Rigging Next-gen Characters in XSI
Learn a production workflow for rigging and enveloping, how to create custom tools, and time-saving methods for creating game-ready character rigs. Software required: XSI 6.0 or higher (XSI 7.0 required to open project files).
What you'll learn
Learn a production workflow for rigging and enveloping, how to create custom tools, and time-saving methods for creating game-ready character rigs. Contains over six hours of project-based training for artists learning character-rigging for next-generation games. Popular highlights include: Rigging Techniques for Games; Scripting Custom Tools; Groups and Transform Groups; Mirroring Rigs; Mirroring Weights; Models; Exporting Weights; Automating Follow-through; Creating Custom Spine Rigs; Character Key Sets; Intuitive Forearm Rigs; Custom Toolbars; Building Animator-friendly Controls; Animating Pivots; Enveloping Techniques; Polygon Cluster Visibility; Scene Organization; Working Creatively with Expressions. Software required: XSI 6.0 or higher (XSI 7.0 required to open project files).
Table of contents
- Rigging the Staff 13m
- Adding a Pivot Control to the Staff 8m
- Creating a Button That Keys the Staff's Pivot 6m
- Building the Character's Left Leg Bones 7m
- Setting up Secondary Foot Controls 5m
- Adding Primary Controls for the Leg 7m
- Establishing a Custom Parameter to Control the Ball Roll 4m
- Choosing a Good Rotation Order 3m
- Creating a the Knee Control 5m
- Enhancing the Knee Control to Be Animator-friendly 9m
- Adding an Envelope Deformer to Preserve the Volume of the Buttocks 6m
- Averaging the Movement of the Buttock Deformer 9m
- Mirroring the Knee Control and the Leg and Foot Chains 10m
- Mirroring the Leg and Foot Controls and Reapplying Expressions 8m
- Building a Custom Spine 9m
- Setting up Controls for the Spine 10m
- Building the Back and Center of Gravity Controls 9m
- Creating Objects to Control the Twisting of the Spine 6m
- Using Expressions to Create Twist Distribution in the Spine 9m
- Rigging the Neck and Head 8m
- Rigging the Hair 9m
- Looking at an Automated Follow-through Solution for the Hair 7m
- Building the Shoulder and Arm Chains 7m
- Creating a Shoulder Control 6m
- Constructing the Fingers and Constraining the Left Hand 12m
- Setting up the Arm Control 5m
- Using Custom Parameters to Drive the Fingers 7m
- Working on the Elbow Control 6m
- Finishing the Elbow Control 3m
- Discussing Various Ways to Rig the Forearm Twist 10m
- Parent-switching the Arm 10m
- Mirroring the Hand and Elbow Controls 7m
- Mirroring the Shoulder Controls 9m
- Retargeting the Right Hand's Fingers to Be Driven by the Correct Parameter 7m
- Creating a Global Control and Double-checking the Control Rig 10m
- Utilizing Character Key Sets 8m
- Writing a Script to Connect Nulls on All Bones 9m
- Organizing the Envelope Nulls and Enveloping the Character 8m
- Blocking the Weights on the Left Leg and Hip 8m
- Adding Influence to the Left Buttocks and Blocking in the Upper Body 4m
- Blocking in the Chest's Weight and Using Polygon Cluster Visibility 9m
- Blocking in the Neck and Head Weights 3m
- Blocking in the Hair's Weight 4m
- Fixing the Deformations of the Left Shoulder and Arm 5m
- Wrapping up the Blocking Pass 7m
- Mirroring the Blocked Weights 11m
- Smoothing the Deformations of the Left Leg 10m
- Fine-tuning the Abdomen Deformations 7m
- Fine-tuning the Chest Deformations 4m
- Tweaking the Neck and Head Deformations 5m
- Smoothing the Hair's Weights 3m
- Fixing the Left Shoulder and Arm Deformations 8m
- Tweaking the Left Elbow, Forearm and Wrist 5m
- Double-checking the Character Deformations 7m
- Mirroring Smoothed Weights 5m
- Bonus: Exporting Envelope Weights 2m
About the author
Delano works avidly as an animation author at Pluralsight. Starting his career at animation studios like Shilo, Delano has developed a strong passion for his talents. His animation and rigging background help him teach and create some of the most-watched training on Pluralsight. A few of his favorite projects that he has contributed to include: Character Interaction in Maya and in Softimage, Rigging the Human Face in Maya, Rigging Sea Creatures in Maya, and Rigging and Animating Transforming... more