Modular rigging

After learning more about how the Gobo rig was implemented, I started to add some improvements to the classic rig. Eventually the two rigs started to share a sizable part of their codebase. Since I religiously dislike keeping redundant code, I decided to merge the two rigs, and change the import script so that one can choose between them during load-time instead.

One immediate benefit of this is file size. Keeping information about both rigs in the same file adds to the size of the mhx file, but only slightly. But we now only need to export a single mhx file, so the total file size and export time is almost halved (for Blender 2.5, there is still a separate 2.49 file). More significantly, it is now possible to pick rigs for different body parts independently.


The import interface now looks as in the picture, and as you see we can choose between the classic and Gobo rigs. Alternatively, we can choose between different rigs for separate body parts below, provided that the box "Use rig preset" is unchecked. You can build your own custom rig by combining different selections. The remaining checkboxes allow you to include various parts of the character.

The IK rig for fingers is a disaster. However, this is not really the rig's fault - Mancandy uses essentially the same rig, I think. The problem is that Blender's IK solvers work best if the mesh is modeled with knees, elbows and finger joints slightly bent. Remodeling MH's base mesh is of course not an option, but it is possible to bend the joints during import. The code is in the import script, but disabled due to a bug.

A long-standing problem has been that the display objects have been hanging around on layer 1, instead of being hidden on the invisible layer 20. This has now been fixed.