Scaling and Character Rigging

[Cactus Dan]

Howdy,

This is an important topic with character rigging, so this thread will hopefully help shed some light on it.

When scaling a complete character, you must make sure you're using the Object tool and NOT the Model tool. I know Cinema 4D defaults to the Model tool when you first open it and most of the layouts have the Object tool low in the pallet, but in my opinion the Model tool is not good for character work. I always change my character layout to have the Object tool where it can be easily accessed. It is even bad to use the Model tool when scaling a character rigged with Mocca.

Here is the result of scaling the mime character rigged in Mocca with the Model tool:


Now the thing to remember when using CD Joints & Skin is that anytime you are going to make alterations to the character, you must unbind the skin first and then rebind the skin after the alterations. This also applies to scaling the character.

So, to scale your complete character, follow these steps:

1. First, if you have a CD Bind Pose tag in your rig, select it and in the Attributes Manager under the Set tab, click the button "Clear Bind Pose".

2. Select the CD Skin tags and unbind the skin. If you also have CD Skin Cluster tags added to the rig, you need not worry about unbinding and rebinding them. The CD Skin tag will look to see if there are any CD Skin Clusters in the rig that are affecting the character mesh, and will also bind and unbind them.

3. Select the CD Skin's Reference tab in the AM, and click the Edit Reference button. This is to ensure the reference is also scaled.

4. Select the Object tool, then the Scale tool and then select the topmost parent object in your character and scale it to the size you want.

5. Select the CD Skin tags and in the Attributes Manager under the Reference tab click on the Reset Reference button.

6. Then rebind the skin, by clicking the Bind Skin button in the CD Skin's AM under the Tag tab.

7. And finally, select the CD Bind Pose tag, if you had one in the rig, and click the button Set Bind Pose in the AM under the Set tab.

That should safely scale your character.

Adios,
Cactus Dan

[robotbob]

is this going to work if you wish to rescale a character that has been jointed/skinned but not rigged ?

i have tried it and the mesh will not scale up with the joints

pedro

[Cactus Dan]

Howdy,

Are you only scaling the joints hierarchy?

You should always have a topmost parent Null object as the "character null". Then the rig hierarchy and the mesh hierarchy should both be children of that parent null, but still be separate hierarchies under it. Then you just scale the parent null.

Adios,
Cactus Dan

[robotbob]

doh ! stupid ! was reading your intructions as the topmost joint not topmost parent which would be a null. ! man what an idiot.

thanks dan

pedro

[Cactus Dan]

Howdy,

In the latest update, some of the scaling issues were addressed so you may not need to strictly follow the above steps. But you should still use the Object tool and have all objects pertaining to the character under one parent "Character Null".
http://www.cactus3d.com/Scaling.mov

Adios,
Cactus Dan

[Nemo]

I am moving the rig from IKBob to one of my characters and this entails adjusting the location of the joints. I was into it with the hand joints when I realized that my adjusments higher in the hierarchy were changing them. Now, at the elbow joint, moving (or scaling) the joint is no longer straight forward, i.e., the joint wants to move in the x or y axis but not the z (it's not out far enough for an elbow).

Any pointers for an operation like this (I have several characters I would like to equip with IK Bob's excellent rig).

[Cactus Dan]

Howdy,

Remember that every time you adjust a rig by moving the joints' positions, you must remember to re-orient the joints.

Adios,
Cactus Dan

[Nemo]

Thanks for the fast reply, Dan! By "re-orient the Joints", does that mean positioning a joint and then rotating the joint to bring the down hierarchy joints back to the character? Is the CD Joint tool used for this operation? I can't seem to effect the changes I want with the Move (or Scale) tool.

[Cactus Dan]

Howdy,

Use the "CD Orient Joints" command tool. You select the parent joint of the joint chain you changed and then call the command.

You can also select the root joint of the whole skeleton and orient all the joints at once. If you have joint subchains (arms or legs) that need to be oriented differently than the main joint chain (torso), then you can uncheck the "Connected To Parent" option on the subchain's first joint, and that subchain will be oriented to its first joint, instead of to the joint in the main chain to which it is attached.

Adios,
Cactus Dan

[Nemo]

Thanks for the clarification, Dan. I see where sometimes the command Orient Joints can move some in the hierarchy (last couple of finger joints). It's a simple matter to tweak them back and a further Orient call doesn't move them again, so all is well.

Back again. The pinky defeats my efforts to keep the joints in line with the mesh. Unlike the other fingers, it reverts to slightly outside the mesh for the last two joints (when calling Orient Joints from the top). I suppose one can't forego the final "Orient Joints"?

New idea: Start with top of hierarchy, move joint, then re-orient, move next joint down, then re-orient (from top of hierarchy), and so on to end. This is what I will try next time. The other hand is less cooperative than the first (where I still have an unco pinky).

Final edit Persistance pays off. You might have to vary your tweaks but now I have a rig that conforms to my mesh.