Woodpecker Rig

Birb

A woodpecker rig that is named 'Birb'. 

This rig's intended use is for flying poses so the main focus was on wing flutter and spread and fold. 

The video below shows a quick pose being setup with the rig.

Process

The motivation for creating this rig was to do a first non biped rig with some advanced features. I personally love birds and really wanted to figure out how to mimic their movement. The research phase of this rig was focused on two things: bird skeletons and wing setups. The gif below shows a very early prototype for the double layered wing spread.

Technical details

The wings offer three layers of controllers to create the spread and fold. The first layer automatically moves the feathers when stretching or folding the wing. The second layer offers manual readjustment for wing sections. And the third layer offers single feather controls.

The body and neck have hybrid IK/FK controllers and stretching can be turned on or off.

The paws have a both IK and FK setups which can be switched and matched with additional controllers for the claws.