Moving a Rig to another project??

[catizone]

First, I'll assume you have your elements parented to Master nulls, for quick moving, rotating, or deleting of items. Delete everything but the Bone Deform and rig and Save that scene file. Then load/append that scene file into your new one. Then just be sure to set the Bone Deform to affect the proper mesh. You should be able to scale the whole rig from Setup.

Best,
Rick

[ctguitars]

Hi Rick,

Thanks for that. Got most of the way. One thing I am not sure of -

"How to set the Bone Deform to affect the proper mesh"

Any info nugget on that one :)

Apreciate this,
Thanks Again,
Aidan

[catizone]

In Setup, go to the Effects Tab. You will see your Bone Deform. The Add/Remove/Replace buttons will allow you to ADD an additional mesh for the bones to affect, REPLACE one mesh for another, or REMOVE, which will allow you to remove some additional mesh.

Note:You can't remove the final target object as the effect has to modify something. SO when you import the rig, maybe it would be best to have the object it deforms in that SCene file, then you can replace the object it modifies.

Best,
Rick

[ctguitars]

Rick,

Thanks again for this.

Now, just a few questions to see what is / what is not possible:

1. Can you build a skeleton / rig ONLY in a file with no mesh, save it and use it as a standard rig to import into other projects? In effect have a stock of meshes for general use.

2. Can you do the same but with a partial rig? For example a leg/foot rig only [ no mesh ]. Body part rigs. And then bring any of these parts into a new project to build a full rig around it.

3. In both cases where the rig is imported into a project with a mesh/model already - will that rig 'weight' the proper points in the mesh/model OR if you import just a partial rig will it weight the whole mesh/model instead?

Just asking some bizarre questions like this to see how far one can push Messiah. And also to find out WHAT NOT TO DO,

Cheers
Aidan

[catizone]

1. Can you build a skeleton / rig ONLY in a file with no mesh, save it and use it as a standard rig to import into other projects? In effect have a stock of meshes for general use.

Yes, use a master null with bone deform "affecting" that.

2. Can you do the same but with a partial rig? For example a leg/foot rig only [ no mesh ]. Body part rigs. And then bring any of these parts into a new project to build a full rig around it.

Yes.

3. In both cases where the rig is imported into a project with a mesh/model already - will that rig 'weight' the proper points in the mesh/model OR if you import just a partial rig will it weight the whole mesh/model instead?

Well...parent the section you bring in to your whole rig and it will affect the areas they are supposed. If you swap out meshes, it will affect the new one as is logical...meaning....if it has different shape, you may need to adjust the rig a bit, or add some additional bones.

Best,
Rick

[ctguitars]

Hi Rick,

Got your PM - yes strange it is.

Well, I got the partial rig across and added it and also added more bones etc - all is fine. BUT - more questions.

I tried to key in a simple walk of a simple test character, made a mistake. I then attempted to delete keys in the Motion Graph to get the character ack to its initial stance. His stance is the classic - arms out horizontal, legs apart. BUT once I deleted what I though were the errant keys, the skeleton screwed up - the arms folded into his side, disappearing into the sides of his torso. I cannot seem to get the character mesh back to the initial stance.

Any ideas / best practice for removing all keys to start over again?

Cheers

Aidan
www.tidalsound.com (http://www.tidalsound.com)
www.netactivesolutions.net (http://www.netactivesolutions.net)

[isobarxx]

The simplest way is to go into Setup mode and hit Enter to create a key for your hierarchy.

Remember the key creation dialog respects what you have selected down to the left of the dope master (Current Item, Hierarchy, All Items, etc).

[Gene Williams]

Sounds like you might have deleted the keys on frame 0. That will definately ruin your
rig, have to leave those keys. If you select range and set in to 1 and out to end of animation then select the items to effect and right click on delete and all keys will be deleted.

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