Red Rig Progress

I can't believe we're into December already...
...and Red is still not quite ready!
But I think I'm getting really, really close now.

So this is where I'm at compared to my previous post.

Firstly those tweaks I wanted to make to the 3D mesh are done.

Here's what he's looking like now:

He should look much the same as before, but the underlying geometry is much cleaner. (The hands are now connected to the arms properly and the same was done for the feet.)


Secondly, I believe I have sussed the facial aspect of the rig.
The eyes and mouth geometry will be shaped in 2D (with 2D style controls), which is then mapped onto the characters face in 3D. You will also be able to slide the mouth and eyes around the face as needed to correct any problems with the face when viewing him through the shot camera.

The nice thing with the setup I'm using is that it can be copied and pasted for Yellow. This is because all the facial elements (which is just the eyes and mouth in this case) are stuck over the head mesh and not built into the head itself. I haven't had time to prepare a video of it, but you will see everything I've been working on soon enough.


So the big question is, when is it going to be completed?

I think I'd rather not commit to an exact date when it will be 100% complete (I've missed every guesstimate so far), but... I don't want this to hang around til Christmas so rest assured that it will be done and dusted really, really soon!

If things go well, I could be showing the completed rig next weekend. At least, that's what I hope for and is what I'm going to aim for.

One thing is for sure, both Red and Yellow will be ready this side of Christmas!

The next big thing to do is binding the mesh to the skeleton. (which until this point wasn't worth doing because the character mesh wasn't ready)
Normally this would have been done first and is the main reason there has been little to show for all my hard work! After all, who wants to see a rig that doesn't actually control anything yet!

OK, I must get back to rigging!

Ethan Shilling