Rig it Right! Maya Animation Rigging Concepts

Book excerpt: Rigging a character can be a complicated undertaking. Move from a bi-pedal character to a quad- or poly-pedal and, well, things just got real. Where do you begin? Unlike all of those button-pushing manuals out there, Rig it Right! breaks down rigging so that you can achieve a fundamental understanding of the concept, allowing you to rig more intuitively in your own work. Veteran animation professor Tina O’Hailey will get you up and rigging in a matter of hours with step-by-step tutorials covering multiple animation control types, connection methods, interactive skinning, BlendShapes, edgeloops, and joint placement, to name a few. The concept of a bi-ped is explored as a human compared to a bird character allowing you to see that a bi-ped is a bi-ped and how to problem solve for the limbs at hand. After you have moved beyond basic bi-pedal characters, Rig it Right! will take you to a more advanced level where you will learn how to create stretchy rigs with invisible control systems and use that to create your own types of rigs. Hone your skills every step of the way with short tutorials and editable rigs that accompany each chapter. (17+ rigs!!) Read "Tina’s 10 Rules of Rigging" and build the foundational knowledge needed to successfully rig your characters. Visit the companion website (www.focalpress.com/cw/ohailey) and expand your newfound knowledge with editable rigs, exercises, and videos that elaborate on techniques covered in the book Coffee is not required – but encouraged.