MVN Maya live plug-in User Manual
v1.0
DocumentMV0212P,RevisionA,July2012
XsensHQ(Enschede,NL) XsensUSoffice(LosAngeles,USA)
Phone +31889736700 +13104811800
Fax +31889736701 +13104169044
Email [email protected]
internet www.xsens.com
MV0212P. AXsensTechnologiesB.V. MVNMayaliveplugin
ii
RevisionsRevision Date By ChangesA June2012 SBU CreatedforMayaliveplugin
2012,XsensTechnologiesB.V.Allrightsreserved.Informationinthisdocumentissubjecttochangewithoutnotice.Xsens,MVN,MotionGrid,MTx,andKiCareregisteredtrademarksortrademarksofXsensTechnologiesB.V.and/or itsparent, subsidiariesand/oraffiliates inTheNetherlands, theUSAand/orother countries.Allothertrademarksarethepropertyoftheirrespectiveowners.MayaisatrademarkofAutodesk,Inc.
MV0212P. AXsensTechnologiesB.V. MVNMayaliveplugin
iii
TableofContents1 INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................................2
1.1 CHARACTERTOOLINMAYA.............................................................................................................................21.2 STREAMINGTOAMAYADEVICE........................................................................................................................2
2 INSTALLATION......................................................................................................................................3
2.1 INSTALLATIONON64BITWINDOWS.................................................................................................................32.2 LICENSING....................................................................................................................................................32.3 LOCATIONOFINSTALLEDFILES..........................................................................................................................5
GETTINGSTARTED.........................................................................................................................................6
2.4 SETUPTHEMVNDEVICE.................................................................................................................................62.5 HOWTOMAPONACHARACTER.......................................................................................................................9
3 ADVANCEDFEATURES........................................................................................................................11
3.1 PROPS.......................................................................................................................................................113.2 RECORDING................................................................................................................................................113.3 MELCOMMANDSFORINTEGRATIONINANEXISTINGPIPELINE...............................................................................133.4 CUSTOMERSUPPORT....................................................................................................................................13
MV0212P. AXsensTechnologiesB.V. MVNMayaliveplugin
2
1 IntroductionXsensMVNStudio,developedbyXsens,isthemainsoftwaretoolforinterfacingwiththeMVNinertialmotioncapturesuit.MVNStudioallowstheexportofmotioncapturedatatothirdpartyapplicationssuchasMaya,XSI,3DStudioMax,MotionBuilder,etc.makingthedataavailabletodriveriggedcharactersinanimationandmore.Thedatatransfertootherapplicationsisprimarilyfilebased(export)whenusingMVNStudio.However,inmanyscenariositisattractivetokeeptheeaseofuseofMVNStudio,butstillbeingabletoreceiveandprocessthemotioncapturedatainrealtimeinanotherapplication,evenonaanotherPC,possiblyphysicallyremotefromtheMVNsystem.Tothisend,MVNStudiocanactasaserveronanetworkandstreammotioncapturedatainrealtimetoaclientPCrunningaclientapplication.Thisdocumentspecificallytreatstheuseofacertainclientapplicationabletoreceivemotioncapturedatainrealtime,AutodeskMaya.Note:TIP:InthistutorialweassumebothMVNStudioandMaya2013areproperlyinstalledandtheuserhasagoodoverallknowledgeofworkingwithbothprograms.ThroughoutthetutorialpicturesareplacedAFTERthecorrespondingtext.
1.1 CharactertoolinMaya
TheeasiestwayforMVNtosendthecompletefullbodymotioncapturedatatoanotherapplicationistosendthe3Dpositionsand3Drotationsofeachbonedirectly.MVNStudioisabletodothisinrealtimestreamingoverthenetwork(quaternionandEulerbasedrotations).TheEulerbasedprotocoliscurrentlyusedtostreamtoMaya.OnthereceivingendMayaappliesagimballockkillerfilterinrealtimeandappliesthedataontotheMVNcharacter.
1.2 StreamingtoaMayadevice
Toachieveoptimalresults,thestreamingsettingsfromMVNStudiotoMayahavetobesetcorrectly.ItisrecommendedtosetthereceivingendinMayato60fps.MotiondatasentbyMVNStudioisstreamedinrealtimetoMayatimewise.HoweverbothMVNStudioandMayaareoperatingonanonrealtimeoperatingsystem,sotimingcannotbeguaranteedintheViewer.AdditionallydependingonsystemresourcesMayaisnotabletoprocessallincomingdata.TimingoftheincomingkeysisdoneonthebasisofbesteffortbyMaya.WerecommendtheofflinepipelineusingtheFBXimporttoensureoptimalquality.
MV0212P. AXsensTechnologiesB.V. MVNMayaliveplugin
3
2 Installation2.1 Installationon64bitWindowsOna64bitWindowsyoucanhaveboth32bitand64bitversionsofMayainstalled.XsensprovidesoneinstallerforeachoftheseversionsofMaya:
mvn_maya_plugin1.0_setup.exe.
2.2 LicensingUsetheCDthatcamewiththeMVNsystemtoruntheMVNMayaLivePluginInstaller(mvn_maya_plugin1.0_setup.exe).ForWindows7,runasauserwithAdministratorrights.TodosorightclickontheexecutableandfromthedropdownmenuchooseRunasAdministratorForfirsttimeinstallchoose'Yes,Iwanttoactivatenow'.Thiswillstartupthe'SoftwareActivation'toolaftertheinstallation.Whenyoureinstallyoushouldchoose'No,Ialreadyactivated'asyoualreadyhaveactivatedyourlicense.
MV0212P. AXsensTechnologiesB.V. MVNMayaliveplugin
4
Selectthe32bit,64bitorbothversionsoftheMVNMayaLivePluginyouwanttoinstall.MakesureyoufillinthecorrectinstallationpathofAutodeskMaya.ForbestresultsjustusetheBrowsebuttontolocatetherootfolderinwhichMayaisinstalled.
Followtheonscreeninstructionsandwhenrequiredinputtheindividualserialnumber.Thelicensekeycanbecopiedinitsentiretyandpastedinonegototheserialentrywindow(seefigurebelow).TheserialnumbercanbefoundontheMVNletter,whichcamewiththesystem.Inthenextstepthelicenseyoujustpastedwillbeactivated.PleasemakesurethecomputeronwhichyouareactivatingisconnectedtotheinternetbeforeyoupressNext.MoreinformationonlicensingandlicenseactivationcanbefoundintheXsensSoftwareActivationManual.
MV0212P. AXsensTechnologiesB.V. MVNMayaliveplugin
5
2.3 Locationofinstalledfiles
DuringinstallationofMVNMayaLivePluginyouareaskedtopointtheinstallertotheMayaprogramfolder(seesection2.2).TheinstallerthencopiesthefilesoftheMVNliveMayaplugindevicetotheappropriatefolders.However,insomecasesthismaynotbesuccessful,forexampleduetoadifferentlanguagesetting.Youcanalwaysmanuallycopytheneededfilesasindicatedbelow.Filename Purpose LocationMaya 2012 (win32)
mvn_live_module.txt MVNMayamodulefileC:\ProgramFiles(x86)\Autodesk\Maya2013\modules
Filename Purpose LocationMaya 2012 (x64)
mvn_live_module.txt MVNMayamodulefile C:\ProgramFiles\Autodesk\Maya2013\modules
MV0212P. AXsensTechnologiesB.V. MVNMayaliveplugin
6
GettingStarted
2.4 SetuptheMVNdevice
1. OpenMVNStudio.2. OpenanMVNfileorMVNXfileorusetheMVNsuitinlivesetup.3. Goto:OptionsPreferencesMiscellaneousNetworkStreamer.4. TicktheEnablenetworkstreaming.5. ClicktheAddbuttontoinputanIPaddressofaclientPC(thePCwhereMayaisrunning).Ifitisthe
samePCaswhereMVNStudio is running,use localhost. Ifyouwant to stream tomore thanoneprogramonthesamemachine,use127.0.0.1insteadoflocalhost.
6. Click"OK"7. Loada file inMVNStudio,click the "ToggleRepeat"buttonandplay the file tomake sure there is
alwayssomethingstreamingfromMVNStudio.Ifyouhavea livesystemconnectedtothecomputerthisisnotneeded.
8. OpenMaya9. With the firstrunofthe 'MVNMayaLivePlugin' itneeds tobe loadedmanually.Thiscanbedone
fromthe'PluginManager'.Togothere,clickon'Window'Settings/Preferences'PluginManager'.
MV0212P. AXsensTechnologiesB.V. MVNMayaliveplugin
7
10. Inthepluginmanagerdialog,scrolldowntoc:/ProgramData/Xsens/MVNStudio/External/Maya/2013/plugins.TickLoadedforthemvn_live_2013_Win32.mllifyouarerunningMaya32bit,orthemvn_live_2013_x64.mllifyouarerunning64bit.Ifyouwanttheplugintostartautomatically,tickAutoLoadaswell.
NOTE: Ifyougetamessage '//Error: line1:Novalid licenses to load theplugin (mvn_live_2013_x64/win32)'activateyourlicensebystartingthe'SoftwareActivationtool.
MV0212P. AXsensTechnologiesB.V. MVNMayaliveplugin
8
11. Selecttheamountofskeletonsyouwanttocreate,andpressMVNSkeleton:.
12. Tostartreceivingthestream,ticktheLivebox.
13. ChangethePortnumberifneeded,thedefaultportnumberis9763.Afterchangingtheportnumber,pressthegreenbuttontoinitializethenewport.
MV0212P. AXsensTechnologiesB.V. MVNMayaliveplugin
9
YoushouldnowbeabletoreceivemotioncapturedatainrealtimefromMVNStudio.MVNStudiowillstreamfromitsactivewindowthatisplaying.ThiscanbeanMVNX,MVN,MVNSfileoraliveMVNsystem.
2.5 HowtomaponaCharacter
1. Importyourskinned,riggedandcharacterizedcharacterintoMaya.
MV0212P. AXsensTechnologiesB.V. MVNMayaliveplugin
10
2. OpenCharacterControlsbygoingtoSkeletonHumanIK.3. ExpandCharactersintheCharacterControlswindowSelectyourcharacter.4. UndersourcechooseCharacter#.
MayawillnowretargetthemotioncapturedatareceivedthroughtheCharacter#_referenceontothecharacterrig.Thisretargetingandthesettingsusedintheretargetingofthemotioncapturedatacanbeveryadvanced,aswellasthecharacterrig.Thisisnotdiscussedfurtherinthisdocument.
MV0212P. AXsensTechnologiesB.V. MVNMayaliveplugin
11
3 AdvancedFeatures
3.1 Props
PropsarenotyetsupportedinthisreleaseoftheMVNLiveMayaPlugin.
3.2 Recording
TheMVNMayalivepluginallowsyoutorecordinrealtime.WeadvisetoonlyusethisfunctionalitywhenalsorecordinginMVNstudio.Thismaybeneededwhenyoucombinerecordingwithanotherdeviceortospeedupthepipeline.Otherwisewerecommendtheofflinepipeline.
MV0212P. AXsensTechnologiesB.V. MVNMayaliveplugin
12
1. Whenyoutickrecording,recordingwillstart.
2. Whenyouuntickrecording,youwillstoprecording.Thenunticklivetostopthestream.3. Rightclickinthetimeline,andgotoSetRangetoMin/Max.Thiswilladjustthestartandend
frameoftherecordingaccordingly.
MV0212P. AXsensTechnologiesB.V. MVNMayaliveplugin
13
4. Tofixgimballockerrors,selectallthebonesoftheCharacter#_reference.Thenselectallcurvesofall
bodypartsandapplytheEulerfilterbygoingtoCurvesEulerFilter.OntheGraphEditorwindow.
5. Youcannowstarteditingthecurves.
3.3 MelCommandsforintegrationinanexistingpipelineThepluginalsohasascriptinterfacethatwillallowyoutointegrateitsfunctionalityinyourownpipeline.mvnb; //initializepluginmvnc; //createskeletonmvnl; //togglelivemodemvnr; //togglerecordmode
3.4 CustomerSupportXsensTechnologiesisgladtohelpyouwithanyquestionsyoumayhaveabouttheMVNMayalivepluginorabouttheuseofthetechnologyforyourapplication.PleasecontactXsensCustomerSupport:
byemail: www.xsens.com/support telephone: XsensHQ+31889736700/XsensUSoffice3104811800
Tobeabletohelpyou,pleasealwayskeepathandthe8digitnumberofyourMVNsystem.YoucanfindthisnumberonthewhiteXsensstickerbetweenthelatchesoftheMVNsuitcase
1 Introduction1.1 Character tool in Maya1.2 Streaming to a Maya device
2 Installation2.1 Installation on 64-bit Windows2.2 Licensing2.3 Location of installed files
Getting Started2.4 Setup the MVN device2.5 How to map on a Character
3 Advanced Features3.1 Props3.2 Recording3.3 Mel Commands for integration in an existing pipeline3.4 Customer Support
Top Related