Hi. I'm a new Houdini user who would like to import character rigs that were created in Maya using Anzovin studio's “Face Machine” and “Setup Machine 2” plugins into Houdini. I'm having a difficult time finding a guide on how to do so correctly. While I'm aware that animation sequences that includes the characters can be brought into Houdini using alembic files, I feel that knowing how to import rigged geometry into Houdini and exporting the content back out at a later time is equally important for my creative endeavors. I also understand that FBX files are widely used for such purposes. So any assistance in this regard would be greatly appreciated. Thank you .

WaterBirdx2
I also understand that FBX files are widely used for such purposes.

Yes!

edward

WaterBirdx2
I also understand that FBX files are widely used for such purposes.

Yes!

Then do you know what the steps would be for this doing procedure with FBX files?

From the main menu, File > Import > FBX

edward
From the main menu, File > Import > FBX

What about Maya's export settings and Houdini's import settings for FBX files?

Anything that exports the skinning as skinning.

Maybe what edward means is “I don't know exactly, but you can import basic skinning only”

If not, please clarify.

edward
Anything that exports the skinning as skinning.

A-OC
Maybe what edward means is “I don't know exactly, but you can import basic skinning only”

If not, please clarify.

Yes, please do. Trying to export one of my character rigs in Maya using the FBX format's default settings as much as possible triggered error messages, and then importing that FBX file into Houdini caused it crash on me. So I need as much specific step-by-step information about this procedure as possible, please.

What error messages are you getting then? If you ask general question, then you get a general answer.

edward
What error messages are you getting then? If you ask general question, then you get a general answer.

Very well. Since you put it that way, I'll share a couple of pictures that I took of my error messages with you. I should mention, though, that when I took the picture of Houdini while it was trying to import my character rig into the scene, the window that's located on the lower-right-hand-side of the screen was displaying the same message repeatedly in rapid succession by only changing the message's corresponding numbers.

You can safely ignore those warnings in the Houdini FBX import. The Maya warnings, looks like something particular to your rig. A quick google search shows this answer why you might be getting those: http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/fbx-forum/non-orthogonal-matrix-support/td-p/4159593 [forums.autodesk.com]

edward
You can safely ignore those warnings in the Houdini FBX import.

Good to know. Thanks.

That being said, I made some additional searches after I visited your shared link, and found that users were, by-and-large, only exporting the mesh and the joints for their characters. Which would totally defeat the purpose of this thread . In contrast, I did come across an interesting video tutorial on how to bring Houdini's digital assets into Maya: https://vimeo.com/80574753 [vimeo.com] .

The Houdini Engine for Maya appears to work really conveniently and smoothly. So is it possible to turn my character rig into a digital asset and bring it over into Houdini that way?

So you want the whole rig WITH CONSTRAINTS round-tripping? Then, yeah, I don't think there's anyway to do that short of writing your own tools. Houdini Engine for Maya is for using Houdini setups inside Maya, not the other way around.

edward
So you want the whole rig WITH CONSTRAINTS round-tripping? Then, yeah, I don't think there's anyway to do that short of writing your own tools. Houdini Engine for Maya is for using Houdini setups inside Maya, not the other way around.

That's right. Yeah, I was afraid that was the case. But I'm not totally surprised since I've been finding more problems than solutions to my technical problems with Maya lately.

Okay. My stubbornness has caused me to discover a python plugin called the MGeo Exporter. According to these webpages, http://lesterbanks.com/2013/09/mgeo-exporter-bridges-maya-and-houdini-with-a-shared-polygon-curves-and-particles-export/ [lesterbanks.com] , https://vimeo.com/channels/mgeoexporter [vimeo.com] , and https://github.com/paulwinex/pw_mGeoExporter [github.com] , this plugin's claim to fame is that it CAN send polygon geometry, as well as curves and particles, from Maya TO Houdini. I have not been able to try it out yet because I do not know where the “PYTHONPATH folder” that is mentioned in the installation instructions is located. So I wanted to share the discovery with the rest of the forum partly because I wanted to know what the rest of user-base's thoughts were about the plugin, and partly because I would like some assistance in finding the “PYTHONPATH folder,” if you please.

I'm afraid rigs consist of constraints and blendshapes too, they would need to transfer over.

Not to mention connections and expressions

A-OC
I'm afraid rigs consist of constraints and blendshapes too, they would need to transfer over.

A-OC
Not to mention connections and expressions

I am well aware of that, believe me. But at least I am trying to be more proactive about this situation. If you are familiar with any other plugin that would work just as well, or better, than the one I found, you're more than welcome to recommend it to me and the rest of the forum for future reference.

The plugin you mention seems to not transfer skining at all, does it ?

The best there is that I know of that will transfer anything close to a rig is FBX. I'd be happy to get to know of a better option too.

A-OC
The plugin you mention seems to not transfer skining at all, does it ?

This remains to be seen. I do not know for certain how well the plugin that I found is going to work until I can get it installed, and I am running into additional issues while trying to get it installed onto my computer.

A-OC
The best there is that I know of that will transfer anything close to a rig is FBX. I'd be happy to get to know of a better option too.

Then perhaps we should consider making a request with the Houdini developers for an export/import plugin that would be capable of including customized rig setups?