This week, I looked into Control Rigs in Unreal Engine 5, learning how to use them for animating characters. It was all about setting up rigs and making sure everything was in place for smooth animations.
Getting Started with Control Rigs
First, I added a Control Rig to my project via the content browser under the Animation section. I started by creating a Modular Rig, which included adding the default mannequin’s skeletal mesh into the blueprint but instead of the default mannequin I used a Paragon Character from FAB. I then dragged and dropped the rig module into the available sockets on the character’s skeleton to set it up.
I could also customize the rig by adjusting the controller sizes and colors to fit my preferences, which was super useful for making the rig easier to work with.
Rigging the Octopus Model
Next, I worked with an octopus model to practice a different type of rigging. The first step was editing the skeleton and setting the root bone’s transform to 0. I deleted the existing arm bones but kept the shoulder bone. Then, I added bones starting from the shoulder, creating joints for the arms, and bound the skin to the skeleton.
I added a Control Rig Samples Pack from Fab to my project and created a regular control rig for the octopus. After importing the octopus into the rig hierarchy, I checked out the chain hierarchy to understand how the bones connected.
Creating and Adjusting Controls
I created controls for the shoulder and the last joint of each arm by selecting the bones and right-clicking to add a new control. To make sure the control wasn’t a child of another control, I pressed Shift + P. I then set up a parent constraint by assigning the root bone in the name section. By parenting the root bone control and attaching it to the shoulder bone, I ensured that the control could transform the bones it was linked to. I repeated this for all the shoulders.
Adding Spring Interpolation and Constraints
I experimented with SpringInterp by turning it into a vector. I dragged the last bone of the arm into the graph, got the bone’s data, and connected the translation to the target. Then, I linked the control for the bone to the Set Control node, which applied the changes.
I also set up an Aim Constraint to control the direction the arm would face. I defined the name and target for the arm’s aim, set the Aim Control’s parent to Control, and connected the nodes to make sure everything worked together.
Rigging a Human Character
Lastly, I applied what I had learned so far by rigging a human character. Using the nodes and techniques I had practiced, I was able to set up the character’s joints and controls, giving me a much better understanding of how to prepare characters for animation. This emphasized the importance of proper joint placement and control creation to ensure smooth, realistic animations.
This week was a great opportunity to learn how to use Control Rigs effectively in Unreal Engine. It’s exciting to see how these tools help set up characters for animation, and I can’t wait to continue building on this knowledge!