Rigging for Realistic Movement - Game Character Creation with Blender and Unity - page 181

2. Extrude a bone from the HandControl bones and disconnect it. Move it along the
y-axis and call the resulting bones ThumbControl_L and ThumbControl_R. .
3. Create four more bones, in the same way that the ThumbControl was created, one for
each finger. Name these bones as follows:
• Fin_IndexControl_L and Fin_IndexControl_R
• Fin_MidControl_L and Fin_MidControl_R
• Fin_RingControl_L and Fin_RingControl_R
• Fin_PinkyControl_L and Fin_PinkyControl_R
Use Figure 7.35 as a guide as you make the bones.

Figure 7.35
Adding the finger
control bones

4. Create another editor window in the Blender interface. Using the Editor Type list,
change the new window into a DopeSheet. There is a list in the DopeSheet header
that lets you choose the mode for the editor. Use this drop-down list to enter Action
Editor mode (Figure 7.36).
5. Further down the header is a button labeled New. You can use this button to add and
manage new actions. Click the New button and name your new action FingerAction .
6. Adjust the DopeSheet view with the mouse wheel so you can see frames from 0 to 21.
Move the green slider to frame 11 and ensure that the 3D viewport is in Pose mode
for the armature. Select all finger and thumb bones on one hand and press the I key to
access the Insert Keyframes menu. Add a LocRot keyframe, as shown in Figure 7.37.
Do the same to the fingers on the opposing hand.
7. Move the green timeline slider to frame 1. Pose the hand so the fingers are in an
extreme open pose, as shown in Figure 7.38. Add a LocRot keyframe to the fingers
when you have them all posed.