Constraining an Insect Leg ~ Setting up the Rig Bones
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CONSTRAINING AN INSECT LEG
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BASIC SET-UP AND POSITIONING
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SETTING UP THE RIG BONES
Adding the Rig -
ADDING THE CONSTRAINTS
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ADDING MORE LEGS
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ADDING MORE LEGS, CONT'D
1. Before we go much further, we should add the bone to which all others will be parented. From the Top View, add a bone. Move or adjust its postion via the Properties Panel so that its values are
| Start Pos. | End Pos. |
|---|---|
| 0 | 0 |
| 0 | 0 |
| 0 | 50 |
In the end, its height and length (the y and z values) aren’t critical, but its left and right positions are. Make sure that the x values are zeroed out. Now, to make it the master parent, drag “R_Mid_Leg1” on top of this new bone. Name the new bone “Everything”.
2. From the front view, create a bone that starts at the back of “R_Mid_Leg1” and goes to the back of “R_Mid_Foot_Geo”. Make sure its Roll handle is pointing upwards. Also, make sure that it has been added through the center of the leg geometry. Chances are, A:M will have added it at the same height as the ending point of the previous bone we added, the “Everything” bone. If it has, move it back so that the bone runs through the center of the model. Finally, make sure that this new bone is a child of the “Everything” bone. Call it “R_Mid_Leg_Scaler”. If you’ve been following along this tutorial closely, this bone should be flat with its beginning and ending height (or y values) at 18.82cm. This bone being flat makes life easier.
The long bone that goes from"’R_Mid_Leg1" to “R_Mid_Foot_Geo”
3. As a child of the “R_Mid_Leg_Scaler” bone, add a new bone directly underneath the first knee joint. Its Roll Handle should point back towards the back end of the “R_Mid_Leg_Scaler” bone. It should also be as close as possible to being in the axis of the “R_Mid_Leg_Scaler” bone. In this case, that’s easy enough because our Scaler bone is flat. Have the starting height of this knee be at 18.82cm. Call this bone “R_Mid_Knee1”.
Adding the first knee joint
4. As a child of “R_Mid_Knee1”, create a bone very close to the back end part of the “R_Mid_Leg_Scaler” bone. This should also be in line with the axis of the “R_Mid_Leg_Scaler” bone, point nearly straight up, and have its roll handle face back. Call it “R_Mid_Thigh_Orienter1”.
Adding theThigh Orienter
5. Select “R_Mid_Knee1”. While holding down the Control key, drag this bone up to its parent, “R_Mid_Leg_Scaler”. This is a trick to exactly copy and paste bones. Notice in the Project Workspace that “R_Mid_Knee2” and “R_Mid_Thigh_Orienter2” were automatically created as children of the Scaler bone.
Control Dragging “R_Mid_Knee1” to its parent creates an exact copy of that bone and its children.
Side Note: By now your hierarchy in the Project Workspace may look different than mine. I like to keep my bones visually organized. To reorganize bones, all you have to do is drag them around. For example, when we did step number 2 of this section, I dragged that bone to be higher in the hierarchy. I did this because I like to have my Rig bones higher than my Geometry bones. This may not be your preference, and you are free to organize your bones any way you wish. I choose this following scheme of organizing my bones:
6. Select “R_Mid_Knee2”. In the Hierarchy Tab of the Properties Panel, type in “-51.14” into the X Offset field. (I chose this number in order to place the second knee bone directly underneath that joint.)
Move “R_Mid_Knee2” underneath the second knee joint of the model.
7. Select “R_Mid_Foot_Geo”. Control drag it up to the “Everything” bone. This will create “R_Mid_Foot_Geo2” immdeiately underneath it. Rename it “R_Mid_Foot”. Hit the ‘S’ key to open a scaling box for that bone. Drag out the tip of the Scaling box in order to lengthen the bone. It is very important that it be at same level in the hierarchy as the Scaler bone.
Control Dragging the foot geometry bone to the Everything bone creates an exact copy. Rename it by dropping the “geo” part of its name, and scale it.