3ds Max: Character Rigging

3h 46mIntermediate2014-08-12

Authors

George Maestri

Animation Director and Producer

Course details

3ds Max is a powerful 3D application with great rigging tools. This course covers the complete workflow for rigging characters for realistic motion and animation. Author George Maestri shows how to prep your model, draw a skeleton, and add controls: foot and leg controls, hip and spine controls, and controls that allow the animator to toggle between inverse and forward kinematics (IK/FK). Plus, learn to how to skin your character, and create hand and face rigs that allow for greater control over delicate hand movements and facial expressions.

Learning objectives
Setting up layers
Drawing and positioning bones in the skeleton
Rigging foot controls
Creating hip and spine controls
Setting up IK and FK skeleton controls
Wiring the IK/FK switch
Rigging hands
Skinning characters
Setting up single- and multiple-axis face controls

Skills covered

RiggingCharacter Animation3ds Max3D AnimationRenderingMotion Graphics and VFXAutodesk3D ModelingVisualization and Real-TimeAECProduct and ManufacturingAnimation and IllustrationDeep Dive (X:Y)

Concepts

0. Introduction

01 - Welcome
02 - Using the exercise files

1. Getting Set Up

03 - Prepping the model for rigging
04 - Setting up layers
05 - Naming schemes

2. Creating Skeletons

06 - Drawing the leg chain
07 - Adding bone fins
08 - Mirroring the leg chains with bone tools
09 - Positioning the hip bone
10 - Drawing the spine
11 - Positioning arm bones
12 - Creating hand skeletons
13 - Mirroring arm skeletons

3. Creating Leg and Foot Controls

14 - Positioning the foot control splines
15 - Setting up inverse kinematics (IK) chains
16 - Rigging the heel and toe controls
17 - Rigging the main foot control
18 - Controlling knee direction

4. Creating Hip and Spine Controls

19 - Configuring the main control
20 - Setting up the spine
21 - Head and neck controls
22 - Creating shoulder controls

5. Creating FK IK Controls

23 - Creating control skeletons for the arm
24 - Constraining the control skeletons
25 - Setting up the forward kinematics (FK) skeleton controls
26 - Setting up the IK skeleton controls
27 - Wiring up the FK IK switch
28 - Making controls appear and disappear

6. Rigging Hands

29 - Setting up the wrist control
30 - Setting up finger FK controls
31 - Getting the fingers to curl
32 - Creating a control pane using attributes
33 - Controlling finger spread
34 - Rigging the thumb

7. Skinning Characters

35 - Applying the Skin modifier
36 - Adjusting envelopes
37 - Fine-tuning vertex weights
38 - Advanced weighting tools
39 - Mirroring weights

8. Face Rigging

40 - Understanding morph targets
41 - Setting up a single-axis slider
42 - Wiring parameters to control blinks
43 - Setting up multiple-axis controls
44 - Connecting parameters using Reactor
45 - Creating a jawbone
46 - Skinning the head
47 - Controlling the jawbone
48 - Controlling eye direction
49 - Finalizing the face rig

Conclusion

50 - Next steps