All About "Rig Wrecking"

Rig concepts from "Jerich0"

What is "Rig Wrecking"? Rig Wrecking, more commonly known as rig testing, is the process of testing your character rigs to make sure they can do everything you need them to do.

Sometimes known as stress testing, this process involves testing out all the controls to make sure everything works as it should, and all the geometry deforms correctly.

Rig testing is a necessary production step; it involves letting animators loose on the rig to do test animation. Skip this step and you will almost certainly find many problems cropping up during the animation stage of the production.

Free Rigging Tutorial by Michael Davies

We don't teach rigging as such at Animation Apprentice, the reason being that rigging is a deep rabbit hole, and there just isn't the time to explore it fully. However, one of my colleagues at Escape Studios, rigging expert Michael Davies, has recorded this free tutorial; an introduction to rigging human and humanoid characters.  Mike's impressive film credits include The Hobbit, where he rigged Smaug, and also Despicable Me, where he rigged The Minions.  Mike gets great reviews from students for his well-paced methodical style of delivery, breaking down complex processes into simple parts in a clear and transparent way.  This video is a great introduction to the art and craft of rigging - perfect for complete beginners.

Free Rigging webinar Tonight at 7pm

Mike Davies - the man who rigged Smaug

Rigging Supremo Mike Davies, veteran rigger whose film credits include The Hobbit and The Minions, is hosting a free webinar on the art of rigging tonight, Thursday 8 March at 7pm.

If you're interested in learning rigging, be sure to sign up for this free webinar hosted by London's Escape Studios.

If you'd like to register (it is completely free), follow the link here to sign up.

Teach Yourself Basic Rigging in Maya for Free!

Nowadays, every animator should know a little bit about rigging.  Here at Animation Apprentice we encourage our students to spend a little time mastering the basics, so as to be better acquainted with the problems and challenges of creating a great character rig.  It's harder than it looks, and a little time spent on this will give you a new respect for what riggers have to deal with.  The video above by James Thompson is a clear and straightforward basic introduction to the art of rigging. If you'd like to give it a go - this is the video we recommend for absolute beginners.

Instant Rigging at Mixamo.com

Mixamo.com. Instant rigging!

Rigging is one of the more complex and technical parts of the animation pipeline. In brief, rigging is the process of putting skeletons into our digital models. It is the way we bring them to life with controls that can be used to give a performance. The rig in a CG model is a bit like the armature that goes into a puppet. But what if we could automate the process, and speed it up? This would eleminate (at least in theory) hours of labour. One company that is leading the field is Mixamo, creating automated rigs through their Auto-Rigger tool.