http://vbulletin.newtek.com/showthread.php?t=28521&page=2&pp=15
Check out this concept.
poobySpine is a collection of three scripts that build a spine IK rig that can be controlled from either end in LW.
I know this can be duplicated in messiah, big question is how fast and easy for multiple characters or adding to new scenes. I chalked this into the category of muscle bones.
Is it similar to the Isner Spine? http://www.isner.com/isnerspine/spine_introduction.htm
C’mon, you can easily create your own IK spine or whatever specific setup part you like, and save it as a setup script to reuse it, what do you need more? 
I actually have done several rigs for a client recently wich include an IK spine a la Isner, with the ability of using the spine in FK mode at the same time. An IK spine is fun to play around with, and it’s very nice for doing squashing and stretching on top of your animation, but for actual posing and animation it’s not the most intuitive thing to use, contrary to what people might think. So a combination where you can use FK and IK simultaniously is the best thing to do IMO. I might do a rig that I can share here if ever I get the time, but I can’t promise anything for now. :shrug: Anyway, flexmotion is a good candidate for doing this, and though you can still encounter some flipping in extreme poses, the flipping problem has been greately reduced by Lyle in the latest release
but for actual posing and animation it’s not the most intuitive thing to use, contrary to what people might think.
Standard Ik spines are useless… but poobyspine isn’t an ‘ik spine’
If you had made an Isner spine, there would be absolutely no need to have an fk option.
Gollum was animated with an Isner style spine, because its the only type that allows total freedom of adjustment whilst animating and the most natural and fluid motion between poses.
Pooby
is there some fundamental basics that could follow to create a isner based spine?
Would it be asking too much for u to dl the demo
set a spine up with a null
and look the messiah commands / script and see if its possible.
Not to do it …just evaluate if possible.
Well, back in the days when I used to use messiah, you couldn’t do 3d IK… It was just 2d. In which case, you cant apply the same technique as poobyspine does.
(by the way… I didn’t call it ‘poobyspine’ it’s a bit embarrassing)
If you can use 3d Ik, and you can make an Ik chain use 2 goals, like you can in lightwave, then it’s entirely possible and i’ll tell you what to do.
Curves are the way to go in messiah, read: Spline IK. Be it flexmotion or a similar setup, you can have a fine segmented bone chain be deformed super smoothly along a curve, with the option to have it squash and stretch or not, very flexible, no need for 3d IK, and faster feedback as in LW anyway :D. And as for not needing FK, well personally I like to have the option to animate and pose the traditional way, as do the animators who work with my rigs I believe 
But beeing able at the same time to use the spine with Spline IK gets you the best of both worlds
Cheers!
Hey maks
The beauty of the Isner rig is taht you can move or rotate the hips and the shoulders remain mostly stationary.
That’s how it works in my setups too, just like the Isner rig All I am saying is, that in an animator’s workflow, it’s not necessarily the most efficient setup to use, even if it might look like it, believe me. Actually the guys who made the package man rig or the generi rig (can’t remember wich it was) in Maya, wich initially had an IK spine, went back to a normal FK spine because of animator’s feedback. So having the ability to animate the IK spine with FK controls as well gives animators the choice and adds a good deal of flexibility. My 2 cents
Another Iasner Rig for Lightwave
Dangit…
RV_Rigtools
http://www.flay.com/GetDetail.CFM?ID=2113
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