Example of Finished Character Rigs

All of the character assets and files have been completed and set up in Illustrator properly. Here are the characters and the outliners of both master character documents to show their layer hierarchy and naming conventions I have used.

Rig Features for both characters:

'MouthInterior' shape on its own layer behind all the head shape layers meaning a mask can be drawn on top of any of these and can be animated to show Betty opening and closing her mouth. If a head turn is required for any particular shot, copies of this 'MouthInterior' layer can be made and moved about in the layer hierarchy to be used for any head layer. 

BETTY

Pre-Comps

Heads

Mouths

Left Blinks (same for right blinks)

Example file for any shot, in this case shot 45, the most complicated rig I set up for Betty:

I used the free Duik plug in to make the arms and legs (in the below example the legs aren't rigged as Betty doesn't move, she slides in from the left off screen) IK which allowed more control over the movements, but restricted how much I could move the main body, especially rotated, (the 'MontageAssets' layer acts as the parent for most of the other layers as it is a central point in the character) the arm / hand pre-comps didn't move with the body rotation as the pins placed on them are literally pinned to their place in the comp. The only way the arm / hand pre-comps could be animated with the body was if they were animated separately as their own layer.

The screenshots below include all the layers including the hidden ones. These are the layers (control pins) from the Duik plug in and are hidden themselves)

WILLIAM

Pre-Comps

Heads

Mouths

Example file for shot 45, the most complicated rig I set up for William:

Side note:

I have created a burp mouth shape for William, however I don't think it'll be obvious what he will be doing when he burps because of the design of this asset. I am going to keep this for now, but may have to animate a mask to show him opening and closing his mouth too. I got the idea to use a mask instead from the animations seen in the link below.

Cartoonstock.com - Burp Animations

William the Waitress Costume Combinations:

Head and arm asset combinations

Fat Head and Fat Arms

Fat Head and Thin Arms

Square Head and Fat Arms

Square Head and Thin Arms

I decided to go for the last version of William as I feel making his head and arms fat, the only part of himself we actually see, is completely different to his state before the montage takes place. This would also confuse the audience a little so I decided to take it out and leave him in his square state.