Joint bone rig that maintains volume

[mkelley]

Oh yes -- I could definitely use that script.

That would solve one of my biggest pet peeves with AS. In my 3D software we routinely define a set of animations that we can then load in to other rigs and then modify to give "personality". That way you can have a set of walks, sneaks and runs, for example, and when you get a new character you just load them up.

So -- get it finished!!! <BG>

[synthsin75]

Yeah Vern, that script would revolutionize AS. Can't wait!

[heyvern]

It's done. It works. I'm flipping out!

Is this really as exciting as I think it is??? I mean... my head is spinning from the possibilities. Saved action files!!!!!! Saved external action files!! IT'S REAL BABY!

I've been playing with it for a few hours... it just... WORKS!

---------
It's missing the control constraints; angle, translation, scale. I will put those in after I wake up. I have to go to sleep now. I can barely keep my eyes open... seriously... I keep falling asleep in front of my computer but I had to get it working I was so close. I will finish tweaking and post the prototype later today or tonight.

It also doesn't save switch layer or vector layer or another "non-bone" keys. I will put that in when I've "improved" the code....

... I "stole" or "borrowed" most of the code to do this prototype from the Macton/Crashcore script (it was not very user friendly). I will eventually rewrite it so it's not so bloated.

He was reading in one line at a time from the saved text file when in lua it is much more efficient to read the WHOLE THING in and stick the results in a table for easy sorting. I have this godforsaken "if then" structure... that works perfectly... but it's a nightmare to try and read it.

The file format for the saved files might change as well so the prototype files probably won't be "forward" compatible... I have to see how hard it will be to just stick with the simple text format.

I'M SO FREAKING EXCITED BY THESE SCRIPTS! These are the best since the copy/flip bones and bone rename script.

-vern

[mkelley]

Get some sleep -- and then get that goodie up for us!!!

Seriously, this is a huge advancement for all serious animators. Any of us doing production work need a tool just like this -- as I said, was my biggest gripe with AS (and made it seem more like a "toy" than software that could be used to get a job done).

We all had our workarounds, I'm guessing, but this is the kind of development that could energize the community. Right now I'm thinking that folks could post their own actions for others to use, and could even be something people might want to sell.

I can hardly wait to try it (this IS something I can use right now -- can't tell you how much pressure I'm feeling about this assignment :>)

[heyvern]

I'm off to bed now. Just a heads up though;

Until I change the original Macton code as I described previously I can't save any constraint parents/targets. Constraint control parents are based on bone ID's.

If the bone ID's are different from file to file (yes they would be)I have to use the bone NAME to match bones. The only way to do that is to load the text file into a table and sort by the name, matching control parents with control parents by name. The code structure now is too messed up to work.

If you create your constraints ahead of time this isn't a problem, but it would be fantastic to be able to load in a file and have ALL the constraints load in as well. Maybe that's taking it too far. Constraints can't be animated anyway so they have to load on frame 0 with these scripts. If you load keys from frame 0 it would destroy your bone set up.

You could load it twice. Uncheck all the bone attributes except for contstraints and only load on frame 0...

... Oh! Did I not mention that? You can choose which attributes to bring in. If you only want rotation then just select rotation. And you can set a frame range to import animation. So you could set the animation to be imported anywhere in the time line and not effect other key frames. You can also "overlay" the keys. Overlay means existing keys won't be deleted or touched.

I have to confess these cool features were in the original script so I left them in.

Yeeehaaaa! this thing kicks arse.

Nighty night fellow ASer's (that sounds horrible )

-vern

[synthsin75]

Wow, that sounds amazing, Vern! That script will make AS accessible to many more users. Those who can't draw can already purchase characters, but this will allow artists who can't animate well to potentially purchase preanimated rigs they can add their own characters to.

Not to mention the real animators who'd be able to reuse more of their hard work. AS is already a pretty fast animation tool, but this could make it blazing!

[heyvern]

Thanks Synth... I did make a mistake on my last post. You can't import a sequence in the middle of the time line. Chalk that up to sleep deprivation.

-vern

[synthsin75]

Back on topic...

I must admit that I don't really see the benefits of having a connected shape limb. I mean it does provide that little bit of stretch between shapes, but I don't really miss that little nuance.

[heyvern]

I must admit that I don't really see the benefits of having a connected shape limb.

I couldn't live without because of the way I do my characters. I like having that smooth joint. Otherwise it looks like "cut out" animation. Not bashing that technique, I just don't like it for my own stuff.

Plus there is no way to extend or contract the "line" of overlap on a joint if there isn't a connection of that type.

-vern

[Pinesal]

All the links in this thread are dead.

Can I get more info on this stuff?

[Víctor Paredes]

All the links in this thread are dead.

Can I get more info on this stuff?

I'm not sure, but it seems to be this thread became obsolete after the inclusion of Smart bones feature.

[Pinesal]

I'm still on Debut. So it's nor obsolete for me.