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Pratt Institute
Department of Digital Arts
Instructor: Prof. Claudia Herbst
Course: 3D Character Animation, CG 517
Creating a Character: Part II
Once you've designed your basic character, you should do darwings in which your character assumes the poses that you will animate. Each drawing should be expressive, clearly convey the action, and, since we are focusing on weight, the drawing should communicate the strain your character experiences.
Take a look at Preston Blair, Cartoon Animation and note how he constructs his characters for animation. More specifically, he builds the character around the actions/motions the character will act out and always visualizes them as three-dimensional shapes moving through space.
Preston Blair writes, "When constructing an animated character, visualize it as a three-dimensional puppet that you are joining together with solid masses." (p. 40)
In Maya, we are doing exactly what Blair suggests: we are building a three-dimensional puppet! In finalizing your character's design, build its elements around the character's line of action. This is a smart appraoch in terms of designing, as well as in terms of rigging, a character.
