Rigging

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The model is finally fully finished so that I can create a rig. This is not just a standard model with a human or animal rig. It has a lot of hanging parts, which will need bones as well, so I have to come up with a cleaver idea of how to place them. In order to make my job easier, I didn't merge the whole model, into one. Instead, I keep certain parts as a single models. It makes skinning easer because I can add skin modifier to a single element, so I can be sure that a particular bone will not affect the geometry of the other models.
I decided to use CAT plugin in 3ds Max for rigging, because it allows to create a rig really quick, even for the complicated models, also I found plenty of good tutorial on how to use it. There is one more advantage to it, I can use a chain of bones, used mostly for tail and fingers and apply it to the hanging parts.
At first, I focused on the main part- the legs. I created pelvis and two main bones for each leg than I added a foot and up to 4 bones for each toe. By default, CAT rig gives me a platform at the end of each leg, which controls the movement of a whole leg.



Pelvis bone will work as a base for the rig, rest of the bones will be connected to the pelvis, so when the pelvis moves, the whole rig moves with them. With that in mind, I could create a rig for the hanging parts. I started with the easiest one, garlic. For each one, I created a single bone linked to the pelvis, with the pivot point on the top so that I can rotate it to the front and back.



For talismans, I used a tail rig, which I mentioned before. It is a chain of bones which are linked to each other. The top bone is linked to pelvis bone, so they move with it. For each talisman, I used three bones, which is enough to make a smooth move. 


The tricky part was to create the rig for the ropes. I didn't want to go for something overcomplicated, so to keep things simple, I made three bones. Each one is linked to pelvis separately. One bone is placed on each side of the rope to keep the in place and the main bone, for movement, is placed directly between them. This way, I can rotate the bone in the middle to make the rope swing forward and backwards while keeping the ends in place. 


 The model has a plenty of herbs hanging one the ropes. I had to use the same method for the rope, but also add the bones for herbs. In this case, I wanted the herbs to move with the pelvis, but also with the rope. I had to link the bone for each herb not to the pelvis, but to the middle bone of the rope. This way, when the rope swings forward, the herbs move with it. For each herb, I decided to make two bones for smooth animation.



Full rig

Trello board
At this moment I feel quite confident in terms of time managemen. I have only skinning left to do and I can start animating. I also broke down the animation process into 3 stages: leg animation, house animation and props animation. 



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