Advanced Modeling and Rigging Concepts

Creating animated characters is one of the most challenging aspects of modern cinema. In this course, students will learn how to create 3D characters from design to modeling and setup through the development of a character pipeline. Considerations in character design, how to incorporate anatomy to improve characters workability, and how to develop a flexible nonlinear work flow will be covered. Modeling issues such as geometry types, topology and efficiency will also be explored. Rigging topics will include inverse kinematics and forward kinematics, expression and binary nodes, joint placement and orientations, and binding and deforming skin geometry. Students are expected to actively participate through weekly assignments and critiques. By the end of the course, students will have created a character they can easily animate.