BlenRig 5 Quick Introductio Introduction n Guide
Author : Juan Pablo Bouza Email:
[email protected] [email protected] om BlenRig is an Auto-rigging and skinning system that proides the user o! a "eature "ilm #uality rig $including an adanced !acial system%. &he current ersion only supports Biped characters' but more presets (ill be added in the near !uture.
System Requirements for animation: )inimum Processor spec: *ntel i+ or A), e#uialent. *n this type o! computer a high resolution character (ill roughly reach !ps. Recommended Processor spec: *ntel i/ or A), e#uialent. *n this type o! computer most rigged high resolution resolution char character acterss (ill run at +01 !ps. 2o( resol resolution ution pro3y ersions may run at 041 !ps.
1 Installation A!ter do(nloading BlenRig.zip' you can install the Add-on by going to "ile 55 6ser Pre!erences 55 Addons 55 *nstall !rom !ile.
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"rom there just bro(se the zip !ile and enable the Add-on.
! Adding the Rig A!ter doing this' you can add the BlenRig Biped to the scene !rom the 8Add-9bject )enu.
*nitially'' you (ill see that the BlenRig Armature has been added to the scene. *nitially
*! you check the rest o! the layers l ayers on the scene you (ill !ind that other objects hae also been added.
"ayer 11 and 1!: )esh ,e!orm cage "ayer 1#: Bone ;hape objects and 2attices
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"ayer 1: Pro3y model !or creating lo( resolution ersions o! characters
$ %anels Apart !rom the rig itsel!' you (ill also !ind some ne( panels (ith tools.
At the le!t' in the &ie'$d (ools %anel' you (ill !ind a BlenRig 0 tab (hich contains all the animation related controls and tools) At the right' in the Armature data ta* ' you (ill !ind a panel (ith all the rigging related tools)
+ Rigging a ,haracter -Quick Intro.
+)1 RE(ARGE(I/G 9nce BlenRig has been added to your character=s scene' the !irst thing to do is to put the rig in Re 0ro0ortion mode. &his (ill enable all the di!!erent controllers that (ill let you !it the armature into your character.
&he Re-proportion button is located under the Rigging Baking tab in the rigging panel.
>hen Re-proportion mode is enabled' the la yer (ith the re-proportion controllers is automatically displayed
&he !irst thing to adjust is the height o! the rig. *! the dimension o! the character di!!ers too much !rom the size o! the rig' you might (ant to scale the rig as a (hole (ith the 2master2 bone. A!ter that you can adjust the height o! the rig by moing 2master3torso2 .
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Ater matching =master?torso= (ith the (aist o! the character' you can adjust the spine and neck controllers in the side ie(.
&hen' you can adjust arms and legs.
Remember that you can scale any o! the main controllers in order to make a !irst approach to the size o! your character. *n the case o! the !eet' you can scale 2sole3ctrl3"2 and = R2.
A!ter you hae !inished (ith one side o! the rig' you can select all the controllers !rom that side (ith the 8select pattern tool' and then you can copy the pose and paste it into the bones !rom the opposite side.
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&hat=s all !or the body' so ne3t step is to adjust the !acial controllers. "irst' * (ill scale 2neck3ctrl3+3str2 to match the scale o! the head (ith the character. &hen' by trans!orming 2face3mstr3str2 * (ill !it the !acial rig a bit better into the !ace.
"or adjusting the !ace' as (ell as other parts o! the body' it is a good practice to sho( the 'ireframe o! the model. &hat (ay' you kno( you are aligning correctly the deformation *ones to the edge loo0s o! the mesh. * kno( that seeing all these bones and controllers together might be a bit intimidating' that=s (hy each part o! the !ace has its o(n color group. &he good thing about this is that you can select the group !rom the Armature Grou0s tab' and then (ith ,trl4I you can inert the selection and hide $ 22% the rest o! the bones. >ith Alt4 you can unhide eerything again.
By doing this you can place the controllers (ithout so many isual annoyances.
;o' * (ill start !rom top to bottom. "irst the eyebro(s.
As you can see' * also moed the ertical bones so that they are aligned to the ertical loops o! the model. &he reason !or also using ertical de!ormation bones' is because this grid like con!iguration preents the mesh !rom collapsing (hen the joints are articulated. *! * onl y used horizontal de!ormation bones' you (ould see lots o! intersections in !aces that are !urther a(ay !rom the actual de!ormation bones. ;o' the idea is that all these !acial B-Bbones resemble as much as possible the sur!ace o! the model. ;econdly * (ill align the eye rig to the model. &o do this' * (ill !irst look !or the center o! the eye object and snap the cursor to that location $ 6Shift4S7%.
9nce * hae that location' * (ill snap 2eye3mstr3str3"2 and 2R2 to the center o! the corresponding eye.
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A!ter doing that' * (ill align the eye controllers to the eyelids' just as * did (ith the eyebro(s.
"inally' (e get to adjust the actual !ace controllers. &he !irst things (e should put in place are some iolet controllers. Cou can isolate those controllers by selecting the 2S(R38A,E39E,2 group and hiding the rest o! the bones. "irst *=ll put in place the ja( controllers $the ones named 8ma3i' !rom ma3illar% 77
&his (ill determine the point o! articulation o! the ja(. &hen * go and adjust the =mouth?str= controllers' that (ill sere to all the mechanisms related to opening the mouth and to stretching the lo(er part o! the !ace. ;o' this goes !rom the back o! the nose' it goes through the mouth corners and reaches the chin.
&hen * moe 2mouth3mstr3str2 to the tip o! the lips' and 2mouth3str3ik2 to the middle o! the !ace. &he location o! this last controller (ill determine the pioting point o! the mouth' that is' (hen you moe the mouth around the !ace as a (hole. 7
A!ter that' * just moe 2mouth3ctrl3str2 ' 2li03u03loc2 and 2li03loc3lo'2 into position. &his bones determine the position o! the general mouth and lips animation controllers.
;o' once this is all set' (e can start placing the !acial controls. 7+
"irst' *=ll place the lip controllers' those are = mouth3corner3str3"2 ' 2li03u03ctrl3$3mstr3"2' 2li03u03ctrl3!3mstr3"2' 2li03u03ctrl3!3mstr3"2' 2li03u03ctrl3mstr3mid2 ' 2li03lo'3ctrl3$3mstr3"2' 2li03lo'3ctrl3!3mstr3"2' 2li03lo'3ctrl3!3mstr3"2' 2li03lo'3ctrl3mstr3mid2.
&hen *=ll place the outer controllers $cheeks%
>hen you do this' you (ill notice that the controllers that are bet(een the lip controllers and the cheek controllers' (ill moe along (ith the ne( placement. ;o' a!ter doing this' *=ll just put the all the mid controllers aligned to the edge loops o! the model.
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As you can see' a!ter moing the rest o! the controllers all the B-Bones are (rapped around the shape o! the !ace. Al(ays try not to make abrupt changes in the !lo( o! the curature o! the B-Bones. And don=t !orget about adjusting the nose and ears tooD And copying the pose to the opposite sideD
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"rom do(n under the 9bject ,ata panel' at the 8BlenRig )esh Baking Panel' * (ill press the Bake 9esh button. As this mesh does not hae any shapekeys in it' * (ill just uncheck the 8Bake to ;hape Fey option.
A!ter baking the mesh' you (ill notice it (ill get de!ormed badly' that is totally 9F. *t (ill come back to normal a!ter * bake the Armature.
9ptionally' you can also bake the pro3y model mesh !rom layer 7. * use that mesh to create lo( resolution ersions o! the characters !or !ast animation preie(s' but that topic (ill be coered in the ideo tutorials too
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;o' no( it=s time to bake the BlenRig Armature. * (ill select it' and press the 8Bake armature button.
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&hese t(o operations might take a minute or so to process' so you (ill hae to be patient. &he 8"i3 Joints button makes sure all the joints o! the armature stick together' as some positions get messed up a!ter baking it. 2ike(ise' the 8Ealc Rolls button (ill set all the bones to their correct roll angles. A!ter(ards you can customize roll angles' but again' * (on=t coer that in this tutorial. A!ter doing this' * go back to Pose )ode and press the 6Reset ,onstraint7 button' that (ill ensure all constraints behae correctly (ith the ne( proportions.
&hen' * just click the 6Re0ro0ortion 9ode7 button again to go out o! re-proportion mode. >hen * moe the controllers o! the rig' you can see that eerything is (orking (ell $including the )esh ,e!orm Eage%' but (ith these ne( proportions. Also' the lattices are already parented and (orking (ith the rig.
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+)$ A>=?S(I/G (E 9ES >E8@R9 ,AGE Gere is the last step be!ore (e can see our character in motionD &he )esh ,e!orm cage is no( the same size o! the model' but !or making it (ork (ith the character * (ill need to (rap it around the model. *n other (ords' eery part o! the model should be inside o! the )esh ,e!orm Eage. *n the picture to the right you can see that many parts o! the character remain outside o! the Eage' specially the torso' (aist and shoes. &he ne3t step is to adjust the )esh ,e!orm Eage in Hdit mode' moing all the ertices so that they surround the model o! the character.
*n other (ords' it=s not a good idea to try to automatically adjust the Eage to the model (ith a shrink(rap modi!ier or any similar method' as you (ould spoil all the de!ormation strategies that are present in the topology o! the cage. A!ter moing around the ertices !or a couple o! minutes' here is the resulting Eage.
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A!ter a couple o! seconds the binding process should be !inished. >hen * moe the armature' * notice some spikes coming out !rom the model.
&hose are simply ertices that (ere le!t outside o! the )esh ,e!orm Eage. &here!ore' * (ill select the model again and press the 8unbind button in the mesh de!orm modi!ier. 9nce * do that' * (ill edit the Eage again and try to surround those missing ertices. 4
Gere you can clearly see the troubling ertices.
A!ter adjusting the Eage to coer those' * go back to the model and press the 8bind button again. As eerything (ent correctly and no ertices (ere le!t outside o! the Eage' * (ill no( bind the character again but in %recision leel
2eel / is the correct leel !or binding the character and obtaining the best de!ormation possible. &he binding process in leel / may take up to +4 minutes' depending on the comple3ity o! the model. Go(eer' in most cases the process (on=t take longer than 0 minutes. Cou can check my articles on mesh de!orm de!ormation at the BlenRig section o! the Blender Eloud.
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Ater the binding process is !inished' the character is already de!orming pretty (ellD
+)+ RE8I/I/G ,AGE >E8@R9A(I@/ &he )esh ,e!orm Eage !rom BlenRig (as strategically modeled to produce the best de!ormation possible out o! the bo3.
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"egs: thigh?dr?2$R%' shin?!k?2$R%' !oot?dr?2$R%
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Arms: arm?dr?2$R%' !orearm?!k?2$R%' hand?dr?2$R%' hand?t(ist?dr?2$R%
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(orso: pelis?de!' spine?7?de!' spine??de! spine?+?de!
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ead: neck?7?de!' neck??de!' neck?+?de!' head?de!?mstr
% Re!ining (eights on the cage. "or this you can actiate the layer called 8de!ormation $(hich is armature layer 70%' in (hich you (ill !ind all the de!ormation bones to (eight paint (ith. *n the BlenRig 0 ideo tutorials this (ill be coered step by step.
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+)5 EA>C A/>S A/> 8EE( As you may already hae noticed' mesh de!orm is a great' organic (ay o! de!orming the characters. &he only aspect in (hich this techni#ue (ont help is in de!orming rigid parts o! the mesh' or small parts. ;o' the head and hands o! the character hae to be de!ormed (ith the armature modi!ier. "eet should also be de!ormed (ith the armature modi!ier in the case that the character has toes. *n this case (e=ll just do head and hands. &he !irst thing *=ll do is to create and paint a group called 8no?mde!' in order to separate the areas that should be de!ormed (ith the armature !rom the ones that (ill remain de!ormed by the mde! $mesh de!orm% modi!ier.
&he red parts are the ones that (ill hae Armature modi!ier in!luence' and the the blue parts (ill be de!ormed by the mde! modi!ier. Also notice that there is a gradient bet(een red and blue' this (ill allo( a smooth transition bet(een both types o! de!ormation.
A!ter the 8no?mde! erte3 group is painted' you should setup the armature and mesh de!orm modi!iers in the model as !ollo(s:
+)D EIG( %AI/(I/G (E A/>S ;o' painting the hands basically re#uires you to paint = hand3def3"2-R. ' (hich is the base bone o! the hand' and then all the remaining phalanges. *n BlenRig' there are bones that hae the su!!i3 63fi<7' (hich are basically de!ormation bones that help you in olume preseration. &hey basically moe out (hen the joint bends' and by painting this 8?!i3 bones' you preent the skin o! the character !rom collapsing. * kno( many people like doing things as !ast as possible' and that=s alid' so you are totally !ree to try to apply automatic (eights on the characters. Go(eer' * pre!er to do things manually and hae total control oer ho( things de!orm. )y techni#ue consists in articulating each joint and paint the bones in the most critical position' until it de!orms ade#uately. Gere are some basic e3amples o! ho( * paint the hands.
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Cou can see 2hand3def3"2 and the little !inger phalanges. Bet(een each phalan3 you see the 8?!i3 bone (eight. Again' this (ill be coered step by step in the ideo tutorials. Cou can also look into &ictor2s *lend file from ,osmos "aundromat i! you (ant to see a !inished e3ample o! ho( it is all (eight painted.
+) F EIG( %AI/(I/G (E 8A,E As * said be!ore' it is alid that you try to do automatic (eights (ith the !ace also. * een did that (hen rigging the penguins !rom Eaminandes +' as they (ere secondary characters $ you can see the article at the BlenRig section on the Eloud% . Go(eer' the truth is that i! you (ant to be in total control o! the de!ormation' you (ill hae to (eight paint manually. Gere is ho( * do it... 7% * paint the 2head3def3mstr2 bone
% >ith 8atuo-normalize enabled' * paint the ja( bone' 6ma
+% * then paint all the 8rings o! the !ace
% * also paint all the 8columns o! the !ace grid
All this de!ormation bones should be painted in a (ay that they more or less oerlapping (ith each other. Again' check the Iictor character !or a good re!erence' or (atch the ideo tutorialsD 2ast but not least' a!ter painting all the (eights' * remoe the unnecessary in!luence !rom 2head3def3mstr2 and 2ma
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9ptionally' you can een replace 2head3def3mstr2 diiding its in!luence along 2head3def312C 2head3def3!2 and 2head3def3$2 to be able to use the !ull + joint articulation BlenRig o!!ers in the head.
,on=t !orget to also paint the inner mouth (ith the 8rings and 8columns de!ormation bones. Also remember to (eight paint the teeth' tongue and earsD A!ter doing all these' the !acial rig should already be looking #uite (ell. &he !ollo(ing e3pression (as achieed right a!ter (eight painting' (ith no other de!ormation techni#ues inoled.
+)H SE((I/G ?% (E 8A,E *! by the time you are reading this' BlenRig 0 tutorials are not yet published' * recommend you to (atch the ideo called 8A tour o! ictor=s ne( rig on Coutube or on the Blender Eloud. &here' you (ill get the basic kno(ledge on ho( the !ace controllers (ork. Again' it=s ery di!!icult to do a step by step guide about this topic (ithin this short guide' so * (ill try to e3plain certain basic things and then you should (atch BlenRig 0 ideos $or (ait !or them to be ready%. Basically' these are the controllers that (ill drie all the !acial e3pressions: 2mouth3ctrl2' 2mouth3corner3ctrl3"-R.2 ' 2cheek3ctrl3"-R.2' 2eyelid3u03ctrl3"-R.2' 2eyelid3lo'3ctrl3"-R. and 2*ro'3ctrl3"-R.2 .
&he (hole dynamics o! the !ace de!ormation is based on constraints and bone hierarchies organized in a (ay that makes eerything moe organically. *n other (ords' the user don=t hae to care or een kno( about ho( the !ace rig dynamics (orkD Go(eer' in order !or the user to be able to customize ho( the di!!erent !acial moements should look like' * set up a system based on edita*le actions. BlenRig already comes (ith de!ault moements !or each o! the actions' so' i! the head o! your character is more or less the same size o! the head o! the unaltered BlenRig armature' you may not een need to edit those actions' as th de!ault moements could (ork (ell (ith your character. Be!ore (e go into editing the actions' there are some parameters that you should be a(are o!. *n the 6BlenRig Rigging %anel7 you (ill !ind a 68acial Settings7 tab' and (ithin that tab you (ill !ind the 68acial 9oement Ranges7 menu. >ithin that menu you can de!ine the amount o! moement you (ant the a!ore mentioned controllers to hae. &here!ore' i! you think that (hen the characters does a 86 o(el' the mouth corner controller should moe 4.470 Blender 6nits in(ards' then you put that alue in the 6I/7 !ield o! both 2mouth3ctrl3"2 and 2R2. &he same goes !or the other listed controllers. "or e3ample' *! you (ant the Eheeks to be raised 4.4+
Blender units at the ma3imum position' you then put that alue in the 6?%7 !ield o! the 2cheek3ctr3"= and 2R2 controllers. ;o' the idea is that you moe these main controllers around and determine i! the de!ault alues (ork (ell (ith your character' or i! you need to increase or decrease those moement ranges.
Basically' there are three important actions that you may hae to edit: ●
rig3mouth3corner3in: you can set ho( the lips moe (hen the mouth narro(s into a 86 or an 89 o(el. "rame 4 o! the action is rest pose' !rame 7 is ma3imum moement. *n this action you should basically moe the lips controllers.
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rig3eyelids3lo'er and u00er: here you set ho( the eyelids behae (hen the character blinks. "rame 4 is rest pose' !rame -7 is eyelids opened to ma3 position $like (hen the character is surprised%' !rame 7 is 8eyelid middle (ay to blink' !rame is eyelid in !ull blink position.
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*n most o! the cases' the controllers that belong to actions are not the main controllers o! the rig' but some dedicated controllers that are only used !or editing those actions. Cou can see all these controllers by enabling the 8Actions layer. Gere you can see the 2rig3mouth3corner3in2 action on !rame 4 $rest position%.
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Any(ay' in most cases you (ill only need to moe a couple o! controllers. *n the image belo( you can see that !or the =zrig?mouth?corner?in= action in !rame 7' * only moed the controllers o! the lips' although there are many more controllers aailable.
;ome times you might (ant to edit the action (ith the !ace doing a certain e3pression. *n that case' i! you open the action in the Action Hditor' you (ould get a 8doubled moement o! the controllers. &hat is (hy in the 8"acial ;ettings panel' * added a menu called 8Action &oggles !rom (hich you can temporarily turn o!! the e!!ect o! the actions' so that you don=t get those double trans!orms. Any(ay' this might seem like too much in!ormation' but don=t get scared' you might not een need to do all this t(eaking. *=m just giing you the necessary kno(ledge in case you need to. )oreoer' regarding all the panels' each property (ill sho( you a description i! you put your mouse oer them. &hat (ill help you understand things een better. &o sum up' all you hae to do is start moing the main controllers around and deciding (hether or not you need to adjust some o! these actions. Cou can think o! them as 8Armature shapekeysD All these topics (ill be coered in depth in the ideo tutorials.
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+)# 8I/ISI/G (E 8A,E A!ter you are satis!ied (ith ho( the !ace is behaing' you may (ant to polish the (ay in (hich some e3pressions are de!orming the mesh. Gere is (hen correctie shapekeys come into place. &he idea is that you drie your correctie shapekeys (ith the moement o! the main controllers o! the !ace' such as the =mouth?corner?2= and =R= controllers. Again' you might (ant to check on Iictor ho( * set up those driers' or (atch me doing that in real ti me in the ideo tutorialsD Another (ay o! oercoming un(anted de!ormations is to use the =Eorrectie ;mooth modi!ier as * did (ith the penguins o! Eaminandes +. &his is a good solution !or secondary characters. $read the article on the Eloud%
5 F %anels @erie' &his is just a #uick oerie( o! the 6* options that haen=t been mentioned in the tutorial.
5)1 F B"E/RIG 5 ,@/(R@"S
Cou can use the 8BlenRig Body Picker panel to select the rig controllers (ithout the need o! haing them displayed in the +d ie(.
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"rom here you can also s(itch bet(een I and 8 !or eery part o! the body' you can also toggle 6inge7 $isolate rotation% and Stretchy I. At the bottom you (ill also !ind the buttons !or per!orming I8 Sna00ing. &he 8BlenRig "ace Picker has the same !unctionality but !or the !ace controllers.
*n the 6E
eformation E
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5)1 F B"E/RIG 5 RIGGI/G %A/E"
Gere *=ll do a brie! description o! the tabs that (ere not used during this tutorial. Again' i! you put your mouse oer each property' you (ill see a proper description.
*n 8Body Setting7 you (ill !ind:
I: &his properties let you oerride the initial rotation or bending o! the arms and legs. &his is use!ul in cases (here the model o! the character has its legs and arms in a rest position that is too straight. ;o' (hen you place the bones into that body' as the joints o! the elbo( or knees (on=t hae a proper bending' the *F (on=t kno( (hich (ay to bend to $in many cases you (ill see that the *F doesn=t bend at all%. ;o' (ith these properties you can !i3 that issue. Automated 9oement: here you can t(eak or een turn o!! some automatic mechanisms that BlenRig o!!ers. "or instance you can turn o!! or t(eak the automatic shoulder moement that occurs (hen you moe the arms o! the rig in *F.
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Realistic =oints: *n most cases you (ill leae these at their de!ault alues' but basically BlenRig emulates ho( real (orld joints behae. &hat is' (hen you bend your leg' the shin bone $or bones% not only rotates' but it also moes along the olume o! the thigh bone. ;o' bones don=t rotate in place' but they are also displaced. &his is (hat this alues represent' and among other things' this techni#ue helps in olume preseration too. * (ill e3plain this !urther in the ideo tutorials (oggles: here you can simply turn on and o!! !ingers and toes to !it the needs o! your character. 6nder 68acial Setting7 you (ill also !ind the "i0s Sha0ing tab. &his alues (ill basically let you t(eak ho( the mouth controllers react to the moement o! the corners o! the mouth. *n most cases you (ill leae these at their de!ault alues.
&he 6>ynamic Sha0ing7 tab lets you modi!y your rigged character in a similar (ay "le3 Rig does. Cou can scale body parts' assign a ne( height to the character' make it skinnier or !atter' etc. *t=s (orth mentioning that you can also do all these things (ith the rig controllers' but by doing it !rom (ithin this panel' those changes are stored and kept (hen you link the character. *n other (ords' you can use the 8,ynamic ;haping tab as !ast $but limited% (ay !or generating secondary characters. "inally' the 6Rig @0timiations7 tab has some check-bo3es that let you turn o!! certain parameters that might speed up the rig. &hese are only to be turned o!! after the character is rigged . * personally recommend only turning o!! =Hnable "ace ,riers= as they (on=t hae isible e!!ect on the rig once the !ace has been set up. +
