character rigging with Duik script...damn thing's French though

#1

Hey guys, I’m looking to animate a character in after effects, it is of a human figure and consists of individual limbs- hands, arms, torso, legs, feet, head etc. put together with parenting and all the rest…well, not quite.

Recently I found this awesome script that lets you rig characters so that when using specially placed controllers, the characters movements appear very fluid and natural.

about - http://www.yenaphe.info/tag/duduf/
tutorial - http://tutoriaux.mattrunks.com/tutoriaux/ik-cinematique-inverse-after-effec…
download - http://www.duduf.com/duik/en/

As far as I can tell this looks by far the easiest way to rig a 2D character in after effects. I downloaded it, but according to the download page, apparently the current versions available only exist in either cs3+cs4 capable for French AE, or only for older versions of the english after effects. Maybe it was a mistranslation but according to that, the 2 versions available for download will only work if you have either French version of CS3 or CS4, or a version earlier than those for English. I have CS3 for mac, English. fml.

I downloaded both anyway and they both ran, (opened at least) in after effects, but both appeared the same except the French version was dockable (stoked). Anyways, got off on a tangent there, the problem is that its missing a key feature necessary to link up the limbs together. I was following the video tutorial above, although it in French, it is fairly straight forward to see what he is clicking on and such. However, when it comes to linking the limbs together, say, hand>lower arm>upper arm>controller, a drop down menu is missing that he accesses in the video but is not available in the versions I downloaded. Quite odd considering that he’s using v5 in the video and the ones available for download are v8beta. Anyways, does anyone know why the drop down menu isn’t there? Strange that they would release those versions if you cant even progress beyond that particular point.

Would love to know how to get this working! I intend on using it for my degree project and without it my character’s gonna animate like turd. Grr, it’s like being stranded on an island with canned food but without the can opener.

The plugin looks perfect for the job, I recommend you guys check it out at least. I’ve looked at Dan Ebberts’ Inverse kinematics expressions to do a similar thing by the looks of it (have’t actually tried it out for myself)but I’d like to know if I can get this script to work as it looks easy to use, with great results.

Any ideas? Would it work on CS4? Any suggestions are welcome and if you can pinpoint the problem and fix it, I’ll be forever grateful. The thought of a turdy looking animation for my final degree project is haunting me.

Thanks in advance, apologies for rambling,

Regards, Eugene. Cheers.

#2

The link to the video tutorial looks to be down. Is there a manual on how to use this script?

#3

I was able to finally watch the video. Pretty amazing script. Which drop down are you talking about? He is demoing an older version of the duik script. I was able to get things working in v8.

E

#4

wow are you serious? So you did the entire tutorial without being stumped by the same problem I had?

I was unable to progress when you finally have everything parented in the layers, then as he was selecting the hand>forearm>arm> then >controller, to apply the “bones” to (at about 11min 10sec into the tut), he selects “2+1” from the drop down menu. This drop down menu doesn’t exist whatsoever for me or my friend trying it out. And yep, I’m using the current version 8 out as well, and downloaded both french and english versions off the site but theyre both the same when you open the script in AE. Even the French version is in english when you open it. Can’t figure this out.

So were you able to get beyond this point and get the character working sweet? I’d kill to get this working. Do you think I need use CS4?

Would REALLY love to hear back your thoughts, or suggestions. It’s kinda crucial that I get this type of character rigging control in AE because it seems nothing else can do the job like this.

Hear back from you soon (I hope)

Cheers, Eugene

#5

I believe you just need to click on “Create an IK”. My assumption is that in v8 you no longer need to specify how many joints are in the IK chain.

We’re using CS3 here so you shouldn’t need CS4.

#6

oh-my-freaking-gawd… I can’t believe it’s that simple, thanks a million! I’ve been trying to figure it out for the past few days :expressionless: I’ve been posting on other forums as well but your the only person to reply. soooo stoked. my friend will be pleased as well as shes trying to use it.

again, can’t thank you enough.

Cheers, Eugene

#7

I should be thanking you for finding this script. It’s amazing.

If you want other useful scripts you should go to aehancers.com and aescripts.com. The Layer Chain script would be especially helpful with duik.

E

#8

looks handy, definitely would go hand in hand with duik, aetuts just released an article on useful aescripts. looks like theres a lot I’ve been doing the hard way haha. thanks for that

#9

There’s an english page for duik now. You can find the manual on there too.
http://ik.duduf.com/

#10

friggen sweet! thanks for that, good thing the english site went up, I assumed I wouldn’t find any english based sources/support sites for duik so this is just awesome. hopefully it’ll pick up in the english after effects community so we start seeing more of it around.

again, cheers, this is a big help

eugene

#11

for those who just want a fast versatile and simple solution I´d recommend to use this:
http://motionscript.com/design-guide/ik.html

It´s so easy to setup up and works like a charm. The Advantage: It is only one script. You only have to edit six variables in the beginning of the script to make it work.
First one is for the direction of the joint, the second one is for the script itself to know wether it is applied to the upper limb or the lower limb and the other four are the names of the parts you use (upper limb, lower limb, extremity, controller) so the script can find the objects.
So you only have to create a controller layer (guide layer), then position the anchorpoints to where the joints will be, then parent extremity to lower limb, lower limb to upper limb and upper limb to torso (or whatever), then apply the script to both rotations of lower and upper limb. Then after editing those six variables, the setup is ready.

When I have an illustrated figure I need approx. ten minutes to set it up including duplicating the layers and drawing masks to seperate the body parts. I think, it is the fastest script for rigging in AE out there, so I think, I´d recommend it here.

#12

thanks, but I did take a look at that one but seems more time consuming and complicated compared to duik. Fortunately they’ve released an English version as well as translating their French site to English as well. I’ve been using it and it works like a charm, takes no time to set up either.

Thanks anyway, you should check out duik, it’s amazing.

#13

A new version has just been released. It looks like it can add secondary animation. Cool!

#14

I could also point him (duduf) to the forums, I’m sure he’ll take in good ideas/questions…

#15

that’s great news about the new version :slight_smile: although I’m currently working on a project with heavy use of v8. If I replaced the v8 script file with the new one would it cross over fine without any issues? I’m scared to make this maneuver…

#16

I would assume so. The script just setups the rig up. The actual rig isn’t dependent on the script…it’s not like a plug-in.

#17

true, thanks. suppose I can do a quick test on a square or something just to be sure.

Cheers

#18

So what is this mostly used for? I can see it being used for flash games, anything else?

#19

You could use it for character animation in AfterEffects.
http://www.yenaphe.info/duduf-ik-tool-62-3-terrific-after-effect-commercials/

There are other tools in that script that aren’t just about IK. There are some handy ways to control motions.

#20

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