Robot Arm Spin #2

by - 2012/05/30 25 Comments Rigging

Been a while since I’ve posted stuff for you all. So here’s the robot arm as it is at the moment. Made a few changes since last time, notably the arm attachment and the new chain saw. Also filled in a few gaps where there was empty space. There’s even the first bit of weight painting I’ve done on this project :P

The chainsaw chain is actually rigged up to spin and rotate from each segment instead of being deformed along a curve. Took a bit of hacking and an extra armature, im sure there is probably a better way to do it, but it works fine.

  1. JaydenB says:

    Looking awesome! Can’t wait to see it follow the correct motion of the actor’s arm!

  2. Peter Houlihan says:

    Nice work!

  3. WimdB says:

    That’s one hell of a Victorinox!!!

  4. comoris says:

    Cool rig,
    but I’m missing some high reflective areas where scratches(edges) and bolts are, and maybe some very matt parts for rubber-like material (wires), metal looks rather dusty (everywhere) now (a bit fake). But maybe shading isn’t the issue yet, anyway looking forward to the finished movie…

    • LswaN says:

      I’m sure the textures will be coming before too long. It looked to me like the only textures so far were just the base textures, scatch and dirt maps probably come next time, or the next time or the next time, whenever he’s got time to get around to it. :)

  5. David says:

    Oh man! i cant wait to have this blend and integrate it in myself. I guess ill have to wait three months more…

  6. JaydenB says:

    You know what would be really cool? Purchasable toys to wear on your arm that do this xD

  7. Tadd says:

    Wow, that looks great but .. don’t you think the movements are a bit robotic?!

    BADABING! haha – such a funny guy here ..

    Seriously, it looks amazing. I’m looking forward to seeing it in action within the scope of the film! You are all doing an amazing job!

    • Apos says:

      I agree, it looks way too robotic, make it more plant-like (man eating plant of course). :D

      • jeremy says:

        this is just a test to show off the way it all moves. when i animate it for the movie i’ll be taking ref from the actors movements and adding roboticness over the top.
        the finger movements in this are to show off the tendons moving inside the glass (not that you can see em that well anyway)

  8. Phil2.0 says:

    You wouldn’t find a better place to put a chainsaw or any cutting stuff, bye bye leg… bye bye “Jack”. :)

    You are doing thing too fast, my 2cents

  9. J. says:

    I’m wondering: Wouldn’t it have been better to use a real arm attachment on the actress her arm on set?

    • Ki1o says:

      Maybe but some for of CG would have been needed anyways. Besides this project is to develop Blender’s VFX pipline and camera tracking.

      • J. says:

        What I mean is just a kind a gray metal-like band around her upper arm so you can attach the CGI arm to that instead of tediously attaching it to her skin.

        • Ki1o says:

          Oh ok I see what you’re saying. Anyways I think its kinda late for suggestions but maybe some sort of scars or marks on her arm to show how was attached could be cool.

  10. TTT says:

    [IMHO piece] While the materials and all-in-all starts to look awsome, I believe that the further addition of more functionality is over the edge. The arm looses credibility and starts to look comical with all the instruments attached to it, which (I think?) is not what you wanted to go for in this movie.

    • kjartan says:

      i don’t think you understood the point. if you’ve seen the storyboards then you should know that the whole point of adding over the top instruments (of Destruction) to the robot arm is suppose to be comical. it illustrate the contrast between passive and aggressive mode.

  11. mookie says:

    I agree with TTT, it looks like a penknife with additional tools, like corkscrew, nail polisher etc.

  12. guran says:

    I definitely agree with TTT, all the tools feel a little bit over the top.

    I guess it’s some kind of field medic for fast on the field cutoffs and injections it’s the only purpose that could make some sense to me at least. It seems to be quite imprecise and clunky for more precise work.

    Still nice work with the materials and modeling.

  13. Peter S. says:

    If you want that extra bit of realism, have the chainsaw spin in the opposite direction. (It’s backwards right now.)

    ;-)

  14. Al from Roke says:

    Already with the last model I thought about this: This robotic arm is seriously *not* practical. The location of the needle thingie doesn’t make sense, neither does the location of the chainsaw… etc. I mean, would you in real life consider using such a arm? Nope. Even if you would want a robotic look just for practical reasons you would change half the thing around :S

  15. Chiller says:

    Holly shit
    My sister startet to scream when she saw the chain saw… Now she want’s to have her arm replaced by this one :) Genius work!