Welcome to the Avastar 1.6 Alpha tests. Avastar 1.6 introduces a few new tools especially for working with Fitted Mesh. We expect that the tools still need a bit of polishing and we believe there are still some corner cases where the tools will fail.

Important: If you want to test this Avastar Alpha Versions, then you need a good understanding about rigging, binding and weighting. Please test the tools for your own purposes and report us back what does not work for you.

Testing and feedback

Please watch our video playlist as introduction.

The most recent download version:

Avastar 1.6-124 (Alpha)

Remind

This is an Alpha Release of Avastar 1.6

!!! NO CUSTOMER SUPPORT !!!

Please feel free to test it and report back whatever you find suspicious, broken, or badly working for you.

Please open a ticket in our ticket system. Or if you are unsure if you found something significant, then Add your comments and questions about the usage into the comments section below.

Download

The alpha release can be found in the_archive subfolder of your Avastar Download page. If you also have Sparkles please install the Sparkles Alpha version as well (see below)

Note: You must have an account on our Website if you want to participate.

Avastar Download:

  1. Open your Download Page
  2. Open the Avastar Download page
  3. Open the subfolder named the_archive
  4. Lookup this file:
    avastar-1.6-69_blender-2-70.zip

Sparkles Download (optional):

  1. Open your Download Page
  2. Open the Sparkles Download page
  3. Open the subfolder named the_archive
  4. Lookup this file:
    sparkles-1.6-69_blender-2-70.zip

Changelog

From now on we maintain the changelog. Below is the complete changelog since begin of the Alpha Testing

Changelog Details

2015-07-24 12:00:02 Avastar-1.6-69

69:fix Avastar exporter did always apply rot&scale and disregarded the rot&scale settings
68:imp Added quickinfo boxes for most important panels
67:imp new operator panel options in snap Control bones to Rig
   for volumes and attachment bones
   interesting for non human characters

66:fix ik pivot bone updates not propagated 
   into armature during animation

65:fix labels for foot pivots where exchanged (dopesheet labels)

64:(internal change) read skeleton data from avatar_skeleton.xml 
   to ensure keeping compatibility with SL Viewer.
   Also fixes a minor typo in the ankleBone location.

2015-07-13 22:24:05 Avastar-1.6-63

63:fix a potential problem that might show up during copy weights
    when non mesh objects are parented to the Rig

62:fix Smooth weights tool broke when object has an object scale/rotation

61:imp force armature update after loading shapes, avoids display-issues in the 3D View

60:imp smooth weight and adjust to shape now discard modifiers to avoid out-of-bounds errors

2015-07-11 19:07:45  Avastar-1.6-59

2015-07-11 19:07:45 fix:binding created wrong Shapekeys when 
                        objects have Scale & Rotation 
                        in Object mode
2015-07-10 23:01:05 imp:tool tip on the fitting panel
2015-07-08 18:21:29 fix:smooth by weight can not use operator
                        panel (needs more investigation),
                        using fixed values for now
2015-07-06 22:11:31 imp:vertex select mode for smooth by
                        weights now automatically enabled when
                        object in edit mode or weight_paint mode
                        with mask selection enabled
2015-07-06 17:58:03 new:smooth by weight operator
2015-07-05 15:20:46 fix:Generate physics depended on selected bones
2015-07-04 08:48:11 imp:weight distribution now only fixes weights
                        when weights allow to move vertex
                        to some place on the target mesh
2015-06-28 17:57:52 imp:restrict creation of corrective Shapekeys
                        if key with same name already exists
2015-06-28 16:21:08 imp:Corrective Shape keys now only available
                        for fitted mesh bone sliders
2015-06-27 23:00:07 imp:Added more user friendly support for
                        corrective keys
2015-06-25 21:19:53 imp:Added configurable stepsize to attach
                        slider algorithm
2015-06-24 17:43:28 fix:open blend file did not preserve original
                        object mode of active 0bject
2015-06-20 12:11:19 fix:switch from SL to shapekey destroyed the
                        neutral shapekey
2015-06-19 19:56:56 imp:Fitting bones select state display now
                        shows selected/active bone with different icons
2015-06-19 19:26:17 imp:generate weights automatic from selected bones, 
                        or if no bones selected, generate weights
                        for SL Base Bones
2015-06-19 12:07:51 fix:fitting sliders break weights after adjust
                        to shape was called once
2015-06-19 11:58:50 fix:ALT Q does not always keep active Group
2015-06-16 23:46:27 fix:behavior of fitting presets was not exactly
                        as expected
2015-06-16 10:59:43 imp:deform bone option now maintained mostly
                        automatic
2015-06-14 23:21:51 new:added delete operator for physics weights
2015-06-14 23:20:43 imp:physics sliders now only show when physics is setup
2015-06-14 00:33:25 fix:Sparkles weld normals created an error when 
                        one of the objects contained a disabled
                        Armature modifier
2015-06-14 00:32:03 new:Added bake to mesh with apply Shape Modifiers
2015-06-13 14:59:28 imp:behavior of physics sliders is now more predicatable 
                        (matches expectations better). Also clarified 
                        tool tips a bit
2015-06-11 19:16:33 fix:binding failed when attachment origin not at
                        avastar origin
2015-06-11 18:44:09 imp:Added new button for adjust to current shape 
                        (moved from weight control section into
                        fitted section)
2015-06-11 12:16:21 imp:Fitted slider section now only shows
                        Collision Volume Bones
2015-06-11 11:38:55 fix:When fitting sliders has NO weight group,
                        weights from an arbitrary weight map have
                        been displayed. now no weights are shown
2015-06-11 10:43:45 fix:Alter to Rest Pose did not work together 
                        with attach sliders option during binding
2015-06-10 21:52:57 fix:generate physics weights always forced mesh object
                        into weight paint mode
2015-06-10 21:51:52 imp:made pinch more pinchy
2015-06-10 21:50:48 fix:Sliders did not attach when active object
                        was armature during binding
2015-06-10 00:54:37 new:Added fitting only selected vertices 
                        (works in emode and weight paint mask selection mode
2015-06-09 14:25:35 fix:custom objects scaling was slightly offset 
                        from the system mesh scaling (becasue of wrong matrix usage)
2015-06-08 20:29:36 imp:upgrade to SL now auto detects rigging style, 
                        and has new option for enabling slilders after migration
2015-06-08 08:13:44 fix:avastar was broken due to recent change
                        (wrong order of script imports)
2015-06-07 18:48:40 new:added option to enable sliders right after binding
                        (can be customized in addon preferences)
2015-06-07 16:36:32 imp:Added help links to Panels
                        (can be suppressed in addon preferences)
2015-06-07 14:08:14 fix:Fitting selector now keeps active bone
                        and active weight group synchronized
2015-06-07 13:34:45 imp:simplified User interface
2015-06-07 11:44:40 imp:Added link to registration website
2015-06-07 00:08:36 fix:fixed Wrong order of calculation in fitting sliders
2015-06-06 23:11:32 imp:made warning about sliders not enabled more verbose
2015-06-06 23:00:05 new:allow more than 4 weights per vertex for export to SL
2015-06-06 22:59:31 imp:make the fitting presets perfrom faster. 
                        Also maintain removal of unnecessary vertex groups
2015-06-06 14:35:01 imp:Account data can now be added 
                        as permanent info (in addon preferences)
2015-06-05 15:16:47 imp:rephrased tool tip and button label 
                        of Auto Update Fitting Configuration
2015-06-05 15:05:43 imp:Removed convert to fitted/classic
                        in favor of new fitting presets
2015-06-05 14:18:33 new:Added fitting presets
2015-06-04 21:57:49 new:Avastar Added bake shape to mesh button
2015-06-04 21:56:43 fix:sparkles timeline copy failed
                        when fcurve contains no group

Brief instructions (applies only to sparkles pro users)

We have simplified the usage of Shape keys a bit. Here is a brief workflow:

  1. Bind your mesh (with shape slider support as shown in the video)
  2. Prepare the rigging panel (as in the video)
  3. Open the fitting panel (as in the video)
  4. Open the Appearance sliders panel

In the appearance sliders you now have one additional button for each slider. This extra button allows you to add a corrective Shapekey for a specific slider with one mouse klick.

Avastar names the new shape key such that it can be automatically controlled by the sliders.

Important: We currently support only one corrective Shapekey per slider.

Hint: First setup the slider configuration, then create one corrective shape key for each slider that you want to fix.

The updated Video will become available soon.

appearance_sliders

Example:

In the Appearance Sliders panel:

Click on the Shapekey button on the Belly Size row. Then you find a new Shape key in the Shape key panel named “big_belly_torso_104”. This is the official shape key that is recognized by Avastar for controlling the belly size.

You now can edit this shape key to your likes until it matches the shape as you want it to be.

shape_key_panel

When your shape key is finished, then you have to finalize the shape key (from within the Shape key operator menu)

Now the shape key is automatically controlled by Avastar.

 

Have fun,
Gaia