Rigging the knee

Let’s move on to the knee, which is exceptionally simple. There are two things to note here – creases and curves.

Think about your knee – if you bend it, the front of the knee produces a nice curve while the inside of your knee becomes folded. We can replicate this with weights. A tight gradient will produce a crease while a large smooth gradient will produce a curve.

The following diagrams show some ideal weights for you to aim for – sharp in the crease and soft in the bend:

Figure 5.16 – The front of the knee weights

Figure 5.17 – The rear of the knee weights

Remember to place the bones in stress poses, and then bring the leg up to see how it looks. If the leg creases and folds too much, smooth the weights out. If there’s not enough folding and the back of the leg does not close properly, make your handoff gradient tighter.

The following diagram shows...