Rigging standards/notes

Translation:

Z is up

X is forward backward

Y is side-side

Rotation:

Z is rotate around the pole

X is rotate along proper knee axis

Y is rotate side-side

Initial thoughts:

We want to make sure that both our model and rig controls have proper unit scaling and ensure that controllers are at a scale of 1,1,1 before publishing.

I also want to figure out the best way to define a "resting" point for each rig controller, so that when reset to 0,0,0 it goes back to a defined location and not world origin

Capabilities:

These rigs should work for both manually keyframed animation as well as motion capture if we so choose. So, for each joint we should have a constrainable mocap control with a child manual controller, this also promotes the ability to edit motion on top of mocap

Rig settings on the root controller:

IK vs FK

all rigs should be able to have IK/FK controls, even matoran-type rigs that only have one joint per limb.

Organization:

Collection for Standard rig for manual animation

Collection for Mocap constrained controllers

Collection for any misc details that react to the main rig, like pistons, tubes, etc.

Questions:

How universal should this be? do we anticipate the need to translate any motion onto any character and do we have any hard limits in mind we draw the line at?

If universal, how should we handle differences in joint capabilities? We can get pretty far with some rigging standards but there may be the need to write some custom remapping tools and potentially use a proxy rig to store information when transferring motion between rigs.

An example parent tree:

rootCTRL_Charname

footIK_Mocap_R

footIKAnim_R

kneePole_Mocap_R

kneePoleAnim_R

footIK_Mocap_L

footIKAnim_L

kneePole_Mocap_L

kneePoleAnim_L

handIK_Mocap_R

handIK_R

armPole_Mocap_R

armPole_R

handIK_Mocap_L

handIK_L

armPole_Mocap_L

armPole_L

torso_Mocap_CTRL

torsoCTRL

chest_Mocap_CTRL

chestCTRL

armFK_Mocap_R

armFK_R

forearmFK_Mocap_R

forearmFK_R

handFK_Mocap_R

handFK_R

wpnLocator

armFK_Mocap_L

armFK_L

forearmFK_Mocap_L

forearmFK_L

handFK_Mocap_L

handFK_L

wpnLocator

neck_Mocap_CTRL

neckCTRL

head_Mocap_CTRL

headCTRL

thighFK_Mocap_R

thighFK_R

calfFK_Mocap_R

calfFK_R

footFK_Mocap_R

footFK_R

thighFK_Mocap_L

thighFK_L

calfFK_Mocap_L

calfFK_L

footFK_Mocap_L

footFK_L

I took a quick look at the different commercially available bionicles and their body-type setups. It might be a good idea to have some naming system for the capabilities of each potentially?

Matoran:

Single Joint Torso

Single Joint Legs

Single Joint Arms

Single Joint Hands

Single Joint Feet

Single Joint Head

SOMETIMES Double jointed limbs, but only in models we've created ourselves?

Toa Mata, Toa Nuva, Takanuva, all fit the matoran body type (maybe we come up with a better name for this rig?)

Bohrok:

Single Joint Torso

Single Joint Legs

Single Joint Arms

Double Joint Head

Single Joint Hands

Single Joint Feet

Rahkshi:

Double Joint torso (torso + shoulders)

Double Jointed legs

Single Joint Arms

Single Joint Head

Single Joint Hands

Single Joint Feet

Restriction of hands? or can it break the staff in two and reconnect it?

Toa Metru:

Single Joint Torso

Double Jointed Legs

Double Jointed Arms

Single Joint Head

Single Joint Hands

Single Joint Feet

Vahki:

Double Joint torso (torso + shoulders)

Double Jointed legs (backwards though)

Single Joint Arms

Single Joint Head

NO JOINTS FOR HANDS

Single Joint Feet

Toa Phantoka:

Double Joint Torso (Z rotation on chest)

Double Joint Arms

Double Joint Legs

Single Joint Hands and Feet

*One extra gimmick, usually a shoulder launcher

Antroz:

Single joint torso

Double joint limbs

Single joint feet

*Shoulder wings

Vamprah:

Single joint torso

Double Joint Limbs

*Hands act as a third joint of his limbs, and rig needs to be able to switch between Bipedal flying and quadrupedal motion (CURRENT RIG NEEDS TO BE UPDATED)

No feet