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Rigging Camilla


Krazyman

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I've recently finished modelling a female character, entitled Camilla. Up to now, I've only rigged simple things, like bugs and the stuff out of the tutorial, that don't have fanbones, CP weighting and smartskinning.

That's all changed now, I've jumped in at the deep-end of the modelling pool, and loving it... splashing around, desperately trying to keep myself from drowning.

I've got some questions, that I can't seem to find any answers to...

 

1. I use the action screen to pose my character whilst CP weighting, the character looks like she's been in a train wreck. Is there any way to reset the pose back to zero, without having to do it manually joint by joint.

 

2. I've made fanbones for the breasts, with joint constraints. But the constraints don't seem to work in the choreography, I've also tried saving the action file and the model file and re-opening them. They work, but not in the choreography.

In short, how do you save constraints that I've saved in the action file. Or do you save them somewhere else?

 

P.S. Can you keep your answers simple, I'm still pretty new to rigging... :blink:

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My constraints are, Orient like and bone limit constraints, using fanbones. The fanbones wont operate when in the choreography, a pose will only give you 0 to 100%. The fanbone assembly I'm using, gives me full 360 degree control, across X, Y and Z axis. But three poses, could in theory give me the same movements, and is a good idea.

But it wouldn't answer how to save bone limit and orient constraints, unless I'm missing something...

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You can set the pose percentage by right clicking on the pose slider and choose settings. There you can set the amount of percentage, for example, -360 to 360. Are you talking about enforcement? If you set it up in an action, you can set it up in a pose.

 

Fan bones are usually setup in an on/off pose. Euler limits should be an on/off and the orient like constraint can be setup either way.

 

Also, you say it works fine in the action, did you drag and drop the action onto the model shortcut in the choreography?

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Yeah! That did the trick... I had to click on the shortcut to load up the action, then go into the menu and physically drop the action onto the shortcut of the model.

 

Nice one, thanks...

 

I didn't know you could tie bones into poses, it opens a lot of possibilities, as well as saving a lot of time modelling poses...

 

:D

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In the action window, is there any way to zero your characters pose back to what it was in the start. You know, to the same pose as what it was when it was modelled, as I'm mirroring CP points and fanbones. And as there isn't a copy and mirror paste, on Animation Master for these for individual CP points and bones. I'm having to do it one by one, and finding the same CP point on the other side is a pain, when the model isn't exactly lined up.

 

:blink:

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I've tried clear before, but it also clears out my constraints on my bones. I was more after a zero pose command, but I don't think there is one.

I wonder if its possible to make a zero pose, if there isn't a zero option on the action screen.

 

Then again, action doesn't work like that, or was built for that. It was made more for walk cycles and movement, rather than what I'm trying to use it for...

 

;)

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I give it a go, but it seems to do the same as clear action, deleting the bone constraints as it resets the figures pose.

 

Eureka... I just figured out how to do it, go to the bones menu and manually delete the Transform rotate X,Y,Z and W on each bone in the project workspace. It leaves the constraints, and you can manually select which bones to reset.

 

By the way, I know what a X,Y and Z axis are on the transform rotate, but whats the Transform rotate W for?

 

:D

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The delete keyframe doesn't delete the constraints, but it does reset their orientation back to 100%. I just checked what was different, and with being a relative beginner to rigging, I didn't realise until now...

But clicking on the bone, then opening the bone in the Workspace and deleting the transform X,Y,Z and W, left everything else intact.

 

As for Quanternions and Gimbal lock, I reckon that it's a bit advanced for me. :blink:

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Besides selecting the key model, you can select the key bones and the key branch from the frames toolbar. If you just want to delete the keyframe from one bone (select it in the action window), use the key bone option and then delete keyframe or use the key branch option and select the bone that is on top of the hierarchy and then delete keyframe.

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Yep... That does the trick I want it to!

I just set it to Key Bone a single bone, then hit Delete Keyframe and voila, set back to factory standard. It doesn't delete the transform X, Y, Z and W, it just sets them to the starting position. I'm not deleting anything, and its as simple as a button press...

 

Thanks for all the help, its gonna save a lot of time... :D

 

Now I'm working on the shoulders and hips on the rig, which I have to say, are the most difficult parts to rig... I'm having to redesign the way the hips and shoulders are setup, as I'm trying to mimic the amount of rotation a real human skeleton has. Ranging from hands above her head, to down by her side.

The biggest problem, lies in the way a human skeleton is made. The joints aren't at the ends of the bone, they jut out to the side, on both the hips and shoulders. Giving the shoulder an offcentre arc, that lifts the shoulder or hip as it raises...

I reckon I'll settle on fanbones and smartskin, but I'm going to do some experiments with locking the bicep to a small shoulder joint bone, and seeing if I can make the bicep follow the shoulder bone, rotating on its off centre axis...

 

<_<

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Rigging my character up, has been a long and ongoing laborious process. I'm finding bone placement has to be exact, to give the greatest deal of rotation without resorting to massive amounts of smartskinning and skin folding. I've found fanbones were needed to augment the skin movements over the bones, yet... fanbones seem to be very underused, and barely documented.

 

Just got some questions about the skeletons of the 2001 rig, I've noticed that there seems to be a few extra bones than the normal human skeleton doesn't have. I know the balance bones are centralized around the stomach and ankles, and are used in conjunction with the balance base to work out where the body should be to be balanced in the pose menu.

 

But there are other bones that seem to confuse me, as to their use. Namely the Hinge joints, and the Steady joints. Which don't seem to do anything and are somehow linked up to the poses, like the balance and steady poses.

Then you've got all the targets, hips, feet level, feet centre, base aim. I've got feeling these are also for the poses, like the balance, exerting force upon the joints to face a direction.

 

I know that this is too much for anyone to answer fully in a forum, but I reckon that a lot of them are for the balance and steady poses, that I reckon are not really needed for animation, and are just there to save time in animation.

 

In short, is there anyone out there there that knows what are the hinges are for?

and what the other types of joints are used for, are they just used for poses, like the steady, balance and balance rigid.

 

:blink:

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