Oh, Those Crazy Camel Warlords

So, I'm working on a new character rig. He's a biped, humanoid (cameloid?) character - and so far he's the most developed and advanced rig I've put together. As you may or may not know, I've rigged several characters, but not one of them has been a completed biped character.

Thanks to Man Louk Chin (excellent modeler, btw), I now have a great character model to work with, and I have to admit this is probably my best rig yet. The only catch is, he's not finished!

I started working on this guy about a month ago, after Man Louk graciously offered to let me rig a character he designed and modeled himself. The thing that I love about this character is that it thrusts new challenges in my face, forcing me to think outside the box and experiment with techniques foreign to me. These challenges are brought forth by trying to figure out ways to make several parts of the character work together - and it's been a blast. In the pursuit of answers to these problems, I've been able to come into contact with other character riggers, as well as finding new resources of knowledge to tap into. For this, I say, "Thanks, Man Louk"!

First, this character is big and muscular - allowing the opportunity to incorporate a complete muscle system, which is something I've been quite eager to learn. Second, he's a camel-humanoid character, meaning he has these interesting humps above his neck, also providing a challenge when it comes to properly setting up the deformations around the neck area. Third, he's wearing an armored glove over one hand, which requires a little extra thought in not only the joint placement, but polygon penetrations and deformations along the forearm reaching into the glove. Lastly, he has a bouncy little tail that's absolutely perfect for setting up a dynamic joint chain that works with the camel's movement. While there are several more features I'm excited about learning and implementing, the previously mentioned features are my personal favorite.

So, enough with the chatter, already! Here's a pic to tease you with. :)

So, there he is! As you can see, he's pretty far along. Unfortunately (and fortunately), there's still quite a bit left to do and learn from working on this! Here's a full list of features:

Current features:

Functional IK/FK arms

IK/FK visual indicators

IK legs

Hair dynamics-driven tail

Master controller

Scaleable rig

Eye controls

Full body controls, including both hands

Stretchy spine + neck

Elbow and knee attribute controls

World space switching/dynamic parenting: arms, legs (using right-click menus)

Features to add:

Fully skinned mesh

Facial rig that is actually on the model

Jaw movement (either joint or blend shape driven)

Teeth connected to jaw joint(s)

Manual tail controllers

World space switching for: eyes (experiment with current method, using constraints instead of grouping)

IK/FK scripted transitions

Character GUI in its own window

More to come as the rig reaches completion!