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:: DPK Scripts/Plugins ::

DPK Scripts :: Maya Scripts/Plugins :: Rigging/Animation :: DPK_bcs    (free for non-commercial use)
DPK_bcs    (free for non-commercial use)

Please note: The BCS is distributed by STARGRAV GmbH. On the official product page you can request a download link. You can also contact me via email if you're interested in trying it out or have further questions or feedback.

Manual

The documentation is available online here: https://www.stargrav.com/bcs/docs/index.html



Deformation Tests

Here are two little deformation tests showing a bit of my current mouth setup using the BCS and the ACS together. The participating AUs are 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 23, and 27.

    


What is BCS?

For those of you who didn't already guess what BCS is, let me give you a short explanation:

BCS stands for BlendShape Combination System and is a system that allows you to deform geometry objects like with a blendShape node. It was specifically designed for high-end facial setups. There are some major improvements on the blendShape node:

  • With the BCS, you can place deformation knots (called dataPoints) anywhere in the n-dimensional weight space. In plain English, this means that you can have 30 to 60 sliders controlling 900+ blendShapes to get the full range of facial expressions and all needed combinations... ;)
  • You can create real inbetweens with smooth transitions from one shape to the next.
  • The left and right part of a target can be created automatically, using editable falloffs.
  • The total deformation can be painted (similar to painting clusters).

Here's a screen shot of the UI. Click on the image to see all the sections expanded.




You're afraid of 900+ blendShapes?

You don't have to be. First, if you don't need the expressive range of Gollum's face, 100 to 200 might be all you need. ;)

Now really, many of the combination shapes can be created in no time using the paintability of the bcs together with tweakMixing and some other tricks. Moreover, the work is almost halved since you don't need to worry about left and right sides. The nice mirroring tools and automatic left-right separation (with automatically created unilateral combinations :)) do most of this work.



The current BCS version contains builds for the following Maya versions:

  Maya 2019 Maya 2020 Maya 2022

Windows

v1.4.5

v1.4.5

v1.4.5

Mac

v1.4.5

v1.4.5

v1.4.5

Linux

v1.4.5

v1.4.5

v1.4.5

Please contact me if you need builds for older Maya versions.

Version History


Creator: Daniel Pook-Kolb
Version: 1.4.5
Date Added: Apr 16, 2005
Last Change: Mar 20, 2022
Price for Commercial Use: EUR 299.00 per license
All times are CET

Copyright © 2022, Daniel Pook-Kolb