A System for Designing Digital Creatures Based on Rules of Vertebrate Skeletal Structure

Concept Designers are often required to create digital creatures that do not actually exist in real-life. These fantasy creatures are often inspired by animals that do exist, combining component body parts to create new, chimera-like forms. While these forms can look believable in stationary positions, their construction may yield awkward looking performances while in motion. This awkwardness can often be attributed to the different body parts not being connected correctly, making it impossible for the creature to be articulated in a believable way. This paper defines a set of rules, guided by study in comparative anatomy, for achieving more believable connections of body parts. This paper then details the process by which these rules are automated through a Maya script, allowing them to be integrated into a more artistic creature design process. In conclusion, it is found that the defined rules are successful in guiding believable connections. However, the implementation of the automated solution requires additional work to be a useful tool in the creature design process.