Rigging help wanted. $

#1

Hi,

I´m working on a cartoon deer character. I need to do few simple animations in near future, but the problem is that I´m not very good with rigging. Actually I´m into it at all.

Can I find here a good rigger who would like to do the rigging for me? The rig can be very simple, but also as easy to animate for me as possible. So IK and Controls should be added?
The rig is very basic (spine, tail, neck, head, 4 legs). The morphs for the face I have done already, so the head needs no attention.
I´m using 8.2 so the rig should be working with <9.0 version.

I think a good rigger would do the job in 2-3 hours. I´m willing to pay for the job a fair price.

Please contact me via this email address : juha.nilsen (at) gmail.com

Thanks!

#2

Animating quadrapeds != easy

:frowning:

I’ve done a rather long animationg with a little zebra and you are in for some deep hurting. Email me through my website if you need any help.

#3

Lightwave is NOT a character animation program. If you want to do character animation buy something else. ANYTHING else.

#4

That’s a bit harsh. I do plenty of character animation in Lightwave. It’s quirky to be sure, but capable. Especially with the new IK tools in 9.5.

#5

Ah Ah Ah…never heard something more false and unhelpful.

You can do great character animation in Lightwave…

http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=zGWeCrU6RNo&feature=related

http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=r72qocWVfEg&feature=related

…and in LW9.5 is easier than ever.

Older version of LW needs PLG IK plugins (they are free) to be really user friendly when rigging.

But the last versions just gives you anything you need to rig without problems.

I’ve only 9.5 version installed, but I can try rigging your model using PLG and then exporting to an older LWS version to see if it works.

But if you can, do yourself a BIG favour…upgrade to LW9.5 (and don’t listen to stupid osts :wink: ).

#6

LW9.5 is certanly leaps and bounds more capable than any earlier version. While LW still isn’t the application that everyone prefers for their animationwork, it’s still capable at doing both rigging and animation.

I have yet to see anything that support what Sbowling is stating, and even more so I havn’t seen Sbowling offer any help regarding how to use LightWave. Any application can output crap and it ends up being more the user rather than the software that sets the limits.

I can wholeheartedly respect if someone says that they don’t like LW because of the workflow, but stating that it’s not a capable app reflects more onto the person stating such thing, than on the app itself…especially when there are alot of evidence of the contrary to what Sbowling is saying.

#7

I think you should broaden your contact network by joining SpinQuad and NT-forums. Once upon a time there were alot more LW-users frequenting this forum, but something happened that drove many of them away. I’ve heard they gathered in masses at the above mentioned links. Chances are much higher for you to find the right person if you post in those forums as well.

Just a friendly tip… :slight_smile:

#8

It would likely take a good rigger more than 2-3 hours to do the rig properly. There are some quick and dirty ways to do it in 2-3 hours but the rig would be just that, quick and dirty. If you want a solid rig for a variety of animation then it would probably take most good riggers at least a day or two to fine tune everything properly and test it.

#9

Is that why Timothy Albee(former Disney animator) chose Lightwave to do his animated film Ghost Warrior even after having production experience using all the other major 3d programs like Softimage, Maya and 3DSMax?

#10

There are some nice quad rigging tutorials, but they’re mostly for LW 9.X.

It may be worth it to upgrade to the latest and greatest. But if you’re truly limited to LW 8.3, then your choices are somewhat more limited.

Autorigging is another possibility,

ACS4 looked promising, but is no longer available.
Maestro seems to be a promising solution. It has a quad rig that is included.

Thomas’ T4D Rigging Tools still seem available. Thomas still maintains his plugins but has personally switched to other software for his animation needs.

If you’re willing to learn how to rig (within LW 8.x), then might I suggest Johny Gordon’s
[b]LightWave 3D 8 Cartoon Character Creation, Volume 2: Rigging & Animation

Good luck!
[/b]

#11

That’s quite true. If the one rigging and animating is the same person, quick and dirty will certanly work if you know exactly what the character is going to do.

Rigging for others, however, is a another ballgame alltogether, because it has to be as much multipurpose rig as possible. Those rigs can take a week or two to do (or even more), depending on the complexity of the character.

#12

Thanks for the answers!

#13

the zebra animation on my site was rigged and animated on LW 8.x. I didn’t use Maestro or any other specialized rigging tools. Just a few free plugins (all of which are rendered moot with 9.5).

But animating Quadrapeds… No fun to be had there.

#14

This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.