itsjustme

I'm using an older version of A:M and I don't know if I have installed the latest version of the plugin, so that may be the difference. If the "SimpleRigMan15D_TSM_St3_291008.mdl" gives you an error, I would ask Steffen. In v15 it's not necessary when making a constraint initially because it will automatically set the compensates. However, if the constraint already exists and the bones are moved in the Bones window, the compensates would need to be reset. To reset a compensate, in the Pose change the enforcement of the constraint to "0", hit the "Compensate Mode" button and put the enforcement that was initially applied back in...the offset values will change to what you need. I skimmed through it and it seems fine. The one thing I thought though...if you are going to be putting in the same fan bones most of the time, you could make the Pose for them, "drag and drop" that Pose into each character and then just reset the compensates (as long as the bones were named the same every time). You could even modify the TSM2 script to generate the fan bones. For new users, it might be helpful.

If you turn off the "Spine/Hip_Controller" Pose, the "Hips" null will work like the 2001 rig. You get more options with the new setup. I would use the "Hips" null as more of an overall control, for things like roughing in the position of the character. I'm sure there are a lot of other uses, but that's the way I look at it.

The first model, "SimpleRigMan15D_TSM_St3_291008.mdl" had no problem when I ran the "MirrorConstraints" plugin. The second model, "SimpleRigMan15D_TSM_St1_291008.mdl" didn't have any bones on the left side of the body. I ran the "MirrorBones" plugin to mirror the arm and leg bones and the CP weighting, ran the "MirrorConstraints" plugin, reset the compensates on the left shoulder COG and left hip COG and everything worked fine. Hope that helps, Jake.

You don't have to remove the skeleton/rig to do the UV mapping, J.W. It's better to have everything rigged before texturing.

What it looks like to me is that you turned off the "Head Controller" and then translated the "Head_Geom" bone. When the "Head Controller" is "off", use the "Neck_Geom" to move the head. Did that fix the problem, Andy?

I didn't find any problems with the latest version, Mark. Easy and fun to animate with this rig. Top notch work!

These tutorials might help: Combining CG Characters with Live Action Tips for Compositing Animation:Master 2000 3D Animation with Video

I found one issue, the left index finger doesn't curl as much as the right index finger when rotating the "Left/Right Finger Controller" on the 'X' axis. I'll do some more checking tonight.

I found another minor thing in the rig to fix...once again, it was a parenting issue, so it was easy to fix. The "right/left_bicep_flexor" should be a child of the "right/left_bicep_base". The problem showed up when the shoulder was moved, it caused the biceps to flex slightly. Re-parenting the "right/left_bicep_flexor" should fix the problem on any previously installed biped rig. On Bertram, I added more of an arm under the shirt sleeve (I might eventually use it if he ever has to pull the sleeves up), fixed the bone parenting and then weighted the arm itself...the sleeve will be quick to weight since that is done. I've been working my way up the arm so that I can get the upper torso weighted, which should be what I work on tomorrow night. Here is a quick video test of the arm weighting...it's not great animation, but it's just a test. arm_test_10_25_2008_Sorenson3.mov

The crashing problem appears to be caused by the "Error Loading String 4386..|right hand" on the "right wrist 1fan" and "right wrist 2fan" in the "Fanbones" Pose. Delete those and it should work. I also found three other things you might want to correct. The 1, 2, 3 and 4 fingers are missing the last joint of the finger, "1right thumb2 1 fan" was set to orient like its' parent and the "1 left foot IK control" was missing. Hope that helps.

There are bones on the right side with "left" in their name, that might be the problem. Hope that helps.

Very cool, Stian!

When I opened the model, there were no "orient like" constraints on the "1 right leg2 1fan", "1 right leg2 2fan" or "1 right leg2 3fan". I opened the "Fanbones" Pose and set "orient like" constraints on them, with offsets, to orient like the "1 right lowerleg1" bone...enforcement percentages of 25%, 50% and 75%. Everything worked fine, but the offsets were not zero because those bones' original orientations don't match the "1 right lowerleg1" bones' orientation (I ignored the CP assignments...those still need work). I think you probably just had a second window open while you were setting this up, Jake...just a guess though. Whenever I'm editing a Pose, I try to have only that window open. Hope that helps.

I couldn't tell without seeing the model...I'm not sure exactly what you mean, Jake.

I found out during the arm rigging that I needed to make some modeling adjustments to the biceps and shoulders...I also re-did the rigging for them. I should have done more checking before this point, but I think it's better now. Hopefully, I'll have a test clip tomorrow...unless I run into something else, again.

Anything is fine in moderation, the difficult thing is knowing when things are necessary. Very experienced modelers have had problems using bias adjustments so that they will work when a character moves.

Thanks guys. I found a minor thing in the rig to fix this evening while working on Bertram's arm weighting...not a big thing, but worth a quick mention if anyone wants to update an existing installation. The biceps should slightly flex when the wrists are rotated, the parenting on a couple of bones/nulls need to be changed for it to work properly. The "right/left_bicep_muscle_target_limiter", "right/left_bicep_muscle_limit_target", "right/left_bicep_muscle_target_limiter_base" should be children of the "right/left_bicep_muscle_base" bone. I'm going to finish up the arm and upper torso weighting tomorrow and should have another test clip if I don't run into anything else.

but that's true of anything in CG, not just bias adjustments. Sure. In about 99% of the instances that I have run across...one that wasn't the case sticks out in my head at the moment. That one was an experienced modeler trying to add a crease in a muscle...it looked good static, but didn't work in movement. That small of an adjustment could work. The adjustments I've had to deal with were not generally that small. Possibly...I haven't come across an instance where I've had to try it though. Good spline layout is going to do the job in almost all cases...in every case of modeling I've come across so far, at least. You never know though, so I'll leave the qualifier in there. I think the only time I might resort to bias adjustment (other than top of the head, teeth, finger nails, finger tips, edge of the nose, eye, ear, or some other non-moving part) would be if I couldn't change the spline layout (the character already being textured or something) on someone else's model or if I was aiming for a very low spline count. On my own models, I go for the most squashing and stretching ability I can get...I like having options. That means that I'm going to be pushing and pulling CP's in all kinds of directions and the modeling has to hold up under it. It's also one of the reasons I use CP Weighting 99.99% of the time and avoid Smartskin except in very rare circumstances. The biggest thing I want to avoid is giving an inexperienced modeler/rigger the impression that tweaking biases whenever they run into a problem is the way to go.

Hmmm, you're right about it not being locked down, Robert. However, if bias tweaking is used in a bending joint, it's going to cause problems if not done correctly...and I have run into none that were done correctly in the models I have rigged (almost as frustrating as having the model already textured). I still think you are safer avoiding bias tweaking in areas that will move quite a bit in the vast majority of cases. There may be modelers that have the ability to use bias tweaking in a "rigging friendly" manner, but I haven't encountered them yet.

That's the "rule of thumb" I use. Generally true, Caroline...there are some things to think about here though. If you use any bias tweaking on the fingers to reduce the number of splines and round them up, you'll have to make the bases of the fingers a little different so that the five-point patches look right (check Squetchy Sam's fingers...they weren't made with that in mind, the only concern was low spline count) and you couldn't squish the fingers while animating realistically very easily. Absolutely. Exactly, the bias tweaking would interfere with rigging the stomach area and give you un-natural movement.

Let's say you adjust a bias to cause a crease for some reason, that crease is not going to go away when that area is flexed...if anything, it will become more pinched. The part of the spline that is adjusted will maintain exactly the adjustment that you model in there...it won't look natural in most areas (other than the places I mentioned in a previous post in this thread). I have rigged quite a few models that have made liberal use of bias tweaking...in every case, I had to remove that tweaking (and either re-model sections or move things around as much as I could when the model had already been textured) in order to get good looking movement. I've seen quite a few people attempt to use bias tweaking to overcome bad modeling. Using it sparingly, and in only the appropriate areas, is the way to go...at least in my mind. Your mileage may vary.

Can you show an example that does this consistently? I've seen this sometimes but it went away after saving and reopening the model. Here is an example Project and a short video clip of what happens when the CP's are moved around. bias_example_project.prj bias_example.mov

It appears to work alright, but that's the movement that I need to reassure myself about. I need to finish the CP Weighting on the upper torso to be sure that everything will work as well as I think it will.

I think it looks great, Heiner. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product.