I have Jimmy|Rig Lite and have been looking forward to Jimmy|Rig Pro for about a year and a half now.

J|R Lite lets you bring in almost any biped character model, calculates the volume and fits in a rig and applies weights automatically. Then it lets you apply and mix motion data from a built-in library of motions. It also has several tools you can apply that let you retime the motion, change the path, correct feet slipping, etc. When you're ready, you can export an animation file or LightWave scene file. It's very simple to use.

Here's Origami Digital's YouTube Channel which has several interesting demo movies:

Origami Digital's YouTube Channel

The Pro version adds more features like the ability to bring in your own .bvh data, and more export options. Obviously, this edition will be more useful to iPi users. As for comparisons with Motion Builder, I think what Origami Digital means is that J|R is based on their in-house software that was designed to replace MB, and not that J|R is designed to replace MB. J|R Lite and Pro are more likely subsets of what their in-house system does.

Even so, I'm sure the program will be pretty cool when it finally comes out. We'll certainly consider it for our next mocap project.

Animeeple shares some similarities. It's not an autorigger, but it will import a rigged character and retarget .bvh data to it. Animeeple also has a number of tools for reanimating the character, changing its motion path, etc. The latest version has a built-in 'default' character and rig which lets you try out your data immediately. You can export the results as an animation or as data (FBX or DAE,) for 3D applications. Suprisingly, the developers have made this program free to use, though you do have to pay for the FBX export plug-in.

Another interesting aspect of Animeeple is its marketplace connection. From the marketplace, you can download many free and premium characters and motions. If you can create content, you may also open your own Animeeple marketplace store and upload data to sell. (I'm considering trying this at some point just for fun. I haven't done it yet because LW doesn't properly export weight maps through Collada or FBX yet.)

Here are the links for each software:

Jimmy|Rig and Animeeple

Even though neither of these will completely replace Motion Builder, I think they are on their way to becoming good cost-effective alternatives for small indie productions.

For our current short film production, we're using Animeeple to retarget data to our characters and it works very well.

G.

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Greenlaw
Artist/Partner - Little Green Dog | My Demo Reels (2013,) (2015,) (2017,) and (2019)

Watch a one minute excerpt on Vimeo now!

I purchased Lightwave 10 so I would be very interested in the Pro version. I've seen what some people have produced using JR through Modo, Lightwave, Messiah. Nice stuff!

Hi,

I'm actually having good luck this week using a feature in Lightwave called IK Booster to edit my mocap. For the purpose of mcap editing, this tool sort works like a 'Motion Builder Lite'. Here are the basics: after I import my mocap data and transfer it to my own character and rig, I can apply IK Booster to the rig which enables IK on the entire rig; you can also add handles to any joint simply by dragging them out of a joint. You can then set IK limits at the major joints by right-clicking and choosing an option. After that, you can easily add to or completely override the mocap data for the entire animation or for a specific range of frames. Finally, you can seamlessly blend the IKB edited frames back to the original mocap animation. It's pretty cool, and I think it's going to VERY useful in my project.

From what I've been told, if you already have Motion Builder, then a tool like this is a bit pointless, because MB can do the same thing but much better. But, if you're on a budget, and you have Lightwave, it's definitely worth looking at.

That said, I'm still looking forward to J|R Pro. :)

G.

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Greenlaw
Artist/Partner - Little Green Dog | My Demo Reels (2013,) (2015,) (2017,) and (2019)

Watch a one minute excerpt on Vimeo now!

Yes, IKBoost is pretty cool. It was developed by Daisuke Ino, and it's a shame NewTek didn't find a way to keep him as he was really knew what he was doing.

I have the SplineGod tutorials you have, and there was a site, ikboost.com, where I downloaded almost 1/2 GB of tutorials and samples. Unfortunately, he took it off-line maybe a year ago, and it's too large to easily file share. If there's a mirror of that site somewhere, it's definitely worth looking at.

vfxcast.com also has a number of SplineGod tutorials where he used IKBoost in TV productions.

Certainly nice to be able to do things from within LW, and IK Boost is probably a very good way from my limited understanding - although Maestro and RHiggit Pro seem very interesting.

I think somebody posted at least some of the ikboost.com videos to YouTube or Vimeo (I don't remember which.) I forgot about those...will have to look for them again. :)

G.

_________________
Greenlaw
Artist/Partner - Little Green Dog | My Demo Reels (2013,) (2015,) (2017,) and (2019)

Watch a one minute excerpt on Vimeo now!

The makers of RHiggit Pro seem to be interesting in producing and selling this product whereas the makers of JimmyRig are doing it if they have the time and they don't have the time to support it. If I remember correctly JR lite is user self supported.

There was a lot of support until lite was released. Lite works well as advertised, it's not like there are on-going issues not being addressed.

I expect it will be the same process for Pro.

It auto-rigs and weights, and for them replaces MotionBuilder - so it is a different animal than RHiggit.

I'll probably end up with all of them, just for the flexibility.

From what I have read over at the NewTek forums this is being built by a studio for their personal usage. Then they are sharing it as it develops. Since they have been very busy they have done no development and stated that this isn't a high priority on their agenda. Hence, a lot of users are pretty upset and say that development is stalled at best since nothing has been progressed in over a year. There is still only JR Lite available for purchase.

In my conversations with them, they have continued to do internal development (they use Jimmy in place of MotionBuilder).

My guess is we will benefit from this development, just at their schedule, not ours. Pro should be in beta soon for Jimmy users.

But, for $150 for Jimmy and another $150 for the Pro, it's almost a no brainer if you don't own MotionBuilder.

I have MotionBuilder 5 and I'm sure I purchased the 5.5 upgrade but I believe it was a download only and I might have lost it. I'm also not sure how to go about re-activating it since AutoDesk bought it. I also have LifeForms and will give that a try as well.