Integrating Control Curves into Skeleton

[groovetoons]

I'm learning character rigging.

I have a mechanical fish who has one arm. I have built and oriented a skeleton arm and drawn control curves snapping their pivot points to the proper joints and positioned them accordingly. Nothing has been binded.

This is where my file is currently.

I tried binding the joints to the Geo and then adding the control curves by parenting each joint to its corresponding curve but I found bones disappearing between joints -- makes sense, when I think about it.

I am looking for a tutorial or explanation on rigging a character in which control curves will be keyed instead of joints or handles.

Any suggestions? A website would be best because I can get immediate satisfaction but a DVD recommendation is equally as nice.

Appreciate any responses,
Groove

[joaomontenegro]

Yo Bro,

Use the connection editor to link the curve rotations to the joints rotations

R

[jessec]

You can have one group above a joint without the visual joint connection disappearing. It's when you have two groups above it that that link disappears.

A better way is to select the nurbs control curve, click on the podracer looking icon on the hypergraph to show it's in and out put connections... Then select the shape node, example: "L_Arm_CNTRLshape", and the joint you want it to control and then parent the shape to the joint. It's something like "parent -type shape" or something similar, look it up in the MEL command reference if you want.

This makes it so the curve is actually selecting the joint itself, and doesn't rely on any constraint or other types of connections.