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09 | High Heel Shoe Rigging

Workflow by Mada

Rigging high-heeled shoes effectively start from the modeling process. There are a couple of steps in this workflow that are unique to High Heels because the shoes must change the Genesis default pose for them to work correctly.

Video

Pose Genesis for high heels and save pose

  • Use High Heel Pose Control or foot bend for custom shoe height
  • You can set feet flat legs together for easier modeling
  • You must reverse flat foot pose later
  • Save the heel pose, you will need it later

Model symmetrical shoes

  • Model on Genesis posed for High Heels for reference

  • Import shoes OBJ into Daz Studio

  • Apply to pose to Genesis and make sure the shoe still fits

Transfer saved high-heel pose to the shoes

This step is critical and unique to making High Heel Shoes.

  • Click high heel posed Genesis
  • Select Joint Control Tool
  • Right-click in viewport
  • Edit | Bake Joint Rotations
  • Changes the default pose for Genesis to wear high heels
  • High Heel creation is the only workflow you will use this tool

Transfer weights from Genesis to shoes using the Transfer Utility

  • No projection template

Save shoe asset and reload

  • File Save As > Figure / Prop Asset
  • Create new blank document
  • Load Genesis and apply heel pose
  • Load shoes

Paint Weights with toes up

  • Create a flat-foot toe-up pose
  • Call it 0_Pose
  • toes up mimic high heel pose
  • Paint shoe weights to toe group and foot
  • Not Individual toes

Create Joint Controlled Morphs for High Heels

  • Create left and right foot up/down movement shoe JCMs
  • Flat-foot toes-up morphs
    • 0_Pose_L
    • 0_Pose_R
    • Matches shoe pose for toes with heel flat
  • Foot down morphs
    • Foot_Down_75_L
    • Foot_Down_75_R
    • Increase foot down maximum from 65 to 75 for better performance
  • Foot up morphs
    • Foot_Up_40_L
    • Foot_Up_40_R

Set up the originally modeled shoe shape as a morph ERC

  • Original Shoe Shape
  • Shape_L
  • Shape_R
  • Original modeled shoe shape
    • ERC to foot bone in default shoe pose