The Shape View

The Shape View is the area in the Aria UI that displays the Network Nodes for the current Shape Network. The view is intended to be familiar to modelers based on Maya's Shape Editor. The Shape View is comprised of a menu, a toolbar, a view filtering area and the view itself. 

The Menus

The Nodes Menu

Add Primary Shape Node(s): Adds a Primary Network Node to the shape network.

Add Combination From Selected Network Nodes: Creates a Combination Network Node from selected network nodes in the view.

Add Combination Shape Node: Manually adds a Combination Network Node from available network nodes in the shape network.

Add Zip Shape Node: Adds a Zip Network Node to the shape network.

Add Incremental Shape Node: Adds an Incremental (In-between) Network Node to the selected network node in the view.

Add Folder Group: Adds a Folder Group to the view for organizing network nodes in the shape network.

Import/Update Selected Nodes From Disk: For any selected network nodes in the view this will bring in a mesh from a valid disk path and update the blend shape node with new deltas from the newly imported mesh. This will override any existing mesh in the scene.

Export Selected Nodes: For the selected nodes in the Shape View export and associated meshes to the disk path associated with the network node.

Set The Path For Selected Nodes: Brings up a dialog to change disk paths for selected network nodes.

 

The Edit Menu

Set Split Map Assignments: Launches the Split Map Assignment Dialog where you can add/remove split map nodes to a Primary network node.

Drive Primary Shape With Maya Node Attribute or Network Node: Launches a dialog to drive a Primary network node by either a Maya node's attribute or another network node.

Drive primary Shape With Multiple Driver Shapes in Parallel: Launches a dialog to have a network node's value be driven by multiple other network node values evaluating in parallel.

Assign The Priority Of Primary Shape Over Other Primary Shapes: Assigns the priority solver to a selected network node. The priority solver states that when the value of a network node is changed it affects other network nodes proportionally by their priority weight.

Average Primary Shape With Other Primary Shapes: Assigns the averaging solver to a selected network node. The assigned node will have its value averaged out based on the averaging driver node values.

Remove Driver Data From Selected Nodes: For any selected network node removes driver data from a Maya node attribute or network node. 

Remove Parallel Drivers From Selected Nodes: For any selected network node removes parallel driver data.

 

NOTE: For the priority and averaging menus the dialog can be used to both add and remove priority/averaging relationships.

 

The View Menu

The View menu gives the user options on adjusting what is displayed in the view. You can isolate selected nodes, from selected nodes show upstream and downstream nodes, show dependency nodes right in the view and control how certain network nodes are displayed like split nodes, incremental and zips.

 

The Toolbar

Add Or Update A Network Node

Adds or updates a network node. When a mesh is selected and this button is clicked Aria will add a new network node to the shape node if the name of the mesh does not already exists as a network node in the shape network. If a node already exists in the network Aria will update the network node and deltas.

 

Add Combination From Selected

Adds a new Combination network node from the selected network nodes in the view. Combinations can be created from primaries, other combinations, incrementals and zips.

 

Add Incremental Node

Launches a dialog to add/remove Incremental network nodes. Select a Primary network node to add/remove incremental nodes.

 

Add Zip Node

Adds a Zip network node to the selected Primary network node in the view.

 

Add Folder Group

Adds a Folder Group network node to the shape network for organizational purposed. Folder groups can have a name and a color.

 

Split Map Assignment

Launches the Split Map Assignment Dialog where you can add/remove split map nodes to a Primary network node.

 

Drive A Network Node

Launches a dialog to drive a Primary network node by either a Maya node's attribute or another network node.

 

Drive A Network Node In Parallel

Launches a dialog to have a network node's value be driven by multiple other network node values evaluating in parallel.

 

Assign Priorities To A Network Node

Assigns the priority solver to a selected network node. The priority solver states that when the value of a network node is changed it affects other network nodes proportionally by their priority weight.

 

Assign Averages To A Network Node

Assigns the averaging solver to a selected network node. The assigned node will have its value averaged out based on the averaging driver node values.

 

Zero Weights

Zeroes all of the weights across the entire network. This is very convenient as it will traverse to all the upstream network nodes for a combination and turn them all off for you.

 

Generate Targets

Generates mesh representations for network nodes in the shape network if they exist on the blend shape node connected to the neutral. Symmetrical targets or split targets can be created and targets can be created for all the nodes in the shape network or only selected nodes in the view.

 

Side Car Rig

Side Car Rig. Generates a temporary blend shape node from the neutral based on the selected network nodes. The blend shape node is setup with deltas from each network node and animated across a designated amount of frames. This gives the modeler the ability to prototype combinations by selected multiple upstream nodes and altering each nodes delta contributions as individual blend shape targets on the side car rig.

 

Remove Network Node(s)

Removes selected network nodes (and downstream dependencies) from the shape network.

 

The View Filter Toolbar

On the left side of the view filter toolbar you can search for a network node by name and determine if you only want to search based on split map names.

You can also filter the view based on what type of network node you want to see.

And you can isolate just the selected network nodes, show the upstream/downstream nodes for the selected nodes and show/hide the dependency nodes directly in the view.

The View

The Enabled Column:

This column shows whether the network node is enabled or not.

Before Building

For a pre-built network a white round icon will denote that the network node will be built and added to the blend shape node as a target during build. You can disable the node and not have it built and added to the blend shape node by clicking on the icon turning it to a black circle. If you disable a node that has downstream dependents, like combinations, then those combinations are disabled by Aria and will not be built and added to the blend shape node.

After Building

if the network has been built and this node represents a target on the blend shape node then enabling the node will apply its deltas whereas disabling the node will remove its deltas. This is ideal when trying to see the contribution of nodes and their deltas to the effect on the neutral mesh. For example, if you have a combination node and disable it, you will see what the deltas look like without the sculpted corrective deltas. By toggling the enable/disable button modelers are able to see the delta change for any given node.

The Node Type

This is the icon that shows what type of Network node this entry in the shape network is. Each network node type has its own icon to make it easy for the user to tell what is in the network. Also, if the status of a node changes, like a primary node being driven by a Maya node the icon will change to show the user that the node is being driven.

The Network Node Name

This section shows the name of the the network node. Nodes can be renamed in the Property View. Node naming adheres to the naming structure set in the Preferences View. You can list the combination names in the view to their short name representations under the Settings menu -> Show Combination Short Names In View.

The Weight

The Shape View provides a float field and a slider to adjust the network weight of the current network node. Combination nodes and driven nodes will not have a slider handle but the slider will still provide visual feedback of the node's weight. In the image below you can see that the handle for the jawOpen network node does not exist but the weight has been dialed in. In the case of jawOpen below it is being driven by the rotation of the jaw joint hence the blue icon. In addition, the combination node has its weight dialed in but no handle. A handle exists for the lipUpperRaiser primary node.

Node Status Icons

Notice in the image below that the node status icons show various node types associated with each network node. The lipUpperRaiser has split nodes to the split node icon shows in the split status column. The jawOpen has both incrementals and a zip nodes so both icons show up in the incremental and zip status columns. Finally for the jawOpen_lipUpperRaiser combination node has an icon in the split status column since its upstream dependents (lipUpperRaiser) is split.

Disk Path

The final column shows the icon for the disk path status. If the icon shows a caution icon then the disk path associated with the network node has either not been declared yet or represents an invalid path.

Manipulating & Filtering The View

The view provides a "window" into the shape network node elements. On large networks you might need to search for nodes, search for nodes with a split map name or understand the upstream and downstream dependencies of a particular network node. There are multiple ways to filter the view to give you further insights into the network.

Searching

You can search by name and the view will show you only matching string values.

This should be familiar as Maya allows you to do exactly the same in the Outliner and Aria is replicating the same functionality with similar UI elements for familiarity.

You can also search by split map name to find nodes using a specific split node.

Displaying Relationships

The Shape View has a way to take selected network nodes and put the view in a mode where you can see any upstream and downstream node relationships. This is ideal for getting an understanding of what nodes contribute to combinations at various levels.

In the image above we have selected the "jawOpen_lipUpperRaiser" combination node and turned on the upstream/downstream relationship view state. Notice that the upstream nodes (lipUpperRaiser and jawOpen) are shown along with a downstream level 3 combination node at the bottom of the view.

There is another way to view relationships between network nodes directly in the view by setting the hierarchy view settings menu to the appropriate setting.

From this menu the Shape View can show dependency nodes under their appropriate nodes. You can restrict the dependency level to just the direct drivers or all dependencies. You can also change the view to show only upstream or downstream nodes. For example here is a view showing jawOpen with combination dependency nodes shown directly under the jawOpen node.

This is a convenient way to see exactly what downstream dependencies exist for the jawOpen node.

Conversely with the same settings we can see under a combination node all of the upstream nodes.

Tool Tips

Tool tips for each network node are available if you have the settings in Maya to show tool tips. If a node is driven the tool tip will display the driver data. If the node has splits the tooltip will show the split map name. The disk status icon also shows the tooltip for the disk node path. For combinations the drivers are listed in the tooltip.

Context Menu

The Shape View also provides a Right Mouse Button context menu. There are common menus regardless of network node type then there are certain menu items added to the RMB context menu depending on the network node. 

Common menus across node types are as follows:

• Select Mesh - if a mesh exist in the scene that corresponds to the network node Aria will select it for you.
• Replace - Menu takes a selected mesh and replaces the deltas in the blend shape node if the node is a target on the blend shape node attached to the neutral mesh
• Import/Update From Disk - Imports a mesh from disk (if the disk path is exists and is valid) then updates the deltas on the blend shape node.
• Export To Disk - Exports the mesh to disk. Will also create a mesh from the blend shape node if no mesh exists in the scene and the node is a target on the blend shape node attached to the neutral.
• Refresh Disk Status - refreshes the status icon depending on the existence and validity of the disk path.
• Clear Shape File Disk Path - clears the disk path.
• Print Shape File Disk Path - convenience method to print and copy a disk path.
• Delete - deletes the node

Node specific menus:

For Primary network nodes that are driven by a Maya node attribute or by another network node additional menus are available to do the following:

• Set Drivers To Start Values - sets the driver node attributes (or network node weights) their start value.
• Set Drivers To Start Values - sets the driver node attributes (or network node weights) their end value.
• Select Driver Nodes - selects the driver node if you have a Maya node attribute driving the network node.
• Remove Driver Connections - removes the driver data associated with this network node and updates the solver.

Depending on the network node type certain menus become available that are relevant only to that network node type. For example in the image above there is the "Dial In Combination Drivers" menu which traverses the shape network upstream and dials all upstream drivers to trigger the combination node weight to be at 1.0. This is a convenient menu so you do not have to independently dial in every upstream driver for a combination. The same "Dial In" menu exists for the Incremental and Zip node types. For the incremental the driver node needs to be dialed in to the exact incremental value in order to trigger the incremental weight to be 1.0