MVN Maya Live Plug-In User Manual

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

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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.


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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


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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.


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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.


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Selectthe32bit,64bitorbothversionsoftheMVNMayaLivePluginyouwanttoinstall.MakesureyoufillinthecorrectinstallationpathofAutodeskMaya.ForbestresultsjustusetheBrowsebuttontolocatetherootfolderinwhichMayaisinstalled.

Followtheonscreeninstructionsandwhenrequiredinputtheindividualserialnumber.Thelicensekeycanbecopiedinitsentiretyandpastedinonegototheserialentrywindow(seefigurebelow).TheserialnumbercanbefoundontheMVNletter,whichcamewiththesystem.Inthenextstepthelicenseyoujustpastedwillbeactivated.PleasemakesurethecomputeronwhichyouareactivatingisconnectedtotheinternetbeforeyoupressNext.MoreinformationonlicensingandlicenseactivationcanbefoundintheXsensSoftwareActivationManual.


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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


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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'.


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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.


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11. Selecttheamountofskeletonsyouwanttocreate,andpressMVNSkeleton:.

12. Tostartreceivingthestream,ticktheLivebox.

13. ChangethePortnumberifneeded,thedefaultportnumberis9763.Afterchangingtheportnumber,pressthegreenbuttontoinitializethenewport.


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YoushouldnowbeabletoreceivemotioncapturedatainrealtimefromMVNStudio.MVNStudiowillstreamfromitsactivewindowthatisplaying.ThiscanbeanMVNX,MVN,MVNSfileoraliveMVNsystem.

2.5 HowtomaponaCharacter

1. Importyourskinned,riggedandcharacterizedcharacterintoMaya.


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2. OpenCharacterControlsbygoingtoSkeletonHumanIK.3. ExpandCharactersintheCharacterControlswindowSelectyourcharacter.4. UndersourcechooseCharacter#.

MayawillnowretargetthemotioncapturedatareceivedthroughtheCharacter#_referenceontothecharacterrig.Thisretargetingandthesettingsusedintheretargetingofthemotioncapturedatacanbeveryadvanced,aswellasthecharacterrig.Thisisnotdiscussedfurtherinthisdocument.


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3 AdvancedFeatures

3.1 Props

PropsarenotyetsupportedinthisreleaseoftheMVNLiveMayaPlugin.

3.2 Recording

TheMVNMayalivepluginallowsyoutorecordinrealtime.WeadvisetoonlyusethisfunctionalitywhenalsorecordinginMVNstudio.Thismaybeneededwhenyoucombinerecordingwithanotherdeviceortospeedupthepipeline.Otherwisewerecommendtheofflinepipeline.


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1. Whenyoutickrecording,recordingwillstart.

2. Whenyouuntickrecording,youwillstoprecording.Thenunticklivetostopthestream.3. Rightclickinthetimeline,andgotoSetRangetoMin/Max.Thiswilladjustthestartandend

frameoftherecordingaccordingly.


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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

Documents

MVN Maya Live Plug-In User Manual