Rigging Workshops

Four 11-Week Classes

You'll learn the art and science of building a character rig as well as the development process and
pipeline used in the industry. These processes are fundamental and can be applied to any production
pipeline; feature animation, VFX and video game.

What to expect in this Workshop

When enrolling in iAnimate rigging workshop, you'll learn the art and science of building a character
rig as well as the development process and pipeline used in the industry. All students will spend time
practicing and recreating what was taught in class; create setup, skin a character, develop your own
rigging tools, etc. Those workshop have been specifically designed for animators who wants to
expand their technical knowledge, and technical animators who would like to strengthen their
rigging skills.

 Rig a character properly and efficiently based on industry standards.

 Have a wider Maya knowledge.

 Develop your technical minding.

 Understand the rigging pipeline.

 Debug your own rigs.

 Better communicate with riggers.

 Understand the terminology, color scheme and the importance of naming convention.

 Understand the most utilized rigging menus.

 Skin a character properly.

Workshop 1

Rigging Fundamentals
Introduction to the features in Maya used to create a complex character rig. This is an
animator friendly approach that doesn't require previous rigging or scripting
experience. Learn the tools and tricks of the character rigger further more. This
second part will focus on the deformations and skinning of your character rig.
Introduction to the features in Maya used to create a complex character rig. This is an animator
friendly approach that doesn't require previous rigging or scripting experience. Learn the tools and
tricks of the character rigger further more. This second part will focus on the deformations and
skinning of your character rig.

Week 1: Introduction to Rigging

We'll define rigging and looks at some example rigs. We'll talk about the relationship between the
rigging department and the other departments in a character pipeline. We will cover some essential
terminology and definitions.

Week 2: Objects, attributes, and transformations

We'll start looking at Maya's basic structure and how to best use it as a rigger. All objects in Maya
share certain information and basic structure. We will see how Maya handles positional information
and how to manipulate it. We will learn about transformation nodes, attributes, and pivots as well as
the heirarchical structure of Maya. The channel box, attribute editor and connection editor will be
covered.

Week 3: Joints and skeletons

In this class students will learn about joints and skeletons in Maya. Building off the week before, we
will learn why joints are special nodes in Maya and what advantages they have in rigging. We will
also see how a skeleton is created from layering joints and we will talk about proper joint placement.
We will learn about orienting joints correctly as well as joint rotation order.

Week 4: Constraints

Maya allows complex relationships to be created between nearly any node and any other node in
Maya. Constraints are rigging tools which simplify creating these relationships. Learn how to pin one
object to another, or how to aim a characters eyes. Constraints are used in every aspect of rigging
and this class will define how and when to use each of Maya's constraint nodes.

Week 5: Forward and Inverse Kinematics

Character rigs can be manipulated in many ways. Two of the most used methods of controlling a
character are forward and inverse kinematics. Students will learn how to organize an FK skeleton,
how to create an IK handle and how to control it.

Week 6: Animation controls

Animators need to use the character rigs. We will begin to learn what an animator needs in a rig to
be able to create an incredible performance without being slowed down by the rig and it's interface.
Animator friendly controls and how to create them will be covered.

Week 7: Intro to deformations and skinning

Important tools and definitions will be introduced. Students will be provided a simple character
model to begin skinning. We will learn about manipulating an object's shape node as well as the
deformation stack. Info from Part One of the class will be reviewed as the students will create a
simple rig for their new character model.

Week 8: Blendshapes

Blendshapes or morph targets are some of the most powerful and important tools in the riggers
toolbox. Students will learn how to create and manipulate blendshapes and use the blendshape
editor. The blendshape node and how to manage complex sets of shapes will be covered.

Week 9 & 10: Skin Clusters

The real workhorse of the deformation rig is the skin cluster. Nearly every character or creature will
need a skin cluster to look natural. The creation and manipulation of skin clusters will be covered.
This is the core of Part Two and will take 2 weeks to get comfortable with Maya's skin painting tools.

Week 11: Putting it all together

Students will learn how to layer deformations for a more natural and complex skinning. Also
packaging the rig for use by the animation department and referencing will be covered. Students will
put the final touches on their first rig.

Workshop 2

Character Rigging for Production

Understanding rigging principles and pipeline. This class will take the skills learned
from Rigging Fundamentals and apply them to a complete character rig ready for
production.
Understanding rigging principles and pipeline. This class will take the skills learned from Rigging
Fundamentals and apply them to a complete character rig ready for production.

Week 1: Geometry

There are specific requirements on geometry intended for rigging. Special attention will be paid to
topology, resolution and edge flow. Students will be provided acharacter for the class or may use
their own.

Week 2: Twist Joints

Non anatomical joints are added to parts of the rig to mimic natural twistingmotion in the limbs.
Students will learn how to drive twist joints automatically.

Week 3: Skinning Part 1

The skin cluster node in Maya is the basis to any deformable rig. How to create it and what the
settings all mean be explained. Student will begin to skin their character with special attention in the
first week to torso, shoulders, knees, and elbows.

Week 4: Skinning Part 2

Painting the skin cluster continues with focus on the hands neck and feet. Dual Quarternion skinning
will be explained. How to smooth the weights without getting too messy will be demonstrated.

Week 5: Corrective Blendshapes

While the skin cluster is the base of a deformation rig, the corrective blendshape is essential to make
up for the limitations of the skin cluster. Which shapes are essential and how to process the
corrective shape will be demonstrated.

Week 6: Spine Setup

We will compare different methods of creating a spine. Why to use, create and control various spine
systems. Advanced Twist will be covered. Other methods to control the twist of the spine will be
explained.

Week 7: Arm Controls

Students will learn both Forward and Inverse Kinematics. We'll cover when to use Fk vs Ik and how to
control these systems. Fk/Ik switching using SDKs will be shown.

Week 8: Hand Controls

Using custom attributes and set driven curves students will learn to setup complex behaviors for the
hands and fingers.

Week 9: Leg Controls

We will add the IK for the legs and setup the knee controls. A 3 bone leg will also be covered.

Week 10: Feet Controls

The classic reverse foot setup will be covered demonstrated. Advanced setup for rolling the foot and
adding FK controls to the reverse foot.

Week 11: Final review

Students will finish off the rig and prepare it for use in the animation pipeline. Students will learn
how to export animation and geometry from their rigs.

Workshop 3

Facial Rig Creation

Students will further learn the rigging principles, pipeline used when creating a
character rig and how to build a robust facial rig. The second half of the workshop,
the student will continue with facial animation and learn about tools creation
possibilities that can be done with Python. The instructor will also talk about plug-ins
and automating a riggers workflow.
Students will further learn the rigging principles, pipeline used when creating a character rig and how
to build a robust facial rig. The second half of the workshop, the student will continue with facial
animation and learn about tools creation possibilities that can be done with Python. The instructor
will also talk about plug-ins and automating a riggers workflow.

Week 1

Concepts and Theory Students will learn the current state of face rigging technology. Key projects
highlighting facial rigs will be reviewed. Key concepts such as emotion, communication, and lip sync
will be discussed. The FACS system and thee Uncanny Valley and their implications to facial rigging
will be explained. Also the differences between types of face rigs for film and games will be covered.

Week 2
Anatomy of the face and neck. It's mandatory for students to understand the anatomy of a face to rig
it correctly. Students will learn the landmarks of the skull, the parts of the face and all the underlying
muscles. The muscles of the neck and their connection to the head will also be covered.

Week 3

Skeleton and Geometry requirements.Good edge flow and loops are essential for good facial
deformations. Edge flow as well as resolution requirements will be discusses. Also correct geometry
layout for eyes and mouths will be presented. Laying out the skeleton. The correct layout of a base
skeleton including the neck jaw and eyes, as well as orientation will be explained.

Week 4

Skinning the neck, head, and jaw. The students will learn the ins and outs of painting a good skin
cluster for a face rig. The mouth and jaw deformations are the basis for the full range of mouth
shapes including phonemes and lip sync performance. We will create and process a corrective
blendshape for the mouth to ensure a solid base moving forward.

Week 5

The Eyes Joint placement for the aim system as well as the blink system will be covered. Also
students will gain a clear step by step process for painting the eyelid skin cluster. Soft eyes and
correct blink timing will be covered.

Week 6

Eyes part two. After setting up the aim system students will learn a layered eeye joint system to drive
blinking as well as soft eyes.

Week 7

The FACS system. The Facial Action Coding System. This unique tome of information was developed
in the 1970s to study psychology. Lucky for us this is the ultimate guide for creating a face rig. Every
possible motion of the face has been documented, illustrated, and described in detail. Students will
begin modelling a complete set of facial expressions. The first group of shapes are the Upper face
shapes including brows, cheeks, and nose.

Week 8

FACS week 2. The rest of the FACS shapes will be discussed and explained. It will be clear after this
lesson what needs to be in every face rig.

Week 9

Phonemes, and Vizimes. The last group of shapes are all used to create speech. The concept of
phonemes/ vizimes will be explained as well as their importance in lip sync animation. Students will
learn how a key set of mouth shapes are able to create a large range of sounds.

Week 10

Working with the shapes in the rig. Blendshape nodes, targets and maps will be shown as well as
integrating shapes with the existing skin cluster.

Week 11
The Interface. Animators need a great set of controls to be able to work quickly and accurately. It is
essential to organize the complex set of facial controls in a straight forward and intuitive way so an
animator can pick up a rig and get results without a steep learning curve. Control creation, naming
and layouts will be covered. Students will learn how to connect the interface to the various parts of
the face rig.

Workshop 4

Creature Rig Creation

Beginning with a standard quadruped setup we will cover a 3-bone IK leg, a
horizontal spine setup and an FK/IK switchable neck. Moving on to a bat we will learn
to setup wings and claws. Last a fantasy creature will be used to demonstrate an
advanced tail as well as dynamic joint chains and nCloth solvers. After completing the
class students will be able to design a rig for any creature, real or imagined.
Workshop breakdown coming soon.

Week 1

Introduction to Creature Rigging: Terminology, anatomy and the unique approach to quadropeds v.
bipeds.

Week 2

Setting up the Quadruped Skeleton: Laying out the bones is the foundation for a successful rig.
Anatomy will be covered including setting up a hoofed animal versus an animal with a hand or foot, a
3 bone leg, and horizontal spine.

Week 3

Attaching the geometry: Using the new skinning methods in Maya we will attach the geometry much
more quickly than before. The Artisan tool will be used to edit the skin cluster.

Week 4

The Animation Controls: The techniques for controlling the quad rig will be covered as well as
creating all of the specific animation controls. Constraints, set driven keys. and a spline IK spine will
be covered.

Week 5

The Bat Skeleton: We will lay out the skeleton for the bird and will learn about wing anatomy.

Week 6

Painting the skin cluster: We will attach the geometry and edit the skin weights.

Week 7

The Wings: We will use set driven keys and utility nodes to create the wing controls.

Week 8
Setting Up the Dragon skeleton

Week 9

Painting the dragon skin weights

Week 10

Rigging the advanced tail: An FK IK/ Dynamic tail setup will be covered.

Week 11

The wings and neck: We will setup the rest of the dragon animation controls using the techniques
covered in the previous weeks.