Mocca and Soft IK

[Stray]

I can answer 2 of those non MOCCA specific questions >

The reason you should have a single mesh is that it will simplify the hierarchies you have to build when setting up a rig. if you have separate parts it is more to deal with and really a hassle. Also if you want a distortion to happen that blends across those parts it is damn near impossible to use multiple meshes and still retain your sanity.

Of course if you are not using bones it is actually a lot easier to multiple parts.

the thing about fixing things in the bone tool. when you go into the bone tool the bones will defauslt back to their original position position and rotation 0,0,0. It is best that they are fixed so that their desired position is remembered.

Also never use the object tool to size things. It will cause unwanted distortion of your axis system.

As for all that MOCCA madness. I gave it up for strict rotations for now (except some cool rag doll effects I am screwing with now) I ams still getting great results from the old HardIK and some cool nodes I have found.

For what it's worth i am writing a tutorial that explains what It is that I am doing. i am also looking at Motionbuilder as a consideration.

Good Luck
-Stray

[phaederus]

never use the object tool

thats quite a vital tip methinks. thanks. any more would be gratfully recieved. what i think i want to try and do is compile a list of do's and donts for mocca. that way we can put it in the faq's section

[bobtronic]

Ok, here is one:

Don't forget after building the bone chain and assigning
SoftIK tags to give them rest positions and rotations.
Very important.

Bob

[phaederus]

bob this is part of what i'm confused about. the mime tuts say to select the set position and set rotation buttons afer selecting all the soft ik tags, but they dont seem to do anything. should i be thinking about doing this individually? and should i be doing this through the attributes tags or using the automated buttons?

finally fo this post do you know if the dvd mentioned in the rigging help thread is available in english

[bobtronic]

At the first glance they don't seem to do anything. But
it is very important to do so. Otherwise you get the problems
you described in your first post. I did also the Mime tut
and had no problems appart from that I think its not the
best SoftIK rig. I used the buttons in MOCCA tool box after
selecting the the SoftIK tags. The rest postions and rotations
give the rig something to compare and its necessary for
the IK calculations. Also you get the possibilty to reset
your bones easy. I have also to say that I am not a SoftIK
expert. So I can't explain it good enough. If you like you
could look at a rig I made for my doll character. I posted
it in an old thread. Here are the links to the files:

http://home.snafu.de/bobtronic/misc/doll_bones.zip
(the rig and mesh)

http://home.snafu.de/bobtronic/misc/pushing.zip
(a little raw test animation)

I don't know if the DVD is avaible in English, sorry.

I am restricted to C4D 6.3 at the moment, so no SoftIK
here (saving money for R8 :) )


hope this helps a little, Bob

[flyingP]

Page 11 in the Mocca Manual under the section "Rest" does a pretty good explanation of why you need to set them and what they do IMO at least. The set rest position and set rest rotation updates that section in the Mocca Tag if you were wondering where to look, very important for "reset to rest state" as well.

cheers

[MLMckenzie]

Hi all,

Well I'm new here, (just got the Studio Bundle), and have dived into the Mocca tutorials! Everything was going great with the mime leg setup until I mirrored the left leg for the right leg setup. When I went to test the soft IK, and turned on the auto refresh, the right leg immediately became a deformed mess. The left leg is fine. I've been reading all of the posts on rigging etc. but still can't figure out what is causing this. Any ideas?
The manual seems to imply that the mirror bones tool should take care of all the set-up that was completed on the left leg, and I followed the same steps to activate SIK and test the setup as was indicated for the left leg. What did I miss?

Thanks for any help.
So far I am very impressed with Cinema!

[LucentDreams]

Originally posted by phaederus
from Kai
what are the problems here? and what is the best way of creating and editing a rig.

BAsically the reason I asked if he'd been doing that, is that jumping back and foruth between the bone tool and regular modes can often lead to you changing the bones position rotation and scale without it being fixed, so when you go bakc into the bonetol it may not change to much, but then when you leave the bone tool, it may jump and totally change size.

Also one thing I feel I should mentin that people almost always confuse, is that FIXATION and those green checkmarks next to the bone are NOT the same things. Just because a bone has a green checkmark, DOES NOT mean its fixed, and just because a bone doesn't have a greencheckmark DOES NOT mean it is not fixed. All the green checkmark represents is the deformer is one, meaning now the bone is actually deforming the mesh now, but it doesn't mena that the bones are properly fixed.

[MLMckenzie]

Well, I may have found the answer to my problem on the Creative Cow forum. It appears I need to "fix" the bones after they are mirrored. Does this sound like the solution? I will give this a try when I get home.

[dfaris]

Originally posted by MLMckenzie
Well, I may have found the answer to my problem on the Creative Cow forum. It appears I need to "fix" the bones after they are mirrored. Does this sound like the solution? I will give this a try when I get home.

Hey MLMckenzie,

I had the same problem, after you mirror the bones to the right leg go to the mocca menu and set rest position and set rest rotation for the right leg. This fixed it for me.

[sinai_1]

Is your model a single mesh
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
quote:
from bobtronic
why does this matter? what should i be thinking about at this stage. can the mesh be in a heiracal system, ie shirt>shorts>legs and so on?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FROM EXPIRIENCE
In Jens Jung's Dvd Tutorial (it has English Translation Voice overed German), the model is not single meshed, but the the file he corrected for me is, and he fixed it right(except for the legs;he suggested a re-rig, which is ok by me)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
quote:
are you using the bone tool when making your skeleton, are you making sure they are fixed before leaving the bone tool. are you moving the bones and scaling them before going back into the bone tool?
did you fix bones while still in the bone tool? or by exiting the bone tool?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

from Kai
what are the problems here? and what is the best way of creating and editing a rig.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

SOMETHING I JUST LEARNT
Each time you creat a bone with the bone tool and adjustment is made to the bone, it must be fixed before goig back to the bone tool.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
setting the rest rotation
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
quote:
from bobtronic
been having dificulty with this as the set rotation and position buttons dont always seem to do anything. what should i be looking for and thinking about here?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You've to individually set "Rotational"rest percentage for each bone by selecting SIK tag and selecting the "Rest" tab in the AttributesManager(this needs playing arround with,to see which setting works well for your character.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Overall, i'll sugeest getting the Dvd tutorial. In my opinion, its a great learning tool.

[phaederus]

thanks for all your post guys. this is really starting to help me get my head around mocca. i think i'll be purchasing that dvd.

atb

[CGTalk Moderation]

This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.