Houdini 22.0 Character KineFX

Full Body IK

Adds full body IK to an APEX rig.

Since 20.5

This component adds full body IK to an APEX rig. See rigging a character for an example use of this component.

Full body IK functionality

To configure the weights of the full body IK controls, a weight point attribute is required on the joints. If the weight attribute is used, a default weight is applied to all the driven joints before overriding specific joints with differing values.

Parameters

Name

The name of the FBIK subnet created by this component.

Settings

Point Transform Name

The skel::SetPointTransforms node that the FBIK subnet connects to. This parameter is composed of the skel::SetPointTransforms node name and the skel::SetPointTransforms port that the FBIK subnet connects to, for example, pointtransform.geo. This parameter also accepts the APEX path pattern port syntax, for example, pointtransform:geo and pointtransform:geo[in]. If the [in] port is not specified, the first port is used.

Tolerance

The margin of error that the solver is allowed to work within. Once the tolerance is reached, the solver can exit early from its iterations. Setting this to 0 forces the solver to always perform the full number of iterations.

Damping

The damping factor for the solver. Larger values produce more stable results when, for example, a target is unreachable. However, a value that is too large requires more iterations for convergence. A value of around 0.5 is typically a suitable initial value.

Iterations

The number of iterations for the solver to perform.

Driven

Driven

The TransformObject nodes that are deformed by this component. This parameter accepts APEX path patterns, so you can specify tags in this field, for example, “* ^*twist* ^%tag(fingers)”, which excludes the twist and finger joints. See preparing skeletons for rigging for more information on adding tags to skeleton joints.

Drivers

Drivers

The TransformObject nodes that drive the full body IK. This is usually a small selection of joints in the hierarchy, like the feet, pelvis, wrists, and neck. This parameter accepts APEX path patterns, so you can specify tags in this field, for example, #fbik.

Prefix

The prefix to add to the full body IK controls.

Suffix

The suffix to add to the full body IK controls.

Shape

The APEX Configure Controls SOP provides more options for changing the look of the controls.

Shape

The shape of the controls. It can be set to any of the built-in APEX control shapes.

Color

The color of the control shapes.

Scale

The scale of the control shapes.

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