Auto-Rig Pro: The Latest Updates and Features

In this latest update of Auto-Rig Pro, several exciting new features and improvements have been added to enhance your rigging experience.

Remapping and Exporting

One of the most significant updates is the remapping feature for incorrect finger rotations with IK hands. Additionally, a new 'Markers' setting has been introduced for frame range export, allowing you to export only specific frames between markers named 'start' and 'end'. This feature was contributed by Jesper.

Another exciting addition is the 'Soft Linking' option, which maintains animated bones at a scale of 1, enabling cheap stretch effects in game engines without actually scaling bones. This can help prevent issues caused by bone scaling. This feature was also contributed by Jesper.

Smart Feature Improvements

The Smart feature has been improved with automatic knee positioning for IK pole constraints and new options to set spine bones count, straight spine orientation, and spine root orientation. These updates will improve your rigging workflow and provide more flexibility.

Skinning Engine

Auto-Rig Pro now includes the Voxel Heat Diffuse Skinning addon as a binding engine, which supports post-skining improvement features of Auto-Rig Pro. The addon must still be installed separately.

Additional skinning features include a new setting for smooth twist weights, refine head weights (previously known as 'Use Chin'), and improve hips weights.

Rigging Improvements

Several rigging improvements have been made to the latest update. A log message now reports detailed changes when clicking 'Update Armature'. This feature applies to old rigs and can be accessed by clicking 'Update Armature' in the Misc tab of Auto-Rig Pro.

A new tweak twist setting has been added for arm and thigh bones, which helps correct bad twisting with extreme arms/legs angles. IK pole position has also been improved when snapping, now aligning with knees/elbows. This feature can be applied to old armatures by clicking 'Update Armature' in the Misc tab.

IK-FK Shapes

IK- FK shapes are now scaled with linear interpolation drivers, making it easier to select and edit bones. Previously, bones were hidden.

New Default Settings

Auto-Rig Pro now sets Auto-Stretch to 0.0 by default for new armatures. This change helps prevent unexpected stretching.

Mirror Shape Keys

The latest update also includes the ability to mirror shape keys and drivers (including corrective drivers and corrective bones). This feature allows you to duplicate or remove limbs, making it ideal for rigging characters with multiple limbs like spiders or centaurs.

Customizable Rig Definition

Auto-Rig Pro's customizable rig definition now includes options for fingers, wings, toes, spine bones, multiple neck bones, tail, breasts, ears, and more. The Smart feature can automatically place bones to speed up the process after adding green markers. This feature is particularly useful for humanoid characters.

Overall, this latest update of Auto-Rig Pro offers several exciting new features and improvements that enhance your rigging experience. From remapping and exporting to skinning engine updates, there's something for everyone in this release.

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