cMuscleSpline node
 
 
 

This is a locator node that implements the drawing and calculation of a basic Hermite-curve with support for any number of control points, and outputs any number of points along the curve. Since the cMuscleSpline node is the basis of the cMuscleSpline deformer, many of these settings control the deformer itself as well as the spline.

Below are descriptions of the attributes in the cMuscleSpline node. To see these attributes, select a cMuscleSpline object and open the Attribute Editor. For descriptions of the spline control object attributes, see cMuscleSplineDeformer node.

Draw

Sets what is displayed for the spline curve itself.

Off

Causes the spline to disappear.

spline

Draws only the spline.

spline and points

Draws the spline and dots for each control point.

spline, points and tangents

Draws the tangents as well.

Color

Sets the display color of the spline curve.

NoteIn the Attribute Editor, you can also use a regular Maya color swatch to set the color.
Tolerance

Sets the level of quality used when calculating the spline length and when drawing the curve. Lower values are rougher and more inaccurate, higher values are more accurate. 24 is a good default value, and does not have to be changed.

Tangent Mode

Sets the tangent mode. In order to understand how this works, you can change the tangentMode and move the controls around interactively to compare how they work in both cases.

relative

Tangents automatically grow/shrink based on the distance from one control point to another. This can help result in a smoother curve.

absolute

The tangent length at each point is exactly as it is set and does not change.

Up Axis

Sets which axis for each control point is used as the "up" axis. This is what controls the spin of the driven joints/nodes along the curve. If you find you get flipping, you can switch the up axis from X to Z or the reverse.

NoteThat twist is only handled up to 180 degrees, after which you see a flip.
Reset Frame

For jiggle calculation, this sets which frame the jiggle resets on. Any jiggle on or before this frame is off. You can key this value with a stepped key to get resetting of jiggle on different frames as needed, for example if there are different shots to be animated in one scene.

Dampen On Squash

Controls how the curve behaves with jiggle as its length changes.

0

Jiggle values are applied as they are set.

1

The jiggle amount dampens down and the cycle gets faster as the curve gets squashed.

Dampen On Stretch

Controls how the curve behaves with jiggle as its length changes.

0

Jiggle values are applied as they are set.

1

The jiggle amount dampens down and the cycle gets faster as the curve is stretched.

Len Default/Squash/Stretch

Set the default/min/max length of the spline. As the length goes from default to squash, the dampenOnSquash is affected, and as it goes from default to stretch, the dampenOnStretch is affected. If this spline is tied to a cMuscleSplineDeformer node, these settings also set the driving of the muscle squash and stretch as the spline length goes between these values.

NoteThese values do not clamp the actual length of the spline, but set the min/max range for when the squash and stretch can occur.
Cur Len

An output of the spline that shows the current length of the spline curve. This can be useful for custom rigging.

Pct Squash/Stretch

An output value that shows the amount of squash or stretch the spline is undergoing. The values range from 0 to 1. As the curLen goes from the lenDefault to lenSquash, the pctSquash goes from 0 to 1. As the curLen goes from the lenDefault to lenStretch, the pctStretch goes from 0 to 1. These values can be useful for custom rigging.

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