Dan Fitzgerald

A little Python tool I'm working on to draw poses for bendy characters in the APEX Scene Animate node.

Thanks for sharing this example Geoff! Yes I can see how this makes a big difference for preparing component scripts, although I'd still love to see the connections automated, especially at prototyping stage where you might be tweaking a lot as you test - this seems a good way to package up a finished chunk of rig though.

made-by-geoff
If anyone from Sidefx is reading this, is it possible (in theory) to automate the creation of the component script? What I find most cumbersome at the moment is that you essentially have to build your rig tools twice. It's like writing instructions once in English and then having to do it again in a completely different language, only to recreate what you've already done in testing.

This is sort of the spirit behind this HDA - https://github.com/noadanimation/houdini_apex_graph_from_templates [github.com]
The purpose is to work closer to the final rig with APEX nodes, but still automate repeating nodes and making connections, so custom rigs are easier to make - it doesn't make component scripts, but expands out and links your own APEX graphs into a rig. It's very hacky and poorly documented, but the repository includes an example with Electra rigged using this system, including IK/FK blending which I don't think is available in the component scripts yet, so if you're interested please check it out!

I'd love to see something like this built in with proper interface support, my version mainly hacks names together from dictionary keys, and it has it's own level of remove from the final rig but I think it's a bit closer than creating a component script to create a rig.