MICHELE AUTO RIG STUDIO 0.7.0

DIRECT MOCAP RIG TO CHARACTER BONES

1. Open Auto Rig Studio > MOCAP RIG TRANSFER (or run Open Mocap Rig Transfer.py).
2. Select the animated mocap skeleton in the scene and click Use selected mocap rig as SOURCE.
3. Select your character rig in its neutral T/A pose and click Use selected character rig as TARGET.
4. Set the source range. For Motion Studio sources, enable its +Y bone-axis option. Other sources need a known neutral reference frame or valid zero-rotation rest pose.
5. Review mapping and transfer. The first frame matches the target neutral T/A pose; the full performance starts one frame later.
6. The new scene includes the weighted character and an orange source comparison rig. Save it as .c4d. Your original scene stays unchanged.

Both the direct rig and BVH windows enable the matching first pose by default. Turn it off to start immediately with the first captured pose. A reference frame can be outside the selected motion range. See README.md for source formats and third-party rig limitations.

AUTOMATIC BVH TO YOUR AUTO RIG

1. Select your existing humanoid Auto Rig or any of its controls.
2. Open Michele Auto Rig Studio and click BVH AUTO TRANSFER near the top.
3. Choose your BVH, then click TRANSFER ANIMATION TO AUTO RIG.
4. Play the new scene and save it as .c4d. Your original scene stays unchanged.

Bone mapping, known source formats, frame rate, root scaling and foot clearance are automatic. Review mapping for custom or ambiguous names. Unknown axes need a source format or a known neutral reference frame. Face and viseme controls stay editable. Floor clearance is not foot locking; disable it for stairs or slopes. Full details and limitations are in README.md.

To open the transfer window without restarting Cinema 4D, run Open BVH Auto Transfer.py in Script Manager.

INSTALL / BUILD A NEW RIG

1. Extract the full folder. Run Install R26 Plugin.cmd.
2. Open Extensions > Michele Auto Rig Studio after the next Cinema 4D start, or run Open Michele Auto Rig Studio.py in Script Manager now.
3. Load your separate Auto Rig Studio serial. Owner keys and generator are excluded.
4. Select your neutral Y-up human or animal mesh. Choose Character anatomy (Human, Horse, Cat, Dog, Snake, Monkey, Alligator, Rhino, Bat or Bird), choose +Z/-Z facing, fit guides and review the body, limbs, mouth and eyelids before building.
5. Use CTRL_MASTER, IK targets, FK circles and CTRL_FACE User Data.
6. Save editable C4D; export baked C4D / FBX and body BVH.

Read GUIDE.html for pictures, exact names, mesh roles, visemes, skin-weight review and limits. The humanoid example is synthetic.

BVH TO YOUR ACTUAL CHARACTER
Select the weighted character rig group, choose BVH motion, review joint mapping, and click Transfer BVH onto character. The tool creates a new scene with your actual rig and skinned geometry. It keys the generated rig's body FK controls and scales root travel to the target proportions. Facial / viseme controls and skin weights remain editable. Ordinary weighted FK skeletons can use custom joint mapping too.

Choose a neutral source reference frame or use BVH rest offsets. Human and animal rigs need matching anatomy; BVH transfer does not convert one anatomy into another. Body BVH does not contain facial speech timing. Existing independent face animation is preserved on the copied auto-rig.

Save editable C4D to keep controllers. Export baked C4D / FBX for the animated weighted character, or BVH for its body skeleton. Browser transfer is available at https://connecthub.tv/michele_retarget.php.

HUMANS AND ALL NINE ANIMALS
Choose the actual anatomy before fitting: Human, Horse, Cat, Dog, Snake, Monkey, Alligator, Rhino, Bat or Bird. All have editable body and facial guides, normalized Skin binding, FK controls, 52 facial dials and 15 visemes. Quadrupeds have four leg IK chains; birds/bats have wing and leg IK; monkeys have arm/leg IK. Snakes use individual body-chain controls. Paw/wing-tip/tail controls remain separate FK.

Animal mouth and expression controls are stylized animation controls, not a claim of natural animal speech. Beaks, muzzles, eyelids, teeth and tongue need suitable geometry and careful guide/weight review. Separate eyes/teeth/tongue can use the mesh-role selector. Automatic fitting uses bounds and anatomy templates; it does not infer anatomy from arbitrary poses.

Browser: import an unrigged GLB/FBX, select anatomy and facing, fit/edit guides and build. Pose body joints, IK targets/poles, face dials and visemes; export a posed GLB or transfer matching BVH then export animated GLB/target BVH. Browser auto-rig is limited to 150,000 vertices. R26 keeps editable native controls in C4D and bakes to FBX/BVH.

IMPROVED BENDING AND FACE CONTROLS - 0.4.1

Existing editable rig: select its root or one of its controllers and click Upgrade selected rig controls. This retains body keys and repairs stray facial weights; body refinement is a separate action. Then choose Animate: IK + main controls and Apply viewport view to hide the overlapping FK/finger rings. Show body FK or Show all controls is available when needed. Skeleton display and control size are on CTRL_MASTER.

Select the elbow/knee pole diamond and move it to aim the bend plane. Select the hand/foot IK target for position. Its Limb bending User Data contains minimum/maximum bend, Soft reach, Pole twist, IK blend and an optional fixed bend angle. The dialog's Set bend angle moves the target to achieve the requested bend; Use hand/foot IK target returns to normal posing. Bone lengths stay fixed. Preserve joint volume on CTRL_MASTER uses quaternion Skin; turn it off for linear Skin.

Facial controls: choose an expression and strength, then Preview facial expression. Neutral, Smile, Frown, Angry, Surprised, Blink, Pucker, Open mouth and Close lips are included. Choose any of the 15 visemes and Preview selected viseme. CTRL_FACE keeps all 52 facial channels, voice inputs and Lip seal strength. Face and mouth focus hides body-control clutter. Jaw fitting for new human rigs uses an improved hinge position. Review mouth fitting on existing rigs after upgrading. Lip closure uses the fitted upper/lower lip gap.

Review bending and mouth/eyelid deformation on the actual character. Automatic fitting and proximity weights do not replace anatomical topology, corrective shapes or weight cleanup. Body BVH does not contain expression or speech timing. The included examples and regression tests use synthetic geometry and generated motion.

FACE / BODY SEPARATION AND OPEN-MOUTH MODELS - 0.4.1

Select an existing editable rig and click Upgrade controls / repair facial spill. Facial influence is bounded to the head; stray facial weights on the torso and limbs are redistributed to body joints. Valid body animation keys remain. This action has Undo.

For smoother arms and knees, click Refine body / elbow / knee skin (R26 heat map). This intentionally replaces body weights using R26 heat-map binding in a temporary neutral copy, while retaining facial controls and animation keys. Undo restores the previous weights. New rigs with at least 1,000 vertices also try R26 heat-map body binding automatically; the binding report records the method and any proximity fallback. Review actual deformation and refine weights and joint guides for the character.

If the source mesh already has its mouth open: on CTRL_FACE enable Mouth starts open and set Rest jaw opening (degrees). Use jawClose to close the jaw, or preview Mouth closed to close the jaw and seal lips together. The default starting angle is 20 degrees; tune it to the model. Jaw close and Mouth closed presets enable the open-mouth option. Open mouth and Neutral clear their pose dials. All 52 standard facial channels and 15 visemes remain.

The website Animal Studio offers animal-pose detection for Horse, Cat, Dog, Monkey and Rhino. Snake, Alligator, Bat and Bird use guided landmark tracking. Review hidden joints and tail motion; depth comes from the rig template and manual adjustments. These are single-camera estimates. Choose the Video subject in Motion Studio to switch engines while retaining your selected video.
