In computer animation, rigging is the art of building a digital skeleton and control system to drive the animation of a character or object.
This particular course will focus on the process needed to create fully articulated characters that are strong enough for film and/or video game production. We will start with rigging fundamentals to learn proper joint orientation for skeleton creation, focus on skinning techniques for attaching the skeleton to the character afterwards, and then work on building a system of controls to move the character in compelling ways.
Certain topics will include kinematics, set driven keys, direct connections, space switching, corrective blendshapes, custom attributes, and deformation. Students interested in the artistic and technical sides of computer animation are encouraged to enroll. Previous experience with Autodesk Maya/3D animation is preferred.