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Advanced Rigging
Rigging a Character
  1. 02

    Re-targeting the body

  2. 03

    Re-targeting the face

  3. 04

    Baking the rig

  4. 05

    The mesh deform cage

  5. 06

    Refining cage deformation

  6. 07

    Adding shapekeys to the cage

  7. 08

    Weight painting the hands

  8. 09

    Weight painting the face

  9. 10

    Rigging extra objects

  10. 11

    Body parameters

  11. 12

    Understanding facial actions

  12. 13

    Finishing facial actions

Timelapse
  1. 01

    Vincent Timelapse 01

    Free
  2. 02

    Vincent Timelapse 02

    Free
Posing Vincent
  1. Vincent drunk pose
  2. 02

    Posing Vincent

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  1. BlenRig_5_Quick_Introduction_Guide.pdf
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  1. BlenRig 5 for Blender 2.8 (V1.04) Free
  2. BlenRig 5 for Blender 2.7x (V1.02) Free

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Juan Pablo Bouza
Juan Pablo Bouza Author
License CC-BY
Report Problem
Rigging a Character

Finishing facial actions

FINISHING FACIAL ACTIONS

Let's go through the remaining actions doing fine detail tweaks to the facial rig.

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30 comments
Mark Jackson
Mark Jackson
March 29th, 2020

Hi Juan, great rig! I've just finished doing 3 new characters with it. One thing I can't seem to do properly though is to link them to a new scene correctly where I can control the rig and obviously have the character unselectable.

In the Vincent file, there seems to be two collections that are not visible in the Outliner (Vincent_high and Vincent_Low). These are the only collections that can be linked from that file and they both work perfectly as intended when linked and by making the blenrig the Proxy object. Is that done with scripting or is it something I can easily set up in my original character workfile to link to my scene? Thanks again!

Ahora en español Hola Juan! Este rig es una maravilla! Acabo de hacer 3 personajes con el blenrig pero todavía tengo problemillas para hacer el link a un nuevo archivo .blend donde podría controlar el personaje por hacer el proxy el blenrig en el archivo de mi escenario.

En el archivo de Vincent, se puede hacer el link con solo dos colecciónes a pesar de haber más colecciones en el archivo original menos esas dos (Vincent_High y Vincent_Low). Como se hace? jaja ¿Se hace por python? y ¿como lo haría correctamente si no sé nada de python? Gracias de nuevo!

EDIT: I've worked it out so I'll explain it here:

  1. In the original blend file MOVE meshes and blendrig MASTER collection inside a new Collection (for example: CH_Pablo).

  2. HIDE Lattices, mdef cage, controls, and blenrig Collections from render and viewport. Keep the armature visible in the viewport but not visible as it is inside the blenrig Collection.

  3. Save the file and then open your scene.

  4. File -> Link and choose the previously made Collection.

  5. Click Options -> Relations -> Make Proxy -> [Choose the blenrig]

  6. Click on the new Proxy blenrig and enter Pose mode and in the blenrig tool panel Check the In Front option to have the controls show their colours.

I can't believe this took me so long to figure out lol

Mohammed Rizwan H
Mohammed Rizwan H
March 28th, 2019

Chapter 13 till now not updated. The tutorial is so far very interesting but as this rig have lot of controls, using it without knowing completely would result in failure.

Plz finish the course. Even if no time to edit, just upload the direct recording. At least we can try to figure it out. Vincent timelapse is so fast and can't able to follow.

Plz upload the complete chapters

Rafael Nogueira
Rafael Nogueira
Oct. 4th, 2018

hello there, i wanna know, how to unilize this same rig for other characters, there is a way?

Andre Kling David
Andre Kling David
May 25th, 2018

Will there be more chapters? Its an amazing rig. Looking forward to the game version, and for more videos on the rig.

gabrielx320
gabrielx320
April 20th, 2018

Where's the next chapter?

Anastasia Kovalski
Anastasia Kovalski
Nov. 19th, 2017

Awesome tutorials! Does this way capable with animals too?

Jared Bannerman
Jared Bannerman
Sept. 26th, 2017

Love all your hard work, Juan. Do you still intend to publish the remaining videos?

Iwan Jones-Roberts
Iwan Jones-Roberts
Dec. 6th, 2016

Would it be possible to have some guidance on how to link blenrig5, the only way I can do it is to link the whole scene

Juan Pablo Bouza
Juan Pablo Bouza
Dec. 12th, 2016

@lastclaw:

Yes, all these things will get covered when I publish the couple of videos I have pending. Nevertheless, one of the reasons why I was more or less confident that all the needed information was available, is because these last steps are covered in the Vincent Timelapse, here in the TIMELAPSE section. So, even though it is not a step by step guide, you can see the setup of the drivers and also the linking process! Hope it helps!

Show more replies
Stephen Petersen
Stephen Petersen
July 1st, 2017

@lastclaw: have you viewed this tutorial on The Proxy System, it may help https://cloud.blender.org/p/humane-rigging/56040fad044a2a00b0bde654

Iwan Jones-Roberts
Iwan Jones-Roberts
Dec. 6th, 2016

Would it be possible to get some guidance around adding shape keys to the mouth and controlling with drivers? I need to add the Mouth OO shape key and control this with the mouth_ctrl. Tried various setting with no joy 

Resolved: looked at the Vincent rig

Ashwin Nandihalli
Ashwin Nandihalli
Nov. 19th, 2016

Tweaking Lattice for toony effect is what need to be explained i feel.

When re position the eye toony controls the lattice base shape gets affected.

If i try to re-position the lattice scale rotate the lattice base shape gets affected.

Juan Pablo Bouza
Juan Pablo Bouza
Nov. 21st, 2016

@bisketashwin:

Hi, yes, I'm working on the tutorials, I'm struggling to find the time to edit them. About what you're asking, you just have to adjust the lattice into the desired position, then you can either select the lattice and go to the Lattice Data tab, and at the bottom you will find a BlenRig meny and a "Reset Hooks" button. That should get it correct.

Another options is to adjust all the lattices, and then go to the BlenRig Rigging Panel, and in the bake menu you'll find a button that says " Reset Deformers". That will fix all the lattices at once!

Show more replies
Ashwin Nandihalli
Ashwin Nandihalli
Dec. 1st, 2016

@jpbouza: Thanks. I will use that in my next character rigging. For this used a long way of deleting hooks and assigning hooks again.

Ashwin Nandihalli
Ashwin Nandihalli
Nov. 8th, 2016

Please suggest possible ways to correct Waist deformation (Please see the screen shot linked) https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0jpq2cgNh8zMUtMU1d1XzVja2s

Why there is no realistic joint offset in pelvic joint?

Juan Pablo Bouza
Juan Pablo Bouza
Nov. 9th, 2016

@bisketashwin:

Hi! Well, those joints are ball joints, so there is no offset there, that's why there is no realistic joint property for that one. You should fix that by weight paiting the thigh deformer bones and also the thigh_fix_L and R bones. Anyway, as that pose is really extreme, you might also want to add a shapekey to the mesh deform cage that triggers when the leg reaches that position. You can drive that shapekey with the X rotation of thigh_drv_L, and R for the other side.

Show more replies
Ashwin Nandihalli
Ashwin Nandihalli
Nov. 14th, 2016

@jpbouza: Thanks, i have created shape key i will try driving it with thigh_drv_L

Luciano A. Muñoz Sessarego
Luciano A. Muñoz Sessarego
Nov. 2nd, 2016

Hey, are you finishing these videos?

Juan Pablo Bouza
Juan Pablo Bouza
Nov. 2nd, 2016

@luciano:

Lol, don't even say it.... I'm trying to finish some stuff and get the time to do that this month!!!!!

Show more replies
Juan Pablo Bouza
Juan Pablo Bouza
Jan. 17th, 2017

@luciano:

Lol, I know I know. No news, I'll do it but don't know when. In the meantime, all the missing info can be taken from the Vincent Timelapse, drivers, linking and all. It's not step by step, but you can see the setups there!

Luciano A. Muñoz Sessarego
Luciano A. Muñoz Sessarego
Jan. 17th, 2017

@luciano: hey any news on the following tutorials?, you ended up in "were finishing this character, see you next chapter... " and that's it..

Luciano A. Muñoz Sessarego
Luciano A. Muñoz Sessarego
Nov. 3rd, 2016

@jpbouza: cool, thank you, my students are learning it and they are very hooked up!, but just missing whats left! =)

Ben Muensterman
Ben Muensterman
June 26th, 2016

My eyes are each made up of two objects: the iris and the sclera are separate objects that are both parented to an empty.

How do I rig eyes that are not a single mesh?

Juan Pablo Bouza
Juan Pablo Bouza
June 26th, 2016

@Ben Muensterman:

Well, first go to the eye doctor, cause you might be in trouble :p

Yes I also use 2 objects. If for some reason you need to use that empty object, just parent it to eye_def_L and R. If not, add armature modifiers to both objects and paint them with eye_def_L and R respectively.

Does that answer your question??

Show more replies
Juan Pablo Bouza
Juan Pablo Bouza
June 27th, 2016

@Ben Muensterman:

If they only have the weight of eye_def, they should move together... no reason for that not to happen, unless you have another modifier influencing the objects in some way...

Also, if you try weight paiting again, don't forget to unparent the objects from the empty, just in case. But I don't know, if you want you can send me a file to jpbouza gmail and I'll check it out!

Ben Muensterman
Ben Muensterman
June 27th, 2016

@Juan Pablo Bouza: Thank you. Parenting the empty object works, so I have a solution to my problem.

When tried weight painting both the iris and sclera, they don't stay completely together when the eyes moves.

Do you know why this is?

Fede Berg
Fede Berg
May 4th, 2016

Are you going to give some information on the required/recommended topology for facial deformations with BlenRig? (I still haven't watched all these tutorials) Should we use Blenderella as an example?

Juan Pablo Bouza
Juan Pablo Bouza
May 4th, 2016

Hi @Fede Berg:

Yes, Blenderella is a great example of a standard humanoid face, so it's good that you keep it as a reference.

The better the topology, the better the result, but anyway, I've rigged characters with very ugly topology and they ended up working fine too :D

I want to do some modelling oriented tutorial too, but that won't happen too soon :)

jordi torres
jordi torres
April 24th, 2016

The work are you doing Juan Pablo is absolutely awesome. I'm not an animator, but seeing this stuff, is something I'm putting in my list. I will wait for more videos ;) (maybe a sample of how to do a cyclic walking with this rig?)

Juan Pablo Bouza
Juan Pablo Bouza
April 25th, 2016

Hi @jordi torres:

Well, after I finish with these videos, the plan is to show a couple of more feature BlenRig has for creating characters, and also videos about the controls. If I'm not wrong, there should be some videos made by Hjalti about animating the characters from Cosmos Laundromat, which used basically this same rig with some minor differences. So you could start by watching those videos! :)

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