De-mystifying rigs

[3dpoder]

de-mystifying rigs.




For years i have avoided anything beyond very simple rigging. In fact in my efort todo avoid learning what semed like an impossibly complicated skill, y ended up becoming the que of the incredibly simple rig. My rigs had no constraints, no bone shapes and as few Bones as posible. Then again, y was only posing characters for still images, there was no animating controls neded.

Trying todo study and learn from the variety of free rigs available only added todo my confusión. They were composed of so Many Bones, constraints and ODD bone shapes, y never could make heads or tails of just what was going or how todo build one of my own.

But After serious study of some great resources, y realiced that the seming Chaos of rigs is actually not that complicated. Well ok, yes it is still complicated, but there is a logic, flow and Even a pattern todo it.
When you break it down todo the most basic idea, a god working Rig has thre main components.

• controls.
• deformers.
• helpers.

That sems simple enough, and yet this is exactly where it starts todo sem complicated. So let look at what each component does and se if we cant clear this up a Little bit more.
controls are the parts of the Rig that you actually select todo do any animating. It helps todo remember that not every bone in a Rig is actually directly manipulated during animation. Controls can be very simple (plain armature Bones) todo very fancy and complex bone shapes that visually tell you what it does.

Make sure all your controllers are part of the same armature object.
helpers are not manipulated directly and generally hidden during the animation process.

Helpers are kind of like the frame you build when you build a house, you definitely ned them, but you dont do much with them once they are put in place.

Some examples of helpers:

• leg Bones.
• Spine.
• arm Bones.

deformers are driven by the controllers todo do the actual work. Like the helpers, at animation time, they are not sen by the animator.

Some examples of deformers:
The armature itself is considered todo be a deformer.

Mesh deform modifier.

• shape keys.
• lattices.
• hooks.

So now that we know what makes up a rig, where and how do you startí we wont be building a full Rig here (there are plenty of excellent tutorialesalready written about that). Instead we look at a god work-flow. Here are some tips todo get you started:
Probably the best advice for beginning riggers is todo build your Rig in stages. That bien you wont forget something and you can fix problems as you encounter them.

• it is best todo start by creating a simple armature setup.

• following the general shape of your character, add Bones todo create a simple stick figure.
• make sure all your parent relationships are set up and correct.
• i, e. Hand Bones are parented todo a lower arm bone which is parented todo an Upper Arm bone etc.
• make sure you dont have any Bones that get left behind when you move the armature.
• test all movements.

remember: todo enter object mode and use Control + a todo apply scale / rotation before setting up any IKs, contraints or controllers.

• take it one section at a time.
• you can start from the top of your Rig and work do, from the bottom up, one Limb at a time, or from the Spine out, just dont bounce around Willy nilly. You Will end up forgetting something.
• start setting up IK Solvers and any neded constraints.
• (i, pole targets, track to, etc.)
• if setting up right leg, next go todo left leg and make sure settings all match.
• set up controllers: these can include controls todo operate the shape keys for facial animation, controls for Curling fingers, standing on tip toe (fot) as well as Many others.
• you can set the controllers as you are setting up the IK Solvers and constraints or in a sepárate 2nd swep th rouge the rig.
• test all Bones, joints and controls.
• bind the Rig todo the character using the armature modifier (or todo a Mesh deform modifier that Will be deforming your character).
• test all Bones, joints, controls for pinching, distorsión etc.
• time todo sepárate the Rig into bone layers for a cleaner look for the animator.
• all controls on one layer.
• all helpers on one or more layers (you can sepárate them into various layer groupings for organisational reasons if wanted or put all helpers on one layer.
• add a master (often called root) bone: everything in the Rig Will be connected in one bien or another todo this bone.
• any bone that is not a child of another bone Will be directly parented todo the master bone.
• test all Bones todo se that everything works well.

While this was not meant todo magically turn you into a máster rigger, hopefully it tok some of the mystery and confusión out of creating a god rig.

Great rigging resources.

Introducing character animation with Blender.

Animating with Blender.

Mancandy faq DVD
Bsod: introduction todo rigging.
www.blenderart.org.