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Getting Started

Installation

  1. Unzip the MKAnimPicker folder
  2. Copy it into your Houdini preferences directory or in a directory of your choice: 
    $HOUDINI_USER_PREF_DIR/   (e.g. Documents/houdini21.0/)
  3. Open the MK_AnimPicker.json package file and verify the paths match your installation location. If you placed the folder somewhere else, update the paths accordingly.
  4. Restart Houdini.

Opening the Panel

Create a new pane tab and search for MK_APEX_Anim_Picker in the panel list.

The panel can be docked anywhere in your Houdini layout like any other pane.

Opening the panel

Interface Overview

Interface overview

Area Description
Edit/File bar Toolbar row with zone controls, edit mode toggle, save/load tab actions, and Mirror Settings (under Edit).
Tab bar Switch between picker layouts. Each tab is independent.
Canvas The button layout area. Scroll to zoom, middle-mouse drag to pan.
Rig menu Dropdown to select which rig the picker operates on.
Lock button Padlock icon. Prevents accidental edits in select mode.
Animate tool toggle square-activity icon in the top-right. Shows or hides the animation tools bar. State is remembered across sessions.
Animation tools bar Row of buttons at the bottom of the panel: Mirror Pose, Mirror COG, Mirror Keys, Mirror Keys COG, Key, and Del Key. See Animation Tools.
Zone HUD Row of colored squares — one per zone. Visible when zones exist.

Tabs

Tab create, rename, delete and reorder

Create a tab — click the + button in the tab bar.
Rename a tab — double-click the tab name, or use the Rename field in the edit panel.
Delete a tab — right-click the tab → Delete Tab.
Reorder tabs — drag and drop.

Lock Mode

Lock mode toggle

The padlock icon in the top-right corner toggles lock mode.

When locked, entering edit mode and reassigning controls is disabled. Selection, pose, and script buttons all work normally.

Useful when animating — prevents accidental layout changes.

Quick Start

A first picker from scratch in under a minute.

Quick start

  1. Open the panel — create a new pane tab, search for MK_APEX_Anim_Picker
  2. Rename it — double-click the tab name, type a name, press Enter
  3. Enter Edit Mode — click the pencil icon top-right
  4. Add a button — right-click the canvas and choose Edit Controls
  5. Assign a controller — in the APEX viewport select a control, click Add Selected in the popup, then close it
  6. Exit Edit Mode — click the pencil icon again
  7. Test it — click the button, the control gets selected in the viewport
  8. Save — File → Save Tab, choose a location for your .json file

That's the core loop. From here see Edit Mode to build out a full layout, or Pose Mode to start capturing poses.

Select Mode →