Character Setup Course

[Aearon]

personally, i think things like "how to create a skeleton" is low-level stuff that probably shouldn't find it's way into such a course. This kind of thing can be learned with application training material.

i think it makes more sense to talk about higher level concepts, like the approach to character setup in a production pipeline. it should start with general questions like "what type of controls do i need for this character?", "how does my rig fit into the rest of the pipeline?". being able to think about this kind of problem is more important than doing very specific technical tasks i think.

[ashishdantu]

hi,

i'm also into rigging stuff.. recently i had a similar discussion forum with some students..

so i thought i might add my views here:

the first thing > when i asked them to define *rigging* > i noticed the students saying its setting up skeletons, iks, sexy features like stretchy rigs , etc,,,etc... too tool oriented definitions.. but i thouhgt, they first need to understand that our *clinets* are the animators - the artists !!! rigging is about helping the artists to achieve what they r gud at ! we have to please our animators !! its not just the toollllss..... * its the process of setting up the rig and how the target audience use ur work* -which students should try to understand..

then ya like aeron suggested, they can be told to study how to apply thier skills in a broader sense.. i think, rigging artists work starts in modeling stage and till rendering !! so peripheral knowledge shud be there for a rigging artists..

then trouble shooting skillss.. which is a must for rigging. i feel personally the reasons and the way u study and setup rigs is what keeps me going !!

-rgds,

[isoparmB]

I think teaching a course like this should have it's prerequisites. It should be assumed that anyone taking this course should already have a solid foundation with the software involved. They should, in my opinion, also have at least moderate experience in dealing with Mel, and already understand basic concepts regarding transforms, constraints, and bone structure as Aearon pointed out. As character TD's, one is expected to have a broader technical knowledge base than, say, an animator.

It also goes without saying that a character TD should understand the requirements of the animator. Ashishdantu is correct in saying that the main purpose of a character TD is to provide the animator with the means to.... animate. This implies the TD should have less ego in this function, as he should be giving what an animator needs and not what he thinks an animator needs, all this within the broader context of a production pipeline. A little (or more) knowledge in animation principles goes a long way.

That being said, a character TD course should cover character analysis, that is, planning out how a character should move even before you lay out a single joint or controller. Modelling and topology in relation to character rigging and texturing should also be considered. Mel scripting in relation to character rigging also, when a task becomes identifiable as being consistently performed during character rigging you should think about semi-automating it, to save time. Principles in keeping rigs and hierarchies simple and organized (like for example keeping controllers, joints and geometry in their own groups), naming conventions, and rigging standards and optimizations come into mind. Creative use of different deformers and constraints, transfer animation techniques (trax and character sets, joint constraining, blendshaping), pipeline principles and tools like referencing, geometry caching, and keeping library databases of your characters. And most importantly, troubleshooting and diagnostics skills.

This of course goes beyond an introduction :p. An introduction could be a description of what a character TD is and what skillsets he should have, and what role he performs in a production environment.

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