Separate blendshapes seamlessly in Maya
Last week, I had to come up with a way of separating one blendshape into multiple blendshapes. So basically, imagine we have one blendshape of a full smile and we need to separate it into left and right.
If you go to the Edit Deformers menu, there is an option to paint blendshape weights. This is the tool we will be using, but the tricky part of separating blendshapes like this is the overlap area between the shapes. Since blendshapes are additive, if the overlap area is not done properly, when both blendshapes are enabled you may run into areas where it is morphing more or less than what you intended.
Read MoreNesquik Commercials
This is another project I did almost two years ago now. Once again, it was a quick turnaround for Hatch Studio, when I was last working at PEN Productions. Paul Neale Rigged the ears on the bunny in the two commercial spots the bunny character was used in, while I took care of the rest of the character. I think Hatch did a great job on these commercials, as well as the Kid’s Cuisine spots.
Read MoreKid Cuisine Commericals
This was a project from close to two years ago now. Time sure does fly. It was a quick turnaround for Hatch Studio when I was last working with PEN Productions. I did all the rigging on the penguin-looking main character, “Kid”.
Read MoreSticky Lips: How To & Sample File
It was requested that I release my sticky lips setup so people could try to take the solution further. I haven’t spent much time on it since posting about it way back, so I figured I might as well. Only thing I ask of anybody that does further develop this is please provide a link back to my website and keep me up to date on any improvements you have made :)
Click here to download the sample file (Made in 3ds Max 2010, and is of a Sackboy-looking teapot since I do not want to be distributing the model seen below, which is not mine, around the internets)
A video of the effect in action. Special thanks to Craig Hobbs for use of the model:
For now I am just going to do a general write-up of some things I am doing in the file and why I am doing them. It might sound like a tutorial at parts, but I’m more just explaining the general process and thoughts behind the setup. This is not intended to actually be a tutorial, and you may still have to figure some things out on your own.
Read MoreThe Concise Book Of Muscles
The Concise Book Of Muscles is another recent purchase I made. This is a reference book rather than a good read. There is a small section at the front of the book covering some basic anatomy stuff, but nothing that you won’t find anywhere else.
Read MoreThe Body In Motion
I just recently purchased and finished reading The Body In Motion, by Theodore Dimon. I thought it would be a good read when it comes to additional learning about anatomy, and it definitely is. I thought the book was great. I highly recommend it for any aspiring riggers out there. It discusses the evolution of the human body, as well as why and how our bodies move the way they do. The author does a great job of explaining things without getting overly complicated; he is very easy to understand. Note that this is a book you actually read rather than just hold onto for reference purposes. You will have a much better understanding of how the body works after finishing this book.
Read More