you tried any other AVI's? Hope that helps.

"Paste mirror" will only work if there is some form of the words "right" and "left" in the name of the bones..."R" and "L" will not work. You can use "Right/Left", "right/left", "RIGHT/LEFT", "RiGhT/LeFt", or whatever, but the whole word needs to be there. Is that what's going on here? What rig are you using? Hope that helps.

The example Squetchy Sam with sleeves seems like the way to go to me. The sleeve was weighted exactly like the underlying bicep, then, the part of the weighting that was the actual bicep bones was changed to being the sleeve bones...which are in exactly the same place as the bicep bones. So, what I would do would be to get good looking movement on the underlying model without the shirt, then, use that information to weight the shirt. Make sense? Hope that helps, Rusty.

LOL! That's nice, Mark! It looks like you're going to have a lot of fun with this project.

You can use an Euler limit to limit rotation. I have an example arm rig posted here that you can tear apart to see how it works. Squetchy Sam uses that set up...the latest versions of him are linked on the Wiki page. For some rigging tutorials, try here, here, here, here, here and here. As for limiting the head rotation, I never do that...I don't think it's necessary. Instead of making the constraints in an Action, make them in a Pose. Right mouse click on the name of your model in the PWS (Project Work Space), select "New/Pose/percentage" or "New/Pose/On/Off", set up your constraints in the Pose that opens then name that Pose in the "Properties/User Properties" of the model and turn the Pose on. Once you save your model, that Pose will become part of it. The saved Action doesn't have the model embedded in it. Open your model, then open the Action. If your model is the only one loaded, it will automatically be used by the Action. If you have more than one model loaded, AM will ask you which one to use for the Action. Hope that helps.

that suggests the image may be too big Do you mean that the images are blank or that the images don't import when you make them TGA's? If it's that the images don't import, that's an easy fix, you would just have to change what image AM is looking for. Hope that helps.

What you're looking for is something like this tutorial for the legs...an IK setup will prevent the feet from going through the ground. Here is another tutorial that might help. Also, Mack Chappelle has started making a tutorial that covers rigging an entire charcter...it's here. There is also a set of tutorials for sale that covers this...I don't have the link handy, but I'm sure someone will post it. If not, I'll look it up and post it later. Hope that helps. ---------------------- EDIT ---------------------- Here is the link to Barry Zundel's tutorials.

Have you tried using something other than a JPEG? Convert the textures to TGA files and see if you have the same problem.

I could have probably worded that better...what I meant was to go into the model's "User Properties", turn on the "right_leg_FK_IK" and "left_leg_FK_IK" poses, right mouse click on the "Auto_hips_(IK_ONLY)" Pose and select "Edit Relationship". Then, with the Pose turned on (which would be the default when you open the Pose to edit it), set all of the constraints to 0% enforcement before resetting the compensates. With all of the constraints at 0%, hit the compensate button before restoring each enforcement to its' original setting. Hope that helps, Dhar.

When you open up the Pose, it defaults to being "on"...the first set of instructions for that Pose is for when it is "off". Open the "Pose Sliders" menu and set it to "off" to start this set of instructions. Hope that helps.

It's the only null in the area you circled on that last screen capture, Dhar.

Apply the Smartskin using an Action. Hope that helps.