Mesh modeling Fundamentals Exercise 01

sketchfab

CG Cookie Exercise Create Your Own 3D Character Rig from Scratch Welcome to this comprehensive tutorial on creating a fully functional character rig from scratch using Blender and Python scripting! We will walk you through each step, so don't worry if you're new to both. By the end of this exercise, you'll have a solid understanding of how to create and animate your own 3D characters. Step 1: Plan Your Rig Before diving into the tutorial, take some time to think about what kind of character you want to rig. What is their personality? What are their movements like? Consider these questions as you plan out your rig. Step 2: Create a New Project in Blender Open up Blender and create a new project by going to File > New > Blank Project. This will give us a clean slate for our character rig. Step 3: Import the Rigging Tools You'll need to download and install the rigging tools from the CG Cookie website. Once you've done this, import them into your Blender project by going to File > Link > External Data Packs. Step 4: Create Your Character's Mesh Create a new mesh for your character by going to Object Mode and clicking on the "Add" button at the top of the screen. Choose "Mesh" from the dropdown menu and select "Cube". This will give us a basic shape to work with. Step 5: Add Joints and Bones Now it's time to add joints and bones to our character mesh! In Edit Mode, select all the vertices on your mesh by pressing Ctrl+A. Then, go to the Rigging panel in the Toolshelf and click on "Create Armature". This will create a new armature for us. Step 6: Parent Your Mesh to the Armature Parent your mesh to the armature by selecting both the mesh and the armature, then right-clicking and choosing "Parent" from the context menu. This will attach our mesh to our armature. Step 7: Add Constraints Add some constraints to our character rig by going to the Rigging panel in the Toolshelf and clicking on "Constraints". Choose a constraint type that suits your needs - for example, if you want your character to be able to walk around, choose the "Follow Path" constraint. Step 8: Animate Your Character Now it's time to animate our character! Go back to Object Mode and select your armature. Then, go to the Animation panel in the Toolshelf and click on "Keyframe". This will set a keyframe for our animation. Step 9: Refine Your Rig Refine your rig by tweaking its settings until it looks exactly how you want it to. You can do this by going back to Edit Mode and selecting individual vertices or bones, then adjusting their positions as needed. Step 10: Export Your Rig Finally, export your rig by going to File > Export > Animation Cache. This will save a copy of our animation cache, which we can use to import into other projects.