Houdini 22.0 Character KineFX

Clean

Cleans up a skeleton and rig by removing extra joints and unpromoting controls.

Since 21.0

This component removes extra guide joints from a skeleton and unpromotes unwanted controls on a rig.

Guide skeleton (left); extra joints removed (right)

Parameters

Settings

Joints

Point Transforms

The names of the skel::SetPointTransforms nodes (for example, pointtransform) that contain the joints you want to keep. skel::SetPointTransforms is a skeleton deformer - it takes in transforms and applies them to skeleton joints. This parameter allows you to keep only the joints that deform the skeleton. See geometry-deforming graphs for an example use of skel::SetPointTransforms.

This parameter accepts APEX path patterns. A value of “*” finds all the skel::SetPointTransforms nodes in the rig.

Note

To see the skeleton being cleaned up, append an Unpack Folder SOP to this node. This extracts the skeleton from the character folder structure. On the Unpack Folder SOP, set Extract Pattern to the skeleton, for example, /Base.skel, and turn on its display flag.

Keep

The joints you want to keep on your skeleton. This value overrides the Point Transforms parameter.

This parameter accepts APEX path patterns. For example, if you only want to keep the twist and spine joints on the skeleton, you can set this field to “#twist #spine”. You can also add and remove joints from the starting skeleton - #bind is the tag that is added to all the joints on the initial skeleton, so to remove the spine joints from the skeleton, set this to “#bind -#spine”.

Spine joints removed from the rest skeleton
Controls

Unpromote Controls

The controls to unpromote. These controls still exist in the APEX graph as TransformObject nodes, but they won’t be visible in the animate state. This parameter accepts APEX path patterns, for example, %tag(*spline*).

Note

If you are setting this parameter to tags, make sure these are the tags on the controls, not the skeleton joints.

See also

KineFX

Overview

Preparing character elements

Rigging with APEX graphs

  • APEX graph basics

    Introduction to the APEX graph evaluation framework.

  • APEX graph debugger

    Inspect the values of an APEX graph’s ports within the APEX network view.

  • APEX Script basics for graph building

    An overview of APEX Script, a code interface for building APEX graphs.

  • Graphs for numerical operations

    Example graphs of numerical operations like adding two values, fetching multiple results, and retrieving information from geometry.

  • Graphs for viewport animation

    Example graphs of animate state functionality like creating controls and constraints, and defining joint hierarchies.

  • Graphs for deforming geometry

    Example of a SOP network and APEX graph for deforming a 3-joint tube geometry.

  • Graph metadata

    Information added to graph nodes and ports.

  • APEX path pattern

    A set of rules that allow you to filter and select elements within graphs, skeletons, geometry, and the character folder structure.

  • APEX graph nodes

    APEX nodes provide operations for building up the functionality of APEX graphs, which are used in KineFX to create character rigs and perform other geometry manipulation.

  • APEX updates for H22

    New and updated APEX graph nodes for Houdini 22.

Building rig graphs with APEX Script

Rigging with rig components

Animating in the viewport

  • Animation workflow

    Example networks of adding characters, props, characters, and animation to a scene.

  • Animating in LOPs

    Rig and animate characters and props in the context of a USD stage.

  • Working in the animate state

    Select and manipulate controls, define transform limits for controls, and add skin controls to a character.

  • Animate state menus and HUDs

    Menus, HUDs, toolbars, and options in the animate state.

  • Animate state hotkeys

    Hotkeys available in the animate state.

  • Posing

    Pose characters in the animation scene by using locators, copying and pasting controls, and mirroring poses.

  • Motion paths

    Visualize the motion of controls as curves in 3D space.

  • Constraints

    Create relationships between controls in the animate state.

  • Dynamic motion

    Add physically-accurate projectile motion to your animation in the animate state.

  • Ragdoll

    Add a ragdoll simulation to your animation in the animate state.

  • Full body IK

    Apply full body inverse kinematics to pose the character using high-level targets rather than manipulating individual joints.

  • Secondary motion

    Add physically-accurate effects like lag/overshoot, jiggle, and spring to your animation in the animate state.

  • Control selection sets

    A tree view of controls, selections, and selection sets for the animate state. Allows management of control selection and visibility.

  • Motion mixer

    Combine and edit the animation clips of multiple characters in a timeline-based view.

  • Character picker

    Create a 2D layout with simple buttons for selecting character controls in an animation scene.

  • Animation catalog

    Save, manage, and apply animations and single-frame poses to an animation scene.

  • Animation layers

    Create multiple layers of animation without affecting the original animation.

  • Animation toolbar

    A customizable toolbar consisting of simple slider tools that quickly apply modifications to animation controls and curves.

  • Animation bookmarks

    Frame markers that help organize and identify the different parts of your animation.

Customizing the animate state

SOP-based animation

  • Physics-based motion

    Add physically-accurate motion to your animation using the Projectile Motion and Pendulum Motion SOPs.

  • Ragdoll simulations

    Add a ragdoll simulation to your animation using the Ragdoll Solver SOP.

Deformation

  • Blend shapes

    Create blend shapes using blend shape SOP nodes.

Animation retargeting

Pre-H20

Panes

  • Motion mixer

    A timeline-based view of the animation clips and motion effects of multiple characters.

  • Character picker

    Create a 2D layout with simple buttons to select character controls in an animation scene.

  • Rig tree view

    A hierarchical view of character components, including packed character folders, KineFX rigs, and Object node rigs.

  • Animation editor

    View and edit animated parameters and their transitions between keyframes.

  • Geometry spreadsheet

    Displays details about the geometry selected in the network editor.

Appendix