A study of its own, the dreaded rigging stage.
By no means one of my strong suits, but I do have some of the knowledge needed for the building of a good and decent rig. I might split this post into two parts, for the head and the body. Starting with the latter.
Kay, lets make it three. Head, body and a little introduction to rigging.
By no means one of my strong suits, but I do have some of the knowledge needed for the building of a good and decent rig. I might split this post into two parts, for the head and the body. Starting with the latter.
Kay, lets make it three. Head, body and a little introduction to rigging.
"Rig...?"
First up I'd like to discuss a little about rigs and how they work, and how I would like them to work. How I feel I work the best, and such stuff.
Question; What is a "Rig"...?
Answer; Quite simple really, It is a system of bones, a sceleton, if you will, that allow a static 3D mesh to be moved around, using simple control points.
Question; What is a GOOD rig...?
Answ... Well, thats more of a hard one. Seeing as there is a lot of personal tastes involved in the creation and use of a rig-system. But there are some things that are essensial, some that are exessive, but yet compliment a system. IMO, a IK-FK switching AND snapping system, would be part of this. Not allways neccesary, but it gives the user more control, more freedom to choose. And thats a good thing. Another would be to be able to save poses on, say the face and hands. Its not necessary, but IMO, quite usefull, and something most rigs should have. Because having a premade library of various poses one can manipulate further, makes a animation process faster, saving time for other parts.
First up I'd like to discuss a little about rigs and how they work, and how I would like them to work. How I feel I work the best, and such stuff.
Question; What is a "Rig"...?
Answer; Quite simple really, It is a system of bones, a sceleton, if you will, that allow a static 3D mesh to be moved around, using simple control points.
Question; What is a GOOD rig...?
Answ... Well, thats more of a hard one. Seeing as there is a lot of personal tastes involved in the creation and use of a rig-system. But there are some things that are essensial, some that are exessive, but yet compliment a system. IMO, a IK-FK switching AND snapping system, would be part of this. Not allways neccesary, but it gives the user more control, more freedom to choose. And thats a good thing. Another would be to be able to save poses on, say the face and hands. Its not necessary, but IMO, quite usefull, and something most rigs should have. Because having a premade library of various poses one can manipulate further, makes a animation process faster, saving time for other parts.
Good example:
Below you find a example on what I would call friggin good rigs. By men who knows what they are doing. These tree are all for Maya, which is the leading animation/rigging package. Dont have too much experience with Maya yet, but its said that it is far superior to Max in these regards, and looking below, one can see why.
Below you find a example on what I would call friggin good rigs. By men who knows what they are doing. These tree are all for Maya, which is the leading animation/rigging package. Dont have too much experience with Maya yet, but its said that it is far superior to Max in these regards, and looking below, one can see why.
Love the way the first character here is made.
And a good example of a very cartoony, very exessive rig.
Very automated, but still I feel a real neeed to animate with it :P
Very automated, but still I feel a real neeed to animate with it :P
By me
Max rigging
Then there are rigs for MAX, and the best example for that, and prob the best known, would be the Lomax rig.
Quite versatile as a rig, and I dont have a problem using it to make something funny. It has its minor flaws, but its nothing you cant work around. I've made a few animations with it, which you can see here.
Its not really optimal for something more sinister or dark, serious. Ive tried, but it is just a way to comical figure to be taken seriously ;P But it is awsum for more comicly squash and stretch situations ^^
Cant really find any good movs with Max rigs.. So there you have it.. Chose Maya for animation :P
Then there are rigs for MAX, and the best example for that, and prob the best known, would be the Lomax rig.
Quite versatile as a rig, and I dont have a problem using it to make something funny. It has its minor flaws, but its nothing you cant work around. I've made a few animations with it, which you can see here.
Its not really optimal for something more sinister or dark, serious. Ive tried, but it is just a way to comical figure to be taken seriously ;P But it is awsum for more comicly squash and stretch situations ^^
Cant really find any good movs with Max rigs.. So there you have it.. Chose Maya for animation :P
Image by Sverre Kvernmo
Could it be...
It should be said though, that there is a up and coming MAX rigger on the way... His name is Sebastian, and he can be found over at Tubatools. I'd recomend you to try out the Finn rig, which I happened to model for him ;P
Workflow Vid of the Finn rig can be seen here
This rig also include many of the features I like to see in a rig. Just take a look at that fingercontrol. Its so easy and intuitive, which also was some of the main points for this rig as it was developed.
It should be said though, that there is a up and coming MAX rigger on the way... His name is Sebastian, and he can be found over at Tubatools. I'd recomend you to try out the Finn rig, which I happened to model for him ;P
Workflow Vid of the Finn rig can be seen here
This rig also include many of the features I like to see in a rig. Just take a look at that fingercontrol. Its so easy and intuitive, which also was some of the main points for this rig as it was developed.
End Of Part 01