Work in Progress August 2009

TPD WIP August 2009 from Paul Caggegi on Vimeo.

Welcome to this month's work in progress video. I offer a couple of tips this month, to enhance your rig, using action constraints, and set-driven shape-keys.

I like to use these techniques to enhance an already functional rig. They can add some extra deformation specific to the area you wish to control.

Action constraints can be assigned to multiple bones/objects, all driven by the property of a control bone. The example I show here is a simple hand pose, using the Y-scale of the hand controller as the driver.

You can build whole libraries of poses this way, so that your controls are alot more functional when animating a character.

Shape keys add specific deformations to areas where the armature is not deforming the bone adequately. One such area is the shoulder joint. By creating a shape key, and using a control bone to drive it, you can quickly fix problematic deformations around areas like the shoulders, driven only when the character is posed a certain way.

There are more applications of these two methods. I like to use them to allow brow furrows to appear when a character scowls, or biceps to flex when a character clutches his fists - the possibilities are limitless.

I hope you gain some insight into how to set these techniques up on a rig, and apply them to your own rigs in future.

REMINDER: I have to take the process diary on a necessary hiatus next month, so no updates will be posted during that time. However I will respond to any feedback, comments, or emails you care to send me.

Cheers, folks!

Paul C



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