Well it's a little early to release, but had a request to post it. The issues I had with this method will be in the next release of v13 (monday). V14 alpha 6 has the fix for the roll issue on export and importing model with materials, but a new issue has cropped up, images for decals do not import (decal and stamp are intact). This can be worked around by opening the model first bringing in the images into the project, then import the model into the installation rig.

You will need the install rig plug-in, there is a copy in the zip folder I posted. Just drag and drop it in the hxt folder of the version of AM you are using (v13 or v14)

This version contains the bone face rig......... A five finger foot gizmo version coming soon, four fingers if need and a quad version if it's worth the effort.

So to use the rig, open the "v13_Five_Finger_Squetch_Rig_Posable_Installation_03_05_2007" model. Import your model, SAVE AS "your models name_install" so you don't override the rig or your model. Open an action and follow the steps using the pose sliders. Once finished positioning the bones you can save the action, if you need to make changes (this will mean reassigning and recompensating).

Once you finished positioning, right click in the action window and export model (SAVE AS "model name_export"). Start a new project and open the model. You have to delete the installation poses from the user properties and the installation relationships from the relationship folder. SAVE model. (if you have trouble doing this, just let me know)

Open the "v13_Five_Finger_Squetch_Rig_03_05_2007_relationships_installation" model and import your saved model. Run the install rig plug-in and your ready to assign cps. Follow David Simmons' video tuts for recompensating the rig. I will at some point write up a check list for the order in which compensating needs to be done.

NOTE: you can use this in the current version of v13, if you have no materials or import your model as an action object. Just save the project or action and export when v13s comes out.


Removed attachment- updated rig on page 4

Oh oh... could this mean I'm going to be rigging my own characters?
Must resist temptation... I've got TWO animating to do!

Thanks Mark!
I don't fully understand the action install part of this yet but I look forward to finding out.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

I'm going to install this as soon as possible! (I'm running Alpha, so that might be tomorrow, if I can. Minus TWO time...)

This is ABSOLUTELY AWESOME!!!!! I'm working my way through this and it's actually a blast to do. Right now I'm on step 4 (Thumbs) and it's only been about 10 minutes..... without a hitch.

There's one question so far. Is there supposed to be a Thumb Translate (something like "translate_thumb_install_bones"? I only see a rotate thumb option.

Can't wait to check this out further. Thanks X 1 million for all of the hard work and hours that went into this!

Mark

They are fixing the "Export to Model" from an Action !

That is huge! Thanks Mark and thanks Hash.

I will be interested to see what you have done, because I now have to do something similar to the rig we are developing.

My target for a test version of a plugin to automatically set all the Constraints offsets is Monday. This would eliminate one of the major difficult "next steps" in installing this rig. I can see the day very soon when a rig skeleton can be installed comfortably in 10 minutes. I will have to try and find someone who can compile the MAC version of te plugin.

Weighting, smartskin. face poses - no easy way out there yet. To do really well, that can be 2 days work or more.

By the way, Mark, let me know if there are any features you need added to the Install Rig plugin. Noel was kind enough to send me a copy of the source, so I can add features if they are needed.

Richard Harrowell.

I'm glad you like it Mark. The translate_orange_carpal_install_bones (center_thumb_base_pivot) translate poses, sets the position of the thumb install bone.

Perfect! This thing is so brilliant, I can't get over it.

Rich, next release has the update in v13. With a big thanks to the guys a Hash Inc.

Can't wait for your results from the test plug-in.....Now that's going to be awesome!!!

Thanks to Mark and the Hash programmers!

Once Richard gets his tweaks done, this will be insanely easy.

David and Mark,

This is the logic I was considering for my plugin:

If an offset has been set on a constraint - even if it is currently a zero offset (ie if the offset numbers show up in bold type) and if the offset is a constant value, I will recalculate the offset.

If there is no current offset, I will assume that I should not calculate this offset. I am assuming here that there will be some constraint that are never meant to have offsets. For example, if you want the eyes to aim at a target null, you probably really do want the eyes aiming exactly at the target null.

Finally, if a constraint seems to have an animated offset, I will not touch it's offset values.

So in practical terms, this would meant that in the Squetch rig, someone would need to identify which constraints need to be set, and see that a value has been entered into the offset properties. In many cases, this will mean typing in offset values of zero.

Does that sound reasonably compatible with the Squetch rig?

Constraints do not have custom names, so I cannot use naming conventions to control which offsets get calculated. If the method I have proposed is no good, I do have an alternative method which would be a text file listing constraints that need to be calculated.


Richard Harrowell.

Sounds like it will work, Richard...if we need to tweak things, we'll tweak them to make it happen. Thanks for tackling that!

Richard, do you think that your compensate plug-in can be incorporated into the install rig plug-in? Or have the install plug-in execute the compensate plug-in when it's finished its task?

I was considering that. I definitely could do it.

Initially it will be seperate plugin and we will see how well the concept works first.

The thing is that it will be a useful tool while you are building a new rig for a model and that might mean either leaving it as a seperate plugin, or combining it with the install rig, but add a interface window to the Install Rig plugin. I definitely like the idea of minimizing the number of plugins - too many is just plain confusing.


Richard Harrowell.

That sounds great Richard.

David Simmons was right this does kick ass! Will try installing in a character as soon as I get my update.

This is amazing!!!
David and Mark, and all the guys at Hash Inc, you guys astound me!

This is a beautiful solution to the squetch installation and will make it accessible to everyone.

There are some sliders that are a little confusing at the moment, as they seem to repeat the movement of previous slider adjustments, but I'm sure they are there for a very good reason.

On the down side, I have made two attempts at rigging a character so far and unfortunately both ended with an "Exception #001" about half way through. The last time was as I was adjusting the position of the fingers. I'll try again later.
-------------------------

Gold stars to all of you Squetchy geniuses!!!

Hmm..... never had any exception errors, Paul, in my tests anyway.

Which poses were confusing?

Had to quit early last night before finishing the install... dangit. I was having so much fun I didn't want to quit.

Another question: Is there any problem going back a few steps in the process to readjust placement of bones if necessary (as long as it's done prior to running the install rig)? The reason I ask is that I'm not sure exactly where all of the face install bones should be placed (jowls), and sometimes it becomes clearer as you get further on in the process.

Thanks,

Mark

Sure, no problem, you can adjust any pose, as long as you do it before export.


[edit] In fact, you can use the user properties to set the poses, instead of the pose slider window. This will retain the the settings of the poses after export, but the order of the poses get reorderd (an issue that can be fixed by Hash if needed). This will allow you to open an action again and readjust if needed (before running the install plug-in).

I'm about to start again so I will try to keep notes this time.

I have tried both A:M13r and A:M14 Alpha6. Which is the best version to use?

I would have to say v14 alpha 6, until v13s comes out (monday) with the Z rotation fix on export. V13 is fine to use, but don't export until you can open the project or action in v13s.

Mark, could you briefly explain the current Z rotation export problem. Is it that all of the Z rotations are lost on export?

Also, do you recommend David Simmons' bone face tutorial example model to use as a guide for face bone placement, or Tinman, or some other model?

The current Z rotation problem effect the Z rotation of the white leg install, green arm install and the thumb install bones. After export the roll of these bones revert back to its original state (NOT GOOD) this is a nightmare to fix. I also found unwant Z rotation on bones in the hand (ALSO NOT GOOD).

The current export from action takes the translation of the bones and converts it to a starting bone position, then it take the X and Y rotation, with the scale, to set the end position of the bone. It does not consider the Z rotation at all. This is fixed in 14 alpha 6 and is fixed in 13s, when they release it.

I would recommend watching David's "A Face Rigging Method" for bone placement in the face, until new documentation is posted. I think David is going to create a new video tut using this method, when he finds time, I hope anyway.

Note: The face bones do not have to be used (optional) except the jaw, eyes and tongue, if you want some control of the face. The muscle poses of the original FACE interface method can be used.

Any 'Z' rotations on bones isn't saved when using v13r or earlier, lost on export.

Tinman is a good guide for the present face bones setup at the moment (although he has a few other add-ons that are character specific). I've got a character that I will be releasing in the next week or so that will have a rigged face...I intend for him to replace Squetchy Thom (at the moment I'm using him to work out the limb bowing, which I'm hoping to add soon).

---------------------------
EDIT
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I will definitely get a tutorial out as soon as things get stabilized.

Okay, I am up to positioning the rig for the eyes and I am finding that it is not possible to get the cluster of bones to centre accurately on the eye balls. The pose slider moves the bones in a step size that is too large. Is it safe to translate them by hand, (with the "N" key), and if so is there one bone that will carry the others with it or should I do them all one at a time?

The rig didn't seem so confusing this time except that I can't find the slider for rotating the calve around the x-axis. I know it's there somewhere.

I normally use intermediate bones for all the joints so I was wondering if this installer could be made to add them by turning on a pose or setting some kind of flag or is it considered better practice these days to use weighting?

Thanks!

In the pose slider window click the number percentage, you then can input the desired translation or rotation, using a decimal to be more precise, (for example 111.23).

There is no slider for rotating the calves, the translation on the Z axis for the "black_calf_install bones" sets the rotation on the X axis. The rig is designed to minimize steps, it's also designed to minimize mistakes.

There are fan bones built into the rig (thighs, knees, shoulders, elbows, forearm twist fans and wrists). These are single bone fans, except the forearm twist fans, more can be added after installation if so desired. With these fans and weighting, that should be all you need. All the TWO models were rigged this way.

Yes. Sorry, I realised that right after posting and got lost in the rigging instead of editing my post.


Ah! Thanks.



WooHoo!!! You guys are beautiful!!! (Oh...excuse me getting carried away. That is something that I have wanted automating for a long time). BIG THANKYOU from me!:D That will save some time! And I was just on the verge of moving from using intermediate bones on finger joints to using weighting alone anyway.

On the subject of losing z-rotation data, if I don't need to alter any of the z-rot values then I am assuming that the rig will be okay in A:M13r. Is that correct?

No, I experienced unwanted Z rotation in the hand bones, and god only knows what else on export, even though no Z rotation was made to these bones.

Okay. I'm confused. (I knew it wouldn't take long).

I have the rig aligned and I would like to start assigning CPs to the bones but the question is... which bones?

How do I see just the geo-rig?

Did you export the model from the action? Did you run the install rig plug-in? Right click in modelling window and select plug-ins>wizards>install rig (that's if you placed the plug-in in the hxt folder of the version you are using) The plug-in removes the install bones and reparents them in the correct hierarchy, plus unhides the geom bones for assigning cps.

Thanks. I was trying to run the install rig plugin from the action. (I know...I know).

I have exported the model from the Action and then imported it to a new Project. I ran the "InstallRig" plugin in the model window and I get this message:

Click to view attachment

You need to reread my original instructions.

Export model
Reopen model and delete the installation pose sliders and the installation relationships folder, save model.
Open the " v13_Five_Finger_Squetch_Rig_03_05_2007_relationships_installation" model and import the saved model, with bones that have the installation poses and folders deleted.
Then run the install plug-in.

Mark and David:
Thanks for completely ruining my Sunday
I've avoided the Squetch rig it because it looked like such a time consuming process, at the same time regretting the fact because it's such a nice rig.
No longer... this is so very very cool.

Once Richard gets his compensate plug-in ready to use, it will be a snap.

I've been working on the reordering of pose slider on import of the rig. Using a numerical prefix in the poses, I was able to eleminate the reordering problem, the only issue is phantom poses created on export (smartskin sliders) minor issue, hopefully Hash can fix that.

I'm attempting to combine the installation model with the relationship model to see how compatible there are in the action install (my cause constraint issues) but maybe not, hopefully. This would eleminate the need to import the model into the rig (you'll be able to import the rig into your model instead) and eleminate the need to import the boned version into the relationship model.

Richard, can the install plug-in be coded to delete in the installation pose slider folder from the user properties and the installation relationships from the relationship folder? That would eleminate another step.

Things are looking good so far on the combined rig, I had to make a few adjustments though. I just did an install with it and it seems to be in order. Now I just have to assign cps and see if the rig works properly.

V13s is here. The guys at Hash Inc ROCK!

I will have a new update to the posable rig coming soon. I have to do a quick test and double check some modifications I made. The posable rig just got easier.

Nice, the posable rig seems to be really coming together now. I'll wait for the update and use version 13s to try it out.

That's music to my ears man. Rock on. And yes, the Hash guys are pretty damn awesome

NEW UPDATE! V13s only.

Import your model into the "v13s_Five_Finger_Squetch_Rig_Posable_Installation_03_05_2007" or import "v13s_Five_Finger_Squetch_Rig_Posable_Installation_03_05_2007" into your model. (it doesn't matter anymore)

Create new action and follow the steps in the pose slider window. MAKE SURE YOU USE ONLY THE INSTALLATION POSES.

After posing the rig to your model, export the model from the action window and "save as".

Start a new project and open the new model. Go to the user properties and delete the installation pose folder using the delete key on your keyboard. Open the relationship folder>user properties and select the installation pose folder and delete using the delete key on keyboard. Save model. (hoping to make this part, part of the install rig plug-in)

Run install rig plug-in. (there is a copy of the plug-in in the zip folder, place it in the v13 htx folder) You are now ready to assign cps.

Removed- new update on page 4

Hi Mark,

I only had a few minutes to test the new version, but here's what I found (using v13s). I imported "v13s_Five_Finger_Squetch_Rig_Posable_Installation_03_05_2007" into my mesh model and made it to step 4 where I found these items:

(all in Step 4):

scale_red_hand_install_bones_XYZ_axis (top_view)
- needs to scale bigger than the current 100%

rotate_red_hand_install_bones_Y_axis
rotate_red_hand_install_bones_X_axis
- neither of these cause rotation

white_middle_fingers
translate_middle_finger_install_bones (center_of_first_knuckle)
- X,Y,Z all do nothing

white_ring_fingers
translate_ring_finger_install_bones (center_of_first_knuckle)
- X,Y,Z all do nothing

white_pinky_fingers
translate_pinky_finger_install_bones (center_of_first_knuckle)
- X,Y,Z all do nothing

I checked each ones' relationship folder and they appeared to have the proper guts, so I don't know what the problem is.

Unfortunately I don't have any more time tonight for more testing, but I'll try again tomorrow night. Gotta get to sleep. Only got through step 4, so don't know if there may be other items to look at. I will also try a fresh download and see if that helps. Hopefully it's just something simple....

Sorry about that, It was a heirarchy issue. I update the above post with the fix.

Mark, To fix it, drag the installation constraint folder above the step 1 relationships in the relationships folder.

OK, tried it this morning works great! Not much time so I didn't install the face stuff yet. I have to look at another model to get an idea of the correct bone placement. Took me about 20 - 30 minutes to install the rig without weighting and face. Which is sweet when I installed by hand the last time it took me hours.
With this step by step install method, anyone should be able to install (actually kind of fun too) the rig without a problem.
Thanks for doing this!

David

Thanks a ton for the quick fix and all of the hard work that went into this project. The pose install method is another one of those A:M treasures that make animation possible for even the weekend hack. It's brilliant.

Mark

David, did you try installing before the install rig plug-in? It took hours just to reparent and delete the install bones.

Thanks Mark. Have you seen the update to the face controls, I came up with a way to customize the face interface (after installing), David liked it and added it to the rig.

One other thing, The face interface needs to be setup after you run the install plug-in. I could add sliders to to position it when installing the rig, but I like having it out of the way when assigning cps. Maybe I could add it to the customizing the interface.

Hey Mark, I really like the new "Customize Interface" controls you added. That will make life easier. Thanks for bringing it to my attention because I wouldn't have seen it otherwise for awhile.

I'm wondering what's going on with the FACE mesh now. In the model file the arrangement of the interface is somewhat scrambled. It appears to be not positioned properly at any of the Off, Joint or Split positions, either. The nulls are positioned correctly and appear to work fine, but the mesh is doing its own crazy thing. Have you noticed this?

Edit:
Here's what I found. It appears that the FACE mesh gets scrambled as soon as the install model is exported from the action. It's like the FACE Off position of the mesh is now saved as the default FACE mesh postion. Very odd!

No, I haven't noticed the Face mesh getting scrabbled, I'll look into it.

If you set the "Face off" pose to "not set" in the user properties of the model, it should be fine (it keeps the mesh the same as the modeling window). I'll update the rig to have it not set.

Wow, you're fast! Thanks for hunting that one down.