itsjustme

Yessir, fan bones. What I'm thinking is kind of like when a single bone controls a chain of bones...like a tail, or a snake. I think COGS can be put on any "geom" bone in the rig and used for fan bones and such...the controlling "geom" bone will provide any squetching. The reason I was thinking COGS is that they would be a lot better than a single bone for helping to control complex meshes. At least that's what I was thinking...you don't think so, Zach? Maybe I'm misunderstanding what Robert was saying...anyone have an example? Maybe a show of hands on this one? Reduce the size of the controls so that they don't stick out of the body, keep them the same size or make them bigger (I just thought I'd include every option)? The documentation hasn't happened in a real way yet, once this gets finalized I'll have my hands full of that as well as a few other things. I've been debating automating the re-parenting of the bones using a script or something, it would take me a little longer to figure that out. Someone that does that kind of thing in their sleep would get it done faster than I could. A video tutorial couldn't hurt, or a WINK...I've only made two video tutorials, I think I did alright, but that doesn't mean someone else couldn't do better. Mark (mtpeak2) rocks the house on installation, maybe if he has time he could knock one out when this gets finalized. Or if there are any budding tutorial makers that want to take a stab at it. I know I would definitely defer to someone with better animating chops than myself for the "how to animate" tutorial. Since I'm not going to have all of the changes done this morning, I'll hold off and give it one more day. I'd feel better if I don't give you half-implemented changes.

The 'Z' axis on the fingers doesn't do anything at the moment...I used the floating finger controls because I hated bending a finger and accidentally rolling it at the same time, but, I can understand uncluttering the PWS. I'll change that. Sometimes I just have to have a different name...I start throwing things around and I just need it to be different. A bone may start out as the main controller and then end up not being, what names would you like? That would be any easy change. The controller isn't directly moving the geometry, there's an underlying bone that is farther back that does the actual bending that has an "orient like" constraint on it...so, the location of the controller isn't causing it. I will move it though and move the underlying bone to see if I can get it right. I was trying to make it easy to grab a control, I can resize them though. No reason really, the biggest problem I was having was that since all of the bones squetch, the arm would get longer and shorter as the shoulders shrugged. I'll revisit that. Some characters could get away with just CP weighting, but, my thinking was putting in COGS as needed for additional spine segments. COGS seem like they could be easily imported pre-configured modules that could be plugged in where needed...at least that's what I was thinking. Do you have an example of the type of spine you'd like, Robert? There's no document at the moment, but, it should be easy enough to explain here. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ First, the sliders resize the control structure so that the rig should animate as it would un-squetched. If you expose the nulls and use them to squetch things, it is independent of the control structure (except the torso nulls, they move the control structure with them)...so, for most things, the sliders would probably be the method of choice when squetching the limbs unless you were doing something like grabbing the elbow and pulling it out of shape...the Loons will probably use the exposed nulls when animating, I'm thinking. The squetch sliders are set up in levels, the base level (with "base_controls" in the name) will squetch a bone indicated, but will also squetch any child of that bone as well. The next level up is labeled as "individual", it will squetch the bone indicated and compensate for the hierarchy so that only the bone labeled will squetch (it is actually using the "base_controls" to do this). The highest slider in this setup will squetch the whole limb, presently named something like "arm_right_IKFK_SQUETCH". There are similar controls for each arm, hand, finger, leg and foot. The head and torso squetching is accomplished using the nulls that can be exposed using the "Squetch_Controls/Head_and_Torso/HIDE" on/off poses. The torso nulls do move the control structure, so, it should still animate as normal when squetched. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'll try to get as many of these done as I can tonight, but I may not get to them all until tomorrow. Thanks for spending so much time on this, Robert.

That'll narrow my search down some, thanks Zach. I should have it fixed in the next version/tomorrow morning. That's an easy fix, it'll be in it tomorrow...I just didn't think about it. It wouldn't take much to add a pose for that...do you mean the rotation of the head controlling the neck rotation on the 'Z' axis and the translation of the head control tilting the neck with it? Not a problem, it's an easy fix. I can be myopic sometimes, that should have been obvious. It'll be in the next version. Thanks for spending so much time on this, Zach.

The thing that might confuse newbies would be all of the re-parenting of the bones after they have been positioned. It has been suggested that a script could accomplish it, I don't see why not. The parent of the bones are listed after the word "INSTALL" in it's name, so, I think it could be accomplished. I might have to change it a little by doing it on each bone that is moved instead of in a folder method like I have it though. If I attempt it, it will take longer than if someone that knows what they are doing does it...but, once I get this finalized I could take a stab at it. The "jEdit" macros seem like they would be capable, I know Vern was doing some experiments (at least I think it was Vern). I'll post two versions for the next few until everything is hammered out. I'll take a look at that tonight, Zach. The tumbling pose is supposed to turn off the IK legs and IK arms and turn on the "orient_chest_like_hips" and "head_and_neck_orient_like_chest" poses...at least it's supposed to. It looks like I might have messed up the values in there. Thinking about it now, I shouldn't have had it disable the IK arms, I'll change that too. I think that all public rigs should be available on the CD...there are some really cool ones. Sometimes you want a fork, sometimes a spoon and sometimes a spork.

Here's the updated beta. Changes in this version: ------------------------------------------------ Eliminated shoulder twisting while arms are in IK that Mark found. Fixed foot rolling when rotating the hips. Corrected foot rotation when using the "tumbling" pose. Installed Noel's FK arm setup. Fixed shoulder movement (shoulder movement assumes you aren't manually squetching the shoulder when shrugging). Fixed ball rotator moving foot forward (it ended up being the parenting of the ball target). Re-enabled 'Y' rotation of the ball controllers. ------------------------------------------------------ I still need to change the IK/FK to on/off switches...I'll have that in the next version. I checked the fixes, but that doesn't mean I didn't miss something. If anyone sees a problem, let me know.

I think it's more of a target issue, but, I'll look it over. That's something I've got to improve...it's tough keeping everything in separate pieces and getting it all to act correctly. I'll get that fixed. I must have changed something since the final Squetchy Thom...I'll change it back. Oh, I did...I was trying to get the tumbling better, easy fix. That's an issue with the way I assigned CP's. The forearm has four bones that could have CP's assigned to them, so there's a lot of possibilities there. I also checked the shoulder twisting problem Mark found, it's apparently not as new as I originally thought. I'll knock it out tonight and try to get the other changes done as well.

Ooooo, that's new. I'll fix it. I think it's the result of the elbow changes...I'll take a look at it. Thanks, Mark! If we stayed with the blending IK/FK method, but since they are going to the on/off it would jump. Not a bad idea though, Mark.

The squetch will be maintained across setups, so you shouldn't have to adjust anything. D'oh, I'll re-enable that...I don't remember what I was thinking at the time, but, it should be able to rotate on that axis as well. Thanks, Mark!

If you use the sliders for your squetch, the control structure will resize to accomodate it. You can blend just about anything at the moment. I haven't had time yet to think about the changes that the new on/off method will prompt, but I'm sure it's going to change a few things. Thanks for taking a look, Mark. If you think of any modifications, flag me down.

Most of the characters I've seen had a similar FK arm manipulation...I was going for a true FK making nothing move unless you specifically moved it, but, I have to agree that it is more intuitive the way you have it. You would have to be more conscious of what was moving where with a true FK. The v13 addition will be very cool. Not a problem, I left it as a percentage pose until everything was nailed down. Easy change. Thanks for spending so much time on this, Noel.

Okay, here's the first beta for the Squetch Rig so that the Animation Directors can give it a good going over. It still needs some stuff under the hood, but those things would either affect installation or a reduction in complexity. I expect there to be notes from the AD's on what they would like to see changed/fixed, so I'll hold off on the installation version until I can get everything in the engine and some more feedback from them. Some things to note: 1. I left the IK toe controllers untethered so that they can be translated when using them when the using FK feet when the legs are in IK. 2. There's a pose called "Tumbling" that frees everything up so that the character can do things like tumbling runs, etc. by translating/rotating the hips. 3. There is are percentage poses that allows the knees to be set to orient like the feet less than 100% ("knee_right/left_orient_like_foot_IK"). These come in handy when doing some extreme poses with the legs. 4. As has been the case with a few previous versions, the IK hands can be used in FK with the "IK_hand_right/left_hand_control" poses and the FK feet can be used when the legs are in IK with the "IK_foot_right/left" poses. 5. Squetching can be done using either the percentage poses in the "Squetch_Controls" section or you can squetch any joint in any direction using the underlying nulls that can be exposed using the poses that unhide them in the same section...it's less precise than using the sliders, but you can get just about anything you want out of them. I left the poses to unhide the squetch nulls in the "Squetch_Controls" section in order to have them in a more convenient place than the "Show_and_Hide_Rig_Components" section. I've decided to go with a date in the name since I don't want to name anything "Final"...I've done enough of that I want to thank David Rogers and Mike Fitzgerald for their help, it is invaluable and very much appreciated. In the next couple of days there should be more information and additions/modifications made. As always, if anyone sees a problem let me know and I'll fix it as quickly as I can.

Cool, Drvarceto! I'm guessing it's a parenting issue, unless I messed up the installation version after I tested it...try checking the hierarchy against Squetchy Thom to see if there's an issue. That's the easiest way to get a problem, if you accidentally drop a bone on the wrong parent it can mess things up. If you use the "show_geom_bones" pose in the "setup" tab of the Pose menu when you're doing the CP weighting it should help. You're right, it is an intimidating thing at first. I tried to make the installation as easy as I could...there's always room for improvement though. I can see how a plug-in or script could ease the installation process...if anyone wants to tackle it, I'll be in line to get it. It had to be put together so that the squetching could be isolated, the structure relies on a lot of "translate to" constraints and targets. Let me know how the search for problems goes. There is going to be a new installation version with some improvements and changes shortly along with an updated Squetchy Thom to reflect those changes.

That's definitely an "A+"...nice, jamagica!

Nice! I can't wait to see what you're cooking up for these characters.

What kind of corruption, Drvarceto? Was it that negative values of your sliders disappeared? If that was the case, the values are still there you would just have to reset the negative limit on the slider again. That is why you have to import the model you're rigging into the rig...it has a lot of sliders with negative values. However, that means that those values on the model you're importing will be affected if it has them. I should have qualified that statement by saying that that's the time it would take after having done it a few times...the first time will take longer, but, it doesn't sound like it went too bad for your first time through. LOL, I wouldn't go that far, but, it does make this installation easier. There are a lot of bones located in the same places and it would be very tedious to manually place each one. It was the easiest method I could come up with. I'm sure it's doable, I just don't know how much it would take. Maybe someone will come up with something. Let me know if you find anything that needs to be fixed with the installation version, Drvarceto. It sounds promising so far.

Thanks for taking a look, David! You're right about the location of the controls...I'll take a look at your example tonight, thanks for spending so much time on this. Thanks for taking a look, Bob! I learn something new every day! Very cool, I'll take a look at that again to see if I can cut down on the number of bones. Thanks, Noel! Very helpful. Sometimes I'm throwing so much around that I lose track of what I'm naming things...yeah, some of the names could use fixing. I think your elbow solution would be better...I'll take a look tonight. Once again, thanks for taking the time guys! I have a lot of good stuff to digest.

That's a good question, Charles...I havent' messed with it, but I don't see why there would be a problem.

Nice, Mike! Which company did you have make it? Plastic, right?

It shouldn't be hard to put in, David...just adjusting one thing and making a new percentage pose. I'll look at it tonight. Well, as the rig is now, if you want to do some mid-air spinning and tumbling you need to use FK leg controls and then rotate the "hips_IK", "chest_FK", "neck_control" and "head_control" bones. I could put in a couple more bones strictly for tumbling to make it easier. I would put in one for each axis so as to minimize the chance of gimble lock. If I'm already adding to it, I might as well do both. I'm just looking silly with the names I'm using... Whatever I add will also go into an updated version of the installation rig and the Loon rig. ------------------------------ EDIT ------------------------------ Anything else while I'm under the hood?

The heel raiser is in front of the shins like Mark Strohbehn pointed out. The control that moves the heel up and down at the back of the foot is for deforming the foot when it needs to wrap around something like walking on a balance beam. I think that CP weighting would solve most problems...some characters might require modifications. As an example, I added individual toes for the Loon. I'm thinking that I should add two more controls to Squetchy Thom for overall body tumbling...I haven't because it's a simple addition, and I feel really silly making "Final_update_v1000". It's a different set of controls than you are probably used to, it'll take a little getting used to.

Installation isn't very lengthy really...I've just been busy, and obsessive. It would only take thirty minutes or so to get the rig in, the CP weighting depends on the person doing it and how obsessive they are.

Very cool, David! Nice animation!

Thanks for giving it a good once over, Drvarceto. If you find anything that needs fixing, let me know. Hopefully, I did it right the first time.

Thanks for testing it out, Mark. I don't think there will be any problems, but I might have mis-labeled something or forgot to do something...hopefully, it works right the first time. Let me know if you find anything that needs to be addressed.

I'll bump this once in case it got buried and anyone interested missed it.