Every TumbleRig node now has its own docs page, one click from the tool you are in. Tuning a mask or a shape no longer rebuilds the rig, so edits on a finished character come back about three times faster, and the noodle example gets open shoulders that stay on the torso as the arms move.
hpm add tumblehead/tumblerig@1.15.0hpm install. Older node versions stay installed, so saved scenes keep working.Four changes worth knowing first. Each one links to the place further down where it is shown in depth.
Every TumbleRig node now has a docs page: what it does, its inputs and outputs, and every parameter with its help. Click the book in any tool's header and the page for that node opens in a floating window beside the viewport. The same pages sit behind the Docs links on TumbleRig's page on TumbleTrove.
In depth in Docs
th::apex_deltamush::1.0Painting or blurring a Delta Mush mask on a finished character only changes the skin, but TumbleRig rebuilt the whole rig every time. Each rig step now keeps its result and only runs again when something it reads has changed: a mask edit on the noodle comes back in 1.1 s instead of 3 s, with the same rig and the same Animate controls. Saving a scene keeps those rig builds too, so a scene you reopen is ready sooner.
In depth in Faster edits
th::apex_rigExample_noodle::1.3The noodle example 1.3 has the artist's open-shoulder mesh. A shoulder Shrinkwrap holds each open arm end on the torso as the arms move, and Normals and Attribute Transfer after it shade the join as one surface. The sculpted face shapes came along and stay editable.
In depth in Deformation
th::apex_spline::6.0Turning or scaling the whole rig with Main no longer shows on the Spline Display as twist or stretch, and the ribbon keeps its size on a scaled character. What you pose still reads at a glance: a turned wrist turns the ribbon and colours it magenta, and twist warnings only mark real jumps.
In depth in SplinesWhat each node does, how to use it, and every parameter, in Houdini and on TumbleTrove.
Every TumbleRig viewport tool has a book icon in its header, beside the settings gear. It opens the docs for the node you are working on in a floating window you can keep open next to the viewport: what the node is for, its inputs and outputs, and every parameter with the help you get on hover.
The Nodes table on TumbleRig's page has a Docs link beside every node, to the same pages, so you can read up on a node before you install. They are built with each release, so they always match the version you get.
Measured on the noodle example on Windows. Same rig, same Animate controls, less waiting.
th::apex_deltamush::1.0The problem: a Delta Mush mask, a capture blur or a sculpted shape only changes the skin, but every rig step ran again on each edit. Now every rig step keeps its result and only runs again when something it reads has changed, and the skin steps that only read the mesh stay put when you edit the rig. On the noodle: a mask edit 3 s → 1.1 s, a Delta Mush edit about 19% faster, and the first edit after opening a scene no longer re-runs every skeleton step. It is on by default; set TUMBLERIG_NO_RIG_CACHE=1 to turn it off.
TUMBLERIG_RIG_CACHE_DISK=0 turns it off; TUMBLERIG_RIG_CACHE_DIR and TUMBLERIG_RIG_CACHE_MB move or size itTUMBLERIG_NO_SPLINE_REST_CACHE=1 turns it offTUMBLERIG_SW_CAPTURE_SERIAL=1 runs the old search
th::apex_bonedeform::2.2Wiring into Bone Deform, Delta Mush, Joint Capture or Shrinkwrap made the node count its matches, which cooked the whole chain above it, displayed or not: up to 6 s on the noodle. The wire now goes in at once. Until the viewport has cooked the chain, the count labels say counts once the input has cooked, then fill in.
apex_spline 6.1 is new; 6.0 changed in place.
th::apex_spline::6.1apex_spline 6.1 picks its joints and their rest positions on the rest skeleton, so an edit above your splines no longer evaluates the whole rig once per Spline block (a Joints edit on the noodle 3.0 s → 2.4 s, the same rig). A new Read Joints From menu switches back: Evaluated Rig gives 6.0's result. Spline IK 1.2, Eye Rig 1.1 and the noodle 1.3 use 6.1 inside.
th::apex_spline::6.0Scaling or turning the whole rig with Main no longer paints the limbs as stretched or twisted, and the ribbon keeps its size relative to the character. Twist warnings only mark real jumps, not a smooth wrist turn.
th::apex_spline::6.0With Main scaled down, spline-driven arms and legs kept their full size while the rest of the character shrank. They now scale with it. At Main 1 nothing changes.
th::apex_spline::6.0Where a curve follows its CVs loosely, Layer 2 and Layer 3 controls bunched toward the inner CV: 4.4 cm off the middle on the noodle's upper arm. They now sit at the middle of their span's length, where you expect them. Existing rigs change: keys on layer controls act at the new spot.
The noodle example 1.3, and fixes every rig with a shrinkwrap or a masked Delta Mush gets.
th::apex_rigExample_noodle::1.3The problem: closed arms pushed into the torso show a crease and a seam of lighting where they meet. Noodle 1.3 uses the artist's open-shoulder mesh: a shoulder Shrinkwrap keeps each open arm end on the torso as the arms move (within 0.35 mm; up to 5.4 cm without it), and Normals and Attribute Transfer after it shade the join as one surface. The face shapes came along and can still be sculpted. A fresh 1.3 opens on its neutral face; the Chad shape is still on its slider to dial in.
BeforeNowth::apex_shrinkwrap::1.1The ring where a shrinkwrap meets the body started at an arbitrary roll, so the seam looked twisted before anything moved: 62 degrees on the noodle's shoulders. It now starts untwisted and its roll follows the Parent Controller from its rest pose (2 degrees). Setups made before lose that starting twist.
th::apex_deltamush::1.0A GPU deformer after a masked Delta Mush read the unmasked result, which smoothed away up to 2.7 cm of the noodle's sculpted face shapes. It now reads the masked one.
A new page in TumbleTrove Settings.
Record yourself using a tool in Houdini, and Shoot Director turns the take into a clean, looping clip with the cursor drawn on: the same kind of clip as on this page. The Shot Editor shows the take as a timeline of actions, where you retime a drag, stretch a hold, mute a step or set the poster and crop before it renders. Open it from the new Shoot Director page in TumbleTrove Settings, which also sets the folder your takes go to.
th::apex_ctrls::2.0The Polished control style is gone: its see-through filled rings covered the mesh while animating. Scenes saved with it reopen with the plain wire controls. Colour themes and role shapes stay in Quick Actions.
Clicking Update in the tool header's out-of-date warning could crash Houdini, apex_spline most often. It now swaps the node once the tool has closed.
th::apex_rigExample_noodle::1.3Noodle examples 1.0 to 1.3 show the posed character in the viewport, not the raw rig graph.
The joint-tag fallback in Sliders came back empty, and stripping _to from a name left a trailing underscore. Both are fixed.
A capture that moved to other joints with the same weights could reuse an old rig build. The cache now checks which joints the capture uses, not only its weights.
th::cuda_joint_capture::1.0out since 1.14.1Joint Capture binds dense characters 7 to 20 times faster the first time (415k points: 17.6 s → 1.3 s), with the same weights, and a mesh that changes every frame refreshes in about 9 ms instead of 60.
Rewiring a TumbleRig node no longer rebuilds or cooks it twice, and a node that isn't displayed doesn't cook at all while you wire it. IK Spline no longer reports a false "rest_transform missing" error.
New versions install next to the old ones, and a saved scene keeps the version it was built with until you swap the node. Some nodes changed in place, see their rows.
| Node | Was | Now | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|
apex_spline | 6.0 | 6.1 | Takes its CV rest positions from the rest joints. Set Read Joints From to Evaluated Rig for 6.0's result. 6.0 stays installed for saved scenes. |
apex_rigExample_noodle | 1.2 | 1.3 | The artist's open-shoulder mesh with a shoulder shrinkwrap, normals and attribute transfer. Opens on the neutral face (Chad 0, it was 1 in 1.2). 1.2 stays installed for saved scenes. 1.3, Spline IK 1.2 and Eye Rig 1.1 use apex_spline 6.1 inside (changed in place, same result). |
apex_spline | 6.0 | 6.0 | Changed in place: layer controls move to the middle of their span's length, so keys on them act at the new spot; with Main scaled, limbs now shrink with the character (no change at Main 1). |
apex_shrinkwrap | 1.1 | 1.1 | Changed in place: the seam ring starts untwisted and rolls with the Parent Controller from its rest pose, so existing seams lose their starting twist. |
apex_ctrls | 2.0 | 2.0 | Changed in place: the Polished style is removed. Scenes saved with it draw plain wire controls. |
apex_rigExample_noodle | 1.0 | 1.2 | Changed in place: the viewport shows the posed character instead of the raw rig graph. The rig is the same. |