James Rig & MoCap

The James rig was first created using abAutoRig by Supercrumbly but this version had to be set aside when we decided to use motion capture as an option for animating James. The reason was because MotionBuilder was not importing the rig from Maya with the correct constraints and skin weights. The alternative was to create a simplified fk rig and in MotionBuilder we were able to characterize and rig James to the motion data.

Simple fk setup for James

Here is an example of the simplfied fk rig after it has been characterized and applied to the motion data.

From here the marker/optical sets are baked to the control rig and fixing or adding animation can be achieved by using animation layers. At the moment I am testing the best options to animate, one option is to animate in MotionBuilder using the control rig or by exporting it into Maya and doing it there. We will most likely use MotionBuilder to clean up the captured data/animation but at this current stage in MotionBuilder there are no controls for facial animations and this is my main reason for trying to transfer across to Maya.

Bully 2 - Face Blends

Bully 2 has little screen time and his action and demeanor mostly remains the same, so he has a range of blends but they're fairly simple. 

Secondary Characters - Rigs

Here are some examples of the rigs with simple actions. These characters were rigged using abAutoRig by Supercrumbly with some added aspects to the head. The fingers have detailed movements down to each knuckle and the feet have a variety of rolls and twist features. The characters required some modelling changes so the mesh was referenced in and was able to be updated. This however did cause issues with skinning and some constraints mainly to do with the eye rig. The solution was to make sure labeling didn't differ when changes were made and to create a new reference and bind that mesh to the bones then copy the skin weights from the old mesh to the new. This method did speed up the process but also required some re-painting of the skin weights depending on how heavy the changes were.

Room - Painted Background Test

The Room test has a much softer look, this is much stronger on the texture so toning it back or refining the detail could reduce the overly textured brush feel. The character and his shadow painted like this, becomes a little lost in the surroundings. I'll have to add a test render of the textured character into a painted scene to help define how soft or detailed the scene should be.

Street - Painted Background Test

First trial at painting the backgrounds over an early 3D model of the street. Basic lighting was set in the scene to help define form and lighting but it still has a strong 3D design and feel to it. Trying to aim for something a bit more textured and painted. The early design of the scene is still too straight and rigid and the sharp corners take away from the painted effects. Softening the scene lighting and also adding more detail while painting could help to add character to the scene.