Create > Rig Handle
Module: zRigHandle

A shape node for visible, easily selected rig controls.

Introduction

zRigHandle is a viewport shape designed for use as a rig handle. It's modelled after the handles provided by HumanIK to be much easier to select quickly than NURBS curves and can be viewed in Xray.

Usage

Create a rig handle with Create > Rig Handle.

This node can be used in place of shape nodes and nurbs curves for rig controls.

This control is drawn in X-ray, like HumanIK controls, to make it easy to see and select. This can be turned off in the attribute editor.
Like HumanIK viewport handles, a solid object is displayed and selectable, so you don't have to click on an awkward thin wireframe like with joint controls.
The color and opacity of the control in the viewport can be set. These can be keyed, for example to brighten a control as it gets further away from its bind position.
Local transform, rotate and scale attributes allow adjusting the displayed control, without affecting objects constrained to it.

Custom shapes

To use a custom shape for the handle, create a mesh with the shape you want. Set zRigHandle's Shape attribute to "Custom", and attach the outMesh of your custom shape to the inCustomMesh attribute of the handle. You can then hide the mesh.

Only the shape of the mesh is used, and not its materials or textures. The mesh must only contain tris and quads (n-gons will be ignored).

The shape should be a static mesh. Attaching deformed meshes as a custom shape may work, but this is unoptimized and will be very slow.

Local transforms

Four attributes are provided to transform the control in the viewport: transform, Local Position, Local Rotation and Local Scale.

The local attributes allow moving the displayed handle in the viewport without affecting its transform. Manipulators won't be affected, so this can be used to position the handle relative to the manipulator.

The transform attribute has the same effect, but receives a matrix value directly. This can be connected to a composeMatrix node.

Limitations