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Original Poster
#1 Old 4th Nov 2018 at 12:18 AM
Default A couple questions about sim rigs
So, I've been wondering and trying to figure out what some bones do on the sim rigs. Of course, I'm just asking to the ones who might know, which most probably many don't know.

Like there's this one root offset bone that I think apparently moves the sim rig in Maya, but however it does nothing in blender than just move on it's own.



So since it's an EA animation, it works in game and all that. But say if I were to recreate the walking animation, and I used the root offset bone, the sim in-game would just walk in-place. And btw, are there any sim rigs for Maya for download? Or are they just for EA?

And there are many other little bones on sim rigs that don't do anything either, like the that big black bone in the mid-spine of the rig.



I assume that the bones that are around the arms and legs move the arms and legs in some way, but again just not in blender.
I'm sorry for these questions that probably not many know about, it's just my passion is to know everything about the sims games, since I'll hopefully be a developer for future sims games
Thanks for any help as always

- When one gets inspired by the other, the one inspires another - Anything is Possible.

You can view some of my WIPs and other stuff for TS3 on my Twitter here ---> https://twitter.com/SweetSavanita
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Virtual gardener
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#2 Old 4th Nov 2018 at 12:17 PM
Hi there!

Basically how I would explain them is, when we would translate this into what you see in blender:



See how the knees have these joints looking thingies? Maya has this option (And blender too but it's somewhat more hidden) that are called "IK targets" or also called "IK Switches". These are especially common for rigs around the knees or specific bending areas, which in this case is the thighs and the shoulders. I always found this tutorial very helpful to understand what the heck I was doing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6ViCN_sPVE

If you really wanna find some references regarding how EA controls their IK targets like that, it's always good to check existing animations that, say, make it so a plate is being put onto the sim's hand, or maybe grabbing a book, sitting down on a chair etc. Or just a regular animation



Now there are a few bones here that might make you think "Uhh... what?" but here are a few fun facts:

- Some bones are seen as slots. So b_spine_0 or b_pelvis is a very popular slot to add visual effects like sparkles or bees right onto the sim.
- Some objects correspond right to specific bones. So for example, once I made these pet beds, and in order to have the cat/dog sleep ONTO the bed rather than inside the bed, I had to shift that slot. Mainly because the object's slot was trying to find the "b_Root_bind" bone that the pet has (And sims as well)
- The RootOffset basically makes it so that the game knows "Oh! So if the sim walks, I have to make sure that no one specifically passes the sim this far!" Now as you can see it's not exactly as accurate But it's just for routing purposes really as far as I can tell
- b_rootExport makes it so that whenever the animation/pose is being fired in the game (So say with poseplayer you just activate it), then the game knows that the sim has to be ON the ground, and this right foot should be ON this height whereas maybe the left foot needs to be lower. So these data thingies are more for the game rather than for animating. that's why it doesn't animate with the RIG, same for other things that are there but don't animate.
- Other bones like "b_upper_skirt" really are just for casparts so that's also kind of a data thingy. if this wouldn't be there the CASpart wouldn't be animating with your animation

Hope this sort of clears it!
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Original Poster
#3 Old 4th Nov 2018 at 1:08 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Lyralei
Hi there!

Basically how I would explain them is, when we would translate this into what you see in blender:



See how the knees have these joints looking thingies? Maya has this option (And blender too but it's somewhat more hidden) that are called "IK targets" or also called "IK Switches". These are especially common for rigs around the knees or specific bending areas, which in this case is the thighs and the shoulders. I always found this tutorial very helpful to understand what the heck I was doing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6ViCN_sPVE

If you really wanna find some references regarding how EA controls their IK targets like that, it's always good to check existing animations that, say, make it so a plate is being put onto the sim's hand, or maybe grabbing a book, sitting down on a chair etc. Or just a regular animation



Now there are a few bones here that might make you think "Uhh... what?" but here are a few fun facts:

- Some bones are seen as slots. So b_spine_0 or b_pelvis is a very popular slot to add visual effects like sparkles or bees right onto the sim.
- Some objects correspond right to specific bones. So for example, once I made these pet beds, and in order to have the cat/dog sleep ONTO the bed rather than inside the bed, I had to shift that slot. Mainly because the object's slot was trying to find the "b_Root_bind" bone that the pet has (And sims as well)
- The RootOffset basically makes it so that the game knows "Oh! So if the sim walks, I have to make sure that no one specifically passes the sim this far!" Now as you can see it's not exactly as accurate But it's just for routing purposes really as far as I can tell
- b_rootExport makes it so that whenever the animation/pose is being fired in the game (So say with poseplayer you just activate it), then the game knows that the sim has to be ON the ground, and this right foot should be ON this height whereas maybe the left foot needs to be lower. So these data thingies are more for the game rather than for animating. that's why it doesn't animate with the RIG, same for other things that are there but don't animate.
- Other bones like "b_upper_skirt" really are just for casparts so that's also kind of a data thingy. if this wouldn't be there the CASpart wouldn't be animating with your animation

Hope this sort of clears it!


Oh wow, thank you so much! I followed that tutorial, but I actually still haven't bought Maya, though I will in the future at one point. Are there any tutorials on that for sim rigs in blender? Because, I know how to add IK on my rig's bones, through the bone constraints, so that when I move the hand or the foot bone, it won't stretch from the body. But like, you see how sims walk, when their feet touch the floor they stay in place until it's time for that foot to move, and with me I have to manually keep the foot in place in almost every keyframe, it's like a slippy foot problem. And the same goes for when sims are interacting together, like say a hug, well if I move one of my sims away from the other sim, while they are hugging, their arms will stretch out to the other sims's back, here's an example:



So basically when I move my sims around their arms will try to be on each other's backs, but I guess since the rig has IK bones the arms don't actually stretch in a way of like, unnaturally stretching.
And anyways, this has been one of my biggest issues in one way. Because with my animations, the sims will just keep their limbs in place instead of what they do if it were an EA animation, and although it isn't so bad if I was just making a hugging animation, but if I was making an animation where sims hold each other's hands, it would be a nightmare for me. So then, in order to connect bones with other sims's bones through IK targets or something like that, how would I do that exactly? (if you know).

But anyways, thank you!

- When one gets inspired by the other, the one inspires another - Anything is Possible.

You can view some of my WIPs and other stuff for TS3 on my Twitter here ---> https://twitter.com/SweetSavanita
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