Meet Nico!

Meet Nico!

Nico is an excellent creature rig, free for download for student use at Creative Crash.

Nico is described as "a quadruped rig of a fantasy creature ready for animation. It's got all the standard controls you would expect in a quadruped rig along with a facial shape rig".

This is what makes Nico particularly useful for creature animation - you have access to facial controls. So, if your goal is to produce creature animation and get some personality and acting out of the rig, Nico fits the bill.

Like all rigs, Nico has its quirks. So how can our students get the best out of Nico?


Who created Nico?

Nico was created by chadmv and can be downloaded for free at Creative Crash. 

What is the license?

The license is Freeware, which means that Nico is free to use for any purpose. However, it's still best to check with the creator before using a rig such as this for any commercial purpose.

Does Nico have any quirks?
Yes. Nico's back legs are much longer than his front legs, so you might need to raise his hips up a bit to get a more natural looking gait.

What about his feet?
Nico does not have a toe or heel roll on his front legs, which can limit the flexibility of his feet.

To get the front feet to align with the forearm, roll the *frontLeg_CON in neg. Z and then counter with neg. Z on *Finger_CON

You can also add orient constraint (with maintain offset)
C_tailFk01_NUL --> DEF_C_hip02_JNT
so the FK tail would inherit hip rotation.

Can you make great animation with Nico?
Yes. To see some excellent animation involving Nico, watch the video below:



Taming the Dragon from George Aleco-Sima on Vimeo.

----Alex

To find out more about Animation Apprentice, click here for a link to Frequently Asked Questions. To sign up for our next classroom at Animation Apprentice, follow this link.