Applying Final Touches to the Rig
There are plenty of other things you can do to improve a rig like this, but for the sake of learning, this rig is already pretty cool. One thing you can do to make it much more usable is to lock any transforms that you don’t want affecting bones. This has two functions: it prevents transforms from occurring accidentally (like scaling a bone that shouldn’t be scaled or rotating a bone that is only meant to be translated) and it helps you see what you can do with each bone.
To lock transforms, select a bone. As an example, let’s use the foot roll: it’s only supposed to rotate on a single axis because the others will make the foot look wrong, and it’s not meant to be moved or scaled. In the Properties Region of the 3D View, notice how in the Transform panel, next to the axis, there is a lock. If you click that lock, you won’t be able to transform the bone on that specific axis (locked axis will even disappear from the manipulators, helping you to see what you can do with it).
Another thing you can do to improve the rig, even though it’s not absolutely mandatory, is to make sure the bones that you will have to rotate at some point have a rotation type that is easier to understand. In the same Transform panel of the Properties Region, switch the rotation type from Quaternion to XYZ Euler (this rotation type is just easier to understand when you’re using animation curves).
You can see Jim posing for you with his new rig in Figure 11.17!
