iClone G3 Character Template Update

Character Structure

iClone G3 Characters contains 6 interchangeable body parts. They are:

1. Face
2. Upper
3. Hands 
4. Lower
5. Shoes
6. Hair (optional)

5 body parts except Hair are included in each character template max file.

Note: The Head (consists of face, eyes, teeth and cavity models) in the template is still in G2 format. New G3 heads can only be created in iClone3. You may still use this G2 head, or replace it with G3 head after importing the character.

iClone G3 Characters are rigged to RL Bones of the same structure as G2 Characters.

However, the models of G3 Characters are more optimized and with better body build.

The body part connections of G2 and G3 characters are defined differently, so they are not interchangeable between generations.

Skin Pose

Skin pose is the pose in which the character models are skinned to the skeleton. 

The skin pose of G3 Character is relaxed bending posture, rather than T pose which is used for G1 and G2 character.

Although T pose is good for examining character proportions, relaxed skin pose results in better surface deformation while posing or animating the character.

You may choose either way when you edit the character template.

To use the relaxed pose:

1. Open the G3 male or female max template file. The character is in relaxed pose at frame 1.
2. Unhide RL Bones. Click Layer Manager in the main toolbar to open the manager dialog box, then click the mask icon to unhide RL Bones.
   
   
   
3. Drag the time slider to frame 50, at which the character is in T pose.
4. Select all RL Bones. You can see there are two keys in the track bar, the first key at frame 1 is for relaxed pose and the second key at frame 50 is for T pose.  
   
   
   
5. Delete the second key at frame 50.

Now the character is always in relaxed pose and you may start editing the character model.

Note: You may delete the first key after deleting the T pose key, the character will still remain in relaxed pose. 

To use T Pose:

Since the character is skinned in relaxed pose, simply deleting the first key and keeping the T pose key are not enough. The model will go back to relaxed pose when you remove Skin modifier or switch to Editable Poly modifier for editing the meshes. The character model must be re-skinned in T pose for further editing. 

1. Open the max template and unhide RL Bones as described above.
2. Select all RL Bones.
3. Delete the first key at frame 1, then delete the second key at frame 50. Now the character is in T pose.
4. It's better to save the Skin weights now. Select one of the body parts model and select Skin modifier in the stack. Go to  "Advanced Parameters" panel then click "Save" button to save the Skin weights (*.env) of the selected model.
   
   
   
5. Repeat step 4 to all other body parts to save the Skin weights for the later restoration.
6. After saving the Skin weights, right-click the body part model and execute "Convert to Editable Poly" from the quad menus.
   
   
   
7. Convert all body part models into Editable Poly. Now RL Bones and the character models are all in T pose. 
8. Select the body part model and add Skin modifier to it. Add the necessary RL Bones to the bone list, then load the Skin weight file of the selected body part.
9. Restore all Skin weights of the body part models.

The skin pose is now T pose. The next thing is to restore the body part connection settings by adding "Mesh Select" modifier and assigning named selections set to the vertices to be connected. See next session for more details on body part connection setting.

Connection

Body part connection settings define which vertices will be connected when the character is loaded in iClone. They are specified by adding "Mesh Select" modifier and giving vertex named selection sets to the vertices on the connection borders. 

Each connection border has its own specific vertex number and name. The table below shows the body part connection settings of all character generations.

Notice that the vertex numbers and naming of the connection borders of different generations are the same except G3 waist which is named "connect20".

		G1	G2	G3
Neck	Appearance
	Vertex Number	24 Vertices	24 Vertices	24 Vertices
	Named Selection Set	connect01	connect01	connect01
Waist	Appearance
	Vertex Number	28 Vertices	28 Vertices	28 Vertices
	Named Selection Set	connect02	connect02	connect20
Left Ankle	Appearance
	Vertex Number	12 Vertices	12 Vertices	12 Vertices
	Named Selection Set	connect03	connect03	connect06
Right Ankle	Appearance
	Vertex Number	12 Vertices	12 Vertices	12 Vertices
	Named Selection Set	connect04	connect04	connect06
Left Wrist	Appearance	N/A
	Vertex Number		12 Vertices	12 Vertices
	Named Selection Set		connect05	connect05
Right Wrist	Appearance	N/A
	Vertex Number		12 Vertices	12 Vertices
	Named Selection Set		connect06	connect06

When you edit the character model, adding or deleting vertices or faces may alter the skin weights and named selections. You may have to check and reassign them to achieve correct result. Please refer to the white paper for more details on creating iClone characters.