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wodagone
04-17-2010, 10:00 AM
Hi,
I have been developing my workflow for applying mocap to my charcter rig using Maya 2009 and
MotionBuilder 2010.
Upon searching the forums I am happy that I am working correctly

Except for the final stage of getting an IK rig from MB into Maya.

workflow

1. build skeleton and skin in Maya ( no IK applied )
2. export all to MB
3. Characterize and load animation
4. plot animation to IK/FK Control Rig
5. save as FBX ( seems more reliable than exporting )
6. Import back into maya

Here i have a rigged mesh with keyframes on every frame for every joint.( Fine so far....)

But no IK control.

There are effectors present for all joints c/w pinning options in channel box, but they are not connected/ have no influence on the skeleton.

What i want to do is modify animation over existing on anim layers. I just need IK setup for legs so as to be able to tweak the hips (COG) position. The rest of body will stay FK.

Also i have tried exporting same rig with IK into MB. BUt get same results.

some other info: importing into maya FBX statistics say " FBIK Definitions:1 " so i am assuming IK info is in the scene.

once imported into Maya there are 2 overlying rigs. One is my original rig and other is MB control rig . Both have identical sets of disfunctional effectors.

Im obviously missing some fundamental step here and have searched for similar threads but everyone else seems to have no probs with this.
ANY suggestions kindly appreciated.
Thanks
wodagone
04-19-2010, 10:13 AM
having continued to search on this problem it seems like a number of people are asking the same question but the majority are trying to apply it to mayas FBIK.
I only want IK on the legs.

this guy is kind of asking the same i think.

http://the-area-beta.com/forum/autodesk-maya/animation/workflow-maya-and-motionbuilder-with-fullbody-ik-rig/

And this a post from another thread on the same subject

Re: Maya to MotionBuilder and back (with IK-Rig)
Just to be sure: Is it even possible to export the control rig? I know mayas fbik system is taken from motionbuilder but i never heard of actually exporting just the control rig.
As I see it 3ds Max and the included Biped have the advantage. Export the animation, put it onto the biped and if you need to refine it inside max. With the current release of maya and the implementation of animation layers i thought the workflow would be kind of the same, guess not.

So..is it actually possible to import a MB rig c/w IK into Maya ??
Im kinda stuck at this point until resolved . Very frustrating !!
Thanks
Bellsey
04-19-2010, 09:55 PM
So..is it actually possible to import a MB rig c/w IK into Maya ??


No this is not possible. You cannot create an animation rig with IK in Mobu and transfer it to Maya, and vice versa. Any animations that need to be transfered must be baked to the skeleton in order for them to be exported.

Why not just use Mobu for creating you animation?. Even with a full FK/IK Mobo rig applied you can decide what you key frame as IK and what isn't.

Or in Maya 2011, there is now a HIK retargeting and rig system similar to Mobu's.
wodagone
04-20-2010, 06:45 PM
OK thanks a lot Bellsy. That sorts that one out. Its a shame as there are lots of scripts/shelf tools that i use. Such as arc tracking, custom shelf selections etc. But not the end of the world.
thanks again
wodagone
04-21-2010, 10:11 AM
Just a quick addition. I tried reapplying IK sytem the the imported Skeleton in maya. And then parenting the new IK end effector to the disfunctional MB leg effector that has keyframes.
I only messed about with it briefly last night but it seems to work. Might be a form of workaround.
Possibly a bit pointless though as suggested i will attempt modifying in MB and see how i get on .
Thanks
bclark
04-27-2010, 06:50 AM
you can do two work around and there are some ways to quickly take an IK rig over to Mobu from Maya and back with minimal re-rigging. Your on the right track with your current ideas for your workaround.

This is a big topic though that I can't get in to details here.

another way I have done this is take the baked skeleton in to maya and then apply IK rig and set it to FK, bake the ik handle then turn it back on to IK mode and you can then edit the IK handle (you will need to also bake/create a pole vector for it in order to create a quick throw away IK edit tool to manipulate FK baked data (if you have maya animation layers then this is even less work)
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