¶Frequently Asked Questions

¶Simulation

¶How can I simulate muscles?

AdonisFX provides two solvers for muscle simulation. The use of one or the other depends on the necessity of simulating volume preservation. In Maya, muscles with volume preservation can be simulated with AdnMuscle deformer, while AdnRibbonMuscle is for planar muscles. For more information about a simple setup, please check their respective sections in this page.

¶How can I add activation to the muscles?

In order to add activation to the muscles it is necessary to define the fibers direction. This can be achieved by: first, painting the tendon weights to generate an initial estimation of fibers direction; and second, combing the fibers through the AdonisFX Paint Tool to customize the final fibers flow along the surface. Once the muscle has a valid fiber direction at each vertex, then the activation attribute triggers the contraction of the fibers. Ultimately, the level of activation can be modulated by an AdonisFX sensor to connect the contraction of the muscle to the animation of the rig. For more information about connecting sensors to muscles, please check this section.

¶How can I combine multiple activation values?

Multiple activation values from different AdonisFX sensors (AdnSensorPosition, AdnSensorDistance, AdnSensorRotation) can be combined into a single value using the AdnActivation node. This node allows overriding, adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing multiple input activations to compute a single output value. For more details about the AdnActivation node, please refer to the AdnActivation page.

¶How can I add volume gain to the muscles?

The Volume Ratio attribute of an AdnMuscle allows to simulate volume gain (volume ratio greater than 1) and loss (volume ratio lower than 1). The influence of this attribute depends on the value of Volume Preservation, where 0 means no effect, and 1 means maximum effect.

¶How can I simulate interaction between muscles?

AdonisFX provides two ways of simulating muscle-to-muscle interactions:

• Using the AdnMuscle deformer. The AdnMuscle deformer allows configuring geometry targets to simulate external constraints (e.g. attachment to geometry and slide on geometry constraints). A simulated muscle can be assigned as a target to another simulated muscle in the same way as any other geometry target would be added (e.g. bones). Detailed instructions for adding and removing targets can be found in this section.

• Using the AdnGlue node. A set of muscles already simulated with AdnMuscle deformers can be further processed using the AdnGlue node. This node glues the muscles together, making them behave more compact and reducing large gaps thanks to the glue constraints. For more information on how to configure a simple setup, refer to this section.

¶How can I simulate skin?

Skin can be simulated using the AdnSkin deformer. This deformer requires one or more target meshes (i.e. the fat) to drive the skin simulation and a mesh to apply the deformer to (skin mesh). A simple setup is explained here.

¶How can I simulate fascia?

Similarly to a skin simulation setup, the fascia can be simulated using AdnSkin deformer as well. In this case, it is recommended to use values of Rest Length Multiplier lower than 1. This deformer also requires one mesh (a single target, i.e. the muscle geometries combined) or multiple meshes (multiple targets, i.e. the muscle geometries separated) to drive the simulation and a mesh to apply the deformer to (fascia geometry).

¶How can I simulate fat?

Fat can be simulated using the AdnFat deformer. This deformer requires one base mesh (i.e. the fascia) to drive the fat simulation and a mesh to apply the deformer to (fat mesh). Both meshes must have the same vertex count and triangulation. A simple setup is explained here.

¶Can I simulate muscles, fascia, fat and skin all coupled?

Yes, you can simulate muscles, fascia, fat and skin following these steps:

• Configure every muscle geometry with an AdnMuscle deformer.
• Optionally apply AdnGlue to reduce gaps between muscles.
• Generate the fascia geometry. Check this answer to know how to complete this step.
• Configure the fascia with an AdnSkin deformer: Select the muscle geometries (or the output of AdnGlue if applied), then the fascia geometry and then create the skin deformer. It is recommended to use values of Rest Length Multiplier lower than 1.
• Configure the fat with an AdnFat deformer: Select the fascia, then the fat geometry and then create the fat deformer.
• Configure the skin with an AdnSkin deformer: Select the fat, then the skin geometry and then create the skin deformer.

¶How can I simulate facial skin?

You can use AdnSimshape deformer. This deformer allows to reproduce the elasticity and the change in stiffness of a facial geometry thanks to the features of the AdnSimshape solver. Please, check this section where a simple setup is explained or this page to know more about this solver.

¶How can I add muscle activations to facial simulation?

The AdnSimshape deformer allows to add muscle activation in two ways:

• Providing a deform mesh together with an AdonisFX Muscle Patches file previously generated using the Learn Muscle Patches tool.
• Plugging the activation values directly into the ActivationList.Activation attribute. These activation values can be computed from the rest mesh and the deform mesh using the AdnEdgeEvaluator node (visit this page).

More details can be found here.

¶How can I use Machine Learning to add muscle activations to AdnSimshape?

To add muscle activation via Machine Learning, the Learn Muscle Patches tool has to be used to generate the AdonisFX Muscle Patches file. The requirements for this tool are a neutral mesh (facial geometry at rest) and a set of target meshes with deformation representing all facial expressions to drive the learning. Follow this link to know more.

¶Can I add muscle activations to AdnSimshape without an AdonisFX Muscle Patches file?

AdnSimshape allows to add muscle activation alternatively without the need for the AdonisFX Muscle Patches file. To do this, the activation values must be plugged directly into the ActivationList.Activation attribute. These activation values can be computed from the rest mesh and the deform mesh using the AdnEdgeEvaluator tool. Read how to drive the activations of AdnSimshape using AdnEdgeEvaluator here.

¶For what units is AdonisFX designed?

The AdonisFX simulation engine works in centimeters. Maya units also work internally in centimeters, disregarding any preferences set for the viewport. AdonisFX then works in centimeters in conjunction with Maya, disregarding any working units set in the Maya preferences.

It is typical in Maya to model creatures 10 times smaller in order to avoid precision issues. Imagine the example of a creature that is supposed to be 1.7 meters tall (170 Maya units). Then in Maya to avoid precision issues, this creature may be modeled to be 17 centimeters tall (17 Maya units). In this case you can adjust the simulation for this scaling factor by applying the AdonisFX Space Scale attribute to 10. This will ensure that AdonisFX will scale everything internally so that the simulation of the 17 units creature will look like if it was actually 170 units tall.

How can I transfer the results of skin simulation to the final mesh? Make use of the AdnSkinMerge deformer to blend animated and simulated meshes into a single final mesh. Launch the Skin Merge tool, select the final mesh, add the animated and simulated target meshes and click on Create. Then you only need to paint the blend weight to define the influence of the simulated mesh targets over the animated ones. You can find more information here.

¶Workflows

¶Can I transfer AdonisFX node configuration to a different asset?

Yes, you can use the AdonisFX Exporter and Importer Tools to generate and load respectively an AdonisFX Asset Definition (AAD) file. From a scene with an asset fully configured with AdonisFX deformers, you can select the parent transform object and launch the Exporter. From there, you can decide which settings to export and the destination path for the AAD file. Then, in a different scene with a compatible asset, you can launch the Importer, browse the AAD file and assign deformers from the file to the meshes in the hierarchy of the asset.

¶How can I generate the fascia geometry?

In order to obtain a plausible fascia geometry, we can use two techniques that require the muscle geometries and the skin geometry as inputs.

The first approach is to use the shrinkwrap deformer provided by Maya. This solution should produce good results for low poly geometries.

• Create a copy of the skin geometry that will become your fascia.
• Combine all muscle geometries into a single geometry. It may be advisable to include the bone geometries along with the muscles to avoid gaps.
• Select the combined muscles geometry, then select the copy of the skin geometry.
• Apply the shrinkwrap deformer and adjust its settings until the desired fascia geometry is achieved.
• Delete the history of the fascia geometry.

The second approach is to use nCloth to apply a pressured simulation. This solution could work better for high-end fascia simulations. The procedure is the following:

• Create a copy of the skin geometry that will become your fascia.
• Combine all muscle geometries into a single geometry. It may be advisable to include the bone geometries along with the muscles to avoid gaps.
• Select the fascia geometry and click nCloth > Create nCloth.
• Select the muscles geometry and click on nCloth > Create Passive Collider.
• Select the nucleus node, set the gravity to 0.0 and adjust the space scale according to your asset.
• Select the nCloth node and keyframe the pressure attribute to 0.0 at the first frame of the scene.
• Advance some frames (e.g. ten frames) and keyframe the pressure to -1.0.
• Select the fascia geometry and click nCloth > Create New nCache > nObject.
• Once the simulation finishes, choose the fascia that looks best within the simulated frame range.
• Delete the history of the fascia geometry.

As a final step for both approaches, you may want to smooth the resulting fascia geometry with sculpting tools to polish the final result.

¶Debugging

¶How can I change the logger level?

AdonisFX Logger has different levels of execution: (0) Debug, (1) Info, (2) Warning, (3) Error. The level is determined by an environment variable ADN_LOGGER_LEVEL. If not defined, AdonisFX Logger Level is set to Info by default. This allows the system to print Info, Warning and Error messages to the console. If more verbosity is required, it is possible to modify the level to Debug. For that, the environment variable ADN_LOGGER_LEVEL has to be set to 0. Note that for this change to take effect, the AdonisFX plugin must be reloaded.

¶Performance

¶How can I control the multithreading of AdonisFX solvers?

AdonisFX nodes use multithreading based on a threshold that determines the minimum number of elements required for parallel processing. If the number of elements to process exceeds this threshold, multithreading will be applied, otherwise, the code will execute sequentially. This threshold is set to 16 by default, but can be adjusted by modifying the value of the ADN_MIN_PARALLEL_SIZE environment variable. Modify this value carefully, as it can improve performance in some cases but may also reduce it depending on your CPU.

¶Licensing

¶Does AdonisFX require internet access?

The use of AdonisFX itself does not require access to the internet but the licensing system does. In node-locked licenses, the workstation needs connection to the internet to validate the activation on plug-in load at least every 19 days. After that, the product can be used without internet connection. In floating licenses, it is the server that will need to connect to the internet at least every 19 days to validate the activation, meaning that users' workstations or nodes on farms do not need internet access.

¶Can I activate the node-locked licenses offline?

No, node-locked licensing requires internet access to activate. Check the licensing page for more information.

¶Can I activate the floating licensing server offline?

No, floating licensing requires internet access to activate the server. To be more specific, only the machine running the server needs access, while the users' machines do not require connection to the internet. Check the licensing page for more information.

¶Can I use my node-locked license on more than one machine?

It depends on the purchased product plan. For Indie licenses, only one activation is allowed. To be able to move the license to a different machine, you will need to deactivate the license and reactivate it on the newly configured machine. Please, contact support if that is your case. For Solo licenses, up to two activations are allowed. This means that you can activate your product key in two different machines. For more flexibility and no hardware specific licensing restriction you should purchase floating licenses.

¶How can I switch between node-locked licensing and floating licensing inside of AdonisFX?

You can use the environment variable ADN_LICENSE_MODE set to 0 for node-locked licensing and ADN_LICENSE_MODE set to 1 for floating licensing. The license gets verified only once when the plug-in is loaded. This means that if a change like this one needs to be applied, then the application has to be restarted to load the plug-in again from a new process.

¶What do I need to be able to use floating licensing?

First of all, the licensing server has to be installed, configured and activated previously (check this section). Then, the client machine(s) on which AdonisFX will be used have to be configured to allow them to connect to the server to request leases. The configuration simply requires to set a few environment variables: ADN_LICENSE_MODE to 1; and ADN_LICENSE_SERVER and ADN_LICENSE_SERVER_BATCH to the IP address and port (e.g. 127.0.0.1:13) of the interactive and batch floating server respectively.

¶Can I move the license server to a different machine?

Yes. This process requires you to deactivate it and then activate it on the new machine. For more information visit the licensing page or contact support.

¶How can I change the port number of my licensing server?

Change the server port number in the TurboFloatServer-config.xml before running the server.

¶I want to know more about how leases are dropped, how can I see the notifications on my server?

You can find and modify when leases are dropped inside of the TurboFloatServer-config.xml file. In there you can also specify where to store the log file and with which verbosity it will write to it. For more information visit the licensing page or visit this link.

¶I can't connect to my licensing server for floating licensing. What should I do?

Make sure that your firewall configuration allows the connection and try using the ping command to check the connectivity. If the connection is valid but AdonisFX can't load, please contact support.