How to Preserve JCMs with Auto-Rig Pro 's Quick Rig

naoki28

Hello,

I created a character using Genesis 9 in Daz Studio and imported it into Blender using the Diffeomorphic add-on, successfully bringing in the JCMs (Joint Corrective Morphs). After that, I used Auto-Rig Pro's Quick Rig to convert the rig because I need to use features like motion capture retargeting, IK/FK switching, and facial rigging, which are not fully supported by the Daz rig or Diffeomorphic's "Convert to Rigify" option.

However, after converting the rig, the JCMs no longer function correctly. I've tried several options, but I haven't been able to fully preserve the JCMs. I know I can use the "Preserve" option in Quick Rig to retain the original bones so the JCMs remain functional, but this prevents me from using the full range of Auto-Rig Pro's features that I need.

What is the best way to preserve JCMs when converting the rig to Auto-Rig Pro? If there are any scripts or specific steps that can help, I would appreciate it if you could share them.

I would be grateful for any advice or experiences you can share. Thank you in advance.

Padone

Of course jcms are driven by the original bones, so it's the ARP responsibility to preserve or convert them. If the only option is preserve then you are done with that, unless the author improves ARP you may ask him. Anyway diffeomorphic does provide excellent retargeting features both for the face and body, so you may not need ARP. You need to get the retargeting extra addon.

https://bitbucket.org/Diffeomorphic/retarget_bvh/downloads/

wolf359

ARP completely re-weights the mesh during rigging so, No the Daz JCM's are not retained when rigged with ARP

ARP has its own "JCM" system But you have to manually create them yourself.

But @Padone is right in that once you convert a Diffeo imported Daz figure to rigify you can use the free Expy kit for body motion retarget

and the free Face landmarker app for facial mocap from video, all inside blender.

 

naoki28

Padone said:

Of course jcms are driven by the original bones, so it's the ARP responsibility to preserve or convert them. If the only option is preserve then you are done with that, unless the author improves ARP you may ask him. Anyway diffeomorphic does provide excellent retargeting features both for the face and body, so you may not need ARP. You need to get the retargeting extra addon.

https://bitbucket.org/Diffeomorphic/retarget_bvh/downloads/

Oh, I see, so this is an issue with ARP.
Thank you for letting me know about the retargeting features in Diffeomorphic. I wasn't aware of that. Thanks! 

naoki28

wolf359 said:

ARP completely re-weights the mesh during rigging so, No the Daz JCM's are not retained when rigged with ARP

ARP has its own "JCM" system But you have to manually create them yourself.

But @Padone is right in that once you convert a Diffeo imported Daz figure to rigify you can use the free Expy kit for body motion retarget

and the free Face landmarker app for facial mocap from video, all inside blender.

 

Thank you for the detailed explanation.  I think I'll go ahead and use Rigify instead of trying to force ARP. The Expy kit and Face landmarker app sound like great alternatives. Thanks for the advice!

crosswind

Alternatively, MHX is better than Rigify.

Padone

crosswind said:

Alternatively, MHX is better than Rigify.

It's rather different than better, it depends what you want to do. To load daz poses and animations yes,mhx is better because rigify is very different from the daz rig so it's more difficult to fit. For original animation in blender, rigify is more advanced in features. Another factor is the runtime, as mhx requires its own runtime while rigify doesn't, which makes it better for redistribution. Then personally I don't like either because they are too much complex for my taste, so I make my own simple rigs more similar to the simple ik rig in diffeomorphic.

https://bitbucket.org/Diffeomorphic/import_daz/wiki/Setup/Rigging

crosswind

Padone said:

crosswind said:

Alternatively, MHX is better than Rigify.

It's rather different than better, it depends what you want to do. To load daz poses and animations yes,mhx is better because rigify is very different from the daz rig so it's more difficult to fit. For original animation in blender, rigify is more advanced in features. Another factor is the runtime, as mhx requires its own runtime while rigify doesn't, which makes it better for redistribution. Then personally I don't like either because they are too much complex for my taste, so I make my own simple rigs more similar to the simple ik rig in diffeomorphic.

https://bitbucket.org/Diffeomorphic/import_daz/wiki/Setup/Rigging

With diffeo., I just play with Daz assets, so I ever compared them and found MHX is much better though sometimes it's buggy. But thanks for the explanation!

Pickle Renderer

Funny, I was wondering earlier if Rigify is better than MHX.  Things like facial mocap is something I'd like to try.