This tutorial will contain a bunch of smaller tutorials about specific features on the rig that may not be as easy to understand.
Skin Downloader
The skin downloader is a tool that accesses Mojang's API and downloads a .png file based off the inputted username. It is found under the Materials > Skin tab.
To use the tool, type a valid Java Edition username into the box and click the download button. The skin will now be applied and stored in the Downloaded Skins section.
Downloaded Skins
The Downloaded Skins section is an Image UI and may be used in the same way as any other one. It is found under the Materials > Skin tab.
To use it, select a skin from your library by clicking on the box (If there isn't a skin file there then download one using the Skin Downloader) and clicking Apply Skin.
To reset to the default skin, click Reset Skin.
Finally, to delete a skin from the library click Delete Skin.
Emotion Lines
Emotion Lines are a remake of the Emotion Lines features seen on Shulker Box and Smooth Stone. They can be found under the Style > Rig Style tab.
To append one click the Append Emotion Line button and re-enter pose mode on the rig. You can now move it around by using the root bone and change the curvature by using its curve bone.
While it is parented to the head by default if you wish to change the bone it is parented to first click the root bone, then click the bone you want to parent it to, enter edit mode, press Ctrl+P (default) and select Keep Offset.
If you don't see any of the bones previously mentioned make sure the Emotion Bones bone layer is enabled under Main > Bone Layers.
Auto SSS
Auto SSS is a feature remade from Smooth Stone and will allow you to give your character SSS without separating materials. It can be found under the Materials > Skin tab.
To get started select the most prominent color of your character's skin and put it into the Skin Color box.
Next, slide the Auto SSS slider to one, you can use lower settings but it shouldn't really matter.
After that take the sensitivity slider and adjust it until it only has the skin selected, default might work fine but it'll depend on the character.
Finally you can tweak the SSS slider and Radius settings until you get something you enjoy.
If you wish to change the SSS color then adjust the SSS Color color box.
Parenting System
The new parenting system has the ability to make porting rigs from other rigs, ModelBench, or other sources easier but inheriting the bends of the rig. It can be found under the Advanced > Parenting tab.
To begin, make sure Ice Cube is in the default position as things may be buggy if they aren't
Once you have positioned your meshes and are ready to parent, move each of them into the appropriate parenting collection either in your outliner or using M then finding the collection
Under the Advanced > Parenting tab under the buttons category, click the Update Parenting button and it'll automatically parent everything you've added to the parenting collections
Unparenting isn't as easy but not impossible, follow the steps below.
First, go through and delete all drivers attached to any of the modifiers added by Ice Cube.
Secondly, delete ALL of the modifiers unless there is one you wish to keep
Finally, under the object tab, scroll down to Custom Properties and delete the ParentedToIceCube property
To begin, make sure the rig is in a default pose with the arms facing down, and delete any base arm, leg, or body meshes that don't contain extrusions as they won't be needed.
Next, on every extrusion that you wish to port over apply all shape keys and modifiers, sometimes you will be able to get away using Convert To > Mesh but that isn't guaranteed to work.
Once all the meshes you want to port have no modifiers or shape keys on them, clear their parents and keep transform. (Alt+P (By Default))
Before we can delete the rig, move the meshes to a new collection M (By Default) outside of the rig, and delete any drivers they have in the outliner. You can do this by right clicking on the purple part, and selecting Delete Driver.
Next, right click on the rig's collection and select Delete Hierarchy, you should now be left with just the meshes you want to export and nothing else.
Save the file somewhere you'll remember and open up Ice Cube. Append the collection containing your meshes.
After your meshes are imported you're going to add the tags onto them, you can find a list of all the tags, where to apply them, and how if you scroll down and click the expandable text.
Once you have your meshes tagged appropriately and ready, make sure the rig is at world origin and in a default pose. Move the meshes into position on the mesh where you want to parent them, follow the normal parenting guide.
How to apply a shape key.
To apply a shape key, enter the object data tab, scroll down to shape keys and click the drop down arrow on the right. Next click New Shape from Mix.
Make sure that this new shape key is at the very bottom of the list and set to 0, next scroll up and click on Basis or whatever the first shape key is named.
Start clicking the Remove Shape Key button until all shape keys are removed, if you followed this correctly you should be left with a mesh that looks the same as you started.
How to delete a driver from a modifier
Look for any button, toggle, slider, or anything else that has a purple box around it, right click on it and select Delete Driver
How to apply a modifier
Enter the modifiers tab, start from the top down, click the arrow on the right side of the modifier and click apply.
Alternatively you can hover over the modifier and click Ctrl+A (By Default).
Parenting Tags (1.5.1 and lower ONLY)
If you wish to parent something to the rig you're going to need to add a tag onto its name, below is a list of all the tags.
Before you begin, remember that these are going onto the end of your meshes name, so if you're parenting something named Cube.001 to the head for example then you would name it Cube.001_HeadChild.
_HeadChild Parents the mesh to the head.
_BodyChild Parents the mesh to the body.
_RightArmChild Parents the mesh to the right arm.
_LeftArmChild Parents the mesh to the left arm.
_RightLegChild Parents the mesh to the right leg.
_LeftLegChild Parents the mesh to the left leg.
If you want the mesh to ignore the bend of the rig but still follow the modifiers then use the _IgnoreBend tag after one of the other tags. [Parenting Information]
