GDW Update!

GDW Update

  Well, it's been a busy couple of weeks and I haven't had the time to blog about our GDW progress, but better late then never.  I rigged our main character a 2 weeks ago, before our rigging tutorial in animation.

  

  I actually rigged the character with a skeleton from scratch, instead of using a pre-made skeleton rig.  I set each joint individually and then made the root node joint right at the hips.  I implemented inverse kinematics (IK) on the legs and arms, and then spent a good chunk of time properly painting the weights for the influences.  I was looking for a robotic motion in animation, so there was a sharp drop off in influences from each joint.  They were very strong right around the joints, but had lost a influence very quickly the farther you moved down the arm.  After that, I animated a basic running animation with our main character.

  I used the basic up and down motion based on where the feet were positioned, and added in head bobbing to further accentuate the movement.  I was quite pleased with how it turned out, however I see myself tweaking the animation during next semester.  We now just need to implement the running animation into our game, which should be done before Friday.  Stay tuned!