<--- Last semester I modeled this for my Team Game Production class and have been wanting it to be rigged ever since then.
Okay, first things first we had to use the line tool in the create menu. Once we had created a line that was from the thorax to the pelvis we enabled the vertices. Finally we turn the spline into an editable spline.
Alright after we created an editable spline we went ahead and created helpers to connect to our vertices. Here is a video showing how I did it.
In the next lesson we created bones for the vertebrae editable spline. After we created the correct amount we attached the bones to the helpers and renamed the bones according to their helper. Here is a video showing the vertebrae bones attach to the spline and where you can create bones.
The next video went over how to orient vertebrae bones along the spline. It may seem like a complicated process, but once you have done it a couple times you can start to remember how to set it up correctly. After the video was over my bones followed the direction of the spline when it bended and you could grab the cross helpers and move them from side to side to get some nice twisting deformations. Here is a video show the process and result.
The next tutorial went over creating control objects for our vertebrae. You can use any shape you want to as a control object, but for this tutorial we used a circle. Here is an example video showing a possible control object.
The following tutorial went over creating global controls to move the rig as a whole by linking them. Again all we used we the circle shape and the line tool to create these objects. This video shows an example of this.
The next video went over connecting parts of the rig to the animation controls. We used the "Skin" modifier and the "Weight Table" tool. The weight table tool was interesting in that you can put in varying levels of control (in the form percentage) over portions of your bones so that you can get smoother deformations. Here is an example of two of the control objects finally controling the rig.
Next we went over a way to also have control of the middle of the vertebrae. We copied the spline that was already connected to the bones, helpers, etc. Then we used the Morpher modifier to connect them together. In order to have the other control objects working too you also have to switch the order of the Skin modifier and the Morpher. Here's an example.
In the next part we finished the middle vertebrae control. There are a lot more things to rigging than I thought before. As always, I seem to have a new appreciation of the gamut of 3D modeling tools and applications. Here is a video showing that with Helpers (I used the vertex toggle snap) and attached them to both ends and the middle (label them!), the Weight Table, and the Parameter Wire Dialog I was able to connect everything required to make the center control work.
In the following tutorial we went over starting the vertebrae twish control. In order to connect everything properly we had to disconnect the controls and disconnect the middle vertebrae control from the clone vertebrae spline. Once we had reset all the transform arrows in the same direction then we reconnected everything again and freezed the transforms. Look at this next video to see this.
The next tutorial was a bit more subjective since the correct rotation axis really depends on the model and where you want your rig to twist. However, I know that if you want to change the rotation axis you go to the motion panel/rotation/axis order and then change it to the axis you want it to twist in. In order to get the middle helpers rotation axis correctly you have to go to the rotation axis you want under the Assign Controller menu (still in the motion panel)/assign controller/> float expression/ and then connect it to the thorax and pelvis. It was pretty confusing and I still don't completely understand it. But here is a video showing the middle helper moving correctly with the thorax and pelvis controls.
Progress on this project has temporarily been stopped because all my connections (parent/child relationship) were lost when the newest version of 3ds Max was downloaded onto our computers here in the Mac Lab. I will work on it again as soon as the problem is fixed.
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