Zoo Tools Version 2.7.0 brings the Hive Auto-Rigger out of Alpha and into Beta. Hive now supports support dynamic names with a new tool window Hive Naming Convention which further improves game engine support and helps match various studio name conventions. Please note that older Hive rigs will need to be rebuilt as they are no longer supported.
HDRI Skydomes improves the switching of HDRI lights with the ability to calibrate skydome intensity and rotation when compared with other images.
All browsers have had many stability and speed improvements.
Object Cleaner can Obj Export/Import clean objects without affecting their hierarchy.
And we’ve completed many other tool upgrades and bugfixes too.
Upgrades: Hive Auto-Rigger (Beta)
Hive Auto-Rigger has been upgraded and is now out of Alpha and into it’s Beta phase.
Older rigs are no longer compatible with Zoo 2.7.0 and will need to be rebuilt. We are upgrading our default Hive rig assets to match with this release.
From Beta and onwards rigs will be less likely to have backwards compatibility issues and can be considered more production ready. In beta we will be adding new rig parts (components).
New Tool: Hive Naming Convention
Hive now supports customized user names and comes with a new tool called the Hive Naming Convention. The new naming UI allows Hive to more easily match studio naming and game engines.
Names can be set for any part of the Hive rigs. Joints, controls, groups, meta nodes, and layers are all supported.
Naming can be applied globally or per component.
Hive naming conventions are set globally or per component.
Add your own custom name settings, or choose from our presets. Once saved you can assign rigs to the presets in the Hive UI.
Hive with multiple naming conventions. Names are easily updated.
Name conventions in the Hive UI can also be overidden per component.
UE name convention overrides are set for the thumb and clavicle components.
Other Hive Autorigger Upgrades
– Added: Improved FK Spine Component has been renamed from spine to spineFK and will make way for newer spline spines in the future. The spineFk component has more intuitive guides and skin joints, the gimbal control is also hidden by default.
– Added: All Hive Templates have been upgraded to sync with the new Hive naming backend.
– Added: The finger component has been changed and upgraded.
– Added: New arm component has been added, the previous vchain shouldn’t be used for arms anymore.
– Added: Build scripts outside of zoo packages now reload when Zoo Tools is reloaded.
– Added: Pole vector guides are now locked to avoid confusion, must be place by right-click align guides.
– Added: The Hive Marking Menu will give a warning on older rigs that they are no longer compatible and will need to be upgraded.
Hive Bug Fixes:
– Bug Fix: Removing FK guide counts no longer breaks rig builds anymore.
– Bug Fix: Right-Click > Change Rotation Order now handles keyframes on the rotateOrder attribute.
– Bug Fix: Fixed a crash while repeating delete components with Maya’s “g” hotkey.
– Bug Fix: Fixed incorrect scaling while adding more FK guides.
Upgraded: HDRI Skydomes
HDRI Skydomes improves the switching of HDRI lights with the ability to calibrate skydome intensity and rotation when compared with other images, lights will no longer vary in intensity and rotation if your library has been calibrated. Please update to the latest Assets Pack to download our callibrated skydomes.
By default all HDRI key lights shine directly from the front for all images ( orient -Z in world space ).
The intensity of the HDRIs match with the default 1.0 intensity levels are now correctly exposed.
Before Callibration: HDRI Example
Old HDRIs load with random intensities and key light placement.
After Callibration: HDRI Example
New HDRIs in Zoo 2.7.0 callibrate the key light and intensity. Lights rotated 45degrees from the front.
The new HDRI settings Intenstry Multiplier and Rotation Offset allow you to calibrate and save offset settings on your own HDRI images.
Intensity and Rotation Offsets can be saved with custom HDRIs.
Upgraded: Object Cleaner
Object Cleaner now keeps the object hierarchy structure while using the Clean Import/Export (.OBJ) function.
Bug Fix: The Unlock Vertex Normals function inbuilt into Clean Import/Export (.OBJ) is now working in Maya 2022 and 2023.
Exports .OBJ to disk and reimports, the hierarchies are maintained and the objects have been cleaned.
Upgraded: Fix Viewport
HDRI images in Fix Viewport now match the new HDRI Intensity Multiply and Rotation Offset settings. The upcoming Zoo Assets pack will calibrate while changing HDRI images.
The light rig’s channel-box attributes reflect the new callibration settings.
Please update to the latest Assets Pack to download our callibrated skydomes.
Fix Viewport is compatible with the new callibrated HDRI intensities in our asset/presets pack 2.8.
Upgraded: All Image Browsers
All of our image browsers have improved speed, stability and middle-click scrolling.
Note: There are some size issues that we’ll be addressing in the next version. If the images suddenly dissapear please reload the tool.
Upgraded: Focus Puller
Focus Puller is more stable with a number of improvements.
Bug Fix: Support for Unreal FBX cameras with rotateAxis offsets on the camera’s transform node.
Bug Fix: No longer fails if camera has keys on it’s focus distance attribute, gives a user warning instead.
Bug Fix: Improves the handling of broken Focus Puller rigs while creating new setups.
Upgraded: UV Cut Unfold
The UV Toolbox now supports most commands with Maya’s redo “g” hotkey.
Bug Fix: Change Rotation Orders
Right-Click > Change Rotation Order now handles keyframes on the rotateOrder attribute.
Bug Fix: Spline Rig
Bug Fix: Spline Rig’s Marking-Menu no longer fails when there is only one set of controls eg FK only.
Bug Fix: Open Renderview (Renderer Menu Items)
Improvement: Arnold Renderview will now open if renderer set to Maya.
Bug Fix: VRay Framebuffer Renderview opens if set to VRay
Upgraded: Code Documentation
We’ve added a lot more code to our Developer Documentation including the code for most of our Toolset Tools. The Developer Documentation is a work in progress.
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Buy Zoo Tools.
To see all tools go to the Zoo 2 Information Page.
Registered users can download and upgrade from the Zoo 2 Install Page.
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