Scorpion Animation Tutorial at Vimeo

Artwork by Lee Caller

We've uploaded a new animation tutorial to our large and growing collection of video tutorials at our Vimeo Channel.

The tutorial shows how to animate a six-legged creature; in this case a robot scorpion.

The tutorial takes a superficially complex action - a multi-legged creature - and shows how to break the motion down into simple components. Animators can create a successful outcome with just one or two animation curves.

Scorpion Walk Tutorial

Scorpion Rig by Kiel Figgins

The Scorpion Walk Tutorial explains how to break down an apparently complex action into simple components. In the case of a scorpion, the animator need only animate a single leg in motion; this animation can then be copied and pasted on to all the other five legs, offsetting the curves in the Graph Editor (make sure you turn on Infinity Curves first) to create a multi-legged walk.

Scorpion Rig 
The tutorial uses the scorpion rig by Kiel Figgins, free for download at his official site.
It's a handy rig, not necessarily ideal for realistic scorpion animation (it's mechanical - made of shiny metal) but perhaps more like a giant monster scorpion, suitable for roaming city streets and destroying worlds.

Scorpion animation by Will Smith

Scorpion Rig Notes

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 in fact 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.

Body Control Workaround

Scorpion-v-Tank by Lee Caller

There is a workaround for this - if you turn on Head and Tail (also in the Channel Box under the World Control) 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.

Updated Scorpion Rig
We have solved this problem with a new updated version of the scorpion rig - email me at Escape Studios and I'll send you a copy.

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

Scorpion Animation
To see some great animation done with the scorpion rig, check out the excellent animation below by Escape Studios animation tutor Lee Caller.





Vimeo Tutorial Channel
You can find all our animation tutorials at our Vimeo Channel here.

The Escape Studios Animation Blog offers a personal view on the art of animation and visual effects. To apply for our BA/MArt in 3D Animation, follow this link.  To apply for our storyboarding evening class, visit this page here. For the next 12 week animation course, click here.