Rigging 101

Smirnoffka

Sorry if this has been posted before, I did a search and couldnt find anything..
I was just wondering if anyone knows where to start with rigging, eg tutorials and stuff. I have never done any before, and would like to get into it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

gavku

what program?

Smirnoffka

Ahhh, sorry, should have posted that. Using MAX 7.

animatr

the max 7 tutorials will get you a pretty good head start into rigging. It goes through wiring up custom prarmeters and such. I'd start there personally. It will take you a long time to go through those tutorials anyway. I belive FatAssain on this board has a webpage that also has some max riggin stuff.

Smirnoffka

Hehe, didn't even think of looking there. Thanks man

Joao Sapiro

http://www.turbosquid.com/FullPreview/Index.cfm/ID/269783

this guy has the best rigging tut for beginers iv seen.

http://www3.sympatico.ca/psykopat/

Psyk0

Don't believe what Johny sez!

SkullboX

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the max 7 tutorials will get you a pretty good head start into rigging. It goes through wiring up custom prarmeters and such. I'd start there personally.

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Max's help files are great and provide all the tutorials and information needed, though I wouldn't worry about wire parameters just jet. First learn how to create a basic bone skeleton, then learn how to apply Inverse Kinematics (to 'lock down' feet, and arms if you prefer that as well) then finally learn how to skin (as in, attaching the model to the skeleton).

Of course you could also choose to go for biped, max' ready built animation system. It's easy to setup, but because of that has severe limitations. I personally hate it, but some prefer it. Martinez, a member on this board, is and expert with biped and creates great looking animations with it.

If you want a more general background on rigging go for bones, since all bone systems in the major 3D packages share a similar system with silmilar controls. Good luck!

Mark Dygert

The best advice I could have given you was given by the highly talented SkullboX. Trust me when I say he is a voice to be listened to.

Bi-ped and physique can get the job done if you are going to hand animate but you will more than likely get better results with bones and your own set up. It might take you longer to learn but it will pay off is many many ways when it comes to animating by hand. The only time I would suggest using bi-ped is when you have to. As in for a specific engine, motion capture or your client is a complete dick and demands it. =P

I used bi-ped and thought it was great until I started to run into its faults. My biggest beef with it is how it handles forearms and hands. Forearms actually are two bones that allow a certain amount of twist. Finger bones in the human body are attached to long bones that attach to the wrist, not a paddle that doesn't bend. Same goes for the feet. Don't get me started on how it handles shoulders knees and elbows... It is possible to highly customize your bi-ped but at that point you might as well have built your own.

Eric Chadwick

How do you load guys animations across different Max-bones skeletons, like say if I make a great hand/finger animation, and want to merge just that onto another skeleton that has the same hierarchy? Use the default Merge Animation?

SkullboX

Yeah, for straight forward rigs the merge animation function should work. I've had to use it a lot on a game I worked on at liquid, which in the end required all animations to be in a single file after they had been animated in seperate ones. I hadn't had a single problem.

When you have time dependant controllers such as a keyed link constraint or keyed IK/FK switches you'll probably run into some trouble. If FK hand animation is all you want, it should be no problem at all.

Blaizer

here's some good tutorials for rigging by James Haywood.

http://jhaywood.com/croiProject.htm

Pepeland.com has also some tutorials of rigging. check out his site

You also can buy some dvds for rigging, there are a lot of them, you will become a master in a short time .