Ep.10 — Rigging Info (Shared Rigging Data and Auto-Restore of Selection Sets)

Summary: Learn advanced setup techniques using the Rigging Info node shared between Fast-Ref and Biped Plus to maximise scene load speed, work around 3ds Max's chronic Selection Set loss bug, and precisely control FBX export scope.

1. What Is Rigging Info?

The name may sound unfamiliar and complex at first, but the concept is very clear.
Rigging Info is a 'rigging metadata repository' that OtakuSolutions' two core plugins — Fast-Ref and Biped Plus — both record into and share from a specific node inside the scene.

🔌 Entry Points (Data Written to the Same Node)

• Fast-Ref: Access via the top menu or the 'Create Rigging Data' button
• Biped Plus: Access via Biped Plus's Edit window

This metadata node compactly stores biped names, biped node hierarchy information, custom controller lists, skinned mesh bone information, and more.

By baking this data into the source rig in advance, Fast-Ref no longer needs to inspect every single node when loading or replacing a scene — dramatically increasing speed and safety.

2. What to Include in the Controller List

Register every control device (controller) in the scene that the animator needs to operate, excluding the Biped base skeleton.

• Standard Bones and controllers: Auxiliary bones for cape, hair, skirt, and prop control
• Simulation bones: Dynamic/simulation bone hierarchies that animators frequently activate
• Facial and Morpher data: Morph target data into which expression animation keys are inserted
• Wildcard (*) support: When there are dozens to hundreds of bones or controllers with a specific prefix, use a wildcard (e.g. Prop_*) to select and bulk-register them all at once.

💡 Practical tip: If expression controllers are already tightly bound and wired into a facial UI script, there is no need to manually add every controller to this list one by one. Set up only the key independent bones that receive direct keys.

3. Working Around 3ds Max's Chronic 'Selection Set' Bug

Many game productions rely on 3ds Max's Selection Set feature to select only skin bones (Skin Bones) or specific costume meshes (Skins).

😭 3ds Max's Critical Selection Set Bug

• No matter how carefully you create and save Selection Sets in the original rig file, 3ds Max has a chronic bug where Selection Set data is not automatically restored and is lost when the rig is Merged externally or loaded into a new scene.

😎 Fast-Ref's Solution

• Create Selection Sets (Skin Bones, Skins, etc.) in the source rig, then click Refresh Save in the Rigging Info menu.
• This encrypts and safely records the Selection Set data inside the Rigging Info metadata node.
• Now when you load the character through Fast-Ref, you will witness the miracle: the Selection Sets you configured are perfectly backed up and restored alongside the rig data — laughing in the face of Max's bug.

4. Precise FBX Export Scope Control (Auto vs Defined)

Fast-Ref's powerful built-in FBX exporter intelligently selects export target bones based on metadata registered in Rigging Info.

🟢 Auto Mode

• Automatically aggregates all influences registered on Skinned Meshes (bones affected by skin) as the extraction criteria.
• If skin information is clearly applied, this mode alone produces a perfect FBX output. To also export special bone motions that have no skin applied, simply add those bones to the Controller List and they will be automatically included regardless of skin status.

🔵 Defined Mode

• What if you want to separately extract the character body mesh and the "weapon (Prop)" held in the right hand as independent individual FBXs?
• Example: Bundle the weapon mesh and weapon bones together, name the Selection Set Export Props, save it in the scene, and update Rigging Info.
• Switching to Defined Mode in the Fast-Ref exporter displays the list of recorded Selection Sets on screen.
• Simultaneously checking both Export Body and Export Props and exporting outputs two perfectly split FBX files — the weapon FBX and body FBX — with a single click.

5. The Secret of the Mysterious 'R' and 'ES' Tags in the Fast-Ref UI

When a rig file with completed Rigging Info setup is registered in the Fast-Ref table, special tag icons [ R ] and [ ES ] appear on the right side of the slot.
* R (Read Mode): This character has Rigging Info metadata properly installed, so the original structure analysis step during loading and replacement is drastically shortened — enabling ultra-fast recognition. This is the badge of comfort.
* ES (Export Selection): Indicates that a precision export rule based on Selection Sets — such as splitting weapon extraction — is mapped to and active on this slot.

🚨 When R / ES Tags Glow Red (Warning)

An emergency signal warning that the mapping link is broken because the actual skeleton nodes in the scene cannot be found while Namespace is on.
Fix: Temporarily disable the Namespace active state, or refer to the EP02 file status check guide to correctly restore the master path — the bone names will be perfectly auto-tracked again and the tags will return to normal.

Summary in One Line

Rigging Info = The core brain that makes scene loading 10x faster, perfectly bypasses the Selection Set bug, and controls multi-FBX extraction scope (weapons, etc.) with a single click.