T0427 - Digital Tutors Cartoon Character Rigging in Maya

Learn a production workflow to creating advanced character rigs with an emphasis on toon, squash and stretch rigging techniques, and the principles of building solution-based rigs. Contains over 7 hours of project-based training for animators and setup artists learning the processes of creating stylized toon rigs with animator-friendly controls. Perfect for experienced artists.Popular highlights include:

• Creating Squash and Stretch Spine


• Creating Stretchy Legs with On/Off Feature


• Globally Scaling a Squash and Stretch Rig


• Animator-Friendly Facial Setup


• Parent Scripts for Clean Controls


• Animatable Squash/Stretch GUI


• Multi-parent Control Objects


• Elbow and Knee Preservation Techniques


• Pinning Accessories to Bound Characters


• Object Pivot Manipulation


• Working with Expressions


• User-Friendly and Efficient Body Controls


• Rotation Order


• Gimbal Lock Prevention Assistant


• Enhanced Foot Bank Setup


• Enhanced Shoulder Concept


• Improved Finger Setup for Added Control

Online Bonus ContentBonus Training Content includes the instruction on creating and binding the character's skeleton. We recommend watching it before the actual training, as it will provide you with a base project to build upon, and give you a clear understanding on how to create your own character skeletons and paint weights. Highlights from the Bonus Content include:

• Skeletal creation techniques


• Disconnect Joint tool


• Modifying joint orientation


• Binding and weight painting techniques


• Influence objects


• Corrective shapes


• Mirroring joints


• Scene organization


• Character Sets


• Mirroring weights


• Move Skinned Joints Tool

* Once purchased, access free bonus content for this product by logging into your store account.

Lesson Outline:

1.	Introduction and project overview	2:23
2.	Discussing the scene	8:24
3.	Using the MEL window to easily access controls	11:21
4.	Finishing the setup of the custom window	6:07
5.	Starting the construction of the rig - rigging the feet	9:00
6.	Setting up the Reverse Lock feature	7:15
7.	Using a unique concept for a foot control	9:59
8.	Finishing the setup of the foot control	10:40
9.	Connecting the custom attributes for the feet	10:14
10.	Creating an improved Foot Bank rig	9:55
11.	Adding a stretchy feature to the legs	12:12
12.	Continuing the stretchy limb setup	8:20
13.	Finishing the legs	11:52
14.	Starting on the spine	9:53
15.	Using an advanced twist setup for the upper body	9:43
16.	Utlizing a concept for natural spine performance	7:12
17.	Creating an extendible spine	12:28
18.	Adding volume as the spine squashes and stretches	10:12
19.	Connecting the Volume Interface Controls to influence the spine	10:41
20.	Completing the Volume User Interface	6:03
21.	Utilizing a concept for Multi-Parent control objects	7:54
22.	The head control	10:37
23.	Rigging the eyes	7:49
24.	Wrapping up the control for the eyes	9:13
25.	Setting up the hat	9:49
26.	Starting on the arms	9:04
27.	Creating the arm controls	11:49
28.	Basic connections of the left arm	5:29
29.	Basic connections of the right arm	6:20
30.	Adding a stretchy arm feature	14:11
31.	The Arm Follow Switch	7:32
32.	Rigging the fingers for a wide range of control	11:26
33.	Finishing the fingers	5:24
34.	Establishing good rotation orders for control objects	6:03
35.	Modeling blend shapes	8:44
36.	Seamlessly mirroring blend shapes	12:24
37.	Efficient, user-friendly control for blend shapes	10:04
38.	Finishing the setup of the facial control	6:25
39.	Pinning the loose assets to a bound mesh	8:06
40.	Continuing the pinning process of assets on the Watchman's shirt	9:26
41.	Completing the pinning process for the shirt	5:58
42.	Pinning for the lower body and preparing the setup of the flashlight and keys	13:31
43.	Creating a control for the flashlight and setting up its attachment to the Watchman	12:12
44.	Controlling and animating the control of an object's pivot	7:48
45.	Finishing the flashlight	3:35
46.	Beginning our work on the keys	9:44
47.	Adding custom attributes to manipulate the keys	8:27
48.	Continuing the connections between keys and the custom attributes that control them	12:12
49.	Wrapping up the keys and creating character sets	9:10
50.	Creating a MEL window to quickly switch between each character set	14:09
51.	Finalizing the rig of the Watchman	10:18
52.	Conclusion	1:43
	Total Run Time:	7:50:30