Link Project 013

Update time! So recently I got a full time job so I could pay my bills. This is going to take away from my time working on projects but I figure it's for the better in the long run. The faster I can make money so I can start applying for 3D jobs again, the better. So forgive me if post are a little lacking from here on out but I am going to do my best to keep up with my projects.

As for Link's progress, I am finally ready to start testing cloth simulations. I finished Link's rig and promptly made a "rig test/celebration" video.

After creating that video I realized there were a few things that needed some adjustment. So I went in and made corrections. One problem was that the right arms pivots were not the same so I had to re adjust those. I also adjusted the joint placement for the eyes and eyelids. Before they weren't in the center of the eye and weren't rotating properly.

Now everything seems to be in working order. The only thing I may go back and fix is Link's tongue and teeth. I am not really happy with the way they look.

Since the rig is pretty much complete I decided to create a video going over the features I created on Link's rig.

That's all for this weeks post. Thanks for reading and I hope you look forward to my next post.

Link Project 012

Forgive me for the lack of post recently. I would like to be working on Link more often but my progress has really slowed. Also I work on Saturdays now so it's had to find time before work to gather all my resources to present to you. I may end up switching the days I create post just so I can provide you with more substantial posts.
Anyways, I finally managed to get all the face controls created and Links eyes are now working with controls. Now I just need to create all the sdk keys for the face controls and his rig should be good to go. I am really looking forward to the finished rig so I can start clothing simulation.
Here are some screen shots and some Link winks ;D.

Thanks for reading and I hope you look forward to the next post.

Link Project 011

Hello Everyone, sorry for not posting last Saturday. I was still extremely busy and didn't get a chance to work on Link. Luckily I was finally able to work on him this past Thursday.

Not much of an update, since I only got to work on him one day. I managed to get a decent skinning on Link and I also fixed the spine to follow the Master Ctrl. The rig is pretty close to being done. I am just adding a few things and I still need to create the face controls. I added some joints to control the dangling hair on the side of his face and I was thinking of making them dynamic. Not sure though, I feel like it might get too janky and it won't be worth it in the end.

Hopefully this upcoming week I will have more for you and finally be able to finish Link's rig. Until then, thanks for reading and I hope you look forward to my next post.

Link Project 010

Sorry for posting later than I said I would. Had to do a lot more than I thought.
So like I said before, the rig is pretty much finished. All I need to do is incorporate the eyebrows and hair into the rig, and then create the face controls. Once that is done I can do a refined skinning and he should be ready to go.
I ended up finding a video on youtube that helped me figure out what I needed to do to get a working fk/ik spine. Here is the video link if you are interested. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhGCGe1dLxA
After watching the video, I scrapped my old setup and controls and created new ones based off the tutorial. It was actually pretty easy incorporating the spine once it was finished because I had everything setup from when I previously tried to create the fk/ik spine.
My rigs right arm is still a little janky so I have to look into that and I also need to make the spine work properly with the master control. Other than that everything is looking good.
Here is a little video I made just testing the rig with a rough skin bind.

Thanks for reading and I hope you look forward to my next post.

Link Project 005

As promised here are some screenshots of the rig.

It's not super fancy but it will get the job done. I also thought I would make it a little interesting by creating a master control and a help guide that were Legend of Zelda themed. When I finish this project I plan the also create a real time version that I can give to anyone who would like a copy. I can't promise you that it will be the best rig you've ever used but it's something to play with.

The rig isn't finished yet but it's close. I created fk/ik arms, legs, and a spine. I wanted to test creating a fk/ik spine because in my rigging experience I always seem to have to use a fk spine. The ik spine seems to break whenever it gets too far away from the master control and I still haven't figured out how to fix it. I still have some bugs to work out with the fk/ik spine switch too but so far the fk spine is working.

Next time I will show you the corrections I made to the model and the final sculpt. Also, I plan on posting weekly that way I can have more substance to my post. I think I will try to get a post up every Saturday from now on. So until then, thanks for reading and I hope you look forward to my next post. 

Link Project 004

Hello everyone, sorry for the long absence. Something came up that required my full attention but thankfully I believe the crisis has been averted.

Anyway, I didn't mean for the last post to be so dramatic. Hopefully you didn't think because I got stuck on simulating the clothing that I gave up. No, luckily I have some really talented and good friends who can help me when I get stuck. I simply sent a message and a work file to a friend familiar with simulating clothing and he helped me work it out. Once again, thanks for the help Bugi.

Once I figured out what I needed to do I reset myself and started thinking about different ways I could setup the clothing. I also needed to setup a rig in order to test if the cloth simulation was working properly or not. So I started setting up my base rig with the clothing in mind.

That's all for now, sorry I don't have any W.I.P. pictures for this post but I will have some next time. Now that I have everything taken care of I should be able to get back to regular post. Till then, thank you for reading and I hope you look forward to the next one.