What things would you like to see in auto rigger?

[NolanSW]

Jeez, where to start....Having wrote one I can give you a few tips.

1. Keep it modular. Meaning, don't assume anything from the user and how things are named or setup. If you have it so the user has to conform to a certain naming convention for joints then they will never use it.

2. Rotation order is key. Have options for changing that either in your setup or an attribute that is not keyable.

3. Keep it well organized. I wrote in mine where it will organize the outliner so that it keeps each part contained. Nothing is floating around. A clean rig is a happy rig. :)

4. Keep it simple. Work off a simple foundation and build from that. Once you have something pretty solid, it's much easier to build off from that.

It has taken me months to develop a system that is flexible enough for most animators workflow. To really build a robust system, ask animators what they look for in rigs. What you think would be cool to have in it may seem really unimportant to them and a waste of time for you to create.

The best way to apporach it is to build a rig first and have animators crit it and make changes as needed. Once you have something to work off of, start building the script.

Once I have a good skeleton built, it only takes me about 3-5 minutes to build a basic rig. So, I keep it light and fast and pretty flexible for most senarios.

Hope that helps some. It's a lot of work. Good luck.

-Sean

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