http://www.ethivierge.com The technical side of animation. Sat, 06 Apr 2013 15:14:00 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 http://www.ethivierge.com/rigging/2013/04/05/robotarm-rig/ http://www.ethivierge.com/rigging/2013/04/05/robotarm-rig/#comments Sat, 06 Apr 2013 03:20:03 +0000 admin http://www.ethivierge.com/?p=661 #leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { height: 30px; width:50%; padding-top:1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; height: 30px; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; } Just rigged up a simple robot arm / claw to share with everyone. Haven't rigged anything in a few months so I did this little rig to keep my skills fresh. Rigged in Softimage 2012.5 and 2013 SP1 Download Here]]> http://www.ethivierge.com/rigging/2013/04/05/robotarm-rig/feed/ 0 http://www.ethivierge.com/scripting/2013/02/04/xml-to-directory-structure/ http://www.ethivierge.com/scripting/2013/02/04/xml-to-directory-structure/#comments Mon, 04 Feb 2013 20:25:03 +0000 admin http://www.ethivierge.com/?p=622 #leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { height: 30px; width:50%; padding-top:1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; height: 30px; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; } Here is a python snippet that creates a directory structure out of an XML file / data:  ]]> http://www.ethivierge.com/scripting/2013/02/04/xml-to-directory-structure/feed/ 0 http://www.ethivierge.com/daily/2012/11/05/2012-election/ http://www.ethivierge.com/daily/2012/11/05/2012-election/#comments Mon, 05 Nov 2012 08:25:13 +0000 admin http://www.ethivierge.com/?p=612 #leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { height: 30px; width:50%; padding-top:1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; height: 30px; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; } Firstly, take this post as you will if you don't agree great move on no need to try to persuade me otherwise. I'm posting to give some perspective to those who may be undecided. I'm so confused on why this presidential race is so close when the extreme measures Romney is going to go if [...]]]> http://www.ethivierge.com/daily/2012/11/05/2012-election/feed/ 0 http://www.ethivierge.com/scripting/2012/10/20/undo-with-statement/ http://www.ethivierge.com/scripting/2012/10/20/undo-with-statement/#comments Sun, 21 Oct 2012 02:56:34 +0000 admin http://www.ethivierge.com/?p=603 #leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { height: 30px; width:50%; padding-top:1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; height: 30px; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 from win32com.client import constants as c from win32com.client.dynamic import Dispatch as d   xsi = Application log = xsi.LogMessage collSel = xsi.Selection     class xsiUndo(): def __enter__(self): xsi.BeginUndo()   def __exit__(self, type, [...]]]> http://www.ethivierge.com/scripting/2012/10/20/undo-with-statement/feed/ 0 http://www.ethivierge.com/scripting/2012/09/18/component-selection-via-object-model/ http://www.ethivierge.com/scripting/2012/09/18/component-selection-via-object-model/#comments Tue, 18 Sep 2012 05:14:35 +0000 admin http://www.ethivierge.com/?p=594 #leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { height: 30px; width:50%; padding-top:1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; height: 30px; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; } from AL.xsi import xsi, log, c, utils   lSubCompSel = [] for eachObj in xsi.Selection:   oGeo = eachObj.ActivePrimitive.Geometry oSubComp = oGeo.CreateSubcomponent(c.siPolygonCluster, range(4)) lSubCompSel.append(oSubComp)   log(",".join([str(x) for x in lSubCompSel])) xsi.Selection.SetAsText(",".join([str(x) for x in lSubCompSel]))]]> http://www.ethivierge.com/scripting/2012/09/18/component-selection-via-object-model/feed/ 0 http://www.ethivierge.com/scripting/2012/07/18/some-thoughts-on-tool-dev/ http://www.ethivierge.com/scripting/2012/07/18/some-thoughts-on-tool-dev/#comments Wed, 18 Jul 2012 10:12:47 +0000 admin http://www.ethivierge.com/?p=591 #leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { height: 30px; width:50%; padding-top:1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; height: 30px; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; } Some recent issues I've run into lately have sparked some thoughts on tool dev: Firstly, when you're developing tools for many people on different teams you need to get input from all the teams and individuals. Some tool concepts and functionality may work for a larger group, but may cripple the smaller group's workflow. For [...]]]> http://www.ethivierge.com/scripting/2012/07/18/some-thoughts-on-tool-dev/feed/ 0 http://www.ethivierge.com/daily/2012/06/03/et_normalcurves/ http://www.ethivierge.com/daily/2012/06/03/et_normalcurves/#comments Sun, 03 Jun 2012 05:32:24 +0000 admin http://www.ethivierge.com/?p=584 #leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { height: 30px; width:50%; padding-top:1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; height: 30px; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; } Here is a script that will add a curve to each point or polygon aligned to its normal. Change the arguments according to what you need. # Python from win32com.client import constants as c from win32com.client import Dispatch as d   xsi = Application log = xsi.LogMessage collSel = xsi.Selection   def axesFromNormal(vecNormal, vecUpV): """Creates [...]]]> http://www.ethivierge.com/daily/2012/06/03/et_normalcurves/feed/ 0 http://www.ethivierge.com/scripting/2012/05/25/create-curves-on-normals/ http://www.ethivierge.com/scripting/2012/05/25/create-curves-on-normals/#comments Fri, 25 May 2012 11:05:41 +0000 admin http://www.ethivierge.com/?p=579 #leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { height: 30px; width:50%; padding-top:1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; height: 30px; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; } from win32com.client import constants as c from win32com.client import Dispatch as d   xsi = Application log = xsi.LogMessage collSel = xsi.Selection   def xformFromDirection(vecBase, vecTgt, vecUpV): """Creates a transform for base object pointing to target with an upvector upV."""   vecX = XSIMath.CreateVector3() vecY = XSIMath.CreateVector3() vecZ = XSIMath.CreateVector3() vecToTgt = XSIMath.CreateVector3() vecBaseToUpV = [...]]]> http://www.ethivierge.com/scripting/2012/05/25/create-curves-on-normals/feed/ 0 http://www.ethivierge.com/scripting/2012/04/13/toggle-softimage-script-editor/ http://www.ethivierge.com/scripting/2012/04/13/toggle-softimage-script-editor/#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2012 12:41:17 +0000 admin http://www.ethivierge.com/?p=571 #leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { height: 30px; width:50%; padding-top:1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; height: 30px; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; } This code toggles the Softimage script editor on and off. Useful to embed in a custom layout. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 from win32com.client import constants as c from win32com.client import Dispatch as d</code>   [...]]]> http://www.ethivierge.com/scripting/2012/04/13/toggle-softimage-script-editor/feed/ 0 http://www.ethivierge.com/scripting/2012/02/15/extract-deformer-to-weight-map/ http://www.ethivierge.com/scripting/2012/02/15/extract-deformer-to-weight-map/#comments Wed, 15 Feb 2012 22:29:00 +0000 admin http://www.ethivierge.com/?p=526 #leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { height: 30px; width:50%; padding-top:1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; height: 30px; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; } This is a code snippet that you can use to extract the envelope weights of a deformer to a weight map. xsi = Application oWeightMap = xsi.Selection(0) oObj = oWeightMap.Parent3DObject oEnv = oObj.Envelopes(0) defOneArray = oEnv.GetWeights2().Array[1] # Change Array index to get a different deformer oWeightMap.Elements.Array = [x / 100 for x in defOneArray]]]> http://www.ethivierge.com/scripting/2012/02/15/extract-deformer-to-weight-map/feed/ 0