mcjAutoLimb2015 - A Kind of IK System - G3 and G8 Workability Confirmed

mCasualmCasual Posts: 4,607
edited May 2022 in Freebies

so here we are the first non-beta release of mcjAutoLimb 2015 !

There's a high likelihood that there will be a few corrections in the near future

so you should probably keep an eye on this thread or use mcjAutoLimb2015's

"WebHelp" button which sends your Internet Browser to the release page

The Release page !!! ---->  https://sites.google.com/site/mcasualsdazscripts6/mcjautolimb2015

If for some reason you are unable to download the Installer Zip package from that web page

Post edited by mCasual on
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Comments

  • bluelight specialbluelight special Posts: 29
    edited December 2015

    Looks so cool.

    I'm looking forward to your center of mass for Genesis 3 to help in balancing poses.  Thanks for all of your scripts and freebies.

    Post edited by bluelight special on
  • emms54emms54 Posts: 41

    Hi Jacques,

     

    Do you intend to adapt your great pinmedown to G3 characters ?

    I find this script most useful, i would love to have it working on Genesis 3.

     

    Regards

    Emms

  • TugpsxTugpsx Posts: 738

    Dude again you are so the master of this program. Your scripts add a level to Daz that is outstanding. Thanks for all your efforts and continuation in making the Daz community thrive.

    Looking forward to playing with this and other scripts.

  • mCasualmCasual Posts: 4,607
    edited February 2016

    i think the forum system stopped emailing me about this thread 

     

    Post edited by mCasual on
  • RuphussRuphuss Posts: 2,631

    hey mcasual

    i am working with this already a lot

    is it possible to combine it with "keep orientation " ?

  • mCasualmCasual Posts: 4,607
    edited February 2016

     i'll probably do that yes

    before i lost some hard disk content i had something a bit more universal

    so i'll re-write that - it's based on goals, for example, you set the goal as "minimize the distance between this finger and this button"

    and instead of being limited to shoulder-forearm movements, you can select the abdomen Y-rotation or ... pretty much anything

    or the goal can be, "minimize the angle, between the shoulder to finger line versus the shoulder to doorbell button" to make an arm point a finger at a button

     

    Ruphuss said:

    hey mcasual

    i am working with this already a lot

    is it possible to combine it with "keep orientation " ?

     

    Post edited by mCasual on
  • RuphussRuphuss Posts: 2,631
    edited February 2016

    sounds interesting

    just as i am trying to do some animations i had the wish to pin down the head, neck or other bones

    is this possible ?

    and i have to say i would not animate at all in studio

    without your tools

    just a big thanks for your work

    and good wishes to Amy

    Post edited by Ruphuss on
  • RuphussRuphuss Posts: 2,631

    when i use autolimb 2015 for only one foot it leads into side-side and twist movements of the thigh

    that means the legs spread

    is there a method to avoid this ?

    another setting

    one foot is pinned - the leg walks normal

    the other shoud slide exactly over the terrain

    the thigh moves normal- the shin must lead the foot to the ground

    is there one of your tools that can do this ?

  • mCasual,

    I want to adjust a G3F pose by keeping the right hand in place and moving the shoulder and forearm.  Can mcjAutoLimb2015 be used for that purpose?

  • mCasual,

    I want to adjust a G3F pose by keeping the right hand in place and moving the shoulder and forearm.  Can mcjAutoLimb2015 be used for that purpose?

    I have the same question.

    I like posing with the Active Pose tool; with G2 pinning its hands or feet will keep them in place if you adjust their parent limbs. With G3 the hands and feet will move along with their parent limbs regardless whether pinned or not when manipulated using the Active Pose.

  • I can visualise the same movement.  It's like pressing against a very resistant door (or one being held by someone on the other side) and getting nowhere.  I have one or two of those movements planned for my animations.

  • RuphussRuphuss Posts: 2,631

    hey Amy

    whats up with mcasual ?

    is he ok ?

  • nonesuch00nonesuch00 Posts: 18,107

    Wow, very interesting site from mCasual with lots of interesting scripts. LOL, but Canadian dollar is not doing good again.

  • mCasualmCasual Posts: 4,607

     the "pole" is what governs how the leg is twisted

    when it's first created the "pole" is parented to the collar bone or to the buttock bone

    the reason it's parented is, in case the whole figure moves during the animation 

    in some cases it's better to unparent the "pole"

    then if you re-orient the pole, it will affect the way the leg or arm is posed

    in fact by animating the pole, you could get the legs to do twerks

    sometimes i use my mcjUnanimate script to make sure the pole is not moving for the duration of the animation

    ---------

    concerning walks, often i animate null nodes, and use that as targets for the feet

    example,

    we're at frame 0

    right foot is on the ground behind the figure

    i use mcjMakeTarget to create a null node at the exact position of the right foot ( ankle )

    keyframe the null-node

    go to frame 10

    move the null node 30 cm forth

    keyframe the null node

    ---

    select the null node

    select the right foot

    tell mcjAutoLimb to process frames 0 to 10

    ---

    if you want to keep the foot parallel to the grouns as it it at frame 0

    select the right foot

    go to frame 0

    use my mcjKeepOrient script

    make it process frames 0 to 10

     

     

    Ruphuss said:

    when i use autolimb 2015 for only one foot it leads into side-side and twist movements of the thigh

    that means the legs spread

    is there a method to avoid this ?

    another setting

    one foot is pinned - the leg walks normal

    the other shoud slide exactly over the terrain

    the thigh moves normal- the shin must lead the foot to the ground

    is there one of your tools that can do this ?

     

  • mCasualmCasual Posts: 4,607
    edited March 2016

     say Genesis has a hand on the table at frame 0

    her elbow is down

    you want her to raise her elbow without moving her hand

    at frame 0, select Genesis's hand

    start mcjAutoLimb 2015

    close mcjAutoLimb 2015

    This created a target for the hand and a "Pole" which is attached to the collarbone ( or shoulder?)

    there's an infinity of ways of posing the arm that gets the hand at the correct location

    the "pole" tells us how the arm was posed initially

    once its primary objective ( having the hand reach the target ) is accomplished, mcjAutoLimb will pose the arm according to that pole,

    so

    at frame 0, keframe the pole ( using the timeline button )

    at frame 30, rotate the Pole, up

    note: normally this created a keyframe, but when i want to be sure the keyframes are solid,

    i do "memorize selected item" followed by "restore selected item" in the Parameters tab

    --

    now select the target node created earlier by mcjAutolimb

    add the Genesis hand to the selection

    have mcjAutoLimb solve frames 0 to 30

    --

    note that in some cases, it's better to unparent the Pole, to keep its orientation fixed, instead of being "transported" by the figure

     

     

    mCasual,

    I want to adjust a G3F pose by keeping the right hand in place and moving the shoulder and forearm.  Can mcjAutoLimb2015 be used for that purpose?

     

    Post edited by mCasual on
  • mCasualmCasual Posts: 4,607

     somehow it's like i'm unsubscribed from my own forum post

    Ruphuss said:

    hey Amy

    whats up with mcasual ?

    is he ok ?

     

  • mCasualmCasual Posts: 4,607
    edited March 2016

     in the forum post above, i explain it

    note that in this animation

    i think i did animate the pole vector to get this twerk move

    but but but, maybe it's just the normal result of having the "Pole" parented to the leg

    so it's one of those cases where one would preferably unparent the leg's "Pole"

     

     

    I can visualise the same movement.  It's like pressing against a very resistant door (or one being held by someone on the other side) and getting nowhere.  I have one or two of those movements planned for my animations.

     

    Post edited by mCasual on
  • mCasualmCasual Posts: 4,607

     maybe in the future i'll make something like that, for the knees, hip, abdomen, chest head etc

    in the meantime this new script can assist in posing a figure with the objective of, for example, keeping a head at a location (null node)

    using the neck, chest, abdomen, hip, root joints

    http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/73115/free-pose-helper-script

     

    Ruphuss said:

    sounds interesting

    just as i am trying to do some animations i had the wish to pin down the head, neck or other bones

    is this possible ?

    and i have to say i would not animate at all in studio

    without your tools

    just a big thanks for your work

    and good wishes to Amy

     

  • nakamuram002nakamuram002 Posts: 787
    edited March 2016
    mCasual said:

     say Genesis has a hand on the table at frame 0

    her elbow is down

    you want her to raise her elbow without moving her hand

    at frame 0, select Genesis's hand

    start mcjAutoLimb 2015

    close mcjAutoLimb 2015

    This created a target for the hand and a "Pole" which is attached to the collarbone ( or shoulder?)

    there's an infinity of ways of posing the arm that gets the hand at the correct location

    the "pole" tells us how the arm was posed initially

    once its primary objective ( having the hand reach the target ) is accomplished, mcjAutoLimb will pose the arm according to that pole,

    so

    at frame 0, keframe the pole ( using the timeline button )

    at frame 30, rotate the Pole, up

    note: normally this created a keyframe, but when i want to be sure the keyframes are solid,

    i do "memorize selected item" followed by "restore selected item" in the Parameters tab

    --

    now select the target node created earlier by mcjAutolimb

    add the Genesis hand to the selection

    have mcjAutoLimb solve frames 0 to 30

    --

    note that in some cases, it's better to unparent the Pole, to keep its orientation fixed, instead of being "transported" by the figure

     

     

    mCasual,

    I want to adjust a G3F pose by keeping the right hand in place and moving the shoulder and forearm.  Can mcjAutoLimb2015 be used for that purpose?

    Thanks Casual!!  I gave your instructions a try and the work pretty well.  Is there a way I can do both hands at the same time?

     

    Post edited by nakamuram002 on
  • mCasualmCasual Posts: 4,607
    edited March 2016

     Q:  Is there a way I can do both hands at the same time?

    A: Not for now, since the function that ( repeatedly ) measures the distance always measures the distance between the 1st selected node and the 2nd selected node

    in future versions, you'll have more options in regard to what's being optimized

    for example, you'll be able to tell the script to rotate a leg in a way that minimizes the angle between a foot and the floor

    -

    or in your example, you'll be able to minimize a distance between anyone of the selected nodes

     

     

     

    mCasual said:

     

     

     

    Post edited by mCasual on
  • RuphussRuphuss Posts: 2,631

    hey mcasual

    just trying out "blooper" with 4.9 - works nice

    would it be very hard to implement  a reverse function ?

    in another thread someone asked if theres a way to spread out the keyframes so the animation is longer and slowed down

     

  • mCasualmCasual Posts: 4,607

     See my re-Time animation script

    i hope compatibility wasnt broken by DS4.9 https://sites.google.com/site/mcasualsdazscripts2/mcjretimeanimation

    there's also mcjCycleFilter which helps make perfectly looping animation curves 

     

    Ruphuss said:

    hey mcasual

    just trying out "blooper" with 4.9 - works nice

    would it be very hard to implement  a reverse function ?

    in another thread someone asked if theres a way to spread out the keyframes so the animation is longer and slowed down

     

     

  • RuphussRuphuss Posts: 2,631

    i am working through lots of your scripts now

    i hope you do not mind some questions

    daz timeline and animate timeline react differently to frame amount changes

    which is influenced by your scripts ?

    is it possible to set the daz interpolation to linear as preset ?

    i always have to change it after setting keyframes and sometimes forget them

  • mCasualmCasual Posts: 4,607
    edited March 2016

    - i think what happens in the animate2 timeline  is entirely governed by the Animate2 plugin, until it gets "baked" and becomes a standard animation

    - last time i checked, the default interpolation is the splined/curved interpolation, If you set Linear interpolation using my setInterpolation script, the moment you touch one of the keyframes it reverts to that splined interpolation

    btw you can visualize/tweak animation curves using my SceneGraf plugin and my mcjCycleFilter ( works well with short animations/loops ) 

    there's ( was?) also one or two plugins in the Daz Store to visualize/modify animation curves

    Ruphuss said:

    i am working through lots of your scripts now

    i hope you do not mind some questions

    daz timeline and animate timeline react differently to frame amount changes

    which is influenced by your scripts ?

    is it possible to set the daz interpolation to linear as preset ?

    i always have to change it after setting keyframes and sometimes forget them

     

    Post edited by mCasual on
  • RuphussRuphuss Posts: 2,631

    if i understand right so no way to set linear interpolation as default

    i own graphmate and keymate since they came out

    but only can do changes after keyframing

    thats annoying

    if i have a ready animation in animate timeline -not aniblocks-

    and change fps

    they display in different tempo whether animate or daz timeline are used

    so they react different to fps change

    could it be possible to add keys say to every second key so the animation spreads out ?

  • mCasualmCasual Posts: 4,607

     maybe you could "bake" your animate animation

    then use mcjDecimate which re-keyframes animations at fixed exact-frame keyframe times

    then from there if need be, use mcjRe-Time to adjust the movement

     

     

    Ruphuss said:

    if i understand right so no way to set linear interpolation as default

    i own graphmate and keymate since they came out

    but only can do changes after keyframing

    thats annoying

    if i have a ready animation in animate timeline -not aniblocks-

    and change fps

    they display in different tempo whether animate or daz timeline are used

    so they react different to fps change

    could it be possible to add keys say to every second key so the animation spreads out ?

     

  • FrankTheTankFrankTheTank Posts: 1,131

    I'm trying to use this with a Gen 2 figure, but I can't seem to get it to work at all. Does this only work for Gen3? Should I be using an older version for Gen 2 figures?

  • RuphussRuphuss Posts: 2,631

    if the calculation is done from the toes

    is the foot bone also altered ?

  • mCasualmCasual Posts: 4,607

    if you select the toes, then the toes are the 'targeter'

    the script bends and unbends the shin joint untill it gets the required leg length

    the leg length is the distance between the thigh joint and the targeter ( toes )

    the required length is the distance between the thigh joint and the target 

    then the script points the leg at the target using the Bend/Side-side/Twist controls of the thigh joint

    then it twists the leg according to the pole vectors

    ----

    the script never touches the foot rotations

    my mcjKeepOrientation and mcjHoldOn scripts are worth looking into when doing AutoLimb work

     if i remember well, this animation was done with AutoLimb with the toes as the targeter

    the location of the toes doesnt look like it but, usually it would be very very immobile in space

    to make it perfect, one would orient the toes  parallel to the ground at frame zero

    and use mcjKeepOrient to freeze it at that orientation for the duration of the dance

     

    Ruphuss said:

    if the calculation is done from the toes

    is the foot bone also altered ?

     

  • mCasualmCasual Posts: 4,607
    edited April 2016

    maybe i broke Gen2 compatibility when i introduced Gen3 compatibility 

    but nah, i recently used it on Aiko5 ... she's Genesis 2 i think

    i never really ascertained if my Gen2 figures were automatically converted to Gen3 when i installed Gen3 and/or Daz Studio 4.9

    so lets verify this

    --

    -1 load a Genesis 2 figure

    My DAZ 3D Library\People\Genesis 2 Female

    she doesnt have Aiko5 morphs, just Victoria 6

    - 2 - i select her index finger [3]

    3 - i start mcjAutoLimb2015

    4 - i exit mcjAutoLimb2015 

    this created a target node at the location of her index finger[3]

    and a 'pole vector' which indicates how the arm is twisted

    - 5 - i move the target node near A3's face

    - 6 - i select the target node, followed by the index finger[3] node

    - 7 - i use mcjAutoLimb2015 for the current frame

    it works !

    then using null nodes positioned on the "palm" of their finger tips as the 'targeters' you can do precision posing

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    I'm trying to use this with a Gen 2 figure, but I can't seem to get it to work at all. Does this only work for Gen3? Should I be using an older version for Gen 2 figures?

     

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    Post edited by mCasual on
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