nice going Mat, looking forward to how this comes out. Ar eyou going to use clothe fore her dress? Or are you thinking of something a bit like the joints chains with some constriants etc??

Lookin well good Mat. :bow:

More updates if you please!

Dave.

Thanks for the comments,

DJ: I guess she does a bit!

Steve: I know that I'm not going to use cloth for her dress, that's about as far as I've got past modelling. I have an idea or two (using joints) which I'll try out and probably adapt before I settle on exactly how I'm going to deal with it.

Dave: Here you go!

I've made some glasses for her, UV mapped and textured her head and dress, made a texture for her eyes, given her some eyelashes and have been doing general tidying up, pushing verts around etc.

I'd like to have her rigged by the end of next week but we'll see how that goes!!

Take it easy,

Mat.

edit: I've not finished with the head texture yet!!

:beer:

Lookin at her now I think she could do with some freckles..

What you rekin Mat?

Definately Dave,

I'll sort them for the next update.

Cheers,

Mat.

Looking aewsome so far mat. Cannot wait to see the fininshed animation. Keep up the great work.

Leon

she's pulling together quite nicely now mat :)

Are you going to thicken the hair up like in the concept or keep the pigtails really thin?

Si

Hello again and cheers for the comments,

keep 'em coming!

Leon: cheers, it'll be finished in March/April next year.

Si: I think that the angle of the picture made the pigtails look thinner than they actually were, I've made them a bit fatter now anyway to get them more like the concept.

I've been making some headway, over the past couple of days, on the rig for my character. I've got the skeleton made (I haven't hidden any attributes yet which is why you can still see clusters and locators) and have spent today making the GUI to control the head functions (see main picture).

I got the concept for the GUI from the Zukafa model in the 'Art of Rigging Vol.1', unfortunately there are no instructions on how to make it so I spent the best part of the day working it out for myself. It's done now so all I have to do is make the blendshapes and attach them, joy!

I'll post another update when the blendshapes are done.

Later,

Mat.

woah! Complicated lookin rig m8. I guess putting in the hard work now makes the animation that much erz...

(Please do not read into my previous comment that I, in any way, shape or form; believe animation to be an easy process. I fully understand that successful animation is a collaboration of skill, technique, patience and an abundance of coffee)

:beer:
Dave.

Hey there dave,

it's not really that complicated to use, hopefully it'll make animating her more convenient when it's finished.

I've been sorting SDK's for the finger controls and automated foot roll today, I also attached the jaw, the eyelids and tongue to the GUI, painted a few weights and generally used more brain power than I'm used to using in one day!

For all that work, there's nothing to show really, I don't think that there'll be any more images until I have the rig finished and can post a video of it working.

Take it easy,

Mat.

Hey Mat

Looks like an interesting set up that youve got there, Ive never really tried a facial animation/rig so be very interested to see how it works.

Nice going mate.

Hello again,

HAPPY DAYS.... I've got her rig finished!! (well there are a few creases to iron out but they're pretty minor so they won't take long to sort.)

Anyway, I've made another update showing a walkthrough of the rig functions, watch it

HERE (right click and save as 14Meg). Sorry about the file size, I tried to keep it as brief as I could but there was a lot to get through and it runs at around 6 minutes.

Steve: I've never made or used one as detailed as this so it'll be interesting for me too!

I hope you all find the video interesting, any thoughts are always appreciated.

Cheers,

Mat.

a few things,

the toe tap, should also allow it to tap down as well.

to allow it to bend down.

the hips control, should work the way it does without affecting the feet themselves. [not the legs]
it seems to lift up the entire feet up and down when you rotated it.
the fingers controls look like they start at -10?
they should probably be at 0 for neutral. and -10 to bend back wards, and positive to bend forward [to make a fist]

i would not put the eye aims in that control panel if it were me.

keep up the good work.

Apart from the few things Vlad pointed out - The rig seems to do all you need. The controls are simple to follow and use without 100's of adjustments which may not ever be used in your animation.

Small question - is there a control to raise her cheek bones? as this may come in handy with some facial expression.

I'm lookin forward to more updates.
Dave.

PS: Hair turned out well :beer:

looks great mate but you dont need more compliments, you know its good.

at a quick glance, because at times first impressions count.., she is too perfect and looks like a a typical maya rendered character.., ala 'shreck'.., her eyes are perfect spheres and look un-natural.., just my opinion but you could add shape to the eyes.., dont forget how much character rests in the eyes.., they are the window to ones soul. at least a bit of shape at the corners.

hope allis well and the music is happening for you too.

cheers:)