Left Mouth Widget Success

My test script was successful!

This script builds a square nurbs control widget that will automatically build blendshapes from sculpted shapes that are selected by the user. This script allows the user to enter in eight mouth face shapes plus the base shape into the UI’s text fields and allows the user to name the blendshape before creating it. The script builds a node selection system that knows what shape to trigger on(and how much weight) depending on where the nurbs controller is at. Limitations: The script needs to be expanded for the mouth open scenario. This script is only for the mouth closed scenario. I plan to expand this script to mirror the control on the right side and also so that it can be used when the mouth is open.

This script is useful for automating and speeding up the face rigging process. The concept can be used to build other specific face controllers such as the eyebrows, forehead, nose and cheeks. By building pieces of the face controllers, one main script can be made for the entire face.

Thanks to my friend Les Bogert for providing the the head called "Gilbert". The mouth shapes were quickly created only for testing the script.

Left Corner Mouth Widget Control

I revised my idea for the face UI I was working on. Instead, I created a left corner mouth widget maker. It creates a controller for the left corner of the mouth. All you need to do is add your blendshapes to the text fields, name your blendshape, and press the buttons as you go down the UI. I coded about 50% of the tool and need to work on the remaining portion. It works pretty smoothly. It will build a corner controller, make the deltas needed when two shapes are turned up to 1, and rebuilds the blendshapes but adds a node selection system to know how much weight of the blendshape to trigger depending on where you are on a square controller. I will post a demo once I finish coding the remaining half. My test was successful on dummy shapes I used for the Base, Mouth Up, Smile and Mouth Wide shapes. I will need to code one for the right mouth corner once I finish this portion. Version 1.0 will be the closed mouth version of the widget. Version 2.0 will add the mouth open function and I will have to adjust for the mouth opening as the jaw control is rotated. This widget is great if you can't use a plugin such as the Blendshape Combination System. For me, it was a great way for me to learn how to have two blendshapes at value 1 but trigger the desired shape you want rather than the typical blendshapes resulting from the additive behavior in Maya.

A big Thank You to my Mentor!!

I've been very fortunate to have a friend who was willing to be my rigging mentor over the past year. A huge and big thank you to John Doublestein who works at Industrial Light & Magic. John is the epitome of the self-sacrificing mentor. He took the time almost every week to meet with me and provide guidance, tips and steer me in the right direction. I couldn't have been luckier! Its really helped me open my eyes and desire to strive for excellence. This experience has also made me want "pay it forward" and also mentor someone in the future. Thank you John (Jdub) for being the best mentor ever!

Ayo for Spring Show

Team Ayo made some tiny revisions to the cute little short film. Here is the revised edit for AAU's Spring Show: AYO

CG Monks

I signed up to beta test the CG Monks toolbox and just received the script package from Josh Burton. Its always good to see what tools other riggers are using to help make life a little easier. Check out CG Monks and be a beta tester: http://www.cgmonks.com/tools/

Interactive Touch Books

I had a nice time meeting with my illustration friends for a lunch and learn with Interactive Touch Books. My friends are all excited for this app that allows artists to start creating children's books for free and get themselves published. Check out http://www.interactivetouchbooks.com/ if you are interested in making children's books. The books I have seen on their online bookstore are colorful, interactive with motion and sounds - just great for kids to play with and inspire imagination. Kudos to the app makers!

Revisiting my Rigging Tool...

Now that I learned how to make UIs using QT, I will be revisiting my rigging toolset and make a more complete package. I'll have to make a diagram/sketch of how I plan to make the toolset better. More on this later...

QT Tutorials

For those wanting to learn how to use QT with Maya, here are a few tutorials that I found super helpful:
Intro to QT in Maya
David Coleman Creating QT Interfaces for Maya and MotionBuilder
For the David Coleman Masterclass video tutorial, you will need to register in Autodesk's AREA.
So I did some tests and I successfully was able to click a button from the UI and execute a command in Maya. Now I can dive deeper and code what I need to.

Finally got back to rigging Khassay, the cartoony sea otter. All the body controls are final and ready for animation tests. The animators are happy to get started. Soon I will start on the fun face rigging. I will be using some new tools for the face rig so that will be a lot of fun! Hopefully, I will get a chance to post some of the animator's animation tests soon.

QT Test UI Sample

Here is my test UI. The layout is still a draft and I might change it. I used the listwidget for the left column where I want to add blendshapes. I was able to successfully run PyQt4 and pymel. Now for the challenging part - making it work....More on this later. Come to think of it, the Build Corrective Node should really be renamed...