This is the start of the Alpha and Beta testing for Joystick Lite. Being Alpha Beta means that this tool my not be ready for production and is subject to changes that might break previous versions.

Download: Forum (Temporary down load site until the product is released. You must join the beta to be able to down load. Follow the instructions below to the letter!)

I will be looking for a select group of testers that will be able to push it through its paces and make sure that it is production ready. If you are interested in joining in drop me an email at Email: info@penproductions.ca letting me know what sort of work you do and how you would like to be using it.

Sign up for Alpha/Beta Forum. Once the account is created you need to make a request to be added to the Alpha/Beta group via the Profile/Manage Groups menu and then wait for an approval. Forum

Bug Tracking and Discussions

There are a number of files associated with Joystick Lite and each file and folder needs to be placed in the correct location.

PEN_joystickLite.mcr: The macro script needs to be placed in either the userMacros or MacroScripts folder. PEN_joystickLite.ms: This script and all the assets associated with the system are placed in 3DSMaxXXXX\scripts\penProductions\joystickLite Templates folder: Resides in the joystickLite folder. All bitmaps: Reside in the joystickLite folder.

Restart Max and assign the Macro script from the PEN JoystickLite group in the Customize/Customize User Interface settings.

These are currently temporary tutorials as the tool is still in Alpha/Beta and subject to change on a daily basis.

• Joystick Lite Setup V:0.01.02 A

Usage is very simple, pick an object to add the animation tracks to that will be controlled by the joystick controls and from the Utilities menu in the Joystick Lite dialog choose "Add Definition to Selected" and choose a preset XML file from the templates folder. Only one template is currently supplied and creates a set of controls that can be used in a standard facial setup. Once the controls are added to the selected object any animation track can be wired to the custom attributes that have been created.

Please note that Joystick Lite does not make the connections for you as the tool is ment as a general tool for quickly creating floating Joystick controls in a Max Script dialog. The connections need to be made by the user. You can use this tool for controlling any sort of animation and not just facial rigs.

You can create your own setup using the template.xml file as a starting point. All the possible controls and settings are in a commented out section above the main tags. Just cut and past and change the settings as needed to build a new template for your production needs. Currently there is no drag and drop type system for building your own setups, this may come one day but for now it is called Lite for a reason.

XML File Format:
Here is a list of the tags and their properties that can be used.

Tags:
• <raicJoystickLite version="1" name="Generic Face"><raicJoystickLite> :Mandatory: This is the root tag.
• version="1" :Mandatory: Must currently be set to a value of 1
• name="Generic Face" :Mandatory: Can be set to a default name that will be used for the attribute holder modifier.
• <group name="Brow Controls" color="120,160,120"></group>
• name="Brow Controls" :Mandatory: Can be set to any name that will be used for a group of controls.
• color="120,160,120" :Mandatory: Can be set to any RGB value using 8 bit color values. This is the background color of the group box.
• <control name="Jaw" type="Square" x="NoseX" y="NoseY" minMax="-100,100" />
• name="Jaw" :Mandatory: Set the name of the joystick control in the UI.
• type="Vertical" :Mandatory: This can be set to one of three choices "Vertical", "Horizontal", "Square" More options may be added in the future.
• x="JawX" :Mandatory: Only mandatory for controls that use a side to side motion. This name is used by the float animation track.
• y="JawY" :Mandatory: Only mandatory for controls that use an up and down motion. This name is used by the float animation track.
• minMax="-100,100 :Mandatory: Used to set the min and max value for both the X and Y values of a control.
• offset="0,0" :Optional: Sets an offset value for the control so they can be positioned in the group from the default location.
• break="true" :Optional: Will force the next set of controls into a new row in the group.

Group tags are to be placed directly in the root tag and control tags are to be placed inside group tags.

Right Click Menu:
Right clicking on a joystick control will open a pop up menu with several options.

• Reset Selected: Resets the current control.
• Reset Group: Resets all controls within the group that the current control is in.
• Reset All: Resets all controls in the control panel.
• Save Group Pose: Saves a pose for all the controls in the current group using their current values.
• Save Pose on All: Saves for all controls into the "All Controls" pose group"