TheStarfishRig

Humanoidrigwith6bones
Tooptimizeisaphilosophy.Sometimesaproductionisofdireneedofoptimization,othertimes
itsamatterofattitude.
Therearemanywaysofoptimizingahumanoidcharacterforgamepurposes.Oneofthemost
severeformsofoptimizationistosimplyhaveabillboardwhichjustconsistsofaflatplanewith
adrawingofthecharacteronit.
Howeverifthegoalistogreatlyoptimizeariggedhumanoidtoalevelwherealmostnomore
optimizationispossibletheartistwillhavetogocreative.
Thefirststepinoptimizationisobvious:polygonalcount~theamountoftriangularfacesthe
charactervisuallyconsistsof.Everyartistknowsthis,andalmostallgamesrelyonwaysto
keepthepolycounttoaminimum.Therearedifferentwaystokeepthepolycountminimal,Ill
notdiveintothat,sincethatiswellpracticedamongdevelopersandartists.
Therighowevercanbeapowerfulwaytokeepthecharactersimple.Theenginethatthegame
isrunningonneedstotakecareoftheskinningofthecharactersonscreen.Eachcharacter
consistsofageometricalrepresentation,knownasamesh,askeletalrig,andtheskinningof
saidmeshtothebonesoftheskeleton.
Usuallyamaincharacterismadeupof20bonesforasimplerig,and30bonesforarigwith
smallerdetailssuchasoneskeletalboneforeachoftheclustersoftoes,maybeanextraspinal
bone,andsomebonesforriggingsomehairorclothing.Iffingersispartoftherig,add10bones
tothemix.Toes?
Thecomputerneedstotakecareofallthese
skeletalbonesandskinningofthemesheachframe
ofthegame.Furthermoreeachpointonthemesh,
calledavertex,canbeweightedontomorethanone
bone,whichtakesevenmoretimetoprocess.So
thereisagoodreasontotakeitdownanodge.
Maybenotonthemaincharacter,butwithcrowdsit
isanabsolutenecessity.
Whattocutawaytomakethisrigsimpler?
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Boneswhichcanbedeletedfromarigwithoutreallyhurtingitsplausibilityiswrists(hands)and
acoupleofspinebones.Feetishardtogetridofbecausetheyconstantlyhavedirectcontact
withtheground.
Tooptimizefurtheronecoulddeleteall(oralmostall)spinalbones,claviclebonesandtheneck.
Manywouldstopthere.Retainingthemajorandmostimportantbonesofthehumanbodyinthe
skeletonHead,acoupleofspinalbones,upperarms,lowerarms,hip(root),upperlegs,lower
legsandfeet.Thatwouldbeagreatlyoptimizedhumanoidrig.Howeverthereismoretobe
gained.
Whatisthemostneededfeaturesofthehumanskeleton?Wellwe,thehumanbeing,havetwo
legsandtwoarms,eachseparatedintotwolargebones.Thereisnowaywecangetridof
those.Feetandhandswemightbeabletocutaway,sincetheyarequitesmallandarenot
reallyusedforunimportantcharacters.Ofcourseitwouldbenicetoknowthatthecharacters
feetalwaysvisuallynailsittotheground,butitisalsotwoextracomputationalcyclesofrigging
andskinningperframe,andIreckonthatthosecyclesarewellsavedtobewellspend
somewhereelse.
Theneckisgone,andthespineisnotneededeither.Yesthecharacterwillbeabitstiffinthe
back~butlongliveoptimization!
Weredowntothis:
10bonesintotalisprettygood.Thisisacompletelyordinarypieceofoptimization.Nothingtoget
alltooexcitedaboutthough.Tooptimizethisevenfurthertherehasgottobesomethingdrastic
forustodo.
Andthereis.Ofcoursethereis.Polygonscancreateamuchneededillusion.
Polygonsisaflatpieceofgeometrythatconsistsoftriangles.Thosepiecesofgeometryform
thesurfaceofthecharacterlikepaperwouldinapieceoforigami.Eachtriangleismadeupof
threepointsalsocalledvertices.Eachofthoseverticesisattachedtoabone.Soifonevertexis
attachedtoyourhip,andtheothertwoverticesareattachedtoyourknee,thattrianglewill
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stretch,likearubbermembrane,whenyoumoveyourknee.Thiscanbeexploited,nottosay
coldbloodedlyutilizedtoouradvantage.Sothestretchingofpolygonsisonlygoodforbetween
bones.Whichmeansthatextremitiescannotbetamperedwith.Thatmeanslowerarms,and
lowerlegs.Howeverupperarmsandupperlegscouldbevisualizedbystretchingpolygons
betweenshoulder/elbow,hip/kneeonly.Cuttingawaytheshouldersandhipbonesisdefinitely
theanswerwewerelookingfortomakethisrigsuperoptimized.
ItlooksweirdIlladmitthat,butthefunctionalityisoutstanding.Itnow
lookslikeastarfishaswell.
ThereisaRootboneinthemiddleofitall,thatbonemakessurethat
thetorso,shouldersandhipdoesnotmoveoutofplace.Thenthereare
5bones,oneforeachextremity.Thebonesinthearmstakecareofthe
elbowandout,includingthehands.Thesamegoesforthekneebones.
Theheadhasbeenspoiledwithitsownbonethiscanbedebated,but
Idarguethathavingnospinerequiressomethingonthespinetobe
animatedtogivetheillusionthatthereisspinalactivity.Theheadcan
fakethat,notperfectly,butenoughtokeepthecharacteralive.
Tomaketherigusableitisofcourseconstrainedanddrivenbyanormalrigwithinverse
kinematicsforbotharmsandlegs,andallsortsofbajingle.Animationgoesassmoothlyasit
wouldwithothercharacters.
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Someshortcomingspresentthemselvesinthemesh.Withnobonestokeeptrackoftheupper
legsandarms,themeshhasatendencytoflattenout.Likeaballoonbeingtwisted.
Bendingthekneewithnoupperlegbonesto
keepthewidthoftheleg,resultsinan
unacceptableflattenedleg.Howevermaking
surethattheedgegoingaroundthekneeis
angledfromlowbehindthelegtohighabove
thekneeonthefrontoftheleg,someofthe
flatnesscanbeavoided.
Thatwilltakecareofthemostcritical
misformation.Whenthelegisbenteven
furtherbacktoa120degreeangle,theupper
legiscompletelyflattenedanyway.Originally
Ithoughttherewasnowaytodealwiththis.
Howeveracoupleofdaysoftestingand
usingthisrigmademerealizethatthere
actuallywassomethingthatcouldbedone.
Kneesandthewidthofthelegshaveahardtimewhenitisbeingbent.Tosomewhatdealwith
thatwehavetocreateavertexinsidetheleg,rightabovetheknee.Likeso:
Thevertexisofcoursefullyskinnedtotheonlyboneavailableinthatregion,whichistheknee,
andwhenbentthevertexjustpopsoutcreatinganillusionofaknee.Thiscanbeappliedtothe
elbowsaswell.Whileitdoesntfixtheproblementirely,theflatlegsbecomeaminorflaw.
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Thestarfishrigissupersimpletocreateandveryeasytomaintain.Itmightsuitaflatshaded
aestheticmore,wherethedentinthekneeandtheelbowwillnotshowatall.Butforcrowdsa
fullytexturedcharacterwouldwearthisfashionably.
Floatingfeetisacriticalshortcoming,butacceptablewhentakingintoaccountthattwobonesis
saved.Withsomevertexshading,aclevershadermightbeabletotakecareofthefeet.
Theartistwillnevermissthewristsinmyexperiencegiventhatthisstarfishcharacterisnot
usedforcomplicatedinteractions.
Onewilllearntoliveandovercomethestiffspineincleverways.Headanimationscanfakealot
ofthelivelinessoriginallyprovidedbythespine.
Havefun
AndreasN.Grontved
Disclaimer
Ididnotinventthis!ThoughIveneverseenanyoneeverdoanythinglikethis,Imcertainthatallstudioswiththeneedofhighly
optimizedcharactershascomeacrosssomethingsimilarifnotidentical.
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