Animation and Rigging Tools: FAQ, Known Issues and Feature Roadmap

[anonymous_user_bb0e176f1 (anonymous_user_bb0e176f)]

Does the latest on Drop Box work with Maya 2017 Update 1? Thanks.

[mathew7852]

It works fine, but the Facial module is broken due to 2017 using PySide2 and shiboken2. It’s relatively easy to fix though as it only appears to affect the “mask_align_UI.py”, “jointMover_UI.py”, and “face.py”

In all three files, you need to change the following line:

“from PySide import QtCore, QtGui”

to

“from PySide2 import QtCore, QtGui, QtWidgets”

then

In “mask_align_UI.py” and “jointMover_UI.py”, change all instances of the following:

1. “import shiboken” to “import shiboken2” (then control find all the “shiboken” and add the “2”)

2. “QtGui.QWidget” to “QtWidgets.QWidget”

3. “QtGui.QMainWindow” to “QtWidgets.QMainWindow”

then

In “jointMover_UI.py” change all instances of the following:

1. “QtGui.QLabel” to “QtWidgets.QLabel”

2. “QtGui.QHBoxLayout” to “QtWidgets.QHBoxLayout”

3. “QtGui.QComboBox” to “QtWidgets.QComboBox”

4. “QtGui.QLineEdit” to “QtWidgets.QLineEdit”

5. “QtGui.QVBoxLayout” to “QtWidgets.QVBoxLayout”

6. “QtGui.QTreeWidget” to “QtWidgets.QTreeWidget”

7. “QtGui.QPushButton” to “QtWidgets.QPushButton”

8. “QtGui.QTreeWidgetItem” to “QtWidgets.QTreeWidgetItem”

I think that is all the stuff that got moved around in PySide2. Although something else seems to be broken…I cannot seem to build a rig with a face module anymore

[mathew7852]

Forgot about the “facialMaskTool.py”, “skdWrangler.py”, and “poseEditor_UI.py”, they all need the same sort of updates…i think that is all of them?

EDIT: never mind, there are a few more that need to be updated

EDIT2: I cannot get the face module to work with 2017. I get the following error when I try to build a rig:

Error: ValueError: file C:/Program Files (x86)/Epic Games/4.13/Engine/Extras/Maya_AnimationRiggingTools/MayaTools/General/Scripts\Modules\facial\face.py line 784: No object matches name: s.controlBoardFile #

My python is not good enough to figure this one out. Any suggestions?

[AntonioE]

Does the “export animation” and “import animation” work with dynamic chains? I’ve been transfering some animations from one scene to another and all keyframes get imported fine (including from leaf joints) but my character’s tail (which is a dynamic chain) keyframes do not get imported. Am I missing an option or setting?

[ernstAlert]

@;617968

Ehi , just a quick note.
I was having some troubles with the ROMs widget. So essentialy the selectCommand of the nodeOutliner widget is ignored. So, if I simply select a list of bones without modify any options , the TRY: state fails (line 10218, ART_skeletonBuilder_UI) becuase it can’t find any romInfo value. Tested in 2017 and 2016.
To “fix” that, for now, I simply added an additional call to self.rangeOfMotion_OutlinerSelect at the very begin of that TRY: statement

cool, thanks for letting me know. I’ll get that fixed soon. It’s one of those features that doesn’t seem to get used much, so it probably isn’t tested as much as it should be!

[ernstAlert]

@OneShotGG;619342

Couple of questions.

1. Is V2 out yet?

2. I created a face rig in the newest dropbox version and it seems to work except none of the face bones move along with the head bone. Is face still experimental?

1.) Not yet, but it is getting close!

2.) Is this after building the rig or just in the export file? I think part of the rig build process hooks everything up. In the export file, the bones are still being driven by locators so you can edit poses. The face isn’t really experimental as much as it is just not a polished user experience yet. We’re working on wrapping that up as it isn’t as intuitive as it could/should be.

[ernstAlert]

@AdamZ;622146

Does the latest on Drop Box work with Maya 2017 Update 1? Thanks.

as mathew states, there are some issues. We are almost ready to flip the switch on putting the tools on the marketplace, and that version (which will always be latest and greatest, no more dropbox nonsense) has been edited to not use pyside anymore and is fully compatible with 2017

[ernstAlert]

@mathew7852;622400

Forgot about the “facialMaskTool.py”, “skdWrangler.py”, and “poseEditor_UI.py”, they all need the same sort of updates…i think that is all of them?

EDIT: never mind, there are a few more that need to be updated

EDIT2: I cannot get the face module to work with 2017. I get the following error when I try to build a rig:

Error: ValueError: file C:/Program Files (x86)/Epic Games/4.13/Engine/Extras/Maya_AnimationRiggingTools/MayaTools/General/Scripts\Modules\facial\face.py line 784: No object matches name: s.controlBoardFile #

My python is not good enough to figure this one out. Any suggestions?

Yeah, we recently did a pass on this and it was a bit of a rabbit hole. The version that will be on the marketplace (hopefully next week, editing new tutorial videos tonight for them) are pyside free.
The face was originally written for V2 and was kinda made backwards compatible with v1, which is why the pyside issues exist.

[ernstAlert]

@AntonioE;623718

Does the “export animation” and “import animation” work with dynamic chains? I’ve been transfering some animations from one scene to another and all keyframes get imported fine (including from leaf joints) but my character’s tail (which is a dynamic chain) keyframes do not get imported. Am I missing an option or setting?

So, not mocap/fbx, but the actual animation option?
It’s possible it may not. To be honest, that feature fell out of use once ATOM was nicely implemented.
https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/maya/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2016/ENU/Maya/files/GUID-20FBCA56-2CD7-46F2-B851-682817961430-htm.html

For FBX, you must select any additional modules (leaf, jiggle and chain) for motion to be imported onto those. Usually, just doing a select all before import is enough.

[AntonioE]

@;623915

So, not mocap/fbx, but the actual animation option?
It’s possible it may not. To be honest, that feature fell out of use once ATOM was nicely implemented.
Export .atom animation

For FBX, you must select any additional modules (leaf, jiggle and chain) for motion to be imported onto those. Usually, just doing a select all before import is enough.

I googled it and… OMG I didn’t know ATOM existed.
Thanks!

[ernstAlert]

LOL. YES! (though vanilla double stuff is where it’s at)

[cvtsdmn]

I just wanted to say thank you for A.R.T., really.
Can’t wait for getting my hands on V2.

[OneShotGG]

@;623909

1.) Not yet, but it is getting close!

2.) Is this after building the rig or just in the export file? I think part of the rig build process hooks everything up. In the export file, the bones are still being driven by locators so you can edit poses. The face isn’t really experimental as much as it is just not a polished user experience yet. We’re working on wrapping that up as it isn’t as intuitive as it could/should be.

Sorry for the late response. It happens during the weight painting step.

Also, what is the best way to get as close to the mannequins rigs as possible? I rigged my character up and everything looks fine but retargetting from Kubold’s animations (which use the UE4 Mannequin) are a bit off. Is the lack of IK foot and hand bones the result of this? Or is it because my model has different enough proportions in certain areas to have problems. Clavicle, wrists, and arms seem to be problem areas.

I have followed the Retargetting tutorials, and documentations, but only found slight fixes.

What is it that makes this skeleton completely different from the ue4 mannequin one btw? The bone names and hierarchy seems identical.

[SM-OConnor]

Thanks for putting so much work into ART, it’s an amazing tool. Quick question on V2, will old V1 templates and MB files be compatible with it?

[Rikuna]

Thanks for this great tool .
Need some help, maya 2016sp6.
Getting strange error when trying to export weights from character body mesh:
Scripts\ART_skeletonBuilder_UI.py line 10811: ‘NoneType’ object has no attribute ‘getitem’
Also, cant go back to skeleton placement:
Scripts\ART_skeletonBuilder_UI.py line 11000: ‘NoneType’ object has no attribute ‘getitem’
Can’t even tell when this is started to appear, everything worked fine before last save-load.

[ernstAlert]

@cvtsdmn;624536

I just wanted to say thank you for A.R.T., really.
Can’t wait for getting my hands on V2.

Thanks! I’ll update the blog soon. Lots of work has been done over the last month on it! Getting really close!

[ernstAlert]

@SeanOConnor;628061

Thanks for putting so much work into ART, it’s an amazing tool. Quick question on V2, will old V1 templates and MB files be compatible with it?

Templates no, but there will be a v1 to v2 converter tool that will take a v1 maya file or FBX and rebuild it for v2 (since it has all of the info it needs, like which modules, bone positions and weights!)

[ernstAlert]

@Rikuna;628204

Thanks for this great tool .
Need some help, maya 2016sp6.
Getting strange error when trying to export weights from character body mesh:
Scripts\ART_skeletonBuilder_UI.py line 10811: ‘NoneType’ object has no attribute ‘getitem’
Also, cant go back to skeleton placement:
Scripts\ART_skeletonBuilder_UI.py line 11000: ‘NoneType’ object has no attribute ‘getitem’
Can’t even tell when this is started to appear, everything worked fine before last save-load.

Hmm, sounds like it is running into a problem when it tries to save or load weights. Is there by chance an object or material in the scene that has the same name as a mesh? A common one is having a mesh named head, when there is also a bone named head.
This bug has been fixed, but the fix hasn’t been released yet. I’m moving everything to the marketplace and it’s all ready to go, I’m just waiting for the green light.

[ernstAlert]

@OneShotGG;627283

Sorry for the late response. It happens during the weight painting step.

Also, what is the best way to get as close to the mannequins rigs as possible? I rigged my character up and everything looks fine but retargetting from Kubold’s animations (which use the UE4 Mannequin) are a bit off. Is the lack of IK foot and hand bones the result of this? Or is it because my model has different enough proportions in certain areas to have problems. Clavicle, wrists, and arms seem to be problem areas.

I have followed the Retargetting tutorials, and documentations, but only found slight fixes.

What is it that makes this skeleton completely different from the ue4 mannequin one btw? The bone names and hierarchy seems identical.

The UE4 mannequin was built with the tools, but the default settings and placement for the tools is not the UE4 mannequin (The tools were built before the mannequin existed).

Here are the templates for the UE4 mannequin (skeleton settings and joint movers):

Dropbox - SkeletonTemplates - Simplify your life?
Dropbox - JointMoverTemplates - Simplify your life?

If you edit your character (or start from a new scene) and load the skeleton settings template and then the joint mover template, you will have the exact UE4 mannequin skeleton!

[Rikuna]

@;632136

Hmm, sounds like it is running into a problem when it tries to save or load weights. Is there by chance an object or material in the scene that has the same name as a mesh? A common one is having a mesh named head, when there is also a bone named head.

Thanks for answer. I’m watching carefully about namings, trying to give unique names to all components, so i don’t think this is a problem. Anyway, already redone all work, seems like i’m just done something wrong because of my lack of experience with all this stuff.
One more question, there is pretty big amount of blend shapes created with this tool, didn’t managed to find any info about them, but as i understand its a proxy meshes shapes, i am right?