Hey guys, I thought I'd make the chapter that discusses installing the IK rig used in the Cog tutorial available for people to look through. It's based on the hash 2001 rig or the Egginton Rig.
I thought that this might help people who are just coming to terms with rigging get a little bit more comfortable with the idea that rigging doesn't have to be all that dangerous to do on your own

http://www.3dartz.com

or direct

http://www.3dartz.com/CogRig.html

Thanks and let me know if there are any questions about rigging in general that people would like to discuss.

Mike Fitz
www.3dartz.com

"Thanks and let me know if there are any questions about rigging in general that people would like to discuss."
Constraints for newbies. It seems easy enough to lay out bones but I am not sure how to actually make a bone a child of another bone other than laying them out in succession. I am reading the pdf after posting my request and now editing the post and this tut helps alot but I find myself wondering how to make the bones children and be sure I have done it right. I'm guessing I drag and drop it under the parent bone in the PWS with guessing being the keyword in my case. When adding constraints I cannot find them unless I am in an action window. In the bones window I see compute cp weights and smartskin but no constraints. I guess I lack confidence that I am doing things right. Please Mr. Fitz sir! Thanks!

As Elvis would say: Thankyouverymuch.

Note to peeps - the Password is in the little paragraph on the download page, I missed it the first time.

Very interesting Mike...so - question - and I hope this isn't too controversial but here it goes. I bought the Anzovin TSM2, and it works nice. Rigging is fast and so forth. But it clearly seems to be more complex than your version. Also, yours seems to have easier controls by using the nulls and so forth.

Now, I'm a total newb and I don't understand rigging very well at all. I like the fact that I can run the TSM2 wizard and have my guy set up. But I feel like I'm losing something in the translation.

How does your setup comare to the TSM2 setup. Obviously as a beginner, I don't need some massively complicated setup to do my first animations.

I noticed you didn't make mention of the fan bones/cogs in the PDF either - I assume you consider them part of the rig but that comes later? They show up in the figures but you are really only talking about the black bones.

I like how the PDF ends Mike...

"I know its been a long tutorial but bear with me for one more page of final words." Heehehehe. Seriously, I been thinking about buying your tut and now I think I will but I'd be interested in your comments. Because frankly this is one of the things I am mired in right now.

Tom

Scott

I know it is very confusing at first but it does get easier, not that I am a rigging wizard or anything.

To answer your parenting question:

To make bone(21) the child of bone(3), for instance, grab bone(21) in the PWS and drop it ONTO, (not under), bone(3). You will see that it becomes indented in the tree.

To make a whole branch become children of another bone click on the bone at the top of the branch, press 'N' and then drag the bone and drop it onto it's new parent.

To make a copy of a branch of bones select the bone at the top of the branch, press 'N', hold down 'Ctrl'. (on a PC). and drag the bone onto it's parent. An identical hierarchy of bones will appear.

It took me ages to learn those few shortcuts and the sooner you learn them the sooner you'll get around building and testing rigs. Constraining is the real art!

The first time I ever rigged from scratch AND UNDERSTOOD WHAT I WAS DOING was with Mike's tutorial...

I don't know why... I mean there was stuff out there I suppose... maybe it was because I paid for it? Or I was dieing to see how the cog stuff worked on my character....

Anyway, if this is the same section... it really helped me tremendously.

Someone in a previous post was comparing TSM to Mike's COG system...

Apples to oranges... or should I say... apples to apple pie...

TSM is for rigging a skeleton that is already in place for controls... The COG system is for smooth joints... when they are controlled... not the same at all.

Use the COGs... or smart skin... or "fan bones"... or CP weighting... or whatever first...

THEN a control rig (AM 2001 rig, TSM, Joe's magic rig, etc...)

Vernon "!" Zehr

Mike, Paul.. That was very helpful. I had the right idea basically but did not "know" if it was correct. I'm gonna try to follow this demo and see if I get a better feel for it. Vern I agree apples to oranges. But man those oranges sure are hard to peel! I'll try to actually follow this demo. Thanks!