PhasRig - Update v001

So last month I added a blog post about creating my own personal rig builder and wanted to keep posting the progress I've made. When I first created the blog post, I had laid out the grounds for the UI template and had ideas of how to deal with "Modules" and piecing them together. Right now I currently have a working tool that could be used to create a number of rigs. I'm sure there will be some changes depending on my rigging needs and preferences but nothing that can't be changed quickly.

When I first created the blog post, I had laid out the grounds for the UI template and had ideas of how to deal with "Modules" and piecing them together. Right now I currently have a working tool that could be used to create a number of rigs. I'm sure there will be some changes depending on my rigging needs and preferences but nothing that can't be changed quickly.

To keep my files and structure clean, my main folder "PhasRig" is just laying inside my Maya scripts folder so I can use it with any version of Maya. The UI alone is made using Maya commands because there wasn't any added benefits to using PyQt. This would have cause more headache since Maya went from pyside to pyside2. Plus, everything I needed could be made with Maya's UI commands, so this just makes the script easier to deal with.

File Structure:

- PhasRig

- builds

- __init__.py

- build_control.py

- build_joints.py

- modules

- __init__.py

- Biped_Arm.py

- Biped_Clavicle.py

- Biped_Hand.py

- Biped_Head.py

- Biped_Leg.py

- Biped_Spine.py

- Spring_Leg.py

- ui

- __init__.py

- rig_builder.py

So these are the files and file structure that I have been working on for the rig builder. To recap what I was saying in the first blog post, I have the three main folders, "builds", "modules", and "ui". The "builds" create the placers and joints in each of the modules. So I'm not repeating code every time. The ui just calls the module scripts.

Right now I have to come up with a cleaner setup for the rig_builder.py script because it's connecting all of the modules together when created. For instance, when you create a biped arm, it will create a group with all the placers in it. It will look something like this:

- L_BipedArm01_PlacerGrp

- L_Shoulder01_Placer

- L_Shoulder01_PlacerLoc

- L_Elbow01_Placer

- L_Elbow01_PlacerLoc

- L_Wrist01_Placer

- L_Wrist01_PlacerLoc

- L_Arm01_Crv

Everything also has a few custom message connections such as these attributes: "outputPlacerLink", "inputPlacerLink", "outputLink", "inputLink", "outputJointLink", "inputJointLink". These are just simple message connections.

So each of these attributes serves it's own purpose within the scripts. Each placer's "outputPlacerLink" will plug into the placerGrp's "inputPlacerLink". This way I can quickly tell which placers belong to which instance of the placerGrp. This helps with having multiples of limbs in the scene.

The "outputLink" and "inputLink" act as a parenting system. For example, the "L_Shoulder01_Placer.outputLink" is connected to "L_Elbow01_Placer.inputLink". This way when a joint is created for each of them, the rig builder will know which one is the parent and which one is the child. same thing goes for each placerGrp, which is the module. So you can hook up the "L_Clavicle01_Placer.outputLink" to the "L_BipedArm01_PlacerGrp.inputLink" to parent the shoulder under the clavicle. Most of this is automated by selection.

Lastly there's the "outputJointLink" and "inputJointLink". All placers have an "outputJointLink" attribute. all placerGrps ahve an "inputJointLink". When you click "Build Rig", for each placer connected to the placerGrp's "inputJointLink", a joint will be created there.

With all that said, Let me explain how all this works together. First I run the rig_builder.py script to bring up the ui, which looks like this:

Rig Builder UI

Then I click on whichever module I want to build. Let's say the clavicle for instance. When I click the clavicle, it'll ask if you want to create the left side, the right side, or both. It'll create whichever one you select. all of the placers will have their custom connections set and ready to go. So if you wanted to, you could go ahead and create the rig.

Everytime you create a module, if there is a placer selected, it will plug that placer's "outputLink" to the newly created module's "inputLink". So if you create a clavicle and then create an arm immediately after, it will automatically make the clavicle the parent of the shoulder. It'll hook up left side to left side and right side to right side, so you should only have to select the left or the right and it'll do the rest for you.

Once you have the modules created, all you have to do is position the points to where you want the joints/controls and that should be it. The locators that are parented under each of the placers will be the orientation for the joints. The locators are usually aiming towards another placer, usually the child to keep the chain planar. Some modules will have "up placers" to use as the up object for the aimed vectors. The only other object the module will create is a curve. This curve is only for visual purposes only and isn't used for anything in the rig, at least not yet.

One thing to note is that I've been looking into multiple modular rig systems and have decided to use what I've learned from personal experience and Siggraph papers, mostly coming from ILM's Block Party and Block Party 2. This rigging system isn't a replica or anything, but my own personal creation and if you see any similarities between mine and any other rigging system, just know that all of my code was started from scratch and is completely mine. Some ideas, reguarding rigging, I am using only as placeholders until I have time to create my own.

Also more to come within the next month or so...