Awesome Spine

This is more of a link to someone else's blog, as it's worth checking out if you're rigging a spine. I've made FK backs, and IK Splines, with mixed feelings about all of the results. Ideally you want a nice smooth shape that doesn't leave you fighting against the way the joints orientate and so forth; most of the time splines have flipped out on me in weird ways.

So yeah, check out http://faithofthefallen.wordpress.com/2008/10/08/awesome-spine-setup/

I've implemented it into my rig, and it works nicely. Enough control, yet enough fluidity and flexibility to be a nice alternative to the ribbon spine that is spoken about so much on the internet. With a proper squash and stretch attribute, maintaining the torso volume, this will be a very clean way of working.

Couple of side notes: a joint chain of 6 works best, with 5 IK handles. It's easy maths and has been used on this tutorial. 4 IK chains gets awkward as it's an even number... and do you even need more than 5 IK handles? Nah.

Another thing I noticed and researched was 2009's bug where the plus-minus-average node does not allow you to physically attach 2 inputs to the Input1D (you can't drag a connection to create an Input1D[1], you'll see what I mean when it comes to it). It just requires a bit of copying, pasting and tweaking in the script editor, no biggie.

The rig is nearly finished, bar the fingers and facial controls. Then the task of creating stretchy arms and torso. After that, I'll crack on with the blendshapes, which will be fun as I have a nice GUI in mind. Think Package Man or Blake style.