Kevin Traywick

traileverse
Ok sideFX, I get that you've done wonderful work on your auto rig component things and you and the community are loving it, Nice work! but for those of us who want to understand what's happening and how all the pieces fit together, can you spare a moment for us? Can we get some content that doesn't involve using autorig components. It no so much about the rigging but about how the system works with data.

For example, how do i set up attributes and such to create controls from scratch? how do I create and get tags and property attributes created on skeletons into APEX? Is that even the right question to ask?

If I'm missing something in the documentation, my bad, please point me in the right direction. I want to know how to handle data (attributes, tags, properties, control shapes) between skeleton creation and rig graph.

I get that the APEX graph is geometry, but it doesn't feel like I can wrangle it like typical geometry.


I've uploaded a silly little file here but hopefully some can point me in the right direction based on the notes in the file.

I'm playing around trying to understand, but I need some guidance from more knowledgeable folks for sure!

Michael Goldfarb did a great tutorial on adding parms, properties and tags to a rig here: https://www.sidefx.com/tutorials/kinefx-rigging-with-apex-1/. [www.sidefx.com] He also did another one in that series devoted to Apex graphs. They're both in the Sidefx tuturial library. Max Rose has a good tutorial on the Fuse graph, though it looks like you want to DIY the entire rig.

I don't use the Apex graph much, as I find it gets unwieldy very quickly. I think I'm somewhere in between you (using Apex graphs to build the rig) and going the AutoRig Builder route. My mental model of Apex was geo bound to a skeleton controlled by a guide skeleton. Use tags, parms, etc to define the controllers on the guide skel then point the Apex Rig Component to the guide skel and viola, rigged. However, the confusing thing for me has been that the Components also want to "help" you add tags, controllers etc. That's helpful but defeats the purpose of setting up your own guide skel and, for me, created a LOT of confusion as to what the Component is adding, doiing etc. Theoretically the component would respect your tags and not add its own or flag them if they are missing. I can get all the Components to do their job but mostly I start by deleting all the information they pre-fill and adding mine from the guide skel. I also find the language around base vs guide skeletons confusing. The docs conflict here as well:
See http://127.0.0.1:48626/character/kinefx/preparingskeletons.html [127.0.0.1]
vs http://127.0.0.1:48626/character/kinefx/rigcharacter.html#fullbodyik. [127.0.0.1]
I suppose it will all settle out with 21.5 and updates along the way. Apologies for hijacking your thread and good luck with your rigging.

Link to Guilherme's videos above, https://www.youtube.com/@guilhermecasagrandi

If you're going larger US city to larger EU city, it doesn't really matter between FedEx and DHL. Otherwise, DHL has better ground experience in the EU. You could check with a freight expediter too. They'll generally do a decent amount of hand-holding through customs etc.
As for packing, I've shipped some pricey workstations with FedEx, no problems but they were packed like Faberge eggs. Your roadie case looks like a good way to go though.