How to use the Xbox Avatar to animate!

Xbox Avatar custom animations!
I have been working on this, and I would like to share some tips and advices with you guys.
Some useful links as well ;)
Just take a look.

Some Avatar usage links and tips, check it out!

If you are planning to make a game using the Xbox Avatar, the first thing you should do is take a look at the Avatar usage guidelines, that you can find here:

http://xbox.create.msdn.com/en-US/education/catalog/article/avatar_use

After reading all of this, you should think about if it's a good idea to use them in your game or not.

Because could be very useful and practical, since you don't have to model or create the rig of the character. But this have limitations, as described in the link above.

I don't really know how to do it yet, since I am not programming, but what I know is that you just have to put some code and then your Avatar will be loaded into the game. You don't have to import models, just custom animations. The bad part of it, is that you need to use the Xbox to run your code and see the avatar. There is some ways to load a model instead, but I don't really know how to do it, just that this is possible, and then you could run the code into your computer, without using the xbox.

The Avatar Model/Rig is available through this link:
http://xbox.create.msdn.com/en-US/education/catalog/utility/avatar_animation_rig
(And it comes with some Avatar original animations, by the way, that you can use if you want to)

I downloaded the Maya version, because I am working with Maya.

So then I couldn't work with the rig, I couldn't move anything. The IK was not working?

Why? It was not activated.

What I had to do, was to select the IK controller and search in the right panel for Channel Box/Layer Editor, and look for the option IKBlend All and change it from 0 to 1.

You will have to do this to each controller that is not working.

NOTE: Some controllers doesn't move, just rotate (like the chest and the head).

Also, when you are animating, you will see that some controllers have another options, such as the foot, where you can change the Ankle Pivot, or the Toe pivot (changing the values between negative and positive).

Very useful and add reality to your animation ;)

There is some different options in the triangle around the waist, where you can change the character to male, fatness, and another stuff in the other controllers. Just play around with it ;)

Now mark your positions, use your keyframes, ajust your curves and you are ready to go! ;)

Remember always that if you are using the Xbox Avatar in your game, you have to follow the guidelines!

Just an example of a custom animation that I made (this video is just a preview, it was not finished)
This is the FRON flip animation. Its my sweet way to call my own FRONT flip.

if you didn't laugh about the joke, then I really made a mistake and I feel sorry