MIRA

GENERAL NOTES:

• The controls are color coded:

                - Magenta = Center

                - Red = Right

                - Green = Left

• In the viewport window, select Show>None.  Then select Show>Curves, Show>Meshes, Show>Surfaces.  You shouldn’t have to pick joints on Mira in order to animate her.  Use only the spline shapes to manipulate the character into your poses.

• You may notice some “extra” joints on Mira.  For example, there are Ulna joints right below the Elbow joints, but they cannot be rotated.  They were placed there to provide realistic forearm deformation.  There are also Ribcage joints that control Mira's breathing, and extra Neck controls that help to refine Mira's head movements.  These will be discussed later.

• For the most part, the controls are just like the “Mack” controls. However there are some extra controls not found on Mack.  All the controls will be detailed below.

• IMPORTANT:  For this Mira model, never ever ever ever select the option Display > Show > All.  If you tend to hide and redisplay things for easier manipulation, it's best to select what you want to redisplay from the Outliner.  If you do a "display all" command, a bunch of Mira-heads will appear (minus her bodies).  These heads are used for her facial expressions, explained below.

HEAD 

• The direction the eyes are looking is constrained to the magenta spline shape directly in front of her head.  As you translate the “EyeCtrl”, the eyes will follow it (note that both eyes move symmetrically, i.e. you can't cross his eyes.  If this is necessary for your animation, you would need a different setup for the eyes).

   

• The direction that the head faces is constrained to the magenta spline shape (Head_Aim_Ctrl) located further out from the EyeCtrl spline.

   

Note:  Notice that the eyes follow with the head turn, unlike "Earl" whose eyes remain looking at the same spot even though the head has turned.  This is because of the way the hierarchy of constraints is designed. Compare the two characters and make sure you understand the difference.

• Besides locating the direction that the head is facing with the Head_Aim_Ctrl, Mira also allows for more refined head movements with the NeckCtrls.  The Head_Aim_Ctrl rotates Mira's head to look side-to-side and up-and-down.  Compare this to the NeckCtrls which rotate the neck joints, particularly around the Z-axis (ear-to-shoulder).  Mira's head rotates about her neck joint while still facing the direction of the Head_Aim_Ctrl.  You can also use NeckCtrls to give Mira a more natural look if she is looking downward.





• Mira's braids need to be animated as well.  They must follow her actions, from simply turning her head to running full speed.  You animate her braids by selecting curves, braidRightCurve and braidLeftCurve.  You can select the curves from the Outliner, but it would probably be best to select them from the command prompt.  It would also easier to see what you're animating if you turn on the X-ray Shading Option.  While you normally select things by "Object Type", for Mira's braids, you will need to select things by "Component Type".  Make sure that "Points" and "Hulls" are selected.



The easiest way to move the braids are to rotate the Points about a point.  For example, to move the braids down, select all the curves on the braid, change the local origin of the rotation with the Insert Key (the local origin always defaults back to the center of all Points selected), and rotate the braid.  Remember to key the braids being down.  You can tweak individual Points to fit the braid movements and key every Point you move.



• Mira's facial expressions can be changed.  The best way to learn about her facial expressions is to play with the settings. Remember that facial blend values can be both positive and negative, don't necessarily need to be whole numbers (and can exceed over the value of "1" although "1" is recommended), and can be combined with each other to obtain her desired expression.  You can use either the Blend Shape window (Window>Animation Editors>Blend Shape...) or use the Channel Box (from the Command Prompt, type "select faceBlend").  Probably the most important aspect of using facial expressions is the fact that you can make Mira blink.  Blinking is the difference between watching a puppet and watching a character we believe might actually be alive.  Experiment with what makes a good blink, both with the number of frames a blink lasts and how often blinks should be added.  Remember to key frame the eyes open, then closed, and then open again.



Unlike the Earl character, Mira's "speaking" capabilities are limited.  She was not modeled with facial blends that allow her to mouth sounds and words.  She was modeled with more expressive facial features than Earl has, but it isn't recommended that you use her for lip syncing.

SHOULDERS

• Mira's shoulders can be rotated front-back and side-side.



• It's recommended that any shoulder movements you put on Mira should be subtle.  Shoulder movements add another dimension of realism to your animation, such as when she is walking.  To have a shrugging motion, you should choose the shoulder joint itself and translate it.



ARMS/HANDS



• Each arm is controlled by a Spline cube located around the wrist.  The arms are setup with IK from the shoulders to the wrists, and the IK handles are point constrained to the spline cubes (L_WristCtrl and R_WristCtrl).

• In both wrist controls, there are custom attributes for:

• Curling each finger (Index_Curl, Middle_Curl, Ring_Curl, Pinky_Curl, and Thumb_Curl)

       

o       The spread of the fingers (Spread)

        

• Note: These are fairly detailed hand controls, but they do not allow for some movements.  If you wanted to orient the fingers about their various axes in a very specific way, you would have to actually rotate the joints themselves and set keys on those.  

• The direction that the elbow points is controlled by the spline shapes directly behind the elbows (L_ElbowPointBox and R_ElbowPointBox).  The arm’s IK handles have “Pole Vector” constraints placed on them, constraining the Rotate plane of the IK solver to the spline shapes.  The translation of these determines the “third point” that defines the 2D plane that the arm will rotate on.

          

• Note: Unlike Earl and Adam, the Elbow constraints are not parented under the Wrist constraints, so they do not move along with the Wrist controls.  You may want to try having these parented underneath the Wrist controls in terms of hierarchy. There are advantages and disadvantages to either setup. Try it both ways and see which you prefer for your animation.

FEET/LEGS



• The spline shapes around Mira’s feet (LeftFoot_Ctrl and RightFoot_Ctrl) control the IK handles placed on Mira’s legs and feet.  The translations control the location of Mira’s heels, as you can tell by the location of the pivot point.  Similarly, rotating these controls will cause Mira’s feet to rotate around the heel.

       

• In order to make Mira's foot roll at the ball of the foot, you must select the joint Left_RevFt_Ball (or Right_RevFt_Ball for the right foot) and rotate the joint itself.  Notice that doing so causes Mira's knees to bend.

         

• Similar to the arm setup, the direction that the knees point is determined by the spline shapes directly in front of the knees (L_KneePointBox and R_KneePointBox).  These are setup with pole vector constraints just like the arms.  Also like the elbow constraints, the knee controls are parented under the feet controls.

         

• Note: Just because you move Mira's feet doesn't mean that her whole body will move with it.  Compare this to how Adam moves when you move his feet.

 

TORSO/HIPS



• Mira’s skeleton is rooted right around her pelvis.  Off the pelvis are the hips and the torso.  The torso and hips are independent of each other (they are sibling nodes in the hierarchy), which allows for independent hip motion, as in swaying hips.

• The BodyCtrl is located around Mira’s mid-back.  The attributes that go along with it are numbered according to which back joint is being manipulated.  Look at the picture below:



Each of the attributes for the BodyCtrl is numbered where the Lumbar joint equals 2, the Lumbar2 joint equals 3, and the MidBack joint equals 4.  For example, Spine2_Bend­ manipulates the Lumbar joint; Spine4_Twist manipulates the MidBack joint.

•  The following attributes are under the BodyCtrl:

·        Spine_Bend – This makes Mira's spine arch forward and back, it manipulates the corresponding joint.  To give Mira a more natural looking arch, it’s a good idea to manipulate all the Spine_Bend’s to one degree or another.



·        Spine_SideBend – Bends Mira’s spine from side to side.



·        Spine_Twist – Twists Mira’s spine.



·       Breathing – Gives Mira breathing control by lengthening and shortening the L_Ribcage1 and R_Ribcage1 joints.



• You can rotate just BodyCtrl but doing so would simply rotate the torso about a set point (about the BaseSpine).  The above attributes gives you a more refined control selecting about which point Mira bends, twists, and rotates from.



• The PelvisCtrl rotates the hips about the BaseSpine as well.  Just as rotating the BodyCtrl rotates just Mira’s upper body while the lower body remains still, the PelvisCtrl rotates the lower body while the upper body remains still.  This is especially useful when walking Mira to make her hips sway from side to side as she walks forward.





WHOLE BODY CONTROLS

• To control the position and orientation of the root joint of Mira’s skeleton, you move BodyCtrl.  Moving this control moves all of Mira’s other controls except for the hand and feet controls.  This is useful for moving the body without moving her feet (squatting or jumping) or hands (pushing/pulling).



• The MainCtrl is located above Mira’s head.  It is the parent of all other controls.  Moving this control moves all other controls, and is useful for placing Mira where you want her in your scene.  You can translate and rotate this control to position Mira.  Typically, you move this only once to place your character where you like before you start animating, then move only the other controls.  For example, if Mira needs to walk forward, you would translate the BodyCtrl along with positioning her hands and feet.  You could move the MainCtrl again later, but it is best to think ahead.  It is also useful if you want to set keys on every control.  Simply select the MainCtrl and set a key on it with your set key hierarchy options set to “below”.



IDEAS ON ALTERATIONS YOU MAY WISH TO MAKE

• An alternative control setup for the head would be to use an aim constraint similar to that of the Earl character setup.  An aim constraint could also be used to control the eyes. 

• Recall the hierarchy of the wrist/elbow controls and the feet/knee controls above.  Experiment with animating the model with and without the elbow/knee controls parented under the wrist/feet controls, and see which method works best for your animation. 

• Again, keep in mind that you can create expressions, remove IK handles, and change the hierarchy of controls to suit your needs.  Remember, experimentation and testing is the best way to find out what would work best for your animation!

ck, 10/2000