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    Any Advice for Problem Solving

    Question Rigging
    TheRavensCurio
    posted to: Add the Spine Controls

    Hi Wayne,


    The schematics have been super helpful for following along with the course! However, the question that keeps popping up in my brain is, "what workflow should I use when trying to problem-solve other situations for which there is no schematic?"

    I'm trying to phrase this in a way that makes sense, but putting my thoughts into words is not going well, so please bear with me here haha

    It makes sense to me to create all of the desired deformation bones first; they seem to be the foundation of the rigging process and necessary for any following mech or control bones. It's almost like the deformation bones are a bit of a guide as to where you want to place everything else.

    In regards to the control setups with both the FK and IK, though, I feel like I would get really lost if, on my own, I tried to do everything simultaneously the way we're doing it for this practice. By myself, I would probably have to go through even smaller sections, one-by-one, and problem-solve them more incrementally. For example, just working on the FK controls first, then adding tweaks, and then doing IK separately. Even with that, I would probably need quite a few tries to get the parenting ironed out and working properly, once everything was combined together.

    I'm trying to better my understanding by thinking in terms of the fundamental "blocks" from chapter two of the course where we made the simpler bendy chains, and other assemblies. When I use that perspective, I can see how those are being taken and modified to fit with the requirements for Luna's rig --but, I would really appreciate any additional advice or insight you have for working through these types of scenarios.


    Thank you!

    1 love
    Reply
    • Dwayne Savage(dillenbata3) replied
      Yes, the DEF bones are the base of the rig. Everything else is built around the DEF bones. You can think of FK, IK, and Tweaks as separate layers. The FK is almost always identical to the DEF bones. In cases where it isn't the DEF bones are the starting point. Almost all of the FK bones are control bones. The IK bones' MCH bones always start as identical to the FK bones. In most IK cases, they will stay that way.  Then the IK control bones are added. If Tweak bones are being used then usually it is added after the FK and IK are working the way you want. Each layer is also usually broken down to areas such as legs, arms, body, head, hands, foot, and facial. This way you can build one area and trouble shoot it before moving onto the next. As you can see, Naming things becomes very important if you have to trouble shoot or add a new feature to the rig in the future. 
      2 loves
    • Wayne Dixon replied

      Hi Elouan

      I think you have a great start to your thinking here.  
      'Blocks' are the easiest way to compartmentalise and solve problems.

      If you start with the DEF, you can think about it being the actual skeleton of the model (excuse the unintentional pun)
      The you can build separate systems on top of that.
      FK system is the easiest to start with, and then the IK system.  And finally a way to switch them.  That's where the MCH come in.  
      If there's a intermediary set of bones that can switch back and forth, the DEF bones can follow that.

      Now let's think about all the components of this.
      DEF - simply there to deform the mesh
      FK - controls the FK movement
      IK - Controls the IK movement
      MCH- the bones that switch teams (or the glue that joins everything)

      I hope that thinking in clear.

      Of course that is the context of IK-FK switching, but the same thinking can be adapted to solve different problems.
      Sometimes you don't need all of those components as maybe some of them can do multiple things

      - like the DEF bones might do the switching (no need for the MCH bones)
      - or maybe you don't need 2 complete sets of controls like IK/FK you just want to change the behaviour in specific situations (ignore rotation for example)

      The problems might be different but the problem solving can be the same.
      Can I make it work 1 complete way first? What parts need changed behaviour? Can I do that with a MCH bone?  Does it need to turn on/off?

      Often it's a simple as giving it a parent and constraining the parent (MCH) and then add a property to turn it on/off.

      Hope that helps - but you're already thinking about this in a good way :)







      2 loves