Proxy!

Having built the character rig, I had 2 options; continue with the blendshapes, skinning and all the other bits of bobs to polish the character, or make a quick proxy rig so the skeleton is somewhat useful in the animation process right now.

I picked the second, seeing as it's slightly more productive to have a working, yet basic, puppet right now over having to spend a good deal more time on rigging before I can make use of my blood, sweat and tears.

Essentially what I have produced is a series of cubes to represent each appendage, scaled and shaped to best match the body shape, while keeping to the 6 faces. These are then pretty much parent constrained to the bones (the limbs have scale connections as well to allow for the stretchy limb features, and the torso was subdivided a few times, then smooth bound to the spine) to show roughly what the body will move like. At just under 300 faces and minimal binding, it will also run quicker on a PC so it has benefits after the model itself is complete.

Here is a quick pic to show off the Proxy

Enjoy!