{"id":747,"date":"2019-11-21T10:05:02","date_gmt":"2019-11-21T15:05:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vicdebaie.com\/blog\/?p=747"},"modified":"2019-11-21T10:05:10","modified_gmt":"2019-11-21T15:05:10","slug":"motionbuilder-python-mirror-character-animation-through-story-mode","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.vicdebaie.com\/blog\/motionbuilder-python-mirror-character-animation-through-story-mode\/","title":{"rendered":"MotionBuilder Python – Mirror Character Animation Through Story Mode"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One of my first posts on this blog showed how to mirror animations via python. The script would set the mirrored option to “ON” for the character and then plot the animation to the Skeleton and then back to the Control Rig – which works. Recently I was asked if there was a way to mirror an animation along a specific axis and there is via Story Mode. In this post I will go over how we can mirror animations via Story Mode using Python scripting in MotionBuilder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below you will find the script which uses a currently selected character and copies the data to a new take called “original_take_name<\/em>-Mirrored”. The script will mirror the character’s data based on the users desired Plane Option (XY, ZY, XZ) by using FBStoryClipMirrorPlane. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

import pyfbsdk as fb\n\n##Create A New Take\ndef CreateMirrorTake():\n    takeName = fb.FBSystem().CurrentTake.LongName+\"_Mirrored\"\n    fb.FBSystem().CurrentTake.CopyTake( takeName )\n\n##Plot The Story Clip\ndef PlotCharacterClip( character = object ):\n    lPlotClipOptions = fb.FBPlotOptions()\n    lPlotClipOptions.ConstantKeyReducerKeepOneKey = False\n    lPlotClipOptions.PlotAllTakes = False\n    lPlotClipOptions.PlotOnFrame = True\n    lPlotClipOptions.PlotPeriod = fb.FBTime( 0, 0, 0, 1 )\n    lPlotClipOptions.PlotTranslationOnRootOnly = False\n    lPlotClipOptions.PreciseTimeDiscontinuities = False\n    lPlotClipOptions.RotationFilterToApply = fb.FBRotationFilter.kFBRotationFilterUnroll\n    lPlotClipOptions.UseConstantKeyReducer = False\n    character.PlotAnimation (fb.FBCharacterPlotWhere.kFBCharacterPlotOnSkeleton,lPlotClipOptions )               \n    character.PlotAnimation(fb.FBCharacterPlotWhere.kFBCharacterPlotOnControlRig,lPlotClipOptions ) \n\n##Send Character To A Story Clip And Plot The Data Mirrored\ndef MirrorCharacter( character = object, XY = False, ZY = False, XZ = False ):\n    if XY == ZY == XZ == False: pass\n    \n    else:\n        ##Create A Character Stroy Track And Add Currect Take As A Clip\n        track = fb.FBStoryTrack( fb.FBStoryTrackType.kFBStoryTrackCharacter, fb.FBStory().RootFolder )\n        track.Details.append( character )\n        track.CopyTakeIntoTrack( fb.FBSystem().CurrentTake.LocalTimeSpan, fb.FBSystem().CurrentTake )\n        \n        ##Turn Story Mode \"ON\"\n        orgStoryMute = fb.FBStory().Mute\n        if orgStoryMute == True:\n            fb.FBStory().Mute = False\n    \n        ##Get Mirror Plane Options\n        if XY == True: mirrorplaneOption = fb.FBStoryClipMirrorPlane.kFBStoryClipMirrorPlaneXY\n        if ZY == True: mirrorplaneOption = fb.FBStoryClipMirrorPlane.kFBStoryClipMirrorPlaneZY\n        if XZ == True: mirrorplaneOption = fb.FBStoryClipMirrorPlane.kFBStoryClipMirrorPlaneXZ\n        ##Set All Clips On Provided Track To Be Mirrored\n        for clip in track.Clips:\n            clip.SolvingMode        = fb.FBStoryClipSolveMode.kFBStoryClipRetargetSkeleton  ##Sets The Solving Mode To \"RetargetSkeleton\" Which Seems To Give Mirrored Result\n            clip.MirrorPlane        = mirrorplaneOption                                     ##Set Mirror Plane Options Based Off Of The User's Checked Box \n            clip.MirrorAnimation    = True\n        \n        ##Plot Mirrored Story Data Back To Take\n        PlotCharacterClip( character )\n        \n        ##Delete Stroy Track\n        track.FBDelete()\n        \n        ##Set Story Mute Back To Original Setting\n        fb.FBStory().Mute = orgStoryMute\n        \n\n        CreateMirrorTake()\n\n##Mirror Current Character Along Mirror Plane ZY    \nMirrorCharacter( fb.FBApplication().CurrentCharacter, XY = False, ZY = True, XZ = False  )\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
I hope this helps.<\/p>\n
<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A quick script that will mirror animations via Story Mode.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":748,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"MotionBuilder Python - Mirror Character Animation Through Story Mode\n\n#mirroranimation #motionbuilder #python","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[4],"tags":[18,16,5],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.vicdebaie.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Mirror-Cap.jpg?fit=960%2C640","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8pltq-c3","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":292,"url":"http:\/\/www.vicdebaie.com\/blog\/mirroring-motionbuilder-character-animation-with-python\/","url_meta":{"origin":747,"position":0},"title":"Mirroring MotionBuilder Character Animation with Python","author":"admin","date":"March 13, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"In a previous post I went over \"Plotting and Plot Options\" as well as \"dir\" where we exposed the \"MirrorMode\" of a Character. Now with all that information exposed I will show you how I created a simple script that will mirror a\u00a0Character's animation, first by setting the \"MirrorMode\" to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Python"","block_context":{"text":"Python","link":"http:\/\/www.vicdebaie.com\/blog\/category\/python\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.vicdebaie.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/img_4039-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":276,"url":"http:\/\/www.vicdebaie.com\/blog\/saving-motionbuilder-character-animation-with-python\/","url_meta":{"origin":747,"position":1},"title":"Saving MotionBuilder Character Animation with Python","author":"admin","date":"April 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"When I get Mocap it's usually in a messy scene. Optics, Markets, strange NameSpace, etc. they all can bog down a scene. One of the first thing I do is save out the Character Animation and load it back into a clean scene. Using Python to save out Character Animation\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Python"","block_context":{"text":"Python","link":"http:\/\/www.vicdebaie.com\/blog\/category\/python\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.vicdebaie.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/img_4059-1.jpg?fit=300%2C200&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":794,"url":"http:\/\/www.vicdebaie.com\/blog\/using-motionbuilder-python-to-offset-all-animations-within-a-scene\/","url_meta":{"origin":747,"position":2},"title":"Using MotionBuilder Python To Offset All Animations Within A Scene","author":"admin","date":"January 7, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is a quick script that will allow you to shift\/offset all animation keys within a scene. Previously I would do this via story mode or use another technique that would skip over props and\/or constraints. This script should shift everything within the scene that is animated. The script is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Python"","block_context":{"text":"Python","link":"http:\/\/www.vicdebaie.com\/blog\/category\/python\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.vicdebaie.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/OffSet-1.jpg?fit=960%2C540&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.vicdebaie.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/OffSet-1.jpg?fit=960%2C540&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.vicdebaie.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/OffSet-1.jpg?fit=960%2C540&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":81,"url":"http:\/\/www.vicdebaie.com\/blog\/plotting-character-animation-with-a-motionbuilder-python-script\/","url_meta":{"origin":747,"position":3},"title":"Plotting Character Animation With A MotionBuilder Python Script .\u00a0","author":"admin","date":"February 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Let's go over how to use Python to plot animation onto a character's Control Rig. The interesting part of this is\u00a0the \"plot options\" and how we call back on them when we plot. \u00a0 These are the settings I use when I am processing large motion capture data down to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Python"","block_context":{"text":"Python","link":"http:\/\/www.vicdebaie.com\/blog\/category\/python\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":83,"url":"http:\/\/www.vicdebaie.com\/blog\/using-python-to-create-a-layer-on-the-current-selected-take-in-motionbuilder\/","url_meta":{"origin":747,"position":4},"title":"Using Python to Create a layer on the Current Selected Take in MotionBuilder.\u00a0","author":"admin","date":"February 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"In MotionBuilder using animation layers are great for edits, blending, additives and in general adding quality passes to your animations. So below I'm going to demo how I learned to add layers\u00a0using Python. To create an Animation Layer on the Current Take script: Now let's setup a Python Script to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Python"","block_context":{"text":"Python","link":"http:\/\/www.vicdebaie.com\/blog\/category\/python\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":274,"url":"http:\/\/www.vicdebaie.com\/blog\/using-python-to-import-motionbuilder-characters-into-story\/","url_meta":{"origin":747,"position":5},"title":"Using Python to import MotionBuilder Characters into story.\u00a0","author":"admin","date":"April 6, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 MotionBuilder comes with a great script that will place your selected character into a Character Track within the Story, I wanted to write one that would put all of the scene's Characters into the story. Once again I will use the \"Mia_Rigged.fbx\" file to test my script. I created\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Python"","block_context":{"text":"Python","link":"http:\/\/www.vicdebaie.com\/blog\/category\/python\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.vicdebaie.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/MobuPython_StoryScript.jpg?fit=1011%2C224&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.vicdebaie.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/MobuPython_StoryScript.jpg?fit=1011%2C224&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.vicdebaie.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/MobuPython_StoryScript.jpg?fit=1011%2C224&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vicdebaie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vicdebaie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vicdebaie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vicdebaie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vicdebaie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=747"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.vicdebaie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":749,"href":"http:\/\/www.vicdebaie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747\/revisions\/749"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vicdebaie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vicdebaie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vicdebaie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vicdebaie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}