Blender: Character Rigging with BlenRig

2h 56mIntermediate2017-05-31

Authors

Darrin Lile

Animator, Writer, and 3D Artist

Course details

BlenRig—a character rigging system provided by the Blender Foundation—provides you with tools that can help you bring your characters to life. In this course, join Darrin Lile as he breaks down how to use BlenRig to rig a character for animation in Blender. He shows how to install and set up the BlenRig add-on, and adjust the rig to match your character using the retargeting tools. He also demonstrates how to adjust the deform cage to fit the shape of a character, add corrective shape keys, and weight paint the hands and face. To wrap up, Darrin discusses how to set parameters and adjust actions and ranges to fine-tune the rig.

Learning objectives
Retargeting the rig
Baking the rig
Adjusting the deform cage for the head
Adjusting the legs and feet
Binding the character to the deform cage
Adding corrective shape keys
Setting up drivers
Weight painting
Setting parameters
Adjusting actions and ranges

Skills covered

RiggingBlender3D AnimationRenderingMotion Graphics and VFX3D ModelingVisualization and Real-TimeAECProduct and ManufacturingAnimation and IllustrationDeep Dive (X:Y)

Concepts

0. Introduction

01 - Welcome
02 - Exercise files
03 - What you need to know

1. Retargeting the Rig

04 - Installing and setting up BlenRig
05 - Retargeting the body controls
06 - Retargeting the finger controls
07 - Retargeting the eye controls
08 - Retargeting the mouth controls
09 - Retargeting the face controls
10 - Baking the rig

2. Adjusting the Deform Cage

11 - Adjusting the deform cage for the head
12 - The deform cage for the torso and arms
13 - Adjusting the hips and pelvis
14 - Adjusting the legs and feet
15 - Binding the character to the deform cage

3. Adding Corrective Shape Keys

16 - Setting up drivers
17 - Creating the shape keys for the arms
18 - Shape keys for the legs

4. Weight Painting

19 - Weight painting the hands
20 - Weight painting the fingers
21 - Weight painting the head
22 - Weight painting the mouth
23 - Weight painting the lips and cheeks
24 - Weight painting the nose and brows
25 - Weight painting the eyelids and ears
26 - Weight painting the teeth and tongue
27 - Weight painting the eyeballs and head

5. Adjusting Fine Details

28 - Setting parameters
29 - Adjusting actions and ranges

Conclusion

30 - Next steps