multiple rigs

for the spellbound project we are planning to have 3 characters, two tall wizzards and one small old man. This will mean that we have to create multiple rigs to suit diferent models. This will require starting right from the joint chains, so i will need to rig the models in the same way for continuity in controls for the animators to deal with.

This will be tricky, and a lot of work but as the theory is the same for all characters, its just the lengths and exact keyed attributes that really matter.

I will be directly trying to rig with the animators in mind so i will be asking for their feedback and updating the rig accordingly

rigging the characters!

As well as effects, which i've concentrated on mainly so far this project, i am also the character rigger. I have been given the first draft of a character to play with.

I have done some rigging before so it is quite familiar to me what the process involves. Here is my current level of understanding:

To Rig Characters:

1) start with the mesh of the character in maya, plan out where you will place main joints such as shoulders elbows, knees, ankles ect. plan these out with locators for snapping later.

2) build a joint chain around the mesh and the locators, rename the joints as you will need to identify them later

3) use rotate plane and single chain solvers to map out where joints will need to rotate around, use RP for inverse kinimatics, and SC for forward kinematics

4) with thes Ik handles set up and named, a control system needs to be built around them

5) as the mesh is mainly going to be polygon geometry, it makes sense to use curves as they can be isolated away easily

6) add any extra attributes onto the rig such as set driven keys, blendshapes and pre-animated joints

7) skin the rig with the geometry and paint influence via a weighting system

8) TEST!! always test, adapt and improve, get feedback!

So here is the test rig i came up with for the animators to play with and get back to me on about improvements for when i make the first character rig for spellbound!

going with fluids!

I have been doing some experimenting in Maya and I have found that fluids are definitely the way to go with the spells I am going to be making.

Particles are very useful for some things, but simply cannot be used for everything. I have some experience with emitters of that kind, however fluids are completely new to me.

A fluid in maya is generated by creating a container that is full of contingent parts called voxels, each voxel is sort of like a coordinate system that plots many dimensions of movement, pressure, mass thickness, temperature... many many things.

For this reason they are very computationally heavy, and require a lot of technical training in order to understand how to utilize them properly.

I will be immersing myself in Maya over the next couple of weeks to try and understand the many aspects of how to control these elements

particles vs fluids

give a description about how particles and fluids have different attributes that can benefit spells

I have been looking at different methods for creating spells in Maya. It seems like there are two viable options for the kind of things i want to achieve. I really liked the style of the spells in harry potter that i included in the last post, however i'd like to push them more.

In harry potter, the spells are quite subtle as they need to intergrate well wth live action in the real world setting. as our film will be set in a 3D environment, with a more cartoon like style, I think bigger, more exaggerated spells are more what I would like to achieve.

I have found the following videos that have given me a hell of a lot of inspiration and scope into what is possible in 3D. Particles and Fluids seem to be the way to go, but I'm not completely sure which yet.. I will need to experiment and see which methods product the best effects, literally!

planning for spells!

So I am to be making spells for our film. At the moment i do not really know exactly what they will be visually, or how they will be used, but I really like the spells in harry potter. They are simple, yet very effective. usually just being an extrusion of smoke, or a flash from the wand, but sometimes being elegant huge spiraling towers of fire or fluid. I think as these are quite contempory films, they will be my main source of technical inspiration. they all look very nice, even when freeze frames on every frame, so i will study them carefully to see what aspects of them i like, and which i think can be improved on.

what i want out of spellbound

i would like the experiences on this project to teach me a lot about effects, by that i mean that to give me experience in creating fluid containers from scratch. I would like to learn about voxel fluids particle fluids, particle simulations, rigid body simulations, cloth simulations. I would also like to try out conception and previs for effects, then doing them, as this will teach me how to take a concept given to me by a director or client, and work it up to a final effect that could be used in a film or commercial.

i would like to develop my artistic skills, and get an eye for composition and color, as this will help me in the future in setting up shots to maximize their presence on screen.

I'd like to build my team skills, and have experience of working different roles within a pipeline of people. i have worked as a freelancer before, so i am familiar with doing everything myself, but i would like some experience in working a specific role of a job. Learn about dependencies, and how they can affect deadlines and the work of others.

I would also like to get a lot of nice showreel pieces for my portfolio. I am looking to move into effects at some point, so it would be nice to have enough by the end of this project to build a first real effects reel.

dividing roles!

So for this group project, instead of us all doing a bit of everthing, it preserve continuity, we will each be taking on specific roles in the group. My roles are to be the character rigger, and the effects TD. The responsibilities of these roles are as follows:

Rigger:
I will be in charge of giving the characters a control system and and skeleton, and set them up for the animators to use in our film. This involves first taking a model, and laying out a skeleton like joint system around each joint. These are then set up with a moveable set of pivots with specific attributes called an IK system. As this IK system is a little hard to get a hold of, you can then set up a control system on top of this to make a user friendly GUI for an animator who does not have a technical understanding of character rigging to use.

Effects TD
TD covers a wide range of jobs, and my other ole on this project is mainly concerned with effects and simulations. There will be a lot of spells flying about and complex prop animation to do, so I will be using a wide variety of tools such as partical networks, rigid bodies simulations and partical/voxel fluid containers. This also involves a lot of rendering and lighting knowledge, so I will also be setting these elements up. Often spells will also need to be physically animated with keyframes and animation paths so, as well as props need to be modeled in a particular way, or stand in props may need to be made for other reasons.

So a lot to do, but I'm very excited about this project!