Rigging is the process of taking a completed model and preparing it for animation. Not all models need to go through a rigging process unless it is going to be animated. Even though some models could have potentially very simple animation it still should go through even a minor rigging process just to ensure things are setup properly for the pipeline.
The modeling portion is all about creating a sleek and awesome model that just looks amazing. The animation portion is all about taking that amazing model and bringing it to life for the performance the audience will see on screen. The rigging portion is the invisible work done to take the model and make it easy or functional to animate. If this were a car, modeling is the body design, animation is the fancy dashboard and steering interface and rigging is the gear and parts that make the car go. When you put your foot on the gas of a car you are not meant to think about how it makes the car go, just that it does. The animator works with a character rig and if it is built well, the animator won't know or care how it works, just that it does.
Watch this video for a good overview of what rigging is and why it matters
Throughout this module wew will be exploring different ways to create rigging setups to add either efficiency or functionality to our character model (Jack in the Box). Rigging is probably one of the most undervalued and least glamorous aspects of the 3D pipeline, but it is also one of the most important. If you are into technical things, you will likely enjoy the process.
Before we get into the technical aspects of how each aspect of the rig is created lets talk about what the goals of a rig should be as well as what features we need to build into our rig.
Remember! These videos are meant to be a guide to general ideas and topics that will assist you in your rigging processes, not a step-by-step guide to the specifics you need. Learning how to work in production is all about learning how to problem solve.
The most complicated aspect of our rig for the jack-in-the-box is the jack itself. We have many different aspects all working together including a spring that needs to stretch and bend to wherever we animate the location of the head. We are going to break this process down into a number of different segments. Even if your rig doesn't have a spring, there are definitely aspects of this process you need to know for advanced rigging techniques so watch them anyway.
The Spring
And of course we cannot forget to do our final cleanup!
The rigging module runs for 3 weeks. At the end of each week (Sunday night) you must post some work in progress screen capture video or images to the discussion board on UNM Canvas This will allow for your classmates to see how you are progressing and provide you with meaningful feedback and assistance. I recommend you do this more often than just at the end, but this is the minimum. At the end of our rigging module you must hand in your final submission of your rig.
| End of first week | WIP images to Discussion boards. |
| End of second week | WIP images to Discussion boards. |
| End of third week | WIP images to Discussion boards and final submission for assignment. |
Hand in your final scene rigged scene file. I will be looking into the functionality of the rig, its stability, the cleanliness of your Outliner and display layers.
submit your Maya Scene File to Assignment 3 on UNM Canvas
In a production environment you would be using this stage to show off your rig for approval before it moves down the pipeline so make sure you put some effort into making sure you have dotted every i and crossed every t.