Hi,
I thought it would be time to put a reel online of what Ive been doing recently. It shows a rigging concept that I call MCT ( Modular Character Tools ) and it is a plug-in for Maya, that allows some stuff, that is not possible with the standard tools. But judge for yourself and let me please know what you think. There is a "tech" part and a "animation" part, so make sure you dont miss the animation part!
Cheers
UPDATE:
please watch my latest demo here:
http://www.suntoucher-labs.com
Let me be the first to say: WOW!
I have to admit that I’m no animator or rigger, nevertheless this looks very clean and flexible 
.
I’m curious what the pros have to say about that…
btw: love the animation at the end!
Very well done Jan. Now I’m trying to figure out how you pulled off a few of those techniques 
There is an audio issue with the MCT demostration part of the video. Sound only comes through the left channel, though it is fine during the animation at the end.
/edit: Does the MCT plugin allow for an arbitrary number of limbs or is it limited to Biped/Quadruped setup + an unlimited number of ‘simple’ appendages?
hey jan!
wow, very nice demo/reel. this surely looks very intresting (though i’m neither animator or rigger).
i would very much like to see this with a “real” character.
small question… do you got some fancy skinning plugin aswell or how do you come about that part of the rigging?
-r
wow,that is unbelieveable!~
i can say once you get used to it ,you never want to use any other rig!~
haha
@robozyt: thanks mate! 
@mental: thanks for mentioning the audio issue, I fixed it. And regarding your question, MCT allows any type of character and all handles are the same, this means there is no first nor second class attachment to a character. If you want 8 fingers with IK on 3 hands, no problem. I tried to create a generic system that allows change and flexibility to a very high degree. For example there is nothing like a “bind pose” where you have to go in order to change a character`s proportions. This going back and forth in rigging and animation as soon as changes become necessary especially with auto-riggers was something I tried to overcome.
@rasmusW: thanks, man! Deformation is next on my list. But it is something I have not so much trouble with, so I wanted to lay the foundation for the “mechanics” of a character system first. And what is a “real” character btw?
@manitou: thanks, dude! I like your robot btw, doesn`t look like you take the easy way out, hm? 
If you’re searching for beta testers, let me know… 
What are your future plans with that stuff? Releasing a commercial plugin?
Don`t know yet, but could be. I just wanted to finish this demo and as a proof for me that this system works in action. Now I have to get all this C++ stuff out of my head and check if only I think that a system like this could be usefu to others. :shrug:
very very nice system, very impressive!
can you give some informations about the speed of the rig and if you are using maya standard stuff or what parts are being processed by the plugin
(for example: do you use the maya ik solver, are there many rig layers in the background which blend to diffrent modes, etc.)
thnx
keep up the good work!
wow jan , “das ist wirklich beeindruckend” - this is really impressive
you completely did it “your way” .
question 1:
does this completely work without skinClusters or regular maya-Joints ?
question 2:
are animators completely free to lock the elbows at any point in space ? is it possible to place the locking-pivot somewhere between the elbow and the wrist ?
commendation 1:
i love the style … the simplicity , you created these little motion-spheres , that animators can grab and move around .
commendation 2:
it looks very flexible ( attaching of “new-rig-elements” into the hierarchy )
great work !!! 5 stars -> these rigging-mechanism you develope are really impressing !
sim.On
This is really awesome!!
Did you build upon the maya joint system or you created your own?
Are all the constraint handled by ur system? Does it handle the case when you want something external to drive the rig eg props, weapons?
I would love to dive into the source code if you are not going to commercialize it, though I think you should. It will surely sell.
Thanks guys for your very positive feedback and comments, cheers!
@ suyati: thanks ! All crucial work is handled by custom nodes, no maya IK, no maya IK Spline Solver, no maya constraints. But I can constraint maya joints directly to the handles to drive some deformation skeleton. The speed depends on the number of handles, but on a normal character it is about 20-25 fps on my macbook pro.
@tonytouch: thanks! question1: See above. question2: yes, anywhere. You can also attach the elbow to any other handle. There are no predetermined ways on what is allowed to be attached where. If you need to attach the elbow to the left ear, no probem.
@Mydrako: thanks! Something like a prop should get a handle and thus have all the possibilities any other handle has, so you can drive the prop with some limb or use some limb to drive a prop. The remote control of the monkey got a handle and then I could just animate the space switching between the crane, falling free and then being caught by the monkey.
I really appreciate your great feedback, I love u all! :love:
Hi Jan,
this is really impressive stuff! Wow!!! I´m just beginning with rigging in Maya and I really appreciate what you´ve created there. That´s simply insane :bounce:
I would love to see this as an available plugin!
Marco
Genius. Pure Genius.
Let me know when you release the Plug-in, because I’d love to get my hands on it. I can see this being widely used by animators & riggers, and eventually Autodesk will buy it from you or develop their own.
I can’t imagine the amount of work you put into this… I just finished a very complex Arm auto-rigging script (which was the first part of a Rig anything script) and was feeling really good about myself… then I saw your demonstration. 
Question: How long did this take you to write?
I simple LOVE the IK system!
Awesome, As an Animator (and hobbie rigger) I must to say: You gonna make my life easier.
I can´t wait to test this new system.
Haaa i have similar thought with EdwardG. Have u been working for years? Your plugin is a really complex one and hopefully u tell us that you are a seasoned developer 
(to put out the fiery commotion ur plugin is creating heee)
Thanks, everybody for your nice comments!
@marcotronic: thanks, I`d like to see it as a plug-in, too! ; )
@edwardG: thanks, I have no idea of the total time invested, but I started it like 5 years ago on and off as a “hobby” project.
@animetria: thanks, dude!
@Mydrako: thanks man! seasoned yes, developer no. ; )
Thanks again for your great feedback, there were times when I thought if that thing is going into the right direction. And being a character artist I thought, shouldnt I rather spend crazy time sculpting in zbrush and/or mudbox instead of fighting with the API? But I always had the urge to do it since I thought that the current way character rigs are built ( at least in maya ) is too static. And one thing I noticed while doing the monkey animation at the end, is that it actually was fun to animate, because when I had an idea of some interaction between the characters, I only had to spend a few minutes to lay out the rough action and not spend hours building just another weird constraint construct and pray that it wont explode.
Cheers!
buexe
Hi Jan,
Awsome stuff!
I have been rigging for a very long time and have always tried to find a good method of rigging a character with seamless fk and ik blending. Your plugin will be a big help and i hope you can release the plugin soon, so i could use it in my own pipeline.
Well done,
Vin:applause:
Awesome demo. I can’t wait to get my hands on this I hope you will release it soon I buy it right away.