verbal007
09-30-2008, 04:01 PM
In a scene, the Ctrl Rig, Geometry & Skeleton are all separate files that are referenced in to the Final Character Asset, which is then referenced into Animation Scenes. The Ctrl Rig is then customized to fit the character and attached to the skeleton. These customizations include the placing of controls and the modifiction of NURBS curves using deformers (for stuff like simple muscle sim, etc).
Does anyone have experience with a setup like this? Traditionally I would use the Ctrl Rig as a template which I import and then customize. However, if I am to reference it I have to figure out ways to:
1) Lock and hide the groups that exist above thet control curves. Traditionally these groups are used to place the controls without putting transformation & rotation values on the control curves. These groups are then locked & hidden, to prevent animators from accidentally moving or keying these groups. However, I cannot lock attributes on a reference node. Any ideas?
2) Customized control curve shapes. Once the controls are in place, some of the curve shapes need to be altered so that they fit with the character mesh. These are either control curves or curves used to later control some joints. Without going into detail regarding "how" I do this, deformers (wraps, right now) are uses to shape these controls (via scripts). However, once they have been shaped, how do I bake the information into the shape in order to prevent contruction history from building up?
Those two are the biggies that are giving me a headache right now. If anyone can give me advice on the situation... it would be greatly appreciated. There are obvious benefits to knowing that the rig in each character is referencing the same exact file, but I'm trying to weigh the advantages and costs in referencing the control rig in this fasion.
3) Are there any other issues I can expect to encounter using the referencing scheme outlined at the top?
Thanks in advance to anyone who even puts thought to this. Bonus points to those that take the time to respond. :)
Humbly,
- Jer
Does anyone have experience with a setup like this? Traditionally I would use the Ctrl Rig as a template which I import and then customize. However, if I am to reference it I have to figure out ways to:
1) Lock and hide the groups that exist above thet control curves. Traditionally these groups are used to place the controls without putting transformation & rotation values on the control curves. These groups are then locked & hidden, to prevent animators from accidentally moving or keying these groups. However, I cannot lock attributes on a reference node. Any ideas?
2) Customized control curve shapes. Once the controls are in place, some of the curve shapes need to be altered so that they fit with the character mesh. These are either control curves or curves used to later control some joints. Without going into detail regarding "how" I do this, deformers (wraps, right now) are uses to shape these controls (via scripts). However, once they have been shaped, how do I bake the information into the shape in order to prevent contruction history from building up?
Those two are the biggies that are giving me a headache right now. If anyone can give me advice on the situation... it would be greatly appreciated. There are obvious benefits to knowing that the rig in each character is referencing the same exact file, but I'm trying to weigh the advantages and costs in referencing the control rig in this fasion.
3) Are there any other issues I can expect to encounter using the referencing scheme outlined at the top?
Thanks in advance to anyone who even puts thought to this. Bonus points to those that take the time to respond. :)
Humbly,
- Jer