Character Animation Tests - Walk Cycle

My First animated scene. Animating something this simple was surprisingly difficult using the rig I had created as it isn't perfect but I am quite happy with this basic walk.

Finger Control

Possibly the most tedious task in rigging my character was animating the fingers to move/curl depending on the position of their controller.

To animate the fingers I used 'set driven keys' which program the bones to be in certain positions and/or rotation when the controller is rotated to different amounts.

Reverse footlock

It was advised to me that creating a 'reverse footlock system' skeleton rig in the feet so that the toes always point to the foot controllers.

It was very difficult to create separate from the rest of the skeleton and required multiple 'parenting constraints' to make it and the bones in the foot interact in a way that makes foot movement appear more realistic.

Joint Targets

To make sure my models joints point in the corrent direction, I have had to create 'targets' for them.

 

 

Now when I move the wrists and feet in a way that makes the knees and elbows bend they will point wherever I put the 'targets'.

Skeleton Rig Controllers

Here I have created controllers on and attached them to certain parts of the skeleton so that I can control the skeleton which will control the wizard from outside the body/mesh. I have put controllers on the wrist joints that control the rotation of the bone so the wrist can bend, they also control the position of the Ik chain handle that is in the wrist which will move the wrist and bend the arm.

Wizard Skeleton Rig

Here is the simple skeleton for my model. Ik chains have been attached in various places to create automatically bending joints so that I wonlt have to bend/place the joints myself e.g. the elbows and knees. To create this effect I put Ik chains from the shoulders to the wrists and from the hips to the ankles so that the elbows and knees will bend on their own.

 

Wizard  character Final Model renders. Flat (Top) and Smooth (Bottom).