mirror animation

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Zafar Iqbal
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mirror animation

Post by Zafar Iqbal » 11 Aug 2013, 22:53

I have a character set up using Biped Rig. I'd like the mesh and animation to mirror completely. Scaling on X messes it up and I've tried plotting the constraints and animation, but didn't have luck with that either.

Can it be done?
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gustavoeb
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Re: mirror animation

Post by gustavoeb » 11 Aug 2013, 23:50

for my mirroring animation needs I use Gear. it has a nice template generator that stores how mirroring should be handled on a per object basis.

the code on the site used to have a little bug, Jeremie released a update in the SI mailing list. here is the link:
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/xsi_lis ... VJFqf7GeoJ
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myara
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Re: mirror animation

Post by myara » 12 Aug 2013, 00:51

The standard procedure, if youre not using specific scripts like gear which is awesome btw, would be to copy the animation, and in the fcurve editor, flip a fcurve (usually posx). To flip the curve, just select all the keys in the curve, and multiply them by -1.
Im not in front of my PC but i think it was -1 *

I think i wrote a simple script for this but Im not sure if it still works fine, havent used it in a while.
http://vimeo.com/56902800
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Zafar Iqbal
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Re: mirror animation

Post by Zafar Iqbal » 12 Aug 2013, 00:54

Thanks a bunch - but I have no idea how to use this.

I tried loading it up in script editor, selected everything I needed to mirror and then ran the script but got error on line 37.

Line 37 says "import gear" - I then found and installed the Gear add-on but that didn't help either. The docs says after installing, "Gear" appears between "Display" and "Windows" in the menu. It does not. Tried re-installing, but SI tells me it's already installed.
- Zafar Iqbal

Zafar Iqbal
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Re: mirror animation

Post by Zafar Iqbal » 12 Aug 2013, 00:55

myara: thanks. I'll try that.
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gustavoeb
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Re: mirror animation

Post by gustavoeb » 12 Aug 2013, 01:22

sorry zafar, my post was a bit misleading. one needs to go through all the process of installing gear AND THEN find the broken python file inside it, AND THEN exchange it for the one I posted the link to.

the price is higher, and I didnt even mention you will have to setup that template I talked about for all controllers in your rig. on the flipside once you are done it is a one click solution. so I would go with myaras's solution if you need to do this every now and then, and would go through the gear route IF it is some complex character with many controllers and you intend to use this feature daily.
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Zafar Iqbal
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Re: mirror animation

Post by Zafar Iqbal » 12 Aug 2013, 10:37

Thanks for clarifying. This particular animation is somewhat simple. Cloning and applying negative scale on the clone works, but small tweaks are for some reason needed. I think I'll take that route.
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AceMastermind
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mMirrorFCurve.xsiaddon

Post by AceMastermind » 13 Aug 2013, 17:20

myara wrote:I think i wrote a simple script for this but Im not sure if it still works fine, havent used it in a while.
http://vimeo.com/56902800
Does anyone happen to have a backup of mMirrorFCurve.xsiaddon on their harddrive? The 4shared link at the video is invalid and i'd like to give this addon a try. :)

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myara
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Re: mirror animation

Post by myara » 13 Aug 2013, 18:48

Im on vacations(very short vacations) but I'll check when I get home,
meanwhile you can try with this

https://www.dropbox.com/s/2hlbkknecwb1g ... rFCurve.js

Just remember it was an experimental script that isn't finished yet
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csaez
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Re: mirror animation

Post by csaez » 14 Aug 2013, 04:48

myara wrote:The standard procedure, if youre not using specific scripts like gear which is awesome btw, would be to copy the animation, and in the fcurve editor, flip a fcurve (usually posx).
That works on simple FK animations, but imagine a character walking in a non orthogonal direction and try to mirror his IK leg with your procedure...

Mirror a pose implies more than copy+negate fcurves, you will probably need a reference object (COG/hips), a symmetry template and some linear algebra to calculate the space switching.

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myara
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Re: mirror animation

Post by myara » 14 Aug 2013, 10:30

csaez wrote:That works on simple FK animations, but imagine a character walking in a non orthogonal direction and try to mirror his IK leg with your procedure...

Mirror a pose implies more than copy+negate fcurves, you will probably need a reference object (COG/hips), a symmetry template and some linear algebra to calculate the space switching.
In my short experience, negate fcurves method works in lets say 80% of the cases. In the 20% of rest, the animator isn't moving the rig root but the legs or arms controllers individually. In this case the controller's animation isn't mirrable with this method because they aren't symmetrical in relation to their parent object.

You can wokraround this with temporal nulls, constraints and plot animations to convert the animation to a local space based in the hip or whatever like you said but avoinding doing all that math. You can script it easily and fast. It works for me.
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AceMastermind
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Re: mirror animation

Post by AceMastermind » 14 Aug 2013, 17:20

myara wrote:Im on vacations(very short vacations) but I'll check when I get home,
meanwhile you can try with this

https://www.dropbox.com/s/2hlbkknecwb1g ... rFCurve.js

Just remember it was an experimental script that isn't finished yet
Thanks! :-bd

It looks like the Japanese strings in the code didn't quite make it through translation. Will this affect how the script works and is there any chance of localizing it in English?

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myara
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Re: mirror animation

Post by myara » 14 Aug 2013, 19:29

I wrote an eng/jp version.
https://www.4shared.com/file/1EvI2FYe/m ... Curve.html

I wrote a mirror copy fcurve, mirror character tool for a project, but it was heavily dependent on the project naming convention and rig structure. This is an stripped version to make it a little more general, I was still trying different approaches to make it more technical friendly, reusable and a GUI more intuitive, but I had never find the time to finish it. Maybe someday.

A few days ago Stephen posted a vimeo movie with a similar tool and the minute I saw it "Now I don't have to finish this tool ! Wooohooo!! I'll just use this and modify it to my needs", I though but then I realized there wasn't any download link so I guess this isn't free or available.
M.Yara
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