The Body Structure of G5 Character

In this section, you will learn about the structure of the G5 (Generation 5) characters. This section will provide you with all the information you will need in order to assist you in creating your own customized character with minimal difficulty. You will also learn about floor contact, and why it is important in designing your character. By defining the floor contact, you will be able to utilize the foot and hand contact features in iClone 5. When you have designed a new character, you can use the Reallusion 3dsMax2010 Plug-in to convert custom characters into iClone-compatible characters.

This section includes:

• The Bone Structure of a G5 Character
• An Overview of Floor Contact

Reallusion provides you a G5 character template that can be modified and edited within 3ds Max 2010. The template is constructed using the Standard Bones of 3ds Max. For the first time, 100% scaled G5 characters can be imported and exported to other 3D editing tools in FBX format with more complete data.

The bone structure layout of a G5 character (Standard Bone)	The bone structure layout of a G3 character (Mesh-based Bone)

• The spine of a G5 character is divided into three pieces, while the one for G3 characters is dissected into two pieces.
• Rib bones, named with suffix "Ribs" or "RibsTwist", are added for simulating breathing motions. This is done by rotating the *_Ribs bones to trigger the movement of the *_RibsTwist bones in order to produce repetitive inhaling and exhaling motions.
• Still another group of bones named with suffix "Abdominal" and "Hip0" are available for creating more detailed belly and hip movement.
• Click here to view the G5 character hierarchy list. (Jpeg image).

Types of Bones

The G5 skeleton and its hierarchy are unique. The individual bones within this structure may have different purposes, and the usage of these individual bones are also different.

• Base Bone: The bones of this type are for motion creation. All the character motions result from triggering these types of bones. You can also apply motions to these bones to verify whether or not a motion is correct.
• Twist Bone (suffix with "Twist" + number): These types of bones are for skinning, rigging and rolling. It is highly recommended that you DO NOT directly manipulate and edit this kind of bone, because it may destroy the structure of the skeleton if you do so.

G5 character bones
Base bones	Twist bones

The G5 skeleton contains Floor-Contact markers around the hands and feet so that the Hand Contact and Foot Contact features can be enabled. iClone 5.

Floor-contact markers and the planes they form Please click the links below to view the names of the individual markers: Right Hand Markers Left Hand Markers Feet Markers

The planes that are formed by the markers:

• The RL_R/L_Hand_Acc_Pivot is the dummy location for grabbing things, please put it in the center of the palm.
• Six markers around one hand or foot form two planes.
• The planes at the front affect the toes or fingers; while the rear planes affect the palms or soles.
• The hinges of the planes are as shown below:

The hinges of the front planes	The hinges of the rear planes

• The planes rotates as soon as it contacts the floor, which drive the fingers and toes to rotate as well.
• The middle markers must be placed right under where the finger or toe roots bend and be snapped to the body meshes; while the rear markers must be put beneath the wrists or heels and be snapped to the body meshes as well.
• If your character has individual and articulated fingers and toes controlled by Human IK, then you should consider also setting up the toe and finger contacts.