Advanced Rigging Section

 

  • Remove Custom Shapes: Remove custom shapes added by the Add Custom Shapes tool.
  • Convert DAZ Rig: Convert the current character to a different type of DAZ character, with a different rest pose.
  • Apply Rest Pose: Apply the current pose as rest pose. The active object must be an armature. The meshes that are children of this armature are also changed.
  • Copy Bones. Copy the bone locations in edit mode from the selected armature to the active one. The active object must be an armature.
  • Copy Poses. Copy the pose from the selected armature to the active one. The active object must be an armature.
  • Add IK goals. Make selected bones into an IK chain and create an IK target.
  • Add Winder. Create a winder bone that controls a chain of bones.
  • Update Rig For Version 1.5: Try this if you have problems to pose old characters.
  • Convert MHX Actions: Convert action between legacy MHX bone names (root/hips) and modern MHX bone names (hip/pelvis)
  • Copy DAZ Properties: Copy DAZ properties from active object to selected objects. Don't overwrite properties that are already set.

 

Remove Custom Shapes

Custom shapes created by the Add Custom Shapes tool can be removed again with this tool. 

Convert DAZ Rig

This button converts the armature for one type of DAZ character, e.g. Genesis 8, to another, e.g. Genesis 3. This feature is somewhat obsolete. For some time there was a bug in the posing algorithm, which meant that Genesis 8 characters were not posed correctly, but older characters were.

A dialog appears were we choose the rig type to convert to.

Aiko is now posed in the Genesis 3 rest pose.

 

Apply Rest Pose

Although Aiko is now posed as a Genesis 3 character, her rest pose is not changed. To fix that, press Apply Rest Pose. This is the same tool as in the Finishing section, where it was used after the Optimize Pose For IK tool. This differs from Blender's standard tool because the meshes are also changed to fit the new rest pose.

 

To the left is the Aiko in a pose optimized for IK. It is still just a pose. To the right the Apply Rest Pose has been applied.

Copy Bones and Poses

There is usually not necessary to use these buttons when the file is imported with Mesh Fitting set to Json file. They were necessary in version 1.1 when obj or Collada files were used for mesh fitting.

Assume that we want to fit a character's feet into high-heeled boots.

 

Select the boots and shift-select the character (the armatures, not the meshes), and press Copy Poses. The copies the pose from the selected rig to the active one.

 

The feet are now inside the feet. With the character selected, press Apply Rest Poses to make this the new rest pose for the feet.


Add IK Goals

IK goals and winders are useful for quickly posing long flexible object with many links, such as chains, rope, tails, etc. IK goals are best suited for chains that are fixed at both ends, whereas winders work best for chains with one free end, such as a whipping tail. From DAZ Studio we import a chain with the root bone at the center.

 
We want to control the chain with an IK goal.
Select the bones that should belong to the IK chain, and select Add IK goals. 
  • Pole Targets: Add a pole target to the IK chain.
  • Hide Bones: Hide the bones in the chain, except the first bone and the IK target. 
  • Lock Bones: Lock location and rotation for the bones in the chain, except the first bone and the IK target. 
  • Disable Bones: Disable the bones in the chain, except the first bone and the IK target.
A new bone (the cube) appears at the end, and we can pose the entire chain by moving and rotation this bone, and the first bone in the chain.
If Pole Targets is enabled, there is an additional pole target (also a cube) which controls the midpoint of the chain. You may want to change the pole angle in the IK constraint of the last bone in the chain.
If Hide Bone is enabled, only the first bone and the IK goal are visible.
If Lock Bones is enabled, the location and rotation channels of the intermediate bones are locked.
If Disable Bones is enabled, intermediate bones can not be selected, which we can see in the outliner.

Add Winders

A winder is another way to control a long chain. Since only one side of a winder is fixed, it is best suited to control objects like a whipping tail, where the location of the other end-point is not so important. Winders appear in the MHX rig to control fingers and also the spine.

Select the first bone in the chain and press Add Winder. Note that all bones in the chain must have the same orientation, otherwise the result is unpredictable.

And now we can pose the entire chain smoothly by only rotating the winder bone.

 

Update Rig For Version 1.5

Try this if you have problems to pose old characters.

 

Convert MHX Actions

Convert action between legacy MHX bone names (root/hips) and modern MHX bone names (hip/pelvis)

 

Copy DAZ Properties

For a while there was a problem with loading poses in the development version of the Daz Importer. Poses could be imported, but the bone rotations were slightly off, because some necessary information was missing. To restore this information, import the character again and use this tool to copy the information from the new rig to the old one. See Recent problems with posing and how to fix it  for more information.

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