Rig Documentation

This video documents the final rig that I will be using in my animation. It shows the versatility of the man's facial expressions, the simple yet effective foot setup with multiple rotation points (ball, toe, ankle, heel.) I have had to re-rig the dog completely since my last post - I rigged the dog in a similar fashion to the way I rig bipeds (with a central control point and the center of gravity). The problem I found was that dogs spread their weight over their front and back legs so I needed a solution that resulted in a spine control system that mimicked a dog's physiology. I also integrated an advanced dynamic tail system that automated its whip action, thus reducing the time needed to animate it.

My Character is also almost ready

This is the male character. I still have to work out a few things, such as blend shape eyebrows or FK, and decide what kind of control I want over the hands.

I will be doing some animation tests soon to finalise my ideas.

My dog is almost ready

This is the dog fully rigged. I still have to work out shaders and textures. Other than that this dog is ready to go!

Progress with Maya

I am finally getting to grips with the Maya Interface. I have nearly finished modeling and rigging the man and the dog - I will post screen shots soon. After trying out a few different methods of rigging I finally settled on the reverse foot setup. I decided against sliders wherever possible because I want the characters to be 'hands on'.