"Rapid Rig: Basic" for Maya 1.1.1 for Maya (maya script)

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• Dustin Nelson said over 11 years ago:

  Hey, Thanks for the interest in the rig! You are correct about the advanced version. There are a couple reasons that the hierarchy is broken up like that. I attach the joints using motion paths and there is also joint scaling, which causes shearing if all the joints are in one hierarchy. BUT, because there have been several requests to integrate compatibility with game engines and heatweight, I have added an option to generate a single hierarchy joint chain (don't worry that you don't see it in the interface, it is a pop-up that comes up once everything else is built). The single hierarchy is probably what you are looking for. However, by doing it this way, there is a drawback, and that is joint scaling. With my rig, if you stretch the arm, leg, torso, neck, etc. the joints actually scale to properly stretch. With the single hierarchy, the joints only scale to give you volume, but they do not actually scale on the axis that actually stretches. Most rigs are set up this way anyways, because it is a much simpler setup. The difference is, instead of joints scaling for length, they translate. So for the arm (for example), if you were to stretch out the arm, the shoulder would scale, which pushes and pulls the elbow, but with the single hierarchy, the shoulder doesn't scale. Instead, the elbow translates closer and further. This can become an issue with the geometry between the elbow and shoulder, because it will not keep even spacing as the arm lengthens or shortens. But like I say, a lot of rigs are set up this way just for simplicity. I have never used the poseDeformer, so I can't say for sure if it will work with the single hierarchy, but if the only requirement is that the joints all need to be parented to one another, then the single hierarchy option SHOULD work. Hope that helps! Dustin

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• wolfgang said over 11 years ago:

  Hey Dustin, thanks for the complete and great answer. Does the basic rig version also has the option of "single hierarchy joint chain"..? so i can test out if pose deformers works well.... So, the problem will only be with scaling the rig parts like the arms, etc...right? BTW, i will like to take this opportunity to also ask you about the arm control rotations, does your rig has a second control for the arm for rotation an orientation?...very useful specially if you like to animate in gimbal mode! Thanks again

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• Dustin Nelson said over 11 years ago:

  The Rapid Rig Basic is all one hierarchy, so trying the pose deformer on the basic rig is a good idea. If it does work, it should almost certainly work for the Advanced version. You won't have any "problems" necessarily, as most rigs use the joint translate instead of joint scaling. You might see some weird mesh deformations if you really change the arm/leg lengths to the extremes. For an extra set of controls to counter gimbal lock or add subtle layered animation, I haven't added those yet, but I plan to include those in an update. And as always, updates are free to anyone who has purchased the rig. I have some other features I am currently implementing first, but I will hopefully get around to adding that sooner rather than later. Dustin

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• wolfgang said over 11 years ago:

  Great Dustin. glad to hear that you plan to add the extra control for rotations, is definitively a must have. Thanks Cheers

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