Tentacle Rigging

With the mesh for the tentacles complete and the Texturing completed i then moved onto the rigging. I must admit that rigging is not my strong point in Maya but i do enjoy learning how its done. Rigging the tentacle proved a tad tougher than originally expected as i couldn't find a decent guide for rigging a tentacle so i had to go at it from the ground up. I started by placing a series of 34 joints in a somewhat similar fashion to a spine inside the tentacle. I then added an IK Handle which is in effect a large tendon spanning the entirety of the tentacle rig. With this in place the tentacle could curl up and down and move side to side(As seen in the left tentacle) but it would do so in a seemingly unnatural way. After learning how to use Clusters (Small objects which allow for deformation of parts of the tentacle) i removed the IK Handle and replaced it with an IK Spline handle, this allowed for more maneuverability. I then placed 4 clusters at strategic spots on the tentacle, these allowed me to move the tentacle more like it actually would if it were real. (As seen in Right tentacle)

                                                                   X-Ray image of the Rigs

                                                              An example of using the Rig

                                                      A Render of the Rigs using Mental ray

Mesh Complete

Essentially the Mesh's for both the tentacle and the head are in effect, complete. I imagine a few changes will be necessary when i receive feedback from "Dramatic Panda" The following images are of both the tentacle and head. Both have very basic textures on them currently but i'd like to change the basic green texture to make it appear more slime-like.

                                                                         Rough Render

                                                                       Visible Wire-frame view