Hand rigging for games in the year 2016 techniques?

sr3d

For the longest time it's been 16 bones per hand: 1 hand bone + 3 bones for each finger = 16 bones total

Do this in real life: Make a VERY TIGHT fist then a slightly more RELAXED fist.  Keep constricting from relaxed fist to very tight fist.   Now relax your hand completely and touch the tip of your pinky to the tip of your thumb.

Do you notice how the upper part of the pinky moves up and down?

I've only found one video that covers how to move the pinky in a more natural way:
9:15 @ following video
https://youtu.be/Ah-Jk7d30ks?t=571

Do you guys know of any other tutorials that cover the topic of hand rigging for a natural pinky grip? I'm not sure what else to call it.

Chimp

That is a pretty standard method, tbh there's a whole lot of ways people do it, not just the one you've listed as being for the longest time - I've used this config but with only two bones for the fingers (not ideal generally but was for that particular game). Obviously there's options with even more bones, there's no real limitation if you're willing to balance performance. Best thing to do is extract game rigs and have a look at what developers end up actually doing, because the majority of what you'll see on youtube and here all perpetuate the same fundamental principles because everyone is learning and retelling the same tutorials, its only once you get onto professional projects that you unlearn a lot of tutorial stuff because you have specific needs and requirements, and discover that studios generally develop what works for them which can often be quite unique compared to what you see online.

Edit: look up stylised character rigs, seems counter productive because you want realism, but they often try to push and exaggerate things and you'll see set ups that allow for that there, that deviate from the norm.

antweiler

I have right below the wrist 4 extra joints for each finger. With slight rotations you get the deformations in the hand, you are asking for. During animation its best to automatize the innerhands joints rotations using an attribute and Driven Keys.

sr3d

Chimp said:

That is a pretty standard method, tbh there's a whole lot of ways people do it, not just the one you've listed as being for the longest time - I've used this config but with only two bones for the fingers (not ideal generally but was for that particular game). Obviously there's options with even more bones, there's no real limitation if you're willing to balance performance. Best thing to do is extract game rigs and have a look at what developers end up actually doing, because the majority of what you'll see on youtube and here all perpetuate the same fundamental principles because everyone is learning and retelling the same tutorials, its only once you get onto professional projects that you unlearn a lot of tutorial stuff because you have specific needs and requirements, and discover that studios generally develop what works for them which can often be quite unique compared to what you see online.

Edit: look up stylised character rigs, seems counter productive because you want realism, but they often try to push and exaggerate things and you'll see set ups that allow for that there, that deviate from the norm.

I took your advice and went with what works best for me, but I don't know if it's right to say that it "works best for me".  It's literally the simplest solution I could think of to achieve the desired result.

1 hand bone
3 primary finger bones
3 middle finger bones
3 ring finger bones
4 pinky bones in which 1st bone goes into the hand by 75% and last bone is at the end of the pinky finger. When 1st pinky bone rotates down it simulates a pinky grip aka moving the right part of the hand down slightly.

I'll post a screenshot and video eventually.
For anyone who wants more clarification, touch the tip of your pinky finger to the tip of your thumb and you'll see what I'm going for. Observe your pinky while doing that.

antweiler said:

I have right below the wrist 4 extra joints for each finger. With slight rotations you get the deformations in the hand, you are asking for. During animation its best to automatize the innerhands joints rotations using an attribute and Driven Keys.

I just missed this response.  I'm definitely on the right track then, thank you for this confirmation!

What advantage do you gain by having four bones for the first, middle and ring finger?

antweiler

What advantage do you gain by having four bones for the first, middle and ring finger?

Mostly for consistency for all fingers, and i get a bit more control over the hands deformation and the orientation of the fingers.

Both setups are possible, it should be about control, since for nowadays PC and console games two or three more joints shouldnt really matter.