Finding A Model

Although I've been searching all weekend, I still haven't found a decent model which is also free for me to use. While I'm searching, I've decided to add a tail to the Kydd Rig, just to get some practice with adding functionality for the tail.

After creating the spine and legs, I've added almost a secondary spine from the root joint which creates a tail. My next step is to add a spline IK to the tail to make it curve correctly. I'd also like to add different attributes such as tail curl (curling in towards the back), tail swing (left to right) and many more. I believe I'm going to lock the tail spline so that it can't curl towards the legs, only towards the spine/back. I just need to stop being so fussy and find a suitable model as there's only so much practice I can do on the Kydd Rig.

Coursework Beginnings

For my coursework this year I'm planning to create a character rig for a model. I'd really like to be able to create a tool as well, but I think I'll do that as a side project.

I really want to create an interesting character rig - I didn't want to just do a simple human or animal, and I want to make my rig for games meaning I can't use blend shapes and keep the joint count down at the same time.
I've been looking to try find a suitable model online while still practicing techniques I'd use for my rig on the Kydd rig given to us. Lizard from The Amazing Spiderman was the kind of character I was trying to find, as not only did it have a human like skeleton, but also had a tail which I could add a spline IK onto. Finding a suitable mesh however is proving difficult, and I've been looking into other options such as Killer Croc from Batman which could add interesting points with joints for the chains hanging off him so they interact with his wrists, neck etc.


I'd like to decide on my model by next week so I can start transferring what I've learned and implemented on the Kydd Rig onto my own rig for coursework.

In terms of a tool, I had thought of creating a tool to go along with my rig which would allow game animators to easily input different animations. A sort of pose tool, but for instance when a button is clicked it wouldn't pose the character but run a clip of them moving which could then be used elsewhere. I'd like to further investigate the Trax editor in Maya by the end of this week as well.