Pratt Institute
Department of Digital Arts
Instructor: Prof. Claudia Herbst
Course: 3D Character Animation, CG 517
Creating a Character: Part III
There is a big difference between successfully rigging a character and successfully rigging a character that animates well. In this class, we want to generate rigs that facilitate a wide range of motion and that won't get in the way of the actual animation process.
For your character, consider a rigging scenario, such as the one depicted below, by graduate student Meng-Han (Richard) Ho. For his character's rig, Meng-Han parents joints to the geometry and binds (smooth/rigid) the parts of the character that will actually bend, or deform, such as knees and elbows. While the character looks quite complex, and while it features a series of nicely thought-out controls, there's a simple and flexible approach at the heart of its functionality. It's a smart setup because the character has a wide range of motions without causing any of the usual self-intersection problems; it could also work for a number of different types of two-legged creatures.
Character designed and rigged by Meng-Han (Richard) Ho.
Character designed and rigged by Meng-Han (Richard) Ho.
Character designed and rigged by Meng-Han (Richard) Ho.
Here is another example of a simple character and rig. Although this design is quite simple, it becomes interesting through expressive poses. You guessed it, each pose was carefully sketched out before the character was animated... This design, model, rig, and animation have been created by Andrew Boccio. Notice how nicely exaggerated every pose is, which makes the story read very clearly:
Character designed, rigged, and animated by Andrew Boccio.