TSM2 Questions

[adamP]

Thinking of getting TSM2, but have a few questions...

 

Is it worth it?

 

Can I set up pose sliders for the fingers in addition to being able to roll the handles of the finger bones?

 

If I feel that the pelvis and body bones in the control rig are too small, can I scale them larger in the model window? (will this mess anything up?)

 

Can I put the heel IK control going straight back rather than having it diagonal?

 

 

Thanks

[kuep]

I just bought tsm2 lately. Its great. For the most part, I don't think you can mess with the rig itself to much but for selections objects you could probably use nulls and scale them up to to what you need.

 

you can create any sliders you want.

 

as far as the heel control you would have to ask the anzovin guys but I think does the job the way it is.

 

 

It is well worth it for us. It takes bit to get other types of characters setup without any examples other than a bipeds.

 

It would be great if there was some basic examples of rigging a bird, snake, animals and such.

things like where is the best place to set the skeleton in your particular character with and what you may have to change in the rig to make it work properly. Its almost impossible to give specific examples but a general idea would work.

 

 

It all depends on what you are going use it for to but I say its a great investment and time saver.

Also if you are setting up lots of characters the weightmover works well to.

 

hope this helps

[Raf Anzovin]

Can I set up pose sliders for the fingers in addition to being able to roll the handles of the finger bones?

 

Once the control rig has been added, you can add whatever additional sliders you want.

 

If I feel that the pelvis and body bones in the control rig are too small, can I scale them larger in the model window? (will this mess anything up?)

 

Yes, just make sure they're pointing in the same direction. How big they are doesn't matter.

 

Can I put the heel IK control going straight back rather than having it diagonal?

 

Yes.

 

--Raf

[adamP]

Thanks John and Raf, I'm gonna get it right now!

[adamP]

Can I put the heel IK control going straight back rather than having it diagonal?

 

Yes.

 

--Raf

Do I make the foot or heel bones horizontal in TSM skeleton before running TSM Rigger? Or do I make the heel IK control horizontal AFTER running TSM Rigger?

[Morgan]

Do I make the foot or heel bones horizontal in TSM skeleton before running TSM Rigger? Or do I make the heel IK control horizontal AFTER running TSM Rigger?

Before. You should always make any modifications to the base skeleton before running Rigger -- any changes you make afterwards are likely to have undesired results when you turn on TSM Constraints.

[kuep]

Yes, undesirable!!!

[adamP]

thanks a lot!

[AniMattor]

Just a quick question: in Duel, I think I saw a few spots where the limbs were stretching. Does TSM2 include limb stretching or was that added after the fact? (I mean limb stretching like in incredibles--not elastigirl, just the cartoony squash and stretch they used).

 

Thanks,

 

Matt

[luckbat]

The Anzovins have a movie of TSM-2 in action, which I believe showcases some built-in squash-n-stretch.

 

Check it out and see if it's what you're looking for...

 

http://lib1.store.vip.sc5.yahoo.com/lib/ra...pes/TSM2-01.mov

[John Bigboote]

The limb-stretching feature is most useful. As you suspected, it does not work in a 'elasti-girl' manner, rather the individual limbs just grow on a slider...great for when you need 'just a little more reach' in an action or to accentuate a punch-or whatever. Also, the spine stretcher is a useful addition as well...my characters all seem to benefit from a spine-stretch of 25-50% all the time...I just leave it set and it gives a great flow to the torso.

 

The fingers work as Raf pointed-out but with 1 well-documented drawback: If you use a 'paste mirror' keyframe operation to your entire rig the fingers will 'flip-out' and roll backwards painfully. What I usually will do after 'paste-mirror' is go thru the bones channels and mass-delete anything with the word 'finger' or 'thumb' in it... and since fingers are usually left as the last thing to be animated, it doesn't delete any of my animation.

 

Thats a great tip to me....that I can scale-up control bones...as I always seem to be unable to find the 'hand' bone amidst all the fingers.

 

Here's another tip in return: I dont like always starting an animation from the 'T-POSE'...so I'll make my own master ON/OFF pose called 'READY TO ANIMATE' or something like that. In it, I'll turn-on the TSM2 rig, turn-on my intermediary constraints, switch the TSM2 arms from FK to IK, which I prefer (unless using Mo-Cap BVH's) and give the spine and legs a little 'stretch' (25-50% for the spine...3-10 % for the legs) I also like the TSM2's upper leg controllers to be ON. Then, I'll put the character in a more 'ready-to go' pose which usually means I lower the arms to the sides, adjust the torso and pelvis to accomodate the slight stretching, and maybe put the fingers in a slight curl. THEN, when I go to animate in an action or chor all I have to do is turn on that 1 pose and my character is 'ready-to-go'....

 

Is it worth it? DEFINATELY! Not ONLY have I saved TONS of time in rigging hours, but I have learned LOTS from seeing how it is done.

 

SIDE NOTE: Anzovin's WeightMover is an equally-worthy investment for smooth flowing weights. Between TSM2 and WM, I can take a 'just-modelled' character from 'unboned' to fully bendable and animatable in about an hour...and there's really no 'brain-surgury' involved once you get the hang of it.AND, Anzovin's tech support is second to none.

 

UNPAID, UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL.

 

Matt Campbell, aka John Bigboote

Professional Animator