Houdini 22.0 Nodes Geometry nodes

APEX Map Character geometry node

Stores a reference on an APEX control to a point in a skeleton geometry.

On this page
Since 20.5

This node configures mappings between the controls of an APEX character and the points on a skeleton. Each mapping is stored in the properties dictionary attribute on the corresponding control in the character rig.

Parameters

Output Property Name

The name used to store the mapping property.

Rig Path

The path to the rig to create control mappings for.

Skeleton Path

The path to the skeleton geometry to create point mappings for.

Rest Transforms

Creates a property, <mapping>_xform, that stores a transform used to bind a skeleton’s joint to its corresponding control (TransformObject node). This transform property is stored alongside the mapping property (defined in Output Property Name) on the control’s TransformObject node.

None

Don’t create a property.

From Active Clip

Use the active clip at frame 1 of the animation scene to evaluate the control transforms.

From Control Parameters

Use a detail dictionary attribute named parms on the specified geometry. This geometry can come from an APEX Control Update Parms SOP.

From Control Skeleton

Use a skeleton with joints named after the controls on the specified geometry. This skeleton can come from an APEX Control Extract SOP.

Fix Biped Pole Vectors

Use a built-in APEX Script to fix the arm and leg pole vector controls and have a rest transform that is close to the middle joint of the IK chains.

Fix Biped Pole Vectors

These parameters are available when Rest Transforms is set to Fix Biped Pole Vectors.

Left Arm

A space-separated list of four control names for the left shoulder, elbow, hand, and IK elbow pole vector controls.

Right Arm

A space-separated list of four control names for the right shoulder, elbow, hand, and IK elbow pole vector controls.

Left Leg

A space-separated list of four control names for the left hip, knee, foot, and IK knee pole vector controls.

Right Arm

A space-separated list of four control names for the right hip, knee, foot, and IK knee pole vector controls.

Arm Pole Offset

A translation offset to push the pole vector control slightly away from the elbow joint.

Leg Pole Offset

A translation offset to push the pole vector control slightly away from the knee joint.

Mappings

Map By Name

When turned on, performs an automatic mapping from rig control to skeleton point if they share the same name.

Mappings

A list of control-point pairs that map controls from the Rig Path graph to points on the Skeleton Path geometry.

Attributes

Each mapping is stored in the properties dictionary attribute on the corresponding control in the character rig. The mapping has the following form:

<mapping>:<skeleton>: <joint_name>

where:

  • <mapping> is set in Output Property Name

  • <skeleton> is set in Skeleton Path

You can create extra transform data for the mapping property by selecting one of the options in Rest Transforms. This transform data is stored in the property <mapping>_xform and has the form:

<mapping>_xform:<skeleton>: Matrix4

Example mapping properties on a control:

"mapping:Base.skel":"L_hand",
"mapping_xform:Base.skel":[0.9,0.3,0.1,0,...]

Inputs

Scene/Character

The APEX scene or character geometry.

Outputs

Scene/Character

The APEX scene or character geometry with the updated properties.

See also

Geometry nodes