Correct Rig Ordering

Could somebody explain to me the correct rigging order
for a simple biped (single skeleton) character for these
operations:
Set preferred angle
FK controllers
Ik Handles
Set driven key controls

High level:

  • Get joints in the right positions.
  • Set correct orientation, via the jointOrient attrs. My rule of thumb is +X points to primacy child, Z is primary rotation with +Z ‘opening’ and -Z ‘closing’. Preferred angle has no bearing on anything IMO.
  • Skin
  • Now build the rig on top of it. Better yet, reference that scene into an empty file, and build the rig there (so you can later swap the ‘skeletal mesh’ in the rig scene), or procedurally build the rig via script on top of it all, so it’s repeatable. There’s multiple solutions here based on the project needs.
  • As far as the order of rigging (IK, FK, SDK, etc) that all ‘entirely depends’ on so many factors that you learn over time. There isn’t necessarily a right or wrong order IMO.
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