I am seriously considering Softimage, 3DS or Maya and would like to know a few things.

I need to do rag doll and floppy ears types of things using bones on a single mesh.  In know that these things are usually done with separate rigid body objects connected by joints but I’d like to use a single object mesh and be able to rig it with bones that have limits set on them and are controlled by dynamics (springs perhaps?).  In addition, I’d like to be able to apply IK for a few frames and then have the dynamics kick in at a certain frame (for football tackles when the player can become a rag doll after running and getting tackled etc.).

Are these sorts of things possible with the above mentioned apps?  If so which is easiest to set up?

Thanks in advance any advice.

It’s possible in Softimage but it would take a fair bit of effort and knowledge to set up. There’s nothing to do this automatically out of the box.

You might want to take a look at some of the feature videos for Motion Builder and consider that as a compliment to what you choose. I have seen one video do exactly what you are describing in real time using Motion Builder. I think the video was for MB 2011. Maya and MB seemed to be set up to work well together.

Richard Culver

http://www.richardculver.com