Tutorial: Creating a Quadruped Rig for Production
The Gnomon Workshop has released Creating a Quadruped Rig for Production, a character rigging masterclass recorded by VFX TD Paween Sarachan.
The workshop provides over six hours of video training in Maya.
Discover a Maya rigging workflow developed by some of the world’s top VFX artists
In the workshop, Sarachan reveals how to create user-friendly, professional-quality character rigs for four-legged creatures suitable for use in VFX, animation or games.
The rigging system shown in the tutorial was developed while working with Chalermphol Wattanawongtrakool, Senior Animator at Framestore, and Colin McEvoy, Animation Supervisor at DNEG.
One of the key features of the rig is the realistic spine, created without plugins.
Sarachan begins from the basics, working up to creating the final main-body rigs in a step-by-step process.
He sets out how to use helper Python script to create a generic control rig, and how to create a Spline IK system to push and pull the creature’s chest and pelvis.
Sarachan then moves on to create the FK/IK switch setup for the limbs, an IK stretch setup, and a double FK control structure for the toes.
The workshop also covers Sarachan’s limb lock technique, his scapula auto-aim set-up, and his belly trick using the cMuscleSmartConstraint node.
The final training video covers technqiques for creating skin weights for the creature.
As well as the tutorial videos themselves, viewers of the workshop can download the model used, which has been tested by Colin McEvoy.
About the artist
Paween Sarachan is Head of Assets at animation firm Igloo Studio.
He previously worked at Axis Studios on the League of Legends and Valorant cinematics, and at MPC on Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom.
Pricing and availability
Creating a Quadruped Rig for Production is available via a subscription to The Gnomon Workshop, which provides access to over 300 tutorials.
Subscriptions cost $57/month or $519/year. Free trials are available.
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