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Release Notes

Update History:

  • 16-May-2013: Avastar-1-RC5-834
  • 09-May-2013: Avastar-1-RC4-821
  • 25-apr-2013: Avastar-1-RC4-812
  • 03-feb-2013: Avastar-1-dev-744
  • 23-jan-2013: Avastar-1-dev-734
  • 08-jan-2013: Avastar-1-dev-726
  • 28-Dec-2012: Avastar-1-dev-720
  • 19-Nov-2012: Avastar-1-dev-713
  • 19-Nov-2012: Avastar-1-dev-694
  • 03-Sep-2012: Avastar-1-dev-636
  • 26-Aug-2012: Avastar-1-dev-625
  • 29-may-2012: Avastar-1-dev-500
  • 01-may-2012: Avastar-1-dev-432
  • 14-march-2012: Avastar-1-dev-418
  • 18-feb-2012: Third Beta (version 376)
  • 18-jan-2012: Second Beta (version 333)
  • 24-dec-2011: First Beta (version 303)

Customers:

Find new updates in your download folder.

Non Customers:

Get your personal copy from the Jass-Shop in Second Life, or via Paypal (see left side of this page)

 

 

Avastar-1-RC5-834

After we found a few small issues i decided to go for another release candidate. The release of Avastar-1.0 by end o may is still very likely.

Changeset:

  • New: Advanced minimum supported Blender Release to 2.63
  • Imp: Clean Target weight groups before perform weight group copy.
  • Fix: Avoid Blender crash in Mesh Info
  • Imp: Added operator panel for weight copy functions
  • Imp: Download cost estimate (take flat shading and UV-map into account)
  • Imp: textured template: better light settings, added multi layer clothes
  • New: Added File Import option to create an Avastar with shape from file
  • Imp: Better button label for weld all boundaries option
  • Fix: Compatibility: Older Blender versions can not use bmesh API reliably

 

Highlights:

  • Bone weight Copy tools now have same options as Weight Copy during parenting
  • Download cost estimator much imroved (still not a precise tool!)
  • Fixed a few border cases where Avastar did not perform well.

Known bugs (not fixed for Avastar-1.0):

  • The Spine attachment bone has a wrong orientation. Thus attachment animations of the aSpine bone will turn the bone upside down. Only the aSpine bone is affected. For all other bones animations work just fine. No workaround known.

Todo’s(Avastar-1.0):

  • Finish the docs
  • Rework the videos

Todo’s (Avastar-1.1):

  • Add the Physics Weight calculator
  • Armature Copy tool (Avastar to SL-Avatar & SL-Avatar to Avastar)
  • Fix the Spine attachment bone

More Questions ?

Ask Gaia Clary in Second Life, or send email to mailto:gaia.clary@machinimatrix.org

Have Fun

Gaia & Magus & Domino

Where is the Download ?

  • I lost my download link:
    Please check in the FAQ.
  • I already purchased Avastar-1:
    You find the new update in your Product Download folder.
  • I want to buy Avastar-1:
    You can buy directly from Paypal (see left column of this page), or go to the Jass-Shop in Second Life and purchase from the Avastar-1 vendor.

Important notes:

  • It appears like Avastar now has only minor bugs. we re still very confident that we can release Avastar-1.0 by end of may 2013. However please continue reporting any issues. Every test case can help us to isolate new problems.

  • We have tested the new Avastar update on the development version of Blender. Avastar should now run on all Blender versions from 2.63 up to the upcoming 2.67a.

 

 

Avastar-1-RC4-821 (fix for 812)

Important: In Avastar-812 there was a major bug and a compatibility issue with older releases. I just have fixed the known issues and replaced the download. Sorry for the inconvenience. This page still fully applies. So now hopefully this is indeed our final Release candidate for Avastar-1.0. There will be a few things to be cleaned up still, but hopefully no more bug fixes. We have added some more usability improvements and a normals welding option for the Collada exporter. More details see below.

Changeset:

  • Adjust: Blender Version recognition for 2.67
  • Fix: use bmesh API only for Blender > 2.66 (affects 817)
  • New: Added function to find duplicate vertices
  • Fix: Improved compatibility to older Blender versions (affects 812)
  • Imp: Moved Mesh Info into its own panel.
  • Imp: Toolshelf cleaned up
  • Imp: Make Avastar run more fluently when non Avastar rigs are used.
  • Imp: Added bone Preset buttons for Weighting andAnimating
  • Fix: Freeze did not work when armature was renamed.
  • Imp: Added dynamic display of statistic data when mesh is in edit mode
  • New: Added mesh calculator
  • Imp: Improved design of mesh info panel
  • New: Added materials check tool (wip)
  • Imp: Show freeze tool only when there is something to be frozen (sanitise toolshelf)
  • Imp: Added Eyetarget to its own layer and make it invisible by default
  • Imp: Moved Collada into own panel. Added Costs display and triangle count
  • Imp: Export speed is much faster (the normals exporter had a serious performance leak)
  • New: Added suport for progress bar
  • Imp: Collada exporter now warns for texture copy issues (failed copies no longer stop the export, but create a more informative warning popup)
  • Imp: Reject normalize of meshes with zero_weighted vertices
  • Fix: Copy weights failed for ngons
  • New: Added Avastar custom template file (experimental, minor changes expected)
  • New: Added welding of normals along adjacent object boundaries (to avoid visual seems on the Avastar character)
  • Fix: Mirror weight copy on bone level did not copy

 

Highlights:

  • Templates for improved quickstart
  • Complete rework of the Toolshelf buttons
  • Initial mesh LI calculator (work in progress)
  • Normal welding of boundary seams during Collada export

Unresolvable bugs (not fixed for Avastar-1.0):

  • The Spine attachment bone has a wrong orientation. Thus attachment animations of the aSpine bone will turn the bone upside down. Only the aSpine bone is affected. For all other bones animations work just fine. No workaround known.

Todo’s:

  • Finish the Download weights calculator
  • Add the Physics Weight calculator
  • Comple the Documentation
  • Review (and partially redo) the existing videos

More Questions ?

Ask Gaia Clary in Second Life, or send email to mailto:gaia.clary@machinimatrix.org

Have Fun

Gaia & Magus & Domino

Where is the Download ?

  • I lost my download link:
    Please check in the FAQ.
  • I already purchased Avastar-1:
    You find the new update in your Product Download folder.
  • I want to buy Avastar-1:
    You can buy directly from Paypal (see left column of this page), or go to the Jass-Shop in Second Life and purchase from the Avastar-1 vendor.

Important notes:

  • We believe that we have fixed all known issues (except the unresolvable bug as indicated above) with Avastar by now. However please continue reporting any issues. Every test case can help us to isolate new problems.

  • We have tested the new Avastar update on the development version of Blender. Avastar should now run on all Blender versions from 2.62 up to 2.66a.

 

 

Avastar-1-RC1-775

So here is our first Relese candidate for Avastar-1.0 We have fixed another few bugs and added many improvements regarding usability, like helper tools for non humanoid rigging and a more robust Collada exporter. The video gives you a first impression about how non human rigging works with Avastar. More details see below.

Changeset:

  • Fix: Collada Export of generated images fails after blender restart
  • Fix: mirror copy also copied bones from invisible layers
  • Imp: Simplified the mesh and armature control panels
  • Fix: bone draw_type selector pointed to wrong selection list
  • Imp: Always apply rotation&scale for meshes when exporting
  • New: Added “clean target groups” option to weight copy
  • Fix: Avoid jumping of mesh location when freezing
  • Fix: Inconsistency bug in blender data can lead to exceptions
  • Imp: Bone weight Copy tools where not available in all valid cases.
  • New: Added function to remove all Avastar shapes (convenience method for non human armatures)
  • New: Added SnapIKToRig option
  • Imp: Added new function for protect/unprotect editing of Structure bones
  • Fix: Removed Snap Rig to SL Bones (We actually do not want to edit the SL bones at all)
  • New: Added new operator for Snapping Control Bones to SL Bones. (Tool Shelf, edit mode)
  • New: Added new operator for Snapping SL Bones to Control Bones. (Tool Shelf, edit mode)
  • Fix: Freeze inplace now keeps parent/child relation with aramature. (Tool Shelf, Freeze tool)
  • Imp: Clean weight group: When vertex mask selection is active clean only selected verts.

Highlights:

  • New Helper tools for non human rigging
  • Improvements regarding export to Collada (more fail proof)

Unresolvable bugs (not fixed for Avastar-1.0):

  • The Spine attachment bone has a wrong orientation. Thus attachment animations of the aSpine bone will turn the bone upside down. Only the aSpine bone is affected. For all other bones animations work just fine. No workaround known.

Todo’s:

  • Completing the Documentation
  • Review (and partially redo) the existing videos

More Questions ?

Ask Gaia Clary in Second Life, or send email to mailto:gaia.clary@machinimatrix.org

Have Fun

Gaia & Magus & Domino

Where is the Download ?

  • I lost my download link:
    Please check in the FAQ.
  • I already purchased Avastar-1:
    You find the new update in your Product Download folder.
  • I want to buy Avastar-1:
    You can buy directly from Paypal (see left column of this page), or go to the Jass-Shop in Second Life and purchase from the Avastar-1 vendor.

Important notes:

  • We believe that we have fixed all known issues (except the unresolvable bugs as indicated above) with Avastar by now. However please continue reporting any issues. Every test case can help us to isolate new problems.

  • We have tested the new Avastar update on the development version of Blender. Avastar should now run on all Blender versions from 2.61 up to 2.66a.

 

 

Avastar-1-dev-744

Hello. I have completely reworked the Weight Paint toolshelf. All essential weighting functions are now at one single place. I also added a couple of weight copy improvements which are mainly targeted to ease of usage. The Weighting Tools documentation page is work in progress.

Changeset:

  • Imp: Changed parenting to avoid vertex group clutter. Missing vgroups are handled during export
  • Imp: changed location constraints to local space (support unlock SL skeleton rotation)
  • Imp: Collected all basic weight functions into the tool shelf (when in Weight Paint mode) for quick editing
  • New: Added copy from bone, mirror copy, remove, and copy from rigged for vertex groups
  • Imp: Added a check for empty meshes to avoid an exception during weight copy
  • Fix: Avoid to copy image to itself on export (now a warning)
  • Fix: resolved an issue with python not recognizing a try/catch block in blender-2.61
  • Fix: mesh gets destroyed when attachment was named similar to an Avastar-mesh
  • Fix: a blender bug which otherwise results in an unclean remove of weight groups
  • New: Added ability to remove weights when freezing a mesh
  • Imp: Make access to Help pages more clear.
  • Fix: A wrong pointer to wrong help page

Highlights:

  • New Copy weight tools
  • Improvements regarding creation of rigged meshes

Known bugs:

  • The Spine attachment bone has a wrong orientation. Thus attachment animations of the aSpine bone will turn the bone upside down. Only the aSpine bone is affected. For all other bones animations work just fine. No workaround known.
  • The .bvh export is broken. Workaround: Use the much more versatile .anim export instead.

Todo’s:

  • Completing the Documentation
  • Review (and partially redo) the existing videos

More Questions ?

Ask Gaia Clary in Second Life, or send email to mailto:gaia.clary@machinimatrix.org

Have Fun

Gaia & Magus & Domino

Where is the Download ?

  • I lost my download link:
    Please check in the FAQ.
  • I already purchased Avastar-1:
    You find the new update in your Product Download folder.
  • I want to buy Avastar-1:
    You can buy directly from Paypal (see left column of this page), or go to the Jass-Shop in Second Life and purchase from the Avastar-1 vendor.

Important notes:

  • We believe that we have fixed most issues with Avastar by now. However please continue reporting any issues. Every test case can help us to isolate new problems. Special thanks to Darien Caldwell, Optimo Maximus and Eleanora Newell for invaluable remarks and finds.

  • We have tested the new Avastar update on the development version of Blender. Avastar should now run on all Blender 2.6 versions up to Blender 2.65a.

help_links_in_blender

 

 

Avastar-1-dev-734

Hello. While creating the Collision Volume Tutorial i found some annoying issues. This update contains the fixes.

Changeset:

  • Imp: Added a new option for removing weights from mesh during freeze
  • Fix: A custom mesh distorts massively when its name started with one of the following String: (‘headMesh’, ‘hairMesh’, ‘upperBodyMesh’, ‘lowerBodyMesh’, ‘skirtMesh’, ‘eyelashMesh’, ‘eyeBallLeftMesh’, ‘eyeBallRightMesh’
  • Imp: The Basis Shape key may be renamed now.(For collision shape checking)
  • Fix: Solved an incompatibility with Blender 2.61 which broke Avastar shape sliders for that version.
  • New: Avastar Armature version changed to 2 for better recognition of old blend files.

Todo’s:

  • Completing the Documentation
  • Review (and partially redo) the existing videos

Highlights:

  • None

Known bugs:

  • The Spine attachment bone has a wrong orientation. Thus attachment animations of the aSpine bone will turn the bone upside down. Only the aSpine bone is affected. For all other bones animations work just fine. No workaround known.
  • The .bvh export is broken. Workaround: Use the much more versatile .anim export instead.

More Questions ?

Ask Gaia Clary in Second Life, or send email to mailto:gaia.clary@machinimatrix.org

Have Fun

Gaia & Magus & Domino

 

Where is the Download ?

  • I lost my download link:
    Please check in the FAQ.
  • I already purchased Avastar-1:
    You find the new update in your Product Download folder.
  • I want to buy Avastar-1:
    You can buy directly from Paypal (see left column of this page), or go to the Jass-Shop in Second Life and purchase from the Avastar-1 vendor.

Important notes:

  • We believe that we have fixed most issues with Avastar by now. However please continue reporting any issues. Every test case can help us to isolate new problems. Special thanks to Darien Caldwell, Optimo Maximus and Eleanora Newell for invaluable remarks and finds.

  • We have tested the new Avastar update on the development version of Blender. Avastar should now run on all Blender 2.6 versions up to Blender 2.65a.

help_links_in_blender

 

 

Avastar-1-dev-726

Hello. This time only a small update related to Documentation: We have added Links to our Online Documentation into the Blender main Help menu. And we have improved the Label of the Help button in the Error Popup Window. It now indicates that you can get Avastar related help from there.

Note: There is no functional change in Avastar with this update. So you can skip this update if you prefer.

Changeset:

  • Imp: Added Links to Avastar Help Pages into the Blender Help Menu
  • Imp: Added “Avastar” to Help button label in Error Menu

Todo’s:

  • Completing the Documentation
  • Review (and partially redo) the existing videos

Highlights:

  • Get Help easier.

Please note that we have Online Help since Blender 2.64:  For almost all Avastar functions you can right click on the function button and open the “Online Manual”. This will open your Web Browser and navigate to the corresponding Avastar Help Page.

Known bugs:

  • The Spine attachment bone has a wrong orientation. Thus attachment animations of the aSpine bone will turn the bone upside down. Only the aSpine bone is affected. For all other bones animations work just fine. No workaround known.
  • The .bvh export is broken. Workaround: Use the much more versatile .anim export instead.

More Questions ?

Ask Gaia Clary in Second Life, or send email to mailto:gaia.clary@machinimatrix.org

Have Fun

Gaia & Magus & Domino

 

Where is the Download ?

  • I lost my download link:
    Please check in the FAQ.
  • I already purchased Avastar-1:
    You find the new update in your Product Download folder.
  • I want to buy Avastar-1:
    You can buy directly from Paypal (see left column of this page), or go to the Jass-Shop in Second Life and purchase from the Avastar-1 vendor.

Important notes:

  • We believe that we have fixed most issues with Avastar by now. However please continue reporting any issues. Every test case can help us to isolate new problems. Special thanks to Darien Caldwell, Optimo Maximus and Eleanora Newell for invaluable remarks and finds.

  • We have tested the new Avastar update on the development version of Blender. Avastar should now run on all Blender 2.6 versions up to Blender 2.65a.

deformer_shapes

 

 

Avastar-1-dev-720

We have added experimental support for the Mesh Deformer:

  • Basically you setup your Avastar shape by using the Shape sliders as before.
  • You create your Attachment by using exactly the anticipated shape (No need to take care of Deformer constraints)
  • Upon exporting your mesh attachment you only set the new option “Include Deformer Shape”. This will generate an XML file besides the Collada file. This XML file can later be used by the SL Importer as “Custom deformer shape”. Note: This file is NOT meant as storage for the current Shape. It is ONLY(!) used for the Mesh deformer.

Changeset:

  • Fix: Compatibility issues with older Avastar Releases
  • Fix: section Shape reset did nothing.
  • New: Added option in exporter for creating normalized
    Mesh Deformer Shapes.

Todo’s:

  • Completing the Documentation
  • Review (and partially redo) the existing videos

Highlights:

  • Added an experimental Support for the Mesh Deformer

Known bugs:

  • The Spine attachment bone has a wrong orientation. Thus attachment animations of the aSpine bone will turn the bone upside down. Only the aSpine bone is affected. For all other bones animations work just fine. No workaround known.
  • The .bvh export is broken. Workaround: Use the much more versatile .anim export instead.

More Questions ?

Ask Gaia Clary in Second Life, or send email to mailto:gaia.clary@machinimatrix.org

Have Fun

Gaia & Magus & Domino

 

Where is the Download ?

  • I lost my download link:
    Please check in the FAQ.
  • I already purchased Avastar-1:
    You find the new update in your Jass Download folder.
  • I want to buy Avastar-1:
    You can buy directly from Paypal (see left column of this page), or go to the Jass-Shop in Second Life and purchase from the Avastar-1 vendor.

Important notes:

  • We believe that we have fixed most issues with Avastar by now. However please continue reporting any issues. Every test case can help us to isolate new problems. Special thanks to Darien Caldwell, Optimo Maximus and Eleanora Newell for invaluable remarks and finds.

  • We have tested the new Avastar update on the development version of Blender. Avastar should now run on all Blender 2.6 versions up to Blender 2.65a.

 

 

Avastar-1-dev-713

We reworked the parenting and weighting tools. Basically these tools have been merged into one single tool. Our aim was to make the rigging process easier to understand. We also fixed a few bugs with recognition of zero weighted vertices. We still have not yet fixed a few known limitations (see below).

Changeset:

  • Imp: Modified bones marked with “M” instead of “*”
  • Fix: Wrong set of bones was marked as modified.
  • Imp: Ready for Blender 2.65
  • Imp: merge Weight Copy and Rigging into one panel
  • Imp: Check for zero weighted vertices now only reports if the sum of all vertex weights is zero.
  • New: Added a zero-weight checker to Collada exporter (to avoid exceptions)
  • Imp: Added counters to Rigging panel for parented/unparented meshes.
  • New: Added UnParent Operator (reverse of Parent to Armature).
  • Imp: Added checks to avoid reparenting/weighting already parented attachments
  • Fix: fixed jumping issue when a mesh is frozen and the object is not at the origin.
  • Fix: adjusted foot roll on left foot to take into account SL asymmetry

Highlights:

  • Simplified parenting and weighting panels
  • Added a Detach from armature function.

Known bugs:

  • There is a compatibility issue with Avastar releases prior to update 639. You will be able to open your old files and work with them as usual. But please do not touch the Shape sliders! As soon as you try to change your shape it will loose some of its bones. No workaround known.
  • The Spine attachment bone has a wrong orientation. Thus attachment animations of the aSpine bone will turn the bone upside down. Only the aSpine bone is affected. For all other bones animations work just fine. No workaround known.
  • The .bvh export is broken. Workaround: Use the much more versatile .anim export instead.

Oddities:

  • None

Todo’s:

  • Completing the Documentation
  • Review (and partially redo) the existing videos

More Questions ?

Ask Gaia Clary in Second Life, or send email to mailto:gaia.clary@machinimatrix.org

Have Fun

Gaia & Magus & Domino

 

Where is the Download ?

  • I lost my download link:
    Please check in the FAQ.
  • I already purchased Avastar-1:
    You find the new update in your Jass Download folder.
  • I want to buy Avastar-1:
    You can buy directly from Paypal (see left column of this page), or go to the Jass-Shop in Second Life and purchase from the Avastar-1 vendor.

Important notes:

  • We believe that we have fixed most issues with Avastar by now. However please continue reporting any issues. Every test case can help us to isolate new problems. Special thanks to Darien Caldwell, Optimo Maximus and Eleanora Newell for invaluable remarks and finds.

  • We have tested the new Avastar update on the development version of Blender. Avastar should now run on all Blender 2.6 versions.

 

 

Avastar-1-dev-694

This is primary a bugfix update. We have fixed all major known issues with Avastar. We also added some improvements to existing functions. But please read the Limitations section below. Sorry, this time we have no new Demo video for you.

Changeset:

  • IMP: Textbased shape export: Modified bones marked with “M”.
  • NEW: New Shape section: Bone Length Changing bones.
  • NEW: New Shape section: All Changed bones.
  • NEW: Added UNDO to reset shape sliders
  • FIX: Check tools now independent of order of selection.
  • IMP: Multiple meshes can be checked at once (not recommended though to do that)
  • FIX: Weight check mismatch when Collada exporter is called
  • FIX: Slider values did not reflect the exact shape for shape slider conversions
  • FIX: bake T pose had characters jumping up. Fixed global transform bug
  • IMP: throw an error if an attempt to export animation with more than 32 bones (SL limit).
  • FIX: Fixed a few issues with missing images during collada export (maybe that needs a cleanup)
  • FIX: Empty material slots no longer break the Collada export
  • FIX: wrong attachment id ( ‘aR Lower Leg’ appeared twice, ‘aL Lower Leg’ was missing
  • FIX: When meshes are moved to other layer directly after freeze, they got deleted instead moved.
  • IMP: After freeze: Now the frozen duplicate of the previously active object gets the new active object
  • IMP: Complete rewrite of motion transfer code
  • IMP: Added CUSTOM Material selection. Changed default material to NONE : Assigns Blender’s default ‘Material’ to all parts.
  • IMP: Added material setups for None, Female, Male, Custom, and template.
  • IMP: added option for “apply scale” both for mesh and animations. This means the armature object can be scaled and this scale be taken into account in the mesh and animations.
  • IMP: Now display unweighted/zero weights/more than four.
  • IMP: No longer traceback when Armature is in selection.

Highlights:

  • The Shape sliders now have Reset buttons for resetting a slider back to its default value, resetting a bone section and resetting the entire shape.
  • we have added 2 extra bone sections “Skeleton” and “Changed” which contain all skeleton changing sliders and all Changed sliders respectively.
  • The motion transfer code (for mocap) has been completely redone and is much more stable and forgiving now.

Known bugs:

  • There is a compatibility issue with Avastar releases prior to update 639. You will be able to open your old files and work with them as usual. But please do not touch the Shape sliders! As soon as you try to change your shape it will loose some of its bones.
  • The Spine attachment bone has a wrong orientation. Thus attachment animations of the aSpine bone will turn the bone upside down. Only the aSpine bone is affected. For all other bones animations work just fine.
  • The .bvh export is broken. We recommend to use the much more versatile .anim export instead.
  • IK: bending of the arms when starting from T-Pose has intentionally changed compared to previous Avastar versions. (fixed, available on next update)

Oddities:

  • The mFootLeft bone has a different bone roll as the mFootRight bone. This is probably a consequence from the slight asymmetry of the Second Life Skeleton. This asymmetry sums up along the leg bone chain and creates a bone roll of 12 degrees for mFootLeft. So the bone roll is indeed a property of the Second Life Avatar and it has no impact on the animations created by Avastar. However we have fixed this issue. The fix will be available in the next update and it will allow easier animation of the left foot and the left toe.

Todo’s:

  • Completing the Documentation
  • Review (and partially redo) the existing videos

More Questions ?

Ask Gaia Clary in Second Life, or send email to mailto:gaia.clary@machinimatrix.org

Have Fun

Gaia & Magus & Domino

 

Where is the Download ?

 

  • I lost my download link:
    Please check in the FAQ.
  • I already purchased Avastar-1:
    You find the new update in your Jass Download folder.
  • I want to buy Avastar-1:
    You can buy directly from Paypal (see left column of this page), or go to the Jass-Shop in Second Life and purchase from the Avastar-1 vendor.

Important notes:

  • We believe that we have fixed most issues with Avastar by now. However please continue reporting any issues. Every test case can help us to isolate new problems.

  • We have tested the new Avastar update on the development version of Blender. Avastar should now run on all Blender 2.6 versions.

 

 

Avastar-1-dev-636

This is a minor update. The changes are mostly usability improvements. The main changes are improvement of error handling and addition of a context sensitive help.

For Blender 2.64 pre release:

You can open the Help for any Avastar function button by:

Right Mouse Button -> Online Manual

Your Online browser should pop up and guide you to the relevant Help page.

(more…)

Avastar-1-dev-625 (for Blender 2.60++):

This update contains many small changes and a few realy big new features. Well, maybe not soo big on first view, but big enough to get very excited. The video to the right is a reworked version of the Avastar-5-: Mesh Rigging tutorial showing how to use the SL bones for posing (new feature)

Please read the detailed descriptions in this article! Your workflow may be affected (no worries, it will become easier, read on).

Important Note:We found a bug that prevents already existing projects (made with earlier releases of Avastar) to export properly.

If you think something else is broken, then please send us an email together with a blend file that shows the particular problem and a short description ( mail to gaia.clary@machinimatrix.org )

 

The above tutorial shows how you can prepare the SL bones for weighting and posing. (The avatar.blend style)

(more…)

Avastar-1-dev-500 (for Blender 2.60-2.63a):

NOTE: The Update is sheduled for June-4-2012

The next Avastar update will come with some major changes (Most changes in the program itself and some improvements in the GUI). We have tested mostly with Blender 2.63a and found it to work stable. However due to massive changes in the program we might have introduced new (unknown) bugs.

Please read the detailed descriptions in this article! Your workflow may be affected (no worries, it will become easier, read on).

Note: All work you made with Blender 2.59 or newer versions of Blender will also be working with the new Avastar!

If you think something is broken, then please send us an email together with a blend file that shows the particular problem and a short description ( mail to gaia.clary@machinimatrix.org )

 

Please take care to read the full article!

Here is the list of the most recent tutorials:

Avastar-1-dev-432 (ready for Blender 2.63):

Today we released another Avastar update. We tried our best to ensure that this Avastar release should work from Release 2.59 up to 2.63.

Here are the changes since the last update:

  1. NEW: Armature now always exported when available (fixes a Blender issue)
  2. NEW: added compatibility to Blender 2.63 API
  3. NEW: fix for rotated UV faces (small errors in the exported UV Map)
  4. NEW: partial fix for mesh distortions


New tutorials:  Mesh attachments, rigging and Weighting:

Here is the list of new tutorials:

Important notes:

  • Currently Avastar has a few open issues with precision. We are still working on fixes. Please continue reporting any issues. Every test case can help us to isolate the problems.

  • it ispossible that the new update only works on Blender 2.63 and newer versions fo Blender. Please report if you find issues on Blender 2.59 up to Blender 2.62

Where is the Download ?

Please check in the FAQ.

Other Questions

Ask Gaia Clary in Second Life, or send email to mailto:gaia.clary@machinimatrix.org

Have Fun

Gaia & Magus & Domino

Purchase questions

  • I already purchased Avastar-1:
    You find the new update in your Jass Download folder.
  • I want to buy Avastar-1:
    You can buy directly from Paypal (see left column of this page), or go to the Jass-Shop in Second Life and purchase from the Avastar-1 vendor.

content moved permanently

Third Beta (18-feb-2012)

Today we released another Avastar update. We tried our best to ensure that this Avastar release shouls work from Release 2.58 up to 2.62.

Here are the changes since the last update:

  1. NEW: Bake T-pose fixed. Added parent to armature option and split off in ui to separate box
  2. NEW: added a 'find unweighted vertices' button. Will report on status line and console and will drop into edit mode with unweighted vertices selected if they are found
  3. NEW: added normalize weights button
  4. NEW: added weight inspection and modification tool
  5. NEW: Added mesh freeze tool with with hide option
  6. NEW: Added Exporter Prefilter to allow SL compatible export of Avastar armatures and meshes, also works for Blender 2.62
  7. NEW: Added "Avatar Center" attachment point with height adjustment during shape edit
  8. IMP: Modified weight copy so that pose is taken into account (by first freezing meshes)
  9. IMP: mesh visibility controls now in object mode for avatar selected
  10. IMP: GUI cosmetic fixes
  11. IMP: Make Avastar more robust against removal of elements (bones/shape keys).
  12. FIX: fixed eye animations based on EyeTarget
  13. FIX: Blender Python changes of Matrix implementation

 

New: Mesh Tools:

Purchase questions

  • I already purchased Avastar-1:
    You find the new update in your Jass-Inventory folder.
  • I want to buy Avastar-1:
    You can buy directly from Paypal (see left column of this page), or go to the Jass-Shop in Second Life and purchase from the Avastar-1 vendor.

Other Questions

Ask Gaia Clary in Second Life, or send email to mailto:gaia.clary@machinimatrix.org

Have Fun

Gaia & Magus & Domino

!!! NOTE: This is probably the last update before we release Avastar-1.0 !!!

Second Beta (18-jan-2012)

This brings a host of bug fixes and UI improvements and two major new features:

  • Blender NLA editor support
  • Second Life attachment point animations.

It's expected that existing blend files should work fine with the new version (but the avatars will be missing the attachment points etc).

Migration from first Beta:

To copy an existing animation in a blend file to the new avatar use File->Append, locate the blend file, go into Actions and choose the action to append to the current file. You may need to re set the shape if you where using a custom one.

 

Changes:

  • How the animation is exported has been redone. This should be largely invisible from the animators point of view except you can now use the NLA editor to stitch together or layer animations.
  • The attachment points have been added as bones and can be animated. To a lesser degree they can also be used to rig custom mesh (see docs)
  • Hair and skirt meshes are now hidden by default
  • Added non-animatable face morphs to UI (these can still be animated within Blender, just not SL)
  • Fixed shape key bug that resulted in the pants having cuffs and other glitches
  • Made the code more robust to changes in mesh and rig
  • Some other more minor bug fixes and UI tweaks

First Beta (24-dec-2011)

Initial release of Avastar.

 

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