–oops. Double post. Sorry–
Cheers, thanks Rob. I can’t take credit for the model though, I got that off a Lightwave site. It needed a lot of separating of bits etc, (which turned out to be only slightly more difficult than modelling from scratch :).
I’ll have a look at my rig later and see if I can explain it better. It looks complex, but, if I can do it. . . 
P.S. model’s looking great !
@ fatfinger: Thanks for the reply and the offer to look deeper into this, however I managed to crack the rig at lunchtime today.
It turned out to be much simpler than I imagined, the diagram below is the armature set-up.
Bones A, B and C make the red pivot arm operate correctly when Bone A is rotated in Pose Mode.
Bone D keeps the correct distance between the red pivot and bucket linkage.
Bones F and G have a IK solver constraint to empties on their pivots. To make the bucket tip you just need to scale Bone D.
“Edit: After a bit more testing I found this doesn’t work correctly, so I am still searching for a solution,”
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it’s beginning to look very nice almost real!
would you be able to upload a sample file for this part of the rig
for the front bucket it looks a little complicated
just looking at the pic here
would be easier to study it and be able to reuse it for other type of machine too
also if you could make a nice tut on this rig it would great for pelple to learn about riggning machines in general
Keep up the good work
Thanks
@robbur
That’s great you got it working. It’s looking good.
I really liked your 608 bearing tutorial, too b.t.w.
@RickyBlender
I uploaded a similar rigged model. You can check it out in the meantime if you want. P.M. me if you have questions etc.
http://www.cdupload.com/files/43296_jnhku/ffExcav.zip
Thanks fatfinger, I was a little premature saying I had cracked the front rig. Scaling the bone and having more than 1 IK solver caused a few problems with the linkage moving off it’s pivot points. For now I will have to key frame the bucket/arm linkage movement.
I have got the basics of the model completed, though a lot more detail is needed, hydraulic pipes and hoses etc. I am still not sure if I will be able to get the front bucket rigged the way I would like.
For now I have uploaded a turntable video with the bucket and back actor animated to Vimeo.
@ RickyBlender: If I manage to get this rigged and working the way I want it to, I will definately add a tutorial to my site.
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The glass IOR doesn’t look right in animation. Other than that, it seems great.
Nice work robbur.
I guess one would need the game engine to lift the wheels off the ground like this…
I guess one would need the game engine to lift the wheels off the ground like this…
Not now it’s rigged, this is a quick pose from the JCB dancing diggers
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That is awesome! :evilgrin:
Proficient operators, of these real machines, can move the whole rig sideways by using the bucket arm (pivoting off the front scoop).
It would be sweet to set your model up w/ some actuators and try to flip it over and stuff.
This would be cool to model.
Robbur, I was curious how long that took to render? I guess thats blender internal w/ AO enabled. What is your vert count?
So far the model is at about 150,000 vert’s and its all done in blender. The 800 x 500 pix images take about 4 mins to render on my old athlon PC with AO set at 6 samples and 3 area lights at 4 samples each.
Very good work pretty details:eyebrowlift: Congratulations
Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman making a bet in german TV-Show on two guys who are trying to move in a harbor on the water with only the use of the bucket of a excavator like being in venice.
Afterwards some digeridoo play of Miss Kidman … and something hilarious.
I have started adding the pipework and hoses to the cylinders. Simple hoses deform well using curves with a bev object and a hook at one end. Some of the more complicated ones will need an armature to get them to flex correctly.
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interesting subject - moving tubes
what is available to rig theses tubes
1 - mesh then add armature to it
2 - can we put an armature on curves with texture
3 - can we use nurbs curves then add armatures with texture?
i like the idea of having a tube that can bend following a constaint i guess
Happy Blendering Thanks
I have finally found time to complete the front arm pipes and hoses. I am pleased that all of them deform quite well just using bezier curves and hooks, it’s made setting up the hoses much easier than using armatures.
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Wow, that’s looking great! The only crit is that the black parts are a bit too dark (at least in my monitor) and can’t be really appreciated; maybe you could increase their material value. Other than that, it’s perfect. 
Thanks techwielder: I have lightened up the black colours which looks better.
I have also reworked the back hoe pivot mechanism to use 2 hydraulic rams and give a full 180 degrees of rotation. It animates well but the hose deformation isn’t very good yet.
Here is a short test animation.
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