Motion Studio Rigging Problem

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Motion Studio Rigging Problem // TS6 and Older

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Post by DesignDevil // Sep 22, 2008, 11:05am

DesignDevil
Total Posts: 76
pic
Hi, i hope anybody can help me. I have a problem with a Rig in TS6.6 + Motion Studio.


First, i show you a image of my model - it's a robot:


http://www.east-power-soft.de/temp/problem_1.png


The problem is the shoulder. They should turn in 2 axes. To explain this better i show you the next 2 images:


http://www.east-power-soft.de/temp/problem_2.png

http://www.east-power-soft.de/temp/problem_3.png


As you can see, these are 2 parts. The first part, the upper arm, should go up and down around the shoulder element. The other part should turn around and should turn the upper arm part with it.


And exactly that's the problem. I can't find any good working rig to do that. I had a rig with 2 seperate skeleton. The first one was in the shoulder, the second one - as subskeleton - in the upper arm.


The problem here is, that the IK will not work and can not turn the shoulder, it can only move the upper arm up and down. It works only as FK where you have to turn first the shoulder and after that you can adjust the upper arm - and that's busy.


Has anybody a tip for me how i can do that? Thanks a lot and sorry for my english.

Post by Humdinger // Sep 27, 2008, 7:59am

Humdinger
Total Posts: 319
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Hello...


One - Keep in mind MoStu does not have any joint limits/constraints.


Two - Have you tired the 'twist' function on you arm/shoulder bone ? Available while in the Animate mode in MoStu.

Post by frank // Sep 27, 2008, 8:44am

frank
Total Posts: 709
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Yup, as Humdinger said - no constraints in MotionStudio. Every joint has 360-degree freedom.


I would also suggest using the twist function. Having the arm on a separate skeleton, attached to a shoulder bone could work. That shoulder bone is where you could apply the twist to get proper rotation.

Post by DesignDevil // Sep 29, 2008, 3:12am

DesignDevil
Total Posts: 76
pic
Thanks for the tips.

I know that MoStu don't have any constraints and no joint limitation - i miss that a little bit but the twist function is no solution for me because there is no possibility to be accurate. The twist function has no numeric visibility, or a degree display or anything else - or i'm to blind to see.

However, i found a solution. It's a crazy setup but it works. Here is a picture:

http://www.east-power-soft.de/temp/schulter_loesung.png

What you see in this picture is a test setup. The rig on the real model is smaller, but the same setup. The shoulder rig himself has 10 bones and one of them is a t-bone. The nailed bones and the connected bones give the model the correct mobility to work as a IK rig.

The trick is that bones can not change his length and with the connections between the bones i can limit the mobility in the accordant directions.

Post by Humdinger // Sep 29, 2008, 3:25am

Humdinger
Total Posts: 319
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The twist function has no numeric visibility, or a degree display or anything else - or i'm to blind to see.




I was going to mention that as I figured you may want precise control


However, i found a solution. It's a crazy setup but it works. Here is a picture:




:D


Reminds me of some of the crazy rigs i created when developing a 'working' suspension for some cars I was working on. One of the great properties of MoStu is it's flexibility.

Post by DesignDevil // Sep 29, 2008, 4:30am

DesignDevil
Total Posts: 76
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Well, i don't need the absolute precision, but to know that the bone is correctly turned after i twisted him to a side and back (as example) would be great. For a simple posing is the twisting the best solution - no question.

But without exact control it could be a problem to move the character in a animation.

Post by frank // Sep 29, 2008, 9:08am

frank
Total Posts: 709
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Hats off to you for being inventive!


MotionStudio is very flexible in the way it allows bones to be connected to one another.


I thought I'd mention another trick (credit goes to Humdinger for this one):

"Floating Bones"

http://www.frankladner.com/mostu/14.htm


Keep going with it! Looking forward to seeing a completed animation!
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