I decided to create a custom rig for this character since I wanted to implement facial controls and create custom controllers. I have some experience in rigging, and as a result I found that I enjoyed this process. Once again on this project however, I found that if I had more time there would be things I would add. I would have like to create switches that would allow myself to switch between IK and FK on both the arms and legs of this character. As a necessity I decided that for the sake of the project I could manage with IK legs and FK arms, but if I were to be using this rig for any extended length of time these would be the main features that I would be implementing to this rig.
In terms of topology, my limited knowledge definitely has an impact on the weight painting. In areas where I made sure to follow standardised good topology I found I was able to very easily weight paint, such as in the face area, the arms and the legs. However, in places such as the fingers or around the fairly complicated shoes, I found that the way in which I had topologies negatively impacted the way that I weight painted my model. I found this as a good lesson for a greater understanding of how all of these processes impact each other. Good weight painting is completely essential for good animation, and while I took care to complete this process carefully, there are certainly still parts of my rig that could be improved with finer tuning of the weights.