Rigging to Collision bones in 3dsmax

[Iki Akiri]

Hey guys,

I just had a look at the new skeleton for fitted mesh - and while I can get a good skin on it in 3dsmax the export has got me stumped.

My workflow for normal rigged mesh is:

• Skin, add all the bones etc
• Export as .fbx
• Convert with .fbx converter to .dae
• Double check the .xml
• Upload

Anyway, this method works for me; but would someone be able to quickly give me a rundown of the pipeline for exporting/uploading from max on the new skeleton?

I'm currently getting a .dae parsing error on upload and I'm assuming it may be because I'm adding the bones as well as the collisions in the skin modifier - is this right or are we entirely skinning to collision only?

Two tiered question: Theoretically if I remove the extra collision bones on this new skeleton - would that work as "Liquid mesh" in the current viewer or is that a completely different workaround?

Any information you can throw at me would be really appreciated! 

 

Thank you in advance :matte-motes-smile:

[Yuriko Nishi]

hi =)

 

this is how i did it in the past and just tested with 2 additional bones too (using max 2009):

 

export as collada (with the autodesk plugin 2011.3.1)

edit the dae file in a texteditor to make sure all bones are in it (the new bones are optional, old bones have to be all in) make sure you have the right number of bones in the line with the bonelist. 26 is default, and you have to add the optional bones to that number too, 28 in my test mesh).

 

it would look something like this:

<Name_array id="BodyController-Joints-array" count="28">
 mPelvis mTorso mHipRight mHipLeft mChest RIGHT_PEC LEFT_PEC mCollarLeft
mCollarRight mNeck mShoulderRight mShoulderLeft mHead mSkull mElbowRight mWristRight
mElbowLeft mWristLeft mKneeRight mAnkleRight mKneeLeft mAnkleLeft mFootLeft mToeLeft mFootRight mToeRight mEyeRight mEyeLeft

 

the plugin only exports bones that have actually vertices attached to them, in my case the eyes where not in the list, so i added them in the end

 

the order of the bones has to be left alone, just add missing default bones at the end.

done and ready for upload.

 

usually when you get an upload error, the viewer is writing the source of the problem into the viewers logfile, maybe you can get info there on what failed... good luck

[Chip Midnight]

When skinning to the collision bones for fitted mesh you do not add the regular bones to the skin modifier. There's no need since the collision bones are driven by the standard bones.

Depending on the version of Max you're using you probably don't need to go through the intermediate step of exporting by FBX and then converting. I'm using 2013 and exporting directly as DAE works just fine.

Open the DAE that's incuded in the fitted mesh zip file in a text editor and do a find on "name_array". That's the part you'll need to edit in your exported DAE. Make note of the number of bones. It used to be 26, but now it's a different value. Copy all of the bone names between the name array brackets. In your exported DAE change the number of bones to the correct value and then paste the copied bone list into your name array after the bones that are already listed there. Repeated bone names are ignored. That's all you need to do.

[Harry Hyx]

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Chip Midnight wrote:

When skinning to the collision bones for fitted mesh you do not add the regular bones to the skin modifier. There's no need since the collision bones are driven by the standard bones.

 

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Ohhhh i think I get it now, I was really confused as to why there weren't really any weights associated to the old bones when I checked the file. It makes perfect sense why they added new collision bones. Now there are a total 26 collision bones just like the old bones.

[Iki Akiri]

Thanks for the clarification Chip, that clears a lot up for me! :matte-motes-asleep-2:

[lonumirus]

Hi,

I am still confused. 

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Chip Midnight wrote:

Make note of the number of bones. It used to be 26, but now it's a different value. Copy all of the bone names between the name array brackets. In your exported DAE change the number of bones to the correct value .

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So this new value is the number of bones in the existing fitted mesh skeleton DAE file? (which is 50) or still 26 or is it the total number of bones I have in my exported DAE file (after pasting the bones)?

[lonumirus]

Hi again,

I will try to give more details about my workflow. 

1.Import fitteg rig skeleton
2.Import my mesh
3.Use skinwrap to copy skin values to my mesh from the skeleton
4.select my mesh and export DAE
5.Open DAE int text editor and change bone value to 26 and paste the bone names (found in skeleton DAE) at the end of the bone names in my DAE file.

Results are: i can see the mesh in the viewer upload window but as soon as i check the Skinweights box, viewer crashes. So I guess I am not modifying the DAE file correctly?. 

Iki Akiri, any idea what might be wrong? I guess its almost same as your workflow.

Thanks,
lonu

[arton Rotaru]

it has to be 26 + the number of collision bones you actually used. If you, let's say, used 4 collision bones, the number would be 30.

[lonumirus]

Thanks Arton, got it working now.

[Alexxis DeCuir]

where are people finding a fitted mesh skeleton that actually works in 3ds max? I downloaded one from the wiki but the bones import wonky and is useless for rigging.