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Doogie
01-22-2003, 12:26 AM
Almost forgot! Im using Maya 4.5

This is my second or third rig. But this one is gunna be the most thoroughly used (in my final project for school) so Id like to get some feedback on how dynamic and usable it is.

I had questions about the simplest, most effective controls for the back. Luckily, i stumbled upon one a seem to like (Digital Tutor's video tutorial (http://www.digital-tutors.com/digital_tutors/maya/index.htm)). I liked it so much, i grabbed a couple more ideas from him. :thumbsup: Thanks.

The problem is, since i had the spline there already, there was a problem when i tried to add a (root)bone at the bottom to translate the whole back, so i sorta rigged it together w/ another cluster. Now it doesnt seem to move w/ the rig, or double transforms ::see file:: (but works otherwise). When I tried to redraw the spline, it didnt work right, and moved the backbones! :cry:

Suggestions are welcomed. And if you can fix that lil back prob (fairly simply), rock. If not, it doesnt look like a problem.

You guys in this channel of the forum are really helpful (as ive been reading other threads), thanks for being sharing your knowledge and taking the time to help others. I hope I have that ability someday :)

Here is my rig (http://www.geocities.com/doogie5526/forumPics/MimeRig.zip) (right-click, saveas)

BTW, those boxes above the knuckles are for SDKing box.ty to rotate on fingers. Last thing, here's a link (http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=36777) to my progress on the project.

Thanks for humoring my long-winded post.
Jozvex
01-22-2003, 04:48 AM
Seems pretty cool!!!

I have a few suggestions/comments though.

1. There are a lot of control objects, I think quite a few could be controlled by the one object,

Eg: If you just had one control for each hand, you could add all the attributes like the shoulder up/down, the knuckles etc to that control as custom attributes rather than having lots of seperate controls.

2. I find the hand controls hard to use, maybe it's their shape, or the fact that they are kinda far away from the hands themselves....not sure.

3. You have no footroll!!! But perhaps you were just not finished that yet?
olivier georges
01-22-2003, 10:31 PM
hi,
try to work on your rotate order too, it`s really easy to have gimbal lock problems on :

- your feet
- your character group
- your hiproot
- your backCurveCtrl

try to use zxy and not the default xyz

try to group some controls too, it`s really hard to animate with so much controls to track

i hope these comments will help you :)


Olivier.
jackkhouri
01-23-2003, 08:23 PM
hey, Nicie start :applause:

I completly agree with the others!!!

work your rotation order as well as too many control.

another factor that is very dangerous when your animating is the fact that you forgot to lock your unwanted attributes for your controls. You did hide them but their not locked!!! For eample: The animator (you) can select the jawRoot and rotate in the Y or Z or even move it with the translate tool.

your back control is also problematic! Not enough flexibility there.
Just one control!!! Also he can't twist sideways!!!

You should add foot roll for the feet!!!

If you have any questions get back to me

jack

:beer:
Doogie
01-23-2003, 09:13 PM
Thanks for all your feedback. Haven't completely locked down controls b/c i havent decided what controls are going where.

For the hands, =) Everytime I try and constrain the rotation and trans both on the handCurve the rotation box always gets disoriented. Any way to get it lined up with the hand's roation? I tried adding a group in there, to no avail. Think it's because i have it parented under the back? My current solution is an expression that rotates both hands in the wrist for a smoother bend. (i dont mind having 2 contols for the hand b/c i wanna use FK for most of the animation anyway)

Normally do put the finger SDKs in the handCurve. But i didnt like animating all the fingers w/ that. I wanna see how i like animating the ty on the boxes. Ill prolly put the fingerspread and other stuff in the handCurve though.

What kinda suggestions do ya have for making the back more workable? Should i just stick a control handle out from every joint? (i prolly didnt need that many joints back there) Also, extream back movements might look odd since my character is rather bulbous.

How should I set up the footroll, would someone mind writing in a quick tut? Ive done one before (i dont remember how though :argh: ). The main thing i dont wanna lose is control. The way the roll set up before i had trouble with different foot movements (like sneaking).
jackkhouri
01-24-2003, 05:15 AM
hey bud heres a layout for a leg rig that i did for my students
hope it can help you out

the back is coming up
jackkhouri
01-24-2003, 05:17 AM
heres is the rest
jackkhouri
01-24-2003, 05:19 AM
and the rest
jackkhouri
01-24-2003, 05:29 AM
heres the back
jackkhouri
01-24-2003, 05:32 AM
the rest and the final

hope it can help you!

by the way, if you want, just post me your e-mail and I can send you the .pdf file for the rest of the Rig. Its an acrobat (.pdf) file and its 5 mb. Its a very basic rig!!! I wrote for my students!

later
Doogie
01-25-2003, 06:03 PM
K, i got an update (thanks to all of your suggestions). Hopefully this'll be the final one. :beer:

MimeRig2.zip[222k] (http://www.geocities.com/doogie5526/forumPics/MimeRig2.zip)

I put both rotate and translate on the wristCurves. I redid the feet as for the tutorial, as with the back.

I ended up redoing most of the rig, and tried zxy. I think they'res controls to control the order that it evaluates rotations, couldnt this also help gimbal?

Thanks again, you all rock :buttrock:
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