MVN Maya live plug-in

User Manual
v1.0

DocumentMV0212P,RevisionA,July2012

XsensHQ(Enschede,NL)

XsensUSoffice(LosAngeles,USA)

Phone

+31889736700

+13104811800

Fax

+31889736701

+13104169044

Email

info@xsens.com

internet

www.xsens.com

Revisions

Revision
A

Date
June2012

By
SBU

Changes
CreatedforMayaliveplugin

2012,XsensTechnologiesB.V.Allrightsreserved.Informationinthisdocumentissubjecttochangewithout
notice.Xsens,MVN,MotionGrid,MTx,andKiCareregisteredtrademarksortrademarksofXsensTechnologies
B.V. and/or its parent, subsidiaries and/or affiliates in The Netherlands, the USA and/or other countries. All
othertrademarksarethepropertyoftheirrespectiveowners.

MayaisatrademarkofAutodesk,Inc.

XsensTechnologiesB.V.

ii

MV0212P. A
MVNMayaliveplugin

TableofContents
1

INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................................2
1.1 CHARACTERTOOLINMAYA.............................................................................................................................2
1.2 STREAMINGTOAMAYADEVICE........................................................................................................................2

INSTALLATION......................................................................................................................................3
2.1 INSTALLATIONON64BITWINDOWS.................................................................................................................3
2.2 LICENSING....................................................................................................................................................3
2.3 LOCATIONOFINSTALLEDFILES..........................................................................................................................5

GETTINGSTARTED.........................................................................................................................................6
2.4 SETUPTHEMVNDEVICE.................................................................................................................................6
2.5 HOWTOMAPONACHARACTER.......................................................................................................................9
3

ADVANCEDFEATURES........................................................................................................................11
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4

PROPS.......................................................................................................................................................11
RECORDING................................................................................................................................................11
MELCOMMANDSFORINTEGRATIONINANEXISTINGPIPELINE...............................................................................13
CUSTOMERSUPPORT....................................................................................................................................13

XsensTechnologiesB.V.

iii

MV0212P. A
MVNMayaliveplugin

1 Introduction
XsensMVNStudio,developedbyXsens,isthemainsoftwaretoolforinterfacingwiththeMVNinertialmotion
capturesuit.MVNStudioallowstheexportofmotioncapturedatatothirdpartyapplicationssuchasMaya,
XSI,3DStudioMax,MotionBuilder,etc.makingthedataavailabletodriveriggedcharactersinanimationand
more.Thedatatransfertootherapplicationsisprimarilyfilebased(export)whenusingMVNStudio.

However,inmanyscenariositisattractivetokeeptheeaseofuseofMVNStudio,butstillbeingabletoreceive
andprocessthemotioncapturedatainrealtimeinanotherapplication,evenonaanotherPC,possibly
physicallyremotefromtheMVNsystem.

Tothisend,MVNStudiocanactasaserveronanetworkandstreammotioncapturedatainrealtimetoa
clientPCrunningaclientapplication.Thisdocumentspecificallytreatstheuseofacertainclientapplication
abletoreceivemotioncapturedatainrealtime,AutodeskMaya.

Note:TIP:InthistutorialweassumebothMVNStudioandMaya2013areproperlyinstalledandtheuserhasa
goodoverallknowledgeofworkingwithbothprograms.ThroughoutthetutorialpicturesareplacedAFTERthe
correspondingtext.

1.1

CharactertoolinMaya

TheeasiestwayforMVNtosendthecompletefullbodymotioncapturedatatoanotherapplicationistosend
the3Dpositionsand3Drotationsofeachbonedirectly.MVNStudioisabletodothisinrealtimestreaming
overthenetwork(quaternionandEulerbasedrotations).

TheEulerbasedprotocoliscurrentlyusedtostreamtoMaya.OnthereceivingendMayaappliesagimballock
killerfilterinrealtimeandappliesthedataontotheMVNcharacter.

1.2

StreamingtoaMayadevice

Toachieveoptimalresults,thestreamingsettingsfromMVNStudiotoMayahavetobesetcorrectly.Itis
recommendedtosetthereceivingendinMayato60fps.
MotiondatasentbyMVNStudioisstreamedinrealtimetoMayatimewise.HoweverbothMVNStudioand
Mayaareoperatingonanonrealtimeoperatingsystem,sotimingcannotbeguaranteedintheViewer.
AdditionallydependingonsystemresourcesMayaisnotabletoprocessallincomingdata.Timingofthe
incomingkeysisdoneonthebasisofbesteffortbyMaya.WerecommendtheofflinepipelineusingtheFBX
importtoensureoptimalquality.

XsensTechnologiesB.V.

MV0212P. A
MVNMayaliveplugin

2 Installation
2.1

Installationon64bitWindows

Ona64bitWindowsyoucanhaveboth32bitand64bitversionsofMayainstalled.Xsensprovidesone
installerforeachoftheseversionsofMaya:
mvn_maya_plugin1.0_setup.exe.

2.2

Licensing

UsetheCDthatcamewiththeMVNsystemtoruntheMVNMayaLivePluginInstaller
(mvn_maya_plugin1.0_setup.exe).ForWindows7,runasauserwithAdministratorrights.Todosorightclick
ontheexecutableandfromthedropdownmenuchooseRunasAdministrator

Forfirsttimeinstallchoose'Yes,Iwanttoactivatenow'.Thiswillstartupthe'SoftwareActivation'toolafter
theinstallation.Whenyoureinstallyoushouldchoose'No,Ialreadyactivated'asyoualreadyhaveactivated
yourlicense.

XsensTechnologiesB.V.

MV0212P. A
MVNMayaliveplugin

Selectthe32bit,64bitorbothversionsoftheMVNMayaLivePluginyouwanttoinstall.Makesureyoufillin
thecorrectinstallationpathofAutodeskMaya.ForbestresultsjustusetheBrowsebuttontolocatethe
rootfolderinwhichMayaisinstalled.

Followtheonscreeninstructionsandwhenrequiredinputtheindividualserialnumber.Thelicensekeycanbe
copiedinitsentiretyandpastedinonegototheserialentrywindow(seefigurebelow).Theserialnumbercan
befoundontheMVNletter,whichcamewiththesystem.Inthenextstepthelicenseyoujustpastedwillbe
activated.Pleasemakesurethecomputeronwhichyouareactivatingisconnectedtotheinternetbeforeyou
pressNext.MoreinformationonlicensingandlicenseactivationcanbefoundintheXsensSoftware
ActivationManual.

XsensTechnologiesB.V.

MV0212P. A
MVNMayaliveplugin

2.3

Locationofinstalledfiles

DuringinstallationofMVNMayaLivePluginyouareaskedtopointtheinstallertotheMayaprogramfolder
(seesection2.2).TheinstallerthencopiesthefilesoftheMVNliveMayaplugindevicetotheappropriate
folders.However,insomecasesthismaynotbesuccessful,forexampleduetoadifferentlanguagesetting.
Youcanalwaysmanuallycopytheneededfilesasindicatedbelow.

Filename
Purpose
LocationMaya 2012 (win32)
MVNMayamodule
C:\ProgramFiles
mvn_live_module.txt
file
(x86)\Autodesk\Maya2013\modules

Filename
Purpose
LocationMaya 2012 (x64)
MVNMayamodule
mvn_live_module.txt
C:\ProgramFiles\Autodesk\Maya2013\modules
file

XsensTechnologiesB.V.

MV0212P. A
MVNMayaliveplugin

GettingStarted
2.4

SetuptheMVNdevice
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

OpenMVNStudio.
OpenanMVNfileorMVNXfileorusetheMVNsuitinlivesetup.
Goto:OptionsPreferencesMiscellaneousNetworkStreamer.
TicktheEnablenetworkstreaming.
ClicktheAddbuttontoinputanIPaddressofaclientPC(thePCwhereMayaisrunning).Ifitisthe
same PC as where MVN Studio is running, use localhost. If you want to stream to more than one
programonthesamemachine,use127.0.0.1insteadoflocalhost.

6.
7.

8.
9.

Click"OK"
Load a file in MVN Studio, click the "Toggle Repeat" button and play the file to make sure there is
alwayssomethingstreamingfromMVNStudio.Ifyouhavealivesystemconnectedtothecomputer
thisisnotneeded.
OpenMaya
With the firstrun ofthe 'MVNMaya Live Plugin' itneeds to be loaded manually. This can bedone
fromthe'PluginManager'.Togothere,clickon'Window'Settings/Preferences'PluginManager'.

XsensTechnologiesB.V.

MV0212P. A
MVNMayaliveplugin

10. Inthepluginmanagerdialog,scrolldowntoc:/ProgramData/Xsens/MVN
Studio/External/Maya/2013/plugins.TickLoadedforthemvn_live_2013_Win32.mllifyouare
runningMaya32bit,orthemvn_live_2013_x64.mllifyouarerunning64bit.Ifyouwanttheplugin
tostartautomatically,tickAutoLoadaswell.

NOTE: If you get a message '//Error: line 1: No valid licenses to load the plugin (mvn_live_2013_x64/win32)'
activateyourlicensebystartingthe'SoftwareActivationtool.

XsensTechnologiesB.V.

MV0212P. A
MVNMayaliveplugin

11. Selecttheamountofskeletonsyouwanttocreate,andpressMVNSkeleton:.

12. Tostartreceivingthestream,ticktheLivebox.

13. ChangethePortnumberifneeded,thedefaultportnumberis9763.Afterchangingtheportnumber,
pressthegreenbuttontoinitializethenewport.

XsensTechnologiesB.V.

MV0212P. A
MVNMayaliveplugin

YoushouldnowbeabletoreceivemotioncapturedatainrealtimefromMVNStudio.MVNStudiowillstream
fromitsactivewindowthatisplaying.ThiscanbeanMVNX,MVN,MVNSfileoraliveMVNsystem.

2.5

HowtomaponaCharacter
1.

Importyourskinned,riggedandcharacterizedcharacterintoMaya.

XsensTechnologiesB.V.

MV0212P. A
MVNMayaliveplugin

2.
3.
4.

OpenCharacterControlsbygoingtoSkeletonHumanIK.
ExpandCharactersintheCharacterControlswindowSelectyourcharacter.
UndersourcechooseCharacter#.

MayawillnowretargetthemotioncapturedatareceivedthroughtheCharacter#_referenceontothe
characterrig.Thisretargetingandthesettingsusedintheretargetingofthemotioncapturedatacanbevery
advanced,aswellasthecharacterrig.Thisisnotdiscussedfurtherinthisdocument.

XsensTechnologiesB.V.

10

MV0212P. A
MVNMayaliveplugin

3 AdvancedFeatures
3.1

Props

PropsarenotyetsupportedinthisreleaseoftheMVNLiveMayaPlugin.

3.2

Recording

TheMVNMayalivepluginallowsyoutorecordinrealtime.Weadvisetoonlyusethisfunctionalitywhenalso
recordinginMVNstudio.Thismaybeneededwhenyoucombinerecordingwithanotherdeviceortospeedup
thepipeline.Otherwisewerecommendtheofflinepipeline.

XsensTechnologiesB.V.

11

MV0212P. A
MVNMayaliveplugin

1.

Whenyoutickrecording,recordingwillstart.

2.
3.

Whenyouuntickrecording,youwillstoprecording.Thenunticklivetostopthestream.
Rightclickinthetimeline,andgotoSetRangetoMin/Max.Thiswilladjustthestartandend
frameoftherecordingaccordingly.

XsensTechnologiesB.V.

12

MV0212P. A
MVNMayaliveplugin

4.

Tofixgimballockerrors,selectallthebonesoftheCharacter#_reference.Thenselectallcurvesofall
bodypartsandapplytheEulerfilterbygoingtoCurvesEulerFilter.OntheGraphEditor
window.

5.

Youcannowstarteditingthecurves.

3.3

MelCommandsforintegrationinanexistingpipeline

Thepluginalsohasascriptinterfacethatwillallowyoutointegrateitsfunctionalityinyourownpipeline.
mvnb;
//initializeplugin
mvnc;
//createskeleton
mvnl;
//togglelivemode
mvnr;
//togglerecordmode

3.4

CustomerSupport

XsensTechnologiesisgladtohelpyouwithanyquestionsyoumayhaveabouttheMVNMayalivepluginor
abouttheuseofthetechnologyforyourapplication.PleasecontactXsensCustomerSupport:

byemail:
www.xsens.com/support

telephone:
XsensHQ+31889736700/XsensUSoffice3104811800

Tobeabletohelpyou,pleasealwayskeepathandthe8digitnumberofyourMVNsystem.Youcanfindthis
numberonthewhiteXsensstickerbetweenthelatchesoftheMVNsuitcase

XsensTechnologiesB.V.

13

MV0212P. A
MVNMayaliveplugin