Bipedal Rules

So I've been breaking down Rules for building a bipedal rig for any character. These rules will hopefully be able to define a wide range of bipedal characters and their needs for a rig. I've gone through all resources of the Animator Friendly Rigging by Jason Schleifer, which is very detailed and skillfully crafted, and I've decided to base the automatic bipedal rig on the AFR rig with some added bonus features to maximize functionality and efficiency for animators everywhere.

These rules are very basic and will help with the layout of the character system.

Rule #0: What's your name?

Every character has a name, for example, robertPaulson. When several character rigs are in one scene, and they all are built the same way and have all the same parts, performing procedures will only require a root name change. Procedure's input variables should always state first which character is being operated on, followed by any options. $characterName seems to fit nicely as a variable.

Rule #1: Roots = Torso

Every bipedal character has a torso, with presumable the center of gravity(pivot point) at the hips. The torso is the main component of the character because parts of all the other systems has its roots in the torso. This is the first part of the rig to be created, and should set up the appropriate nodes to house the entire character rig ($characterName + "_ALL"). The torso should have all the standard ik/fk, squash/stretch, and twisting features that one would expect the spine to be capable of. ***As a side note, I would like to mention that I've been doing Yoga, and my spine has never felt better. I sit in front of a computer for too long and it feels great to get up and stretch, even if just or 20 minutes a day, DO IT!***

Rule #2: Heads Up

As far as I know, everyone's head is attached to their body by their neck. Some people may have two heads, or even more, so there should be an option to add additional heads. Each head has its own controls but also has the option to mirror the other head ($follow the $leader). This portion of the rigging will not go into facial rigging, in fact that will be a separate setup system.

Rule #3: Arm and Hammer

Not everyone has two arms. There just may happen to be a zombie apocalypse where one-armed/no armed zombies are wandering around, or if you happen to run into a four-armed beauty you may find the need to adjust the number of arms. A pair of arms is standard, but option to change should be as easy as a plus and minus button. Hands will be at the end of every arm, but with the option to pick the number of fingers. Hands will have built in expressions; relax, scrunch, spread and so on. Hand controls will have the option to become the $newParent of a $newChild, with the option of at anytime disown the child.

Rule #4: Get a Leg Up

It is "Bipedal" for a reason. Each rig will come with two legs, each leg will have pole-vector and no-flip solvers. Feet will will include interactive ground planes and standard foot movements; roll, twist, lift, etc.

Rule #5: Anywhere @ Anysize

No, exceptions.

This is the basics of the rig setup, while I mentioned a few features in each area, more may be included as each area will be developed and explained as built. So once the user has decided all the features and number of limbs/digits, a mock-rig with display point will appear for the user to position the points of the rig. After which the user can push a button for the rig to be assembled. Easy, right?