Answered

How to set up custom IK

Anonymous 3 years ago updated by Peter - Soxware Developer 3 years ago 1

I have a simple chain of bones: Joint1>Joint2>Joint3 (generic)
I want to set up a simple IK but can't figure out how it works. Every combination of Target and pole target gives strange results.

Answer

Hi,

thank you very much for your support request.

  1. Create a new custom transform that is NOT a child of any of the joints you are trying to control via IK. This transform is going to be your IK handle.
  2. Assign the IK constraint to your IK handle transform.
  3. Select Joint3 as IK target.
  4. [Optional] If you want to use a pole target, create a new custom transform again that is NOT a child of any of the IK controlled joints. Assign it as pole target to the IK constraint.
  5. Make sure to setup the IK plane (the blue arrow) in such a way, that it points in the direction you want your IK chain to bend. For an arm for example, the arrow should point towards the elbow.


More information can be found in the manual (click on the black info button in the IK constraint to quick jump to the related page) or in the second part of this video tutorial:

Please let me know in case you have any follow-up questions.

Best regards,

Peter

Not a bug

Bugs on Unity 2021.1.11f1 for version 1.26p03

Fitransyah 3 years ago updated by Peter - Soxware Developer 3 years ago 6

Hi there,

Its me again, sorry for troubling you.


So after posting a bug report on my previous post.

I revisited my project that still using previous version 1.26p03.

Everything look okay only I've notice the cube for IK handle its not rendering.

Both on config and pose mode.

As well the custom transform that I created last time, 


but the IK its working perfectly, but its hard to pick the handler without seeing the visibility shape.

I think it has someting with the Scene window again.

Here I've tried to create custom transform and set visibility and shape to try things out :

Image 914

Image 915

Image 916

Please let me know if you have any solution for this.

I'm quite affaraid to update to new version, since I found another bug which is more difficult than this one.

(See my other post)

Thank you.

Regards,

Fitransyah

Not a bug

Bugs after Updating this to version 1.26p04 - released on September 16, 2021

Fitransyah 3 years ago updated by Peter - Soxware Developer 3 years ago 3

Hi,

It's been a month I'm not using U-Motion Pro.

After updating to latest version, I re-import the assets to my new project.

But once I start using I find out few changes :

U-Motion not recommend to set up the IK automatically, but still doable from config mode.

I found few bugs spesifically related to U-Motion functionality in Scene window


1. The tool muscle group some times not interactive, its hard to select.

Sometimes it works but most of the time I'm having hard time to select it.

The sliders, the tabs and the window itself.

Image 910

2. some of the foot FK and IK bones are acting the same way

almost impossible to select or click from the Scene.

this behaviour found on :

Lower Leg FK

Foot FK and below

IK Foot handler

IK Knee pole hanlder


However its still possible to select from the dopesheet (animated properties list) 

But still its giving hard time :(


Image 911

Image 912

3. I'm not sure if this normal thing in previous version but if you have answer, please share what does this mean?

Image 913

4. As mention in number 2 before, theres not much I can do in config mode as you know the dopesheet properties are not accessible from config mode, so there's no way to make custom bone and additional contstraint from config mode.

That's all please let me know if you have any question, maybe I can send you a screen recording if you need more details.

Btw, I've tried to close and restart the project as well deleted and re-import the assets but no luck.

Thank you.

Best Regards,

Fitransyah

Answered

Manipulating external objects

thecodehermit 3 years ago updated by Peter - Soxware Developer 1 year ago 4

Hi I am wondering how to go about manipulating external objects from my character. Lets say I have a rigged character and I want him to grab and take an orange and then throw it towards something else. What will be the best way to do that ? For the moment I have been using sort of a cheat, by integrating the objects as part of the character model, though I cant use that for every random object in the future. 

Answer

Hi,

thank you very much for your support request.

So first of all, in Unity animation files can only address objects that are a child of the Animation/Animator component. In other words, you can't access objects that are lying around in your scene directly from within your character's animation.

So in every case, this involves  scripting and can't be done purely with pre-made animations. There are simple ways and more complex ways to implement a pick-up system depending on what level of quality you want to achieve. An easy way would be to create a pick-up animation that is rather generic in which the character just picks into the air. Using animation events you can trigger a "pick-up" script in the right moment . This script then checks if there is an object that is "pick-up able" nearby and if so parents it to the players hand.

More sophisticated approaches would use runtime-IK to adjust the pre-made animation to always reach exactly to the object no-matter the current player offset. You could also add different grab-poses per object... As you can see, this can get rather complicated very quickly.


Please let me know in case you have any follow-up questions.


Best regards,

Peter

Not a bug

Tool Assistant not visible (Unity 2021.2)

Stephen Woolcock 3 years ago updated by Peter - Soxware Developer 2 years ago 7

I've installed UMotion into a new, relatively clean project in Unity 2021.2.0b8. Everything is working great, with the exception of the Tool Assisnt not being visible in the scene view. Toggling it on and off via the display settings group does nothing. There are no errors or warnings. It is just not visible - I suspect it is possibly being drawn off-screen? Is there a way to manually modify its position in a settings file or asset?

Answered

Leaning While Running and Climbing

Michael L Croswell 3 years ago updated by Peter - Soxware Developer 3 years ago 2

Hello!  I finally have some time between my programming jobs to work again with UMotion Pro and wondered:

1) Do you have (or know of) any tutorials showing how to lean characters when running or climbing?  I want to blend a lean and have the lean based on speed and the sharpness of the turn.  Also, for walking up/down stairs want to lean toward the slope somewhat.

2) If not, do you have any suggestions to an approach?

Thank you for a great tool, too!

Answer

Dear Michael,

thank you very much for your support request.

As the amount of the leaning is dependent on the current runtime situation, you can't do this in a static animation file (otherwise the leaning amount would always be the same). Thus using UMotion Pro for this won't work. I haven't done something like this myself yet, but I think your best bet is to do this via code in your character controller.

A quick search gave me this video tutorial which might be helpful:

Please let me know in case you have any follow-up questions.

Best regards,
Peter

Answered

Removing duplicate keys

Anonymous 3 years ago updated by Peter - Soxware Developer 3 years ago 1

Is there a way I can have UMotion remove duplicate/redundant keys within a clip?

Answer

Hi,

thank you very much for your support request.

Unfortunately there is currently no way to automatically remove duplicate/redundant keys.

Please let me know in case you have any follow-up questions.

Best regards,
Peter

Answered

Child-of looks perfect in Umotion but looks differently in Unity Timeline

Sang Hendrix 3 years ago updated by Peter - Soxware Developer 3 years ago 1

Hi guys. So I'm creating an animation of a character holding a gun. It looks perfect in Clip Editor but when I exported to Anim file and ran it on Unity Timeline, it looked like the second pic. The gun was off position and I don't know why.

Image 903

Clip Editor

Image 904

Unity Timeline

Answer

Hi Sang,
thank you very much for your support request.

The child-of constraint only "fakes" changing the parent by generating key frames that make the pistol act as if it's a child of a different parent. (This is needed because it's technically not possible to alter the parent/child relationship from within an animation.) This "fake" works as long as the real parent isn't moved to a different spot than it was while exporting the animation. It's also necessary that your hand is in the same spot again in the exported animation. If your character uses the humanoid animation system, it is not guaranteed that your hands end up in the same spot (due to the re-targeting algorithm of humanoid).

Maybe you are using an override layer in your timeline that alters some of the pre-baked positions? When you play the exported animation directly on your character (not using Unity Timeline, does it work then)?


My recommendations:

If you're using humanoid, I recommend using "generic" instead. Generic is playing an animation 1:1 as you've authored it while humanoid uses animation re-targeting which only "approximates" your authored animation (here's a good explanation how humanoid works: https://blog.unity.com/technology/mecanim-humanoids).
Using humanoid will give you lots of headache if your trying to do precise hand interactions that are close to the camera (thus very visible to the viewer) because humanoid's "lossy" nature (due to the re-targeting) introduces lots of small position errors.

To switch to generic, simply duplicate your source character. Configure it as generic. Create a new UMotion project of type generic for your generic character. Import the old humanoid UMotion project file (the *.asset file, not the exported animations!). This results in a new project of type generic with all your previously created animation. Export the animations and use them on your generic character.

Let me know in case you need any further help.

Best regards,
Peter

    Answered

    IK Pinning on elbows or knees

    Anonymous 3 years ago updated by Peter - Soxware Developer 3 years ago 4

    Hi,

    Is there any way to pin the elbow or knee instead of the and or foot?

    Regards,

    Scott Hong

    Answer

    Hi Scott,

    thank you very much for your support request.

    Yes, you would need to setup an IK chain that only includes the upper arm/leg. The IK handle would then define the elbow/knee position (instead of the wrist/ankle position). As the IK setup is UMotion project wide, I recommend that you do this in a separate UMotion project (in order to not destroy the regular IK setup probably used by other animations in your UMotion project).

    For more information on how to setup IK chains manually, please follow the second part of the IK video tutotrial:

    Here's how to setup IK pinning:

    Please let me know in case you have any follow-up questions.

    Best regards,
    Peter

    Answered

    IK Pinned

    Anonymous 3 years ago updated by Peter - Soxware Developer 3 years ago 2

    Hi,

    I'm trying to modify a crawling animation.

    In certain frame area, the hand must remain stationary, with no change in position and rotation.

    I think it can be done using IK Pinned option.


    It works, however the position and rotation of the hand are fixed only when all the backend keys are removed.

    For the next animation, IK Pinned option must be released again after some frame area.

    Isn't it possible only work in a specific frame section?

    Regards,

    Scott Hong

    Answer

    This problem is resolved. I replied it before, but it was not saved.