Thursday, August 1, 2013

RIG REVIEW: ☆☆ 2 Stars - Long Winter Studios Rigs Are Really Bad


☆  2 Stars -  I cannot give this rig any more than 2 Stars because it has some serious issues.
DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY

Long Winter Studios has some new rigs for sale on their site. I was hoping to use them with my students at USC, but I asked for some specific revisions and Long Winter will not add the most basic of controls for teaching.

One of my MFA students paid the 75$ for the Tom rig to use on his shot for directed studies and we have learned a lot about what the rig is lacking.  The rig has a complicated arm solution that takes a while to understand how to use, so I will not be using these to teach with.  Also, if you are doing a shot where the character has to lean on a table or bend down and keep a knee pinned, etc...?  Forget this rig.  My MFA student is keying every single frame of his shot to keep the elbows in place. The character design of these rigs leaves a lot to be desired too.  Claire's legs are so far apart you have to work really hard to not make her look bow legged.

Why do the Long Winter guys not understand how important a pin is?

Because they are using the set-up machine to rig the characters.  The setup machine is one of the most limited tools I have ever seen for rigging.

As I said, the characters also need work on their appeal in character design, too.  Nothing is worse than watching so great animation and all you see is this really ugly character.  Me and my MFA student spent a lot of time using the controls to modify and scale things like the nose, fingers, head, ears, etc. to get more appeal into the design.  At least you are able to do this although I am pretty sure those controls weer not designed for this.

This is not my favorite rig, but if you want to spend 75$ they have the rigs for sale here.




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