In this tutorial we are going to rig an arm with fixed joints using the |Skeleton_Layer| and three bones. The arm consists of three parts: the upperArm, the lowerArm and the hand. (pic.1) Each part is grouped in its own layer and the three groups are again grouped in a layer that is called arm (pic.2).
Before we start rigging the arm we have to prepare it to make sure that the joints properly rotate.
In picture 1 we can see that the lower side of the upper arm is straight and does not have an outline, while the upper part of the lower arm has an outline that is curved. The bottom part of the lower arm does not have an outline and is also straight. The joint of the hand is also curved with an outline.
To make sure that the joint parts of the arm rotate correctly, we made them with the help of a couple of crosshairs |Basic_Bone_Tutorial#Tip_for_making_a_crosshair| (picture 3). In picture 4 and picture 5 we can see how the horizontal crosshair line matches the straight line of the bottom of the upper arm and at the same time the outline of the circle of the crosshair matches the top curved outline of the lower arm.
The same principle is applied to the hand and the bottom part of the lower arm. The crosshairs also mark the centre of the rotation point that will later be used when placing the bones. Before placing the bones we can align the |Group_Transformation_Widget| (press control and move the left corner handle of the |Group_Transformation_Widget| to move it.) of the lowerArm group and the hand group with the crosshairs of the elbow and the wrist to check if the joints rotate correctly.
New Layer -> Other -> Skeleton
. A new |Skeleton_Layer| (pic. 7) will appear in the |Layers_Panel| alongside with a small bone in the canvas
(pic.6). Put the |Skeleton_Layer| above the arm
group if it is not already there. The green handle of the bone is the
origin of the bone and is used to move the bone in place and is also
its centre of rotation. The blue handle is used to rotate the bone.
The orange handle determines the lenght of the bone is used to stretch
the bone and its contents. The first bone is the parent bone and
should be moved toward the shoulder and stretched so that it almost
reaches the outlines of the first crosshair of the elbow. Right-click
on any of the handles of the parent bone and select
Create Child Bone
. Move the green origin point of the child bone
so that it matches the crosshair of the elbow and stretch it until it
almost reaches the crosshair of the wrist. Right click on any of the
handles of the child bone and create another child bone. Move the
green origin point of the second child bone so that it matches the
crosshair of the wrist (pic.8). Stretch the bone until it reaches the
end of the fingers.Now that the |Skeleton_Layer| is in place we have to attach the bones to the parts of the arm.
In the |Layers_Panel| click on the upperArm group,
right-click and Select All Child Layers
. Then press ctrl|A
in
the canvas window. With everything in the upperArm group
highlighted, ctrl
-click on any bone in the canvas window and
right-click on any of the handles of the parent bone and click
Link to Bone
. The upperArm group is now linked to the parent
bone. Go the |Layers_Panel| again and select the
lowerArm group. Right-click and Select All Child Layers
. Press
ctrl|A
in the canvas window and ctrl
-click on one of the bones.
Then right-click on any of the handles of the first child bone and
select Link to bone
. The lowerArm group is now linked to the
second child bone. In the |Layers_Panel| select all the
child layers of the hand group and press ctrl|A
in the canvas
window. ctrl
-click on any bone and then right-click on any of the
handles of the second child bone and select Link to bone
(pic.8).
The hand is now linked to the second child bone and the entire skeleton is now linked to the arm.
It is worth to note for new users that in case the bone is linked to an image, selecting all its handles and linking them to the bone could lead to an initially unpredictable behavior. If we need for example to apply only a rotation around the pivot point defined by the bone, it is necessary to select only the green handle that defines its position. Then use the blue handle of the bone to apply the rotation.
The sif file containing the parts of this tutorial can be found :download:`here <bones_cutout_dat/Rigarm.zip>`
The top stick is a “thigh”, the bottom stick is a calf.
- 0: 2 identical sticks + a crosshair.
- 1: The 2 sticks touch edge to edge to form a crosshair.
- 2: The 2 sticks without crosshair of flesh color.
- 3: The 2 sticks with crosshair without color.
- 4: This mark must be used.
- 5: To cut the upper limb.
- 6: Like here.
- 7: Then the limb must be merged (full).
- 8: With the cut part.
- 9: Result.
- 10: Same for bottom limb.
- 13: The only part not to be merge is the one where the circle (blue) it is the crosshair that should not be touched.
- 15: Then the rotation will be correct.
- 16: To be able to do any rotation.
- 17: Limb of the top.
- 18: Limb of the bottom.
- 21: Limbs in movement (detached).
- 22: Limbs in movement (attached).
- 23: The leg finished with the crosshair.
The crosshair must stay with our 2 sticks, for the duration of the limb's creation.
Now you are ready for the last tutorial in this section. Hang on!
The zip file containing the parts of this tutorial can be found here: :download:`Crosshair-leg.zip <bones_cutout_dat/Crosshair-leg.zip>`