I know this is an intended future feature however is it possible to use the toolkit as it stands to rig quadrupeds? Is it a case of creating the basic Bipedal rig then when it comes to the positioning phase just position and orientate for a quadruped? I have never rigged in Maya prior so this is a first in all aspects & have 4 days to Rig a horse. The toolkit seems easy enough to learn but a challenge for anything that’s not a biped.
Thanks!
Anyone? Resources are very slim on the subject.
Just wait for ART V2, which will be modular, means that you’ll be able to create characters which are not only humanoid
For more informations:
Can’t seem to find an estimated release date? Can’t wait for that to me implemented!
It’s still in development and yes, there is no release date set for it.
You can take a look at mGear for Maya which is pretty fantastic, I used this plugin a lot in Softimage and its amazing!
Only concern with using that is I am ignorant to the naming conventions of Unreal bone structures, I am assuming I would have to go in and manually re-name each bone to work correctly in engine?
Re-reading your first post, actually you can create a similar quadruped rig using the existing rig structure and adding some additional bones using the leaf joint or something similar…I suggest you to give it a shot, but I think you’ll have problems with the bind pose after you rig it, so I think that you may want to override the standar bind pose and create your own.
Anyway the only thing that matters with joints is that you don’t have multiple roots, otherwise the naming don’t need to be the same as the ones in ART.
If you need to retarget animations you’ll just use the retargeting method shown in some of the tutorials by Epic themself…this is how lots of people who are not using Maya/ART are matching/using the existing animations or just retarget mocap animations inside UE4.
Sorry I am new to pretty much everything rigging wise with Maya. My process was, Set up the skeleton as Bipedal as is. I then went ahead and positions the key bones in relation to the quadruped model (I believe I messed up the axis of all the joints). This however did mean the front legs were using “Arm bones”. I added chain bones for the tail and two rotation only leaf bones for the ears. It creates the skeleton fine, even moved correctly just needed the skin weighting properly. Then moment I tried to move onto the control rig creation controls were all the wrong way, arms were bent the wrong way. I can post screenshots later to give a visual. When it asks about putting the model into the T-pose and so on I obviously choose no since the horse cannot really do T-pose ha. Same with the binding to the Dummy character, select no. I am on a tight schedule to get this working so any help is greatly appreciated so I can start animating ha!
Mmmmmhhh…yes, the joint rotation is quite important, especially for IK setup and the way the rig itself is built, so be sure you align the rig without messing too much with the joint rotation.
At this point, if you’re really on a tight schedule, I strongly suggest you to not use a rig, but just a scheletal joint system and animated just the joints…yes, its a pain in the ***, but at least you’ll be able to animate it using FK and by using the joint themself…since right now there is no way to know if the ART toolkit will behave with an animal-like rig or what kind of problem you’ll have when you’ll animate the best solution is a straight forward FK joint rig…
I rigged non humanoid characters, but not quadrupeds, it worked out fine, but I did some trial and error before getting it work correctly.
Some screenshot would be nice, since I cannot access Maya right now, but at least I can understand whats going on 
PS: If you’re using any other DCC which is not Maya and you’re familiar with it ( Max, Blender, whatever ) just rig your character using that DCC and export in FBX and you’re done…whetever DCC that can export FBX could be used to import content into UE4.
Sadly I have been instructed to try use Maya and this rigging toolset for maximum compatibility. I work full time and work on this evenings and weekends so won’t be able to show anything until this evening. I will give it another attempt tonight and screenshot my process as I go along. The deadline is a personal one of this Sunday, gives me a solid week of animating before it is due. I have all next week off work though so have a Solid 6 days to work on it instead a couple of hours after work a night.
Same situation here, doing rigs and animation as a side job, but I’m confident that the rig its doable.
If you already build the rig you should be able easily to adjust the bone orientation and setup, so its just a matter of trial and error, but it wont be perfect because the rig isn’t designed for quadrupeds.
Worst case scenario contact me via PM/email on sunday, I’m confident I can take care of the rig and you can do the animation, sort of private collaboration
Sadly I need to prove I can do this 
If I pass this art test I will be rigging a whole bunch of quadruped fantasy creatures, I was amazed how quick set up was just need to Iron out these wrinkles ha.
Ehehehehe, so I guess you’ll be quite busy this weekend
Well, you’re best bet would be to try again with the standard rig ( so the default, no additional bones added ) and then check if that work, means if the IK works properly, if the joints aren’t going crazy while you’re animating and if the bind pose doesn’t cause any issues.
By the way I strongly suggest you to watch closely the tutorials regarding the ART toolkit on Epic YouTube channel, even because there are some “hidden” features of the rig setup which are set on the controllers, so that might come handy if you’re trying to modify or change the setup of something.
Good luck
I am actually away from the computer most of Saturday so will be a very busy Sunday ha! I shall go check them out now while work is quiet. I shall update the thread later this evening with images of the process see if its just me been stupid.
Don’t worry, just look at the tutorials, try some things you haven’t tired yet and in case cheat Maya, which is known to be a frustrating software to work with…by the way, save a lot, because if you try to build thr rig, then go back and change something, then rebuild the rig and do that over and over again the chances of a Maya crash are 100% 
Thanks very much for the help, I am going to have a couple more attempts getting the ART tools to play ball because those chain and jiggle joint would be so useful for a horse! If not I will use your suggestion and just build basic joints or find another rigging solution I know there are a couple more rigging scripts available. Thanks again, you have been very helpful!
While waiting, Rapid Rig Modular is worth a look. It’s well worth the few bucks. Even comes with a quadruped template. It doesn’t have a lot of the game-ready bells and whistles that A.R.T. does though, like a built-in FBX exporter.
http://www.creativecrash.com/maya/script/-rapid-rig-modular-procedural-auto-rig-for-maya
Thank you for the link however $90 is not a few bucks, especially when this is an art test 
As an Update I have actually just been provided with RapidRig, **** does it work well, I rekon I will be using that for quadrupeds and the Unreal toolkit for bipeds. I can’t resist those jiggle and chain bones. Would it be possible to mix and match rig tools?
If you’re not bound to use the ART plugin for quadrupeds ( I was uinder the impression you were ) then go for RapidRig, its pretty good, even if its a bit expensive.
If you’re a good TD you’ll learn to create your own custom tools derived from ART and RapidRig, or at least script what you need in short time…thats Maya, if there isn’t a tool out of the box you need to code it ( applicable to any DCC really, but Maya its well known for that )