Rigging Clothing for Cinematics

When rigging 3D characters for game cinematics or trailers, I try to automate the cloth & props layers as much as possible, despite knowing that there will also be Hair and Simulation involved. It gives a solid base for animators and sim artists. Conducting an anim gym test can also be helpful to identify errors and ensure proper behavior. Here are the techniques employed to drive cloth and prop systems.

✅ Skinned nurbs curves with motionPath nodes are used for ropes, necklaces and belts. It allow smooth sliding on the body and volumes are correctly preserved.

✅ Skirts are deformed by a cage geometry, with correctives blendshapes on it triggered by custom angle interpolators that are activated from articulations rotations.

✅ Angle interpolators output 0-1 values and can drive anything: controls transforms, joints, blendshapes and any attributes.

I will make future videos that go in-depth on these techniques 🙂