In the late 90's I went to a big animation conference thing for college animators in Canada.
There were all kinds of things going on, seminars and such.
One of the seminars has really stuck with me,
and I keep hearing the same information from people in the know.
A guy from one of the big studios had a session on demo reels.
After showing us a variety of fairly impressive bits from various reels,
he showed us one with a horse like form doing a variety of things.
The horse was made up of just flexible extended raindrop type parts, not even connected.
We were amazed by the acting and believability of this simple "horse"
that had nowhere near the complexity
of the other models (which some call "rigs") used.
It was very, very simple. But man, did he get a lot out of it!
The seminar guy said, "This is the guy we hired" and then told us why.
If he could make this simple thing have realistic movement and acting,
think of what he could do with something that actually looked more "real."
I should say though, that his simple character had beautiful proportions
that didn't get in the way of the movement.
The animator did demonstrate good visual taste.
You'll hear over and over that if you want to be an animator,
it's all about the acting, it's all about making us believe a character
is doing something in response to its thinking.
It is. It's not about the "rig."
Be very aware of who you are listening to.
Listen to those that are actually doing great work. (not me)
Those are the opinions that really matter.
And, that's easy to do nowadays, with the Web and all. : )
To my mind, students should start with very simple "rigs"
and do good work on them first
before moving up to the next level, and the next, and the next. etc.
Getting ahold of a complex rig too soon
is like putting a kid on a crotch rocket
before they can handle a tricycle.
Animate, animate, animate!