The Rookies 2023 Entry

by ViviennRynkar on 1 Jun 2023 for Rookie Awards 2023

Hello and welcome to my The Rookies 2023 entry! I am pleased to showcase my graduation Demo-Reel from PIXL VISN Media Arts Academy were I specialised in 3D Rigging in Autodesk Maya.

4 394 0

Round of applause for our sponsors

The Rookies 2023 Entry

by ViviennRynkar

Please enable JavaScript to accurately view projects and entries.

Here I’ll showcase my favourite highlights of each Rig.

Robotic Wasp

1) Leg's IK
I had to try a different approach than I am used with the usual bipedal rig, because the wasp Leg IK will not orient on it’s foot heel but with it’s “toe” so to speak. Meaning, it has not one but two knee joints.

I attempted to impliment IK, SplineIK and variations of them, though none resulted into the desired outcome. Either the legs could only be controlled limitedly or they were not precise enough.

Therefore I reached out to my rigging teacher Alexander Samouridis for support and he replied for which i am thankful for with the following approach loosely based on my latest attempt. I added afterwards IKFK switch to complete things off.

2) Honey Pistons
There I created the up and down moving pistons based on the principle of real-life car engines. Using in circles arranged locators (in red) and constraining each piston joint's Y-translation made it the whole part work.

3) Flex-y Wings
Simple yet effective chain of twist joints on the wings' axis of rotation.

Underwater Vehicle/Mechanical Isopod

1) Shell opening

The Isopod has besides individual moveable shell plates a build in keyable animation attribute, yet it can still be adjusted before, while after the animation. Possible through a driver group within the zero/offset group. Additionally, it has small little propellers hidden underneath it, which can be controlled per plate or all together as well.

2) Wheel Deformation
Set-driven-keyed clusters control certain lattice vertices to deform the wheel's mesh relative between the wheel_ctl and the contact controller.

3) Claw Smart Controllers
The offset group of the claws are aiming towards the locators that are parented under the main controller. Also there is a set-driven-key; when the controller moves towards the claws the locators move perpendicular away, hence the claws follow them.