Help! How to create a root control for a rigged character

Jska

Hello!

I'm modeling a squirrel (quadruped)in Maya 2015 and have fully rigged it but didn't make a root control that the whole rig is moved with, so when I try to move the whole rig (by selecting all my controls) the squirrel's mesh goes crazy.
I've tried just parenting everything(controls and rig) under a new control but that didn't work, it just messed up my parenting system and deformed the mesh.
This is the rig:


and this is my outliner:

i didn't open everything in the second picture.

I was hoping someone could tell me how to make a root control without messing up the parenting system I have for all my other controls?

Thanks!:)

RaptorCWS

Have you froze your transformations and deleted your history before adding the root controller object?

Jska

I tried to freeze transform on everything(skeleton and controls) and i get this error:
// Error: line 0: Freeze Transform was not applied because Build2_0_11_Squirrel_root.translateX has incoming connection. //

When building the skeleton I did have trouble freezing the positions, but I continued rigging and adding controls without freezing all the joints. Now i'm kicking myself because I think i'm going to have to rebuild the whole rig again.

slipsius

When you move just "Squirrel_Ctrl", what happens? A root control just needs to parent any control that other controls are parented to. For example, to move the entire spine, you usually grab the hips, or the lowest spine control, depending on the rig. Usually you have a spine control and the hips parented to a "main" control, so when you grab teh main control (usually in the same place as the hips, just a bit bitter), the entire upper and lower body moves with it. All except for the IK feet/hands. So, in your case, you`ll want to parent all 4 legs, and maybe the waist? Im not sure the difference between your waist and hips. Not the controls themselves, but the pivot groups you have setup.

You don't need to, nor should you ever freeze transforms on the joints themselves.

Jska

This happends when i move "squirrel_Ctril" in Y a few units.
It looks like the IK's (Tail, Spine, and back legs) distort everything else, but I'm not sure how to correct that.

slipsius

can you post a pic of how your controls are parented to one another?

Jska

all the TailBase_ctrls and Build2_0_11_LBLeg_ctrls are the same so I only opened one of each to save on space for the pic.

slipsius

can you post a shot where you move the root control up a lot, not just a little? It's too hard to see what's moved and what hasnt in your pic.

slipsius

Actually, it looks like your neck bone and your root bone (the bone that splits off to go down to the tail or up to the spine) arent moving at all. Are they point constrained to anything?

Jska

Jska

yeah, i have constraints in the spine, waist, hip, and leg controls. but i don't think there's one in the tail...?
anything with an IK is what's warping everything, except the front paws for some unknown reason.

slipsius

Unparent the IK handles for the spine and tail. Looks like they are getting double the translation as everything else, which means it's moving with the control, as well as the ik handle itself.

Jska

unparenting the IK's for the spine and tail didn't work, but i understand that they could be getting double the translation from something having to do with parenting. I'm just not sure what needs to be unparented.
I'm trying to find what the front legs have, or don't have, that makes them able to move with the control, while the back legs, spine and tail don't move with the control.
This is The Left Front Leg Control:

This is the Left Back Leg Control:

this is the Tail_Ctrl:

this is the Squirrel Root Joints showing the spine and canstraints:

this is the waist control that holds the spine controls nad Spine IK:

DireWolf

The joint in the center isn't moving any other joints around it?

Jska

It moves, but way more than it should. The Joint labeled spine 6 (where the spine IK starts) and the joint labeled Build2_0_11_Squirrel_root (where the spine IK ends) are the 2 most affected points. I used IK splines to make the back and tail curve and stretch more naturally.
the Tutorial i specifically used for this model was "Rigging a Quadruped in Maya by Jason Baskin"