cgBreakDown
cgBreakdown creates breakdown keys, based on a percentage of the previous and next keyframes. Based on Justin Barrett’s TweenMachine (a thing of beauty and a joy forever) for Maya . Very useful for blocking in stepped mode.
- Respects marked parameters
- Handy quick preset buttons
- Can work on a whole model, or a single control. Whatever you’ve got selected.
- Fast! Full of object-model goodness
Usage:
Appears under the “Animation” menu at the bottom of your screen (just under the timeline). Select “cgBreakdown” from the menu.
A PPG will appear. Adjust the slider, or use the preset buttons, and whatever you have selected will get a breakdown at the current time. If you have parameters marked (eg, you have the rotate tool selected), only those marked parameters will be modified.
Details:
Language: jScript
Program: Softimage XSI
Installation: Drop it into your plugins folder (eg: c:\users\chrisg\softimage\xsi_6.0\application\plugins\)
Download: cgBreakdownPlugin
ChangeLog:
- 1.0 – Initial release
- 1.1 – Fixed bug where script was writing a key over the previous keyframe
- v1.2 – operates on branch selections
- v1.21 – ignores animation layers cleanly
- v1.3 – Added overshoot
- v1.31 – FIX: ignores fcurves without keys
- v1.32 – FIX: ignores locked params
- v1.33 – FIX: Copes with param locks on refmodels
Bugs? Use it and like it? Comments?:
Email me at chrisg[at]chris-g[dot]net
Thank you so very much for taking the time and effort to make this little gem! It’s making my life a whole lot easier.
If I may, I would like to suggest a minor tweak: It appears that this script is creating keys for non-keyable parameters, i.e. parameters that don’t appear in the KP/L panel. I had a controller that I set up so that only its rotations are keyable, but I found that cgBreakDown created keys on the translations as well.
I modified the script by adding the following three lines after line 103:
if (thisParam.Keyable == false) {
if (debug) { logmessage(“Ignoring non-keyable param: ” + thisParam); }
breakdownParam = false; }
And now it ignores non-keyable parameters. I’m not sure if that’s how others would like it to work, but it suits my needs better this way. It would be great if you would consider folding this tweak into the original plugin.
Many thanks again,
Mohammad
That script is a must-have for any animators. My Softimage feel empty without it! Thx so much!
Thank you very much for tool!
Thanks for this tool, very useful! Made the maya animators happy 😉