Motion Correction Needed.

Over the last several months I have been taught how to design and model a character in Maya. Next, how to rig and animate it in two separate ways. As my own geometry was not ready until very recently, I used the model provided by our lecturer to practice and gain these new skills.  

I have my character called Sanaa ready, so I am happy to follow all the steps towards animating a model once again. 

As Sanaa has a human-like build in terms of the skeleton and general look, I decided to use a Quick Rig option to create her skeleton. I mentioned in one of my previous posts that an auto rig in Maya creates not just bones, but also builds controllers, paints skin weights, and binds the skin for us.  

After I did the above, I wanted my character to perform the motion from the MoCap. We did a similar exercise in class, so I knew how to apply the MoCap in a few simple steps.  

I managed to successfully complete the task where I had my own model happily skipping and then falling on to the ground (twice!) just like Billy did for me in the MoCap studio.  

Unfortunately, there was a little problem with the animation. It seemed like the shoulder position was not accurately picked up by either the Rokoko SMartSuit or Maya and, therefore, my model looked as if she had very stiff shoulders and arms attached along the body. I was not sure how to approach the issue, so I talked to my lecturer and was advised how to fix it without destroying the whole animation.  

I have had a couple of attempts, but sadly, unsuccessful.

I decided to have a little break and focus on my model again, as I noticed that when the animation is played, there are some issues with the elements I had attached to the main rig – lips and earrings not staying in the right places, as well as with body weights.  

I knew I had to correct the model first, to then be able to go back and fix the animation.