Mirror Rig Script Demo
This script is still a WIP, and I’m not sure that it will ever officially be considered complete because there seems to be a new problem waiting around every corner. You can see, after the mirroring is done, that on the mirrored leg there is still a few twist helpers not properly aligned and one of the bone chains for the foot are orientated backwards. Solve one and run into another! But, its still fun trying, and it is working half-decently right now, so I thought it would be cool to put together a video of it in action.
The video shows the script processing with a “sleep” command embedded in the for-loop that is mirroring the rig. I put the sleep command in so that you can tell there are no camera tricks with clever cuts being made, as well as to actually have something to look at. Without the sleep it would literally just be me pressing a button, waiting 20 seconds or so, then the other half of the rig appearing magically. Not quite as interesting to watch :)
Using StretchTM
StretchTM is a useful property found on nodes, but it is somewhat hidden. It is particularly useful for bones.
In this video I cover two uses of the StretchTM matrix. I show how you can set up bones to stretch along with another bone, as well as how to change the wirecolor of a bone based on how far it has been stretched.
Parameter Wire Copying
Max does not allow you to copy/paste parameter wires, as it does with most other controller types. This is still capable, however, through MAXScript.
This video shows you how to go about creating an instance (cake walk) and unique copy. When creating a unique copy, it copies the controller but the wire no longer updates along with it’s targeted track. Really, all the copy needs is a kick in the butt to get it to start working again.
This can really help improve workflow, as it allows you to set up instances of wires throughout your rig and easily copy from one track to the next rather than manually connecting each time.
New Wacom Tablet
I just bought a new Wacom Bamboo tablet the other day and am very pleased with it so far. I have never been a heavy tablet user, and I’m not sure that I ever really will be, but following the advice of Paul Neale I started using my old Graphire to do skinning and creating morph targets.
As mentioned above, I used to own old-school Graphire tablets. They were only the smalls sizes, and I only ever used them for creating texture maps. I never thought of using them in Max because I just couldn’t see how navigating 3d space could comfortably work. I’ve had my Graphire4 sitting around since college, collecting dust, and had never even considered trying it for skinning.
Read MoreModifier Auto-Select
Current Version: v2.02 – Feburary 28, 2010
This is a tool I put together because sometimes you have to work with modifiers on multiple nodes and the modifiers aren’t at the very top of the stack. You’re constantly having to select the node and then selecting the proper modifier. Prime example of this is when you have a turbosmooths on top of all of your geometry while you are either skinning or modelling. It would be much easier, and save quite a bit of time, if every time you selected a node you just automatically were on the skin modifier or edit poly modifier.
Enter this tool! This is exactly what we have here. This tools works off of modifier class and also has an option for checking the modifier’s name using a “Has string” search. Baseobject has also been added to the modifier list, so you can automatically go right to the bottom of the stack.
Read MoreTools Section Added
I have added the tools section now and I will gradually add tools over time. They are going to be released as individual MZP installer packages.
The macroscript categories for my tools, if you are looking to add them to a quad menu or toolbar, will always start with facerFX.
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