As a LW user, you should be acquainted with such advertising and non working features :D ;).
The Python Scripting Implementation had a major bug which caused a lot of instability.
In my mind itĀ“s better to leave out AutorigII, which depends on Python, till it works as it should, than grappling with an unstable Messiah.
well im coping with this as best as i can. however, a disclaimer on their site about the broken autorig would be nice. It would have cost them a sale, but it still would be nice.
i dont know if you really need to buy those CD, i did some tutorial, for messiah,
try to look for them on the forum or in the zoogono.com
(i have 2 sources, one was a torrent file that was directed to my computer and some ppl did the HUGE favor to give me space on there server)
if you cant find them, send me a tell =)
Iām glad I started reading through these posts ā and discovered the Joe Cosman cds, they look to be an exceptional value in every way and will certainly be a major help and education for me to use just starting out with Messiah.
As for ābugsā and changes in the app ā why give up on it? Itās just part of the evolution, all programs must go through these processes. Thereās always a solution. A very important factor in using Messiah for me is that this group helps each other out and all are interested in seeing Messiah progress. And it is. Iām very impressed with what Messiah already can do and am happy to be a part of the revolution and where it is headed.
āMaya
Sorry, Iām not familiar with Fido. Is he an anthropomorphic bipedal type character?
Do you have a proxy object or better yet the actual mesh to rig? You could post screen grabs if you want and try asking specific questions for the rig. (ie: Iām trying to rig the rear legs like I do in Maya. I usuallyā¦blah blah blah). Then we may have some ideas we can throw at you. Just trying to helpā¦
Whoooa! Thatās soon if youāve no experience in messiah. If the budget allows, you may want to consider getting someone with a lot of experience to create a rig for you. I could name two immediately, maks (you should see his facial rig!) and Thomas Hezel (technical guru)ā¦(Ok there will be lots out there)ā¦Not saying theyāre interested or availableā¦but you could try a quick āanyone able to rig this characterā type thread. Better to take less home than spoil a client relationship. 
Well as Thomas said AutoRig 1 isnāt broken. You can still use it afaik. Just copy the AutoRig.mp in the plugins folder. If you donāt have it anymore just say so and I can send it to you.
thanks for all the help guys, im halfway done haha. Im a quick learner 
and i do love how the setup mode saves my rest pose, great time saver. Still wish i had the autorig, but this program is simple enough to learn i guess.
one question i have is the best way to handle the weight maps, any suggestions on fastest workflow?
Thereās no need for weight maps with a character like Fido (Messiah doesnāt use them anyway). Try using hold bones. Open some of the sample character scenes that came with messiah and unhide all the bones. Youāll quickly get an idea of where to put the bones.
hmm. well i ended up going with weight effectors. they seem to do the trick, is there anything wrong with using weight effectors? Are hold bones a better alternative?
ok this program is pissing me off.
it seems that limited range has no effect AT ALL! man this is annoying.
does limited range do anything? seems that regardless of what range i give it, it will still affect adjacent bones ranges.
In setup, make sure your bones are already sligtly bent (eg the knees are slightly forward and legs slightle bent as a result), to indicate the direction they should bend in. I think messiah does some clever background stuff (vets will be able to explain it better!) and IK solves based on this initial bend. I know coming from LW youāre expecting to have to use limits the whole time but messiah does things different (MUCH better IMO). It just takes getting used to.
stooch: Hey, you better cool down a bit.
It was your decision to switch to another software that you seem to know nothing about short before a project. That isnāt something any professional will normally do or recommend if avoidable.
So since you know nothing about the software you will hit obstacles. That is normal. When I started with Lightwave coming from Cinema 4D years ago I got crazy
But if you want help from other users, it will not help you if you constantly repeat how pissed you are, since most of it will be because you donāt know the software and didnāt allow the time to get into it.
If you would start with something like maya with only 4 days time, knowing nothing about it you would be as pissed as you are now.
That is your own fault basically.
So - since the people on this forum arenāt in any way liable to help you, a bit more positive attitude would be much more appropriate.
With that said:
Limited range works fine here. You may want to post your scene so people are able to look at what youāve done and offer suggestions from that.
I personally think I never used weights for bones - just too much hassle and not needed normally. But there is nothing wrong with using them.
Best regards,
i wouldnt try messiah for a project with a deadline without testing it firstā¦
i mean I come from a 2D animation background and the whole thing of 3D is really tough
it always comes from a place u dont expect it ā¦
ALWAYS make good planning for the workflowā¦test again and again in a production
ALWAYS things will go wrong ā¦so you better be somewhat prepared ā¦
thatās what i am doing now i test different charcters setups with messiah for three projects that are going to start.But if i had to do something like for the next week
i would use LW without second thoughtā¦
you must confront everything with a more ZEN attitude.
these things we use are computers the do what you tell them to do
u just have to know how to askā¦
NO weightmaps for Fido Dido ā¦ with such a geometry it would be really easy with just a few control bones ā¦just as everyone else said
(but still if u wanna control with weights use them i prefer curve weight tools )
(especially for controling the flow of a displacement with the awesome AON from Thomas Helzle)
Check the examples scenes and read the the pages of the manual that interest you.
What i find great is the ease and speed to create different rigs for different scenes ā¦
ā¦
anyway i wish you luck with the projectā¦
more positive energy is always a good start.
JB.
hey, dont try to makeup excuses for the program. I am fully aware what to start and what not to start with my deadlines, my problem with this program is the fact that the features that were promised are not present. as far as being able to learn on the fly, judge your own skills against yourself. im almost done with my rig, if you cant learn as fast as i can, thats your own problem.
no amount of ability is going to get around missing features. so im still pissed off and rightfully so.
p.s. It took me one week to move over from lightwave to mayaā¦ It was smooth sailing because features that i expected were included with the program. Again, the only fault here, lies with PMG and their false advertising.
If you feel that i dont deserve your help because im upset with being lied to, that is your prerogative, please refrain from posting because you arent helping.
Another thing - the purpose of this post was not necessarily to get help, but to share my experiences with this program. Losing a few sales because of this post would be a good lesson about the consequences of false advertising.
I edited my original post to reflect the intentions of this thread. For all the ones that actually tried to help, im sincerely appreciative. Thank you very much.
Not really, as I made you the offer to send you the old and working AutoRig, which you didnāt take obviously, so stop whining and start asking in a polite manner. That might acutally get you somewhere in this community.
Right, because you are obviously not looking for help, so I for my part wonāt bug you any longer and let you play with your new tool. Good luck! :applause:
What is that supposed to mean? Where exactly am i supposed to get in this community? Is this some kind of popularity contest?
not in this thread, no. You didnt even have to make this post. Incase you didtn notice, there are other posters besides you who agree with me 100%. Sorry to offend your beloved program.
The topic title i made, doesnt scream out for help - does it?
as far as me not hacking the autorig feature, i was too far into setting it up myself, i figured if i just do it once, it will be a good way to get used to the program. Are there any ETAs on when the autorig feature will be put back into the program? if its too long, then i would be interested in getting the version 1 to play around with it.
Not excusing the Autorig missingā¦butā¦ why dont u do everything in Maya then? Seems u are a more at ease with it and Maya has so many free autoriggers that i dont see why u needed a to start a job on a program that u didnĀ“t know anything about it, doesnt make sense to me, but since u are a fast learnerā¦