Complex rigging theory?

[30ftsmurf]

I am new to the forum and new to seriously working in AS. I've been around since 6 or 7 and am now working on 10.

The project I am working (which I've learned the program and the finer concepts of animation to produce) is a 22 min animated pilot for broadcast, in addition we are using many of our characters in shorts and web series for youtube and vemio.

My question is this: what approach would I take to designing a robust and versatile character rig that can be used in many scenarios but still allow for improvements and tweaks for individual applications.
Because of the scale of the project and the modest size of the production team it is very important that much of the work we do be flexible and re-usable over time.

Any advice would be much appreciated and welcome. Thanks!

[EHEBrandon]

Hello! Welcome! I was in the same boat about 8 months ago.. But I didn't bother to ask so I messed with things on my own... So I am making a anime series as well.. So far trying to get it on TV it is an ongoing series.. Anyways about your question.. I am going to give you my full advice on how you should set up and rig your characters in the best way possible in my opinion of course..

So basically you want to draw your character (of course) make sure you break things up in separate layers example: Right Arm, Left Arm, Right Leg, Left Leg, etc.. This just makes it easier when layer sorting...

After your done drawing your character create a bone and put all your layers in the bone..

So basically your going to want to make the parent bone first.. When you draw your body make sure you set up the bones I usually have two.. One for lower and one for upper.. Make sure it is connecting to the parent.. Then for the arms make sure to draw the shoulder bones then draw the arms.. But remember when you draw the shoulder bones make sure it connects with the chest.. Then you will select the chest again if you decide to rig the neck, head, and hair.. Now when it comes to legs you need to select the parent bone again.. Over all it should look like this. Sorry I literally just put this together just for you... So sorry if the character looks bad.. XD Also as you can see I do everything on separate layers..



So now we got a basic rig to do basic movements... I suggest not using these for complete arm and leg movements... Since it looks like a robot in my opinion... Now this is when we come to smart bones to make the rig more complex! So for my example I will just be doing the hair. :3 The method is still the same either way..

So basically all you will do is draw a bone to the side and then you will go up to bone and make a smart bone dial..





Name it whatever you want.. So for my example I will name it "Hair"





You will then go to window and actions.. It should bring up a window..





Just make sure you double click on the "Yourname" Action in my case its "Hair"






So now go to a different frame I will go to "15" and make my movements (I will also make a few more adjustments along the way).. You will make your movements by moving each vector also known as points.. To your liking.. Just keep doing this until you got what you want.. You said making it reusable.. So make smart bones for 3/4 turns, front turns, back turns, side turns, hair movements. etc... So now after you set it up to your liking.. Go back to the action windows and double click mainline so you could go back to the main timeline.. So now that you got that.. You should be able to move the bone and it should apply what you did in the smart bones action.. So that is it on that really..






Video Example:



Also since I had my one scene set up that is why I used that for the last parts. :p I hope this helps or it was good... I am not exactly the best person when it comes to things like this... But I hope it was good and it helped... If you want I could make a video for ya. Also I did very minor tweaks since I was going for wavey hair since its windy in the scene.. Also yes this character is from H.O.T.D. Highschool of the Dead! Also sorry for the nudity... <.<

[Equalrights4animals]

Hey 30ftsmurf what's the TV series you're working on the pilot for called? When will it air?