Animation Practice Rigs

[danf]

I met an animation major, and she was saying how on job application reels, it's best to use a minimalistic "rig" rather than a fully fleshed character. She also said some people will throw away a tape just because of the rig they see used.

 

So my question is, what's a good pre-made rig for A:M to practice animating, not modeling? Mind you I do own the bonus models DVD, so those are fair game for recommendations.

[Fuchur]

I met an animation major, and she was saying how on job application reels, it's best to use a minimalistic "rig" rather than a fully fleshed character. She also said some people will throw away a tape just because of the rig they see used.

 

So my question is, what's a good pre-made rig for A:M to practice animating, not modeling? Mind you I do own the bonus models DVD, so those are fair game for recommendations.

 

There is no specific answer to that... it highly depends on the person who will see your tape... one may like one better than another rig and visversa.

If you are looking for a more basic rig, try the 2001rig, if you want to use a mid-range rig the SetupMachine-Rig will be a good choice and if you need a very advanced one, the new SquetchRig or the very likely even a bit more advanced 2008 Rig.

 

All of these rigs are freely available... all can do wonders.

If you know someone from the industry, you should just ask him / her which is better suited. They wont know the names, but you may show them what they can do and they may tell you which they like the most.

And if you are really after a minimalistic one, you can do it by yourself...

 

I rig my characters often by myself and very rare with other rigs because I can do exactly what I want in the way I want it and I know my rig from the basics on... on the other site my rigs are not nearly that advanced as for example the 2008-Rig and I do them for each character again with only slight differences. So a premade one has its advantages too.

 

*Fuchur*

 

PS: Or arent you are talking about a rig but a whole character? This is a big difference... it is always wise to not use an overcomplicated character... for example the guys used at Animation Mentor are very simple, because you can better see how well the animation is planed, etc. if the character himself isnt stealing the attention away.

If oyu are after a very simple guy: Use the once by Animation Mentor, or Thom, or shaggy or one of the other standard-characters. (Sir Nigel for example may be too complex...).

[bighop]

Threw away the tape just because of the rig? Wow, that's cold.

 

I like the 2008 rig. I never used the SquetchRig, I never got through installing the rig. Are you saying the 2008 is more advanced then the SquetchRig?

[robcat2075]

I met an animation major, and she was saying how on job application reels, it's best to use a minimalistic "rig" rather than a fully fleshed character.

 

Possibly true, only because a detailed character will need more polishing. But what was her explanation?

 

 

 

She also said some people will throw away a tape just because of the rig they see used.

 

She isn't really using the word "rig" properly. She's really talking about overused characters. I think. But the overused characters are the minimal ones.

 

"some people" Can she actually name an employer that does that?

 

Probably more urban rumor than actual practice. I've heard "some people" do that , but no one who actually says they do it themselves.

 

Students love to find reasons that they were rejected other than their weak portfolio.

 

 

 

So my question is, what's a good pre-made rig for A:M to practice animating, not modeling? Mind you I do own the bonus models DVD, so those are fair game for recommendations.

 

Squetchy Sam is minimally modeled but well-rigged.

[heyvern]

That's the silliest thing I've ever heard. It would be like judging a singer's talent on the dress she is wearing. Would that person judge animation skills if it was claymation or hand drawn? Sounds stupid to me. They should be judging the quality of the animation and skills of the animator. What a joke.

 

-vern

[danf]

Thanks a ton guys! I did apparently mean character more than rig.

 

Also, robcat, you had some good questions, and you're probably right that these are urban myth. The important part was definitely the notion that some models display action more clearly than others.

 

I'm particularly concerned with a character's rig right now because I had a little bit of a nightmare on my last project, (no offense to the creator, I probably wasn't using it right) with the Clown model. There HAS to be a way to turn off IK for some things, but I ignorantly didn't look for one and so I did some pretty crazy things to achieve the positions I ended up using.

[Fuchur]

Are you saying the 2008 is more advanced then the SquetchRig?

 

That is hard to answer, but it is newer and the author himself (mtpeak2) says, that the 2008 has an advantage over the a little bit older Squetch-Rig:

First page of this thread, last entry...

 

But in the end: It depends on what you like more.

 

*Fuchur*

[mtpeak2]

Are you saying the 2008 is more advanced then the SquetchRig?

 

That is hard to answer, but it is newer and the author himself (mtpeak2) says, that the 2008 has an advantage over the a little bit older Squetch-Rig:

First page of this thread, last entry...

 

But in the end: It depends on what you like more.

 

*Fuchur*

 

Gerald, the SquetchRig is far superior than the 2008 rig. The only advantage the 2008 rig has over the SquetchRig is that it's easier to install, that doesn't mean it's more advanced.

[Fuchur]

Are you saying the 2008 is more advanced then the SquetchRig?

 

That is hard to answer, but it is newer and the author himself (mtpeak2) says, that the 2008 has an advantage over the a little bit older Squetch-Rig:

First page of this thread, last entry...

 

But in the end: It depends on what you like more.

 

*Fuchur*

 

Gerald, the SquetchRig is far superior than the 2008 rig. The only advantage the 2008 rig has over the SquetchRig is that it's easier to install, that doesn't mean it's more advanced.

 

Okay, so SquetchRig more complex 2008 rig

Thanks for the info.

 

Anyway: These are the most important rigs available...

 

*Fuchur*

[John Bigboote]

That sounds like college level 'urban legend' stuff...the things nervous seniors tell more nervous juniors to get them more frazzed. You don't see an animation rig... it's transparent-invisible...kinda like your underwear...you know it's there, but you don't show it off. Did you make it yourself- No, fruit of the Loom or Hanes or BVD or in Verns case -Victorias Sectret. It does not matter!

 

AND- The word 'tape' should never be used again...period. Tape is dead- no one uses tape.

[steve392]

kinda like your underwear...you know it's there, but you don't show it off.

Superman doese

[robcat2075]

I think the notion got started with a post on The Spline Doctors Blog where one of them said he was tired of seeing generic characters on demo reels.

 

Because the generic characters are so widely available there's lots of bad animation done with them and so he was biased against animations with them when they showed up on a demoreel.

 

But that's really a jack-ass stupid thing to say. Follow that notion through to its consequences and it's apparent he wasn't really engaging his brain before he opened his mouth.

 

At the studio level animation is all about using a character that someone besides the animator made, and if you aspire to that level you need to get animating sooner rather than wait until you have made your own character. This is especially true in other programs where modeling and rigging a character is 10x the difficulty that it is in A:M. I suspect the % of Maya owners who ever get a character successfully rigged is microscopic. That probably explains why there are those widely used generic characters circulating.

[Fuchur]

I suspect the % of Maya owners who ever get a character successfully rigged is microscopic. That probably explains why there are those widely used generic characters circulating.

 

I would second that... that is the case for all the Autodesk-products if you ask me... powerful yes, but very hard to use too.

Only people who are really deep into it ever come to the point where rigging and animating own characters will be done by themselfs.

I am quite sure that with A:M you are at least in 60% of the time at the point where you are ready to do that...

 

*Fuchur*

[Meowx]

I remember when I first started using Maya I was just flabergasted at how much more complex it was. I had a couple years of A:M under my belt already and had kind of figured I could just walk right into it... ehhhrrrt wrong.

[nimblepix]

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!

[heyvern]

... or in Verns case -Victorias Sectret. It does not matter!

I swear that was a one time incident only and the police swore that the police photos would never go public.

 

AND- The word 'tape' should never be used again...period. Tape is dead- no one uses tape.

YES! I agree. Never use tape. Especially duct tape on the hairy parts. Just buy a smaller size.

 

 

-vern