“Foot rigging” by Sean Hewitt
Select the lf_foot_ctGRP and parent it under the lf_floorCTRL
Select the lf_footCTRl and open up the attribute editor. Under Limit Information we’re going to set a minimum translate value of 0.
Go ahead and test out you’re foot control. You can see that at least the control can’t translate through the floor control we made. It’s not perfect. The foot can still rotate through it, but it does save some efforts of trying to make sure the foot is flush with the floor and you pick it up and set it down. And with the floor control, you can move it all around as needed.
One last step we’re going to do is make a control for the whole rig. Generally I either place these around the base of the character or behind their back. So make one last cv control for the rig. It can be what ever you want as long as it’s one object. We’ll name is MasterCTRL. Freeze transforms on it as well.
I’m going to group the floorCTRL, name the group lf_floor_ctGRP, and parent it under the MasterCTRL.
Select the MasterCTRL, then select the COG and add a parent constraint. Again, make sure maintain offset it checked on.
Just because we have them there, you probably want to parent the IK handles on the hands under the Master Control. After that the whole rig (at least the left side, if you haven’t made the right side yet.) should move under the master control for placement, and everything else can easily be possible.
That’s it for the foot rig. To do the right side, just repeat these steps for the right side.To review the things we made:We made a reverse foot rig that allows for the automatic roll of the foot during walking.We built addition controls into the reverse foot rig so we also have manual control over the rig.We built a pole vector control so we have predictable control over the knee.We built a fake floor plane to limit the motion of our foot through the floor, while not limiting the movement all together.
Obviously you could be selective about which of these items you implement into your own rigs. Don’t be afraid to try out new set ups if these don’t meet your needs or mix and match various other techniques with these.
If you feel like you’re rig isn’t working like the one demonstrated here think logically about the motion you’re trying to create and how you might need to adjust your rig to accommodate that motion. Depending how your rig was oriented it might not be the same axis you need control over on your rig as it was on mine.
Finally, here is a rig for download with this set up for you to review and take apart to understand better. Good luck.
(c) Sean Hewit, evil_the_cat@comcast.net
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