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Software Discussion
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Maya
Bendy arms/legs
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03 Sep 2006Just wondered if people knew a simple way of doing this kind of setup. Ive been researching for any help on the net but i can't hardly find anythin concerning this matter.
I think Fahrenheit Digital dvd's seem to cover it very well, also the alias supertoon one and the "Inspired 3D Advanced Rigging and Deformations" book. But unfortunately i can't afford them
If people don't know what i mean by bendy arms/legs, just check out this vid:
http://www.andy-phillips.com/blog%20images/bendyArm.mov
If experimented already with the "Ribbon IK" approach using the script from http://www.negative13.com if you want you can have a look to the file here:
http://galeon.com/rvg/curvyelbow_test.mb -
03 Sep 2006You can use IK for that business. I personally don't know how to stretch, one book i recommend on the subject is 'The Art of Rigging' I have Volume 2, but there is a Volume 3 now, so I suggest you pick that up. I could make a quick demo on how to set up and IK system if you want.
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03 Sep 2006Thanks for the tip Mike, ive already got the art of rigging 1. So i understand quite well how to make a "blendable" (not "matchable") FK/IK setup and stretchy IK chains. The thing i don't know is how to make the mesh deformable and still be consistent with the rig (notice I'm talking about breaking the mesh and not breaking the hierarchy, which is a different thing).
Here's another reference so yall can see what i mean: http://accad.osu.edu/~dguinn/portfolio/ ... setup.html
I think "The Setup Machine" also adds this feature when you auto rig a character. -
03 Sep 2006Ooh - that Fritz rig looks rather nice. Not sure exactly how the guy achieved all of that wonderfull bendyness, but I'm guessing the setup would be something like (at least in concept) a switchable IK/FK arm.
The way I setup my IK switchables is with a 3 joint setup. ie. I have an FK arm and an IK arm and the 'bound' arm (the arm that the mesh is bound to) is constrained between the two. I haven't needed to do bendy IK at work since we're not doing 'cartoony' stuff, so I'm not 100% sure, but what you could try is putting a spline IK over the top of that 'middle' joint chain (so your spline IK still has IK/FK) You'd then setup some clusters etc on your spline IK, bind your mesh to that IK (not the middle joint constrained between the IK and FK)
Hope that helps
BTW... not sure how this setup would work if you want all of this stetchable too, though I'm guessing you'd just need to plug your stetchy expression (or utility nodes far better!) into both your standard IK and the spline IK that's attatched to it) -
04 Sep 2006
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04 Sep 2006Certainly looks close Ravi!
Actually, I had another thought about this (but haven't had a chance to gey close to Maya this weekend to test) How about swapping out the splineIK and using a wire deformer instead? I don't use wire deformers much myself (just to help create blendshapes etc) but I have a friend out here that swears by them.
Just a thought
Oh and posting your Maya file may be an idea (ASCII though as I don't have 7.0) -
04 Sep 2006Thanks man!!
Never thought about it...Ive never used wire deformers so its gonna take me some time experimenting. Will try to post some of the progress asap.
Here's the file again (i think i did post the file before, but anyway), now in ASCII: http://galeon.com/rvg/curvyarm.ma
You might find the hypergraph/outliner a bit messy sorry bout that -
mahmoudnahmad 1,159 posts04 Sep 2006thats a very spacific rig lol too much for me but nice
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04 Sep 2006ok ive found this very detailed tutorial just now:
http://www.duncandonuts.co.uk/bendyarm.html
It basically explains how to make a PERFECT CARTOONY ARM, which is what i was definetely looking for. It uses spline Ik for it, and a custom script to create inbetween joints that comes with the tutorial files. It also shows you how to make the arm stretchy with nodes, and how to do forearm twist (without needing any forearm joint...just using the spline ik's twist attribute and some funky connections).
The tutorial seems very well explained and detailed, with screenshots that clarify the process.
the only problem is.... it's too damn looong!!! lol
Will give it a go when i find some time...
let me know if you people are gonna try this too, share your views and post your progress.
Credits for this to Mr. Duncan Skertchly (duncanskertchly@yahoo.co.uk). -
08 Sep 2006Wow that looks like it could be your answer, thanks for posting the link. If I get a chance I'll certainly have a look at this tut. Let us know how you are getting on.
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22 Nov 2006Hey everyone, it?s been a loooooooooooooooong while (almost 3 months) since I started this thread, and now I?ve learned quite a lot about the subject matter (it didn?t necessarily take me 3 months lol, I?ve been looking into other stuff too).
I?m still not confident in rigging to be honest. There?s sooo much left to learn and to do properly. But I feel I?ve learned enough to do a decent "animatable" character, since I wanna be a character animator and not a TD.
Anyway, for people interested, I?m posting a few pics of a character I?ve been working on applying all my rigging knowledge, including the bendy arms-legs. Important note though: Skinning is terrible. But the rig is stable so far.
I?m currently working on some animation tests. Hope I can put them up soon to show the rig in action... -
22 Nov 2006Looks great Ravi!
If you need people to give the rig thorough check you can always post it here
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22 Nov 2006that's awsome dude, i will try to try the same thing in max if i have time... always wanted to do somthing like this, clever way of doing in... now when is the anim coming up :p
nice monkey too. he could fit in my fridge... -
22 Nov 2006That looks AWESOME ravi!!!!
*plugged*
Can't wait for some animation! -
23 Nov 2006Totally great... wow, the Facial Ui is truelly great, cool idea to setup the letters...If it works well, it should be really fast to make the lipsync
Can't wait to see yours "tests" -
mahmoudnahmad 1,159 posts27 Nov 2006wow that will be hard to animate i guess with all the wiggly
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28 Nov 2006
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29 Nov 2006Heya Ravi, Ive come across this awsome looking plug-in for Maya that lets you create a Squash and Strech rig for Maya with just a click of a button, i highly recommend you watch the videos.
http://www.michael-hutchinson.com/downloads/index.php
-Iest -
30 Nov 2006
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30 Nov 2006
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31 Dec 2006
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01 Jan 2007Awesome work man, really awesome rig, awesome animating, just really... cool!
Ha, you thought I was going to say Awesome.
Happy New Year -
01 Jan 2007wow, Ravi, not only is that an AMAZING rig you made, but that was one of the most entertaining demo reel presentations i've ever watched in my life. most are relatively boring with a few cool tidbits, or the same old kinds of shots, or whatever, but even your stills came in with a little bounce! Great rig, absolutely astounding demo reel production! I was captivated the entire time and couldn't turn away, and was actually a bit bummed when it ended.
music is also a touchy thing in demo reels. if you put rock music in, chances are everyone in the room watching your reel at a big studio hates rock! but you don't want to have people falling asleep to something too subdued. Also, techno is kinda old for using in demo reels, and rarely will the visuals match up with the thumping beat. your music selection was perfect, and the way you animated the zooms and transitions to match it was perfect!
For the rig, I was especially impressed with the details that seemed to appear and disappear in his eyebrows (depending on the expression), and also the way you had ear squash built into it. just a great rig all around!
It won't take you long to get a job as a rigging artist with that demo reel floating around.
someone here with power should plug it! -
03 Jan 2007Thanks a lot ppl!!
I hav to say sorry cause I kept sayin I would upload this soon but unfortunately didnt hav the time I would hav liked to spend on the tests. But I'm glad is getting good responses so far.
I wouldn't consider myself a TD because I just wanna animate!! lol plus what I've seen out there puts this rig into shame but I'm very happy with the learning I've been through and I now hav enough confidence to do basic character rigs, which I was afraid was a skill that cg companies demanded from 3d animators....although I think its not true for every case but still 
The music I found it to be very ideal because it combined both techno and rock in a very smooth and "not so noisy and disturbing" way. I should hav credited Crystal Method for it actually, but since Im not gonna use this vid as a demoreel I think it should be fine
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04 Jan 2007
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nirmitgarg 1 posts05 Feb 2010
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