Building a Character Rig
The first step was to know how to build a character rig so to keep it really simple we built a rig just for a arm using a cylinder.
I started by adding a cylinder to my scene and then changed its shape and size to make it easy to work with. I went into the side view and then selected the joint tool and then I clicked in the centre of the cylinder at the top, in the middle and at the bottom. I now have created three joints for my arm the top is the shoulder, the bottom is the wrist and the middle is where the arm would bend at the elbow. The next step is to bind the arm with the joints so the movement of the joints also move the arm, to do this I selected the three joints and the cylinder and then went into the character features to click bind. Now I needed to make the cylinder bend like an arm does so I selected the first joint and the last joint and then in the character menu I clicked 'Create IK chain' so now the shape bends in the middle.
Loop Video: http://www.youtube.com/v/FS7RoenbwTA?version=3&loop=1&playlist=FS7RoenbwTA
The next step was to learn how to use the auto rigging feature in cinema 4D which is the easiest recommended way to build a character rig. We used a character mesh of the hulk so we could apply our built skeleton to a model. The first thing I did was go into the character menu and select character to bring up the tools of making a skeleton. Next I clicked build and selected the 'advanced biped' template and then clicked 'root' which is the start to a long tree of components that makes my skeleton. Now I build out starting with the spine so I click 'Spine (FK)' which gives me the option to create legs so I command click on the legs to create the right and the left leg at the same time. I then move on to the arms doing the same to create a left and right arm and then I command click on the 'thumb' and then the fingers four times which creates the left and right hand on top of the arms. After doing this I potentially have a complete skeleton.
Adjusting The Rig
Now I have a complete skeleton but its not lined up with my character model so the next step is to tediously move and match up the components with the right body parts on the model. This part of the character rig reminds me of dot to dot because each dot that makes up the skeleton has a name like left shoulder or right knee and it is just the case of moving them to the right position on the model. After I was happy with my skeleton and model alined up I clicked the bind tab in the character object menu and dragged and dropped the hulk mesh from the object menu into bind the space which connected the skeleton to my model.
Using The Character Rig To Animate
The final step now after having a character rig connected and in line with my model is to use the controllers of the skeleton to move each limb (which also affects the model) to create a pose for the frames in the timeline which played back will make my hulk model walk as the frames will be displayed consecutively changing the pose of the hulk quickly creating the illusion that he is moving.
After clicking the animate tab in the character object menu white squares will appear around the model which are the controllers for each of the limbs of the model allowing me to move them freely. I simply click and drag these white squares to move the limbs but I preferred to move the attributes of the limbs instead because I found there are more options for example for the feet there were multiple options like 'heel lift' and 'ankle' so I could accurately move each part of the limb. After putting my hulk in the required poses on specific frames I made him walk.
Loop Video: http://www.youtube.com/v/NRr3kv4P1yk?version=3&loop=1&playlist=NRr3kv4P1yk
What did I learn?
This session was another really helpful one for me because I feel confident now to animate a 3D model I create and have a basic understanding and knowledge on how to do it. Character rigging at first sight looks really complicated but it is simple enough after spending sometime with it.
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