CGTalk - Quadruped design...

PentamiterBeast

02-09-2011, 10:43 AM

Hey.

So I'm just about to start building what'll become my "standard" quadruped rig, for multiple uses, and I think I know what I want, but I just wanted to ask the opinion of folks here to see what the general consensus is for some of the broad design/function choices, both of riggers and animators if poss.

First off, the ROOT.

the standard wisdom (as far as Im concerned) is for the root item to go between the shoulders, not hips as you would ordinarily have it on a biped. I have though come across folks over time who do also use hips as the root on quads... is it worth thinking about hips, or should I DEFINATELY stick to shoulder root.

IKFK... I can't really see a whole amount of reason to have IKFK switching available in the limbs of a quad... biped sure, but quads are pretty much in conact with the ground all the time on all limbs. Except when in a jump or somesuch... but those are only small moves, and easily animatable with just IK to my mind... IKFK for the spine/neck/tail sure... but what are your thoughts on limbs?

Ok, thats about it... short laundry list really, though if anyone has any other areas of rig design/layout that they think are important for quads, do please also give them a mention.

Many thanks.

spacegroo

02-15-2011, 02:06 PM

The Root's location will depend on your application. For my purposes, we have our roots centered beneath our creatures, because the root is the center of our bounding volume for collision within the game engine. But if you don't need to worry about game engine requirements, then you have a lot more wiggle room.

Regarding IK/FK, you may want to err on the side of flexibility. It's possible that you'll need to do swimming animations or other animations where an FK limb might give you smoother motion. That really depends on your animation requirements, though.

pooby

02-16-2011, 08:47 AM

I would have no single root.
On a quadroped I think it is better to have the top and bottom parts of the body independant and have a spine that connects them. This way its totally fluid.

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