Soft IK Solution in Maya

So, I've been hearing a lot about 'Soft IK' lately and have decided to try and give a solution a go. The general idea behind it is to give the functionality of the IK Chain this behavior:

(Pic from http://www.xsi-blog.com/archives/108)

More specifically, the behavior of the bottom chain. I'm going to base it on some of the solutions presented in Jason Schleifer's Animation Friendly Rigging DVD set. I definitely recommend the DVD set if you can swing it.

If you all aren't familiar with Jason, he's an immense resource and aid to the community. I actually emailed him to get some direction with this, and he responded, at good length, within an hour. Actually 5 min for my first email.

This post will chronicle my progress with this. Though, be warned, it may take a while as I'm working to refinish our attic at home and we're expecting our first little one in Sept. So please be patient, hopefully I'll get something underway soon.

-sd

Animator Friendly Rigging

So, I love my job...and my employer. I came across these dvd's by Jason Schleifer, Head of Character Animation at Dreamworks, on 'Animator Friendly Rigging.' I love a lot of the stuff Jason's done in the past, and thought I'd talk to Human Head about getting a few. In total, all the videos would come to about $300, so there was no way I could get them on my own. But they didn't even bat an eye...got the purchase approved, and I've been watching them the last couple weeks... very cool stuff.

As far as rigging tutorials, dvds, and materials go, these are by far the most in depth and relevant ones I've seen in a long time. Each video is about 2 hrs long and cover the torso, neck and head, arms, hands and legs. So, multiple hours on each body part. If you can afford them, or even one, I highly recommend them. I'm just trying to spread the word.