Houdini 22.0 Character KineFX

List of prebuilt rig components

Prebuilt rig components available from the APEX AutoRig Component SOP.

The following prebuilt rig components can be selected from the APEX AutoRig Component SOP.

Rig components

  • Blend Shape

    Adds blend shapes with controls to an APEX rig.

  • Bone Deform

    Adds bone deformation functionality to an APEX rig.

  • Clean

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

  • Connect Ports

    Wires or unwires ports on an existing APEX rig from a table of connections.

  • Delta Mush

    Smooths out point deformations.

  • Delta Mush

    Smooths out point deformations.

  • Eye

    Sets up look at controls for one or more eyes.

  • FK Transform

    Creates an APEX graph node hierarchy using a guide skeleton.

  • Foot

    Sets up a foot with heel, toe, and tilt controls as well as FK and IK controls for the toes.

  • Full Body IK

    Adds full body IK to an APEX rig.

  • Groom Deform

    Attaches a hair, fur, or feather groom to a character’s animated skin shape.

  • Hand

    Sets up a hand with FK and IK fingers.

  • IK/FK Blend

    Performs a local blend between an IK and FK chain.

  • Joint Rotate Corrective

    Uses the rotation of a joint to drive the position of another joint.

  • Limb

    Sets up IK chains with 3 nodes and provides options to add twist and clavicle setups, and blend between IK and FK.

  • Look At

    Creates a look at constraint for a driven TransformObject node.

  • Mapped Constraints

    Constrains two TransformObject nodes based on a matching mapping property.

  • Multi IK

    Sets up IK chains with more than 3 nodes, or multiple IK chains using segments.

  • Neck Head

    Sets up neck and head controls for a character.

  • Pose Blend

    Adds pose blending with controls to an APEX rig.

  • Rename

    Renames existing controls on an APEX rig.

  • Reverse Foot

    Sets up a reverse foot with heel, toe, and tilt controls.

  • Root

    Creates a hierarchy of root controls for a character.

  • Scapula

    Sets up the controls that move a character’s scapula.

  • Set Driven Keys

    Drives transforms and channels on multiple TransformObject nodes with a single driver control or animation clip.

  • Spine

    Sets up spine controls for a character.

  • Spline

    Sets up a spline solver.

  • Surface Deform

    Deforms geometry by binding it to a skinned surface and following the surface as it deforms.

  • Transform Driver

    Creates, parents, and constrains TransformObject nodes.

  • Twist

    Sets up the deformation of twist joints on an APEX rig.

  • Ulna

    Sets up an anatomical twist for a character’s forearm.

  • Wrinkle Deform

    Adds a wrinkle deformer to an APEX rig.

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