Rig Updates! (2024-12-09)
Added 2024-12-09 16:22:04 +0000 UTCSo... figure I should do more of these.
As y'all know, I've transitioned from doing analog animation ("frame-by-frame") to asset-based digital animation ("flash" animation).
The reason being, that between my day job, and trying to make animations regularly and sustainably, I can't do analog.
To that end, I started making puppet rigs, since I noticed I was redrawing a lot parts the same way, and could just offload cleanup and tweening to parts. Plus, similar to Sonic the Hedgehog and My Little Pony, I could create a template in Abby, and then customize them into other characters.
It also allows me to create unique costumes for characters depending on the scenario, and those rig render files can serve as reference for the characters too. It also creates branding/style consistency too.
For example the "Holiday Abby" alt attached to this post.
However Abby has a very unique body type, so I needed a different template for characters with more traditional bodies. Hence the "goonette" rig, for characters with a more standardized body.
For today's update, I figured out that, in addition to the standard five-point turn (front, 3/4ths front, side, 3/4ths back, back) I could also get "near forward front/back" and "near side, front/back" turns for a total of 9. This should give me as much flexibility as I'll need for my projects.
The downside is that, because I'm not offloading this development to an independent designer/rigger, it's been interfering with my ability to produce art, which sucks. However, this post should be the last major update, barring individual character customizations (and a "male rig") for a while.
So, hopefully, in 2025, we'll be back to consistently posting stories and Game Overs, once I figure out what distribution schedule I want, and what production schedule I want, in order to achieve that. Thanks for your patience, and see you soon!
Comments
NP! Genuinely curious about this sort of thing and you're one of the few who gives in depth answers!
Trevor Bond
2024-12-11 19:26:59 +0000 UTCThey can be. The problem with a lot of art education on the student side is that you won't know what you're doing wrong and why until you do it wrong and suffer the consequences. Worse, a lot of art ed is dedicated to preventing you from suffering those consequences in the first place (so that, if you don't punish others if/when you do suffer the consequences), so you never learn why worst practices are the way they are. At first, they were a lot of work to get right because I didn't know what I was doing, and I only realized I'd messed up the rigs when I couldn't do the animations/poses I wanted, and had to rework not just the rigs, but my entire drawing style to accommodate what I wanted the rigs to be able to do. Nowadays, it goes a lot faster because I know what I'm looking for when I make them. For example, every connection point ends in a circle, and the limbs have more nebulous definition to make them more versatile. And that's the same thing with most art self-ed, because you're not "discovering" or "experimenting" as much. Plus principles that work in one medium (using basic shapes for drawing) tend to work in another, and are equally applicable (building your puppet parts from basic shapes first). It's still tedious (I have to design every part), but its less so, especially customizing the templates into other characters. Basically front-ending development so production can go a lot smoother. In an ideal world, I might be able to offload this stuff onto someone else, but when you're a one-hobbit show, time that might have gone into stuff like comics and pinups has to go into this, so the end result can be stronger. (but thank you in particular for your continued support checking these posts and leaving comments! It means a lot!)
SaunterWing!
2024-12-11 13:31:08 +0000 UTCHey, I don't tell a blacksmith not to take the time to build the tools he needs. These look pretty neat... as someone outside the animation realm, they also look like a ton of work to get right. Are they?
Trevor Bond
2024-12-09 19:47:13 +0000 UTC
