Parenting a Character's Skeleton to the Model

 Part I. Legs, Feet, Arms and Hands

(Go to Display>Animation>Joint Size, if necessary)

1.Pick the left knee geo. Shift+pick the joint inside, then ‘p’to parent.

2.Do the same for all the spheres of the left leg. Test by selecting the LeftLeg IK and translating. The spheres should track along with it. Undo the move after you’ve tested.

3.Pick the upper leg geo. Shift+pick the sphere above it (not the joint), then ‘p’to parent.

4.Pick the lower leg geo. Shift+pick the sphere at the knee (not the joint), then ‘p’to parent.

5.Pick the foot geo. Shift+pick the toe joint, then ‘p’to parent.

6.Follow steps 1-5 for the right leg.

7.The arms are a similar approach ie select the sphere at theleft elbow, then shift+pick the joint inside, then ‘p’to parent.

8.Finish parenting each sphere of the left arm to theappropriate joints.

9.Pick the upper arm geo. Shift+pick the sphere above it (not the joint), then ‘p’to parent.

10.Pick the lower arm geo. Shift+pick the sphere above it (not the joint), then ‘p’to parent.

11.Pick the hand geo. Shift+pick the joint at the end of the fingers, then ‘p’to parent.

12.Test the arm by rotating each joint.

13.Repeat steps 7-12 for the right arm.

Part II. Head, Chest and Pelvis

1.Pick the sphere geo at the neck.Shift+pick the joint inside, then ‘p’to parent.

2.Pick the sphere geo at the pelvis area.Shift+pick the joint inside, then ‘p’to parent.

3.Pick the nose (eww), shift+pick the head, ‘p’to parent.

4.Pick the head, shift+pick the cylinder at the neck, ‘p’to parent.

5.Pick the neck cylinder, shift+pick the sphere geo (not the joint), ‘p’to parent.

6.Pick the chest geo, shift+pickthe cylinder, ‘p’to parent.

7.Pick the cylinder, shift+pick the sphere geo (not the joint), ‘p’to parent.

8.Pick the hips geo, shift+pick the pelvis joint inside, ‘p’to parent.

Part III. 

Create a MasterCTRL

1.Create a NURBS circle.Scale it so that it’s easy to select. Modify>Freeze Transformation.Rename it MasterCTRL.

2.Select everypiece of the character and rig (ie in the outliner), then select the MasterCTRL last.

3.Hit ‘p’to parent.

4.Test it: When you select the MasterCTRL, the entire rigged character should move with it.