I'm getting the hang of this...

Rigging is becoming easier and easier to do, thanks to much practise. Though, I've still got a lot to learn about it.

Just recently I created a very low poly model... and I mean LOW!!

It's like Nintendo 64 spec!!

I'm using this as a guinea pig for my inhumane experiments. It's not going to be taken through into next terms work!

This be the newest (and probably best) rig I've made. I've made improvements to the structure, feet, hands and head.

First, I learnt from 'Learning Maya for Game Designers' that the Pelvis should be the first joint made in the entirety of the skeletal structure. Usually I wouldn't bother worrying about the first joint, but it is apparently quite important.

Next learning curve was the feet. Last year I could never get my head around how to actually turn the damn feet around. But now the problems been solved! it's all about grouping the iK's... I wont go into detail. Just see for yourself -

OSU!! DAI SEI KOU!!! Looks simple, but it's been a major hassle for me. During this process I also learnt that when making a NURBs curve to control an iK Handle, it is best to PARENT Constraint instead of a POINT constraint, which is what I had been using.

So, I figured, if this method works for the feet, then it's bound to work for the head. The results came up positive -

And one of the last things with the rig was the double jointed legs. The first time I made this model's rig I put two iK Handles into the leg. This was unnecessary, as one iK Handle can handle the entire double joint. The only thing I had to alter was the position of the locator.

Weighting a low poly model is SO much easier and less hassle then a high one. The model I made last year took me about 2 weeks full attention to get the weights remotely accurate. This one, I finished in about 40 minutes. I had to laugh, otherwise I would have cried.

So, with everything moving as it should, I'll run a few animations just to remind myself what to do and so on.

I must say, I'm getting very pumped up for next term! I can't wait to try this stuff out for real and get a proper cut-scene created!! XD