Scorpion! by Kiel Figgins

Scorpion by Kiel Figgins

We're recommending this excellent scorpion rig by the very talented Kiel Figgins, free for download at his official site.

It's a great little animation rig, not necessarily for realistic scorpion animation (it's a mechanical scorpion - made of shiny metal) but perhaps more like a giant monster scorpion, suitable for roaming city streets and destroying worlds.

So, where can animators find Kiel Figgins' scorpion and how does it work?

Where can you find the scorpion?
You can download it here from Kiel Figgins' website.

Who created the scorpion?
The rigging was done by Steven Kyle Wood - check out Steven's website here. The modeling of the scorpion was done by Russ Schwenkle - you can see Russ's wesite here.

What is the license type?
Freeware.

Where is the body control?
One thing that the scorpion rig lacks is a main body control (sometimes called a centre of gravity, or COG) which would allow the animator to move the whole body without moving the legs. There is a COG control, which you can turn on in the "COG" channel under the World Control, but it doesn't allow you to rotate the whole creature.

To solve this problem, turn on Head and Tail (also in the Channel Box under the World Control) and you will get some extra controls. Shift select the Head, FK Spine, and FKSpine2 controls, and this will allow you to rotate the whole body. It's not a perfect solution though.

Is the scorpion rig scaleable?
Yes. The scorpion rig does have global scale controller, so you can scale it up and down relative to other rigs. Look for "Global Scale" in the Channel Box under the World Control.

What can the scorpion rig do?
To see some great animation done with the scorpion rig, check out Escape animation tutor Lee Caller's excellent animation below. Who will win? Giant Killer Scorpion or US Army Tank?






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