Freedom in Controls

It's important to lock & hide unused attributes to keep rigs clean, but remember: animators need as much freedom as possible! Allow controls to go beyond expected limits without breaking the deformations. Balance simplicity and flexibility

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Make Peace with Skin

A rig is only as good as its skinning. Even the most advanced setups can fail with poor skin weights. Remember: a good rig with bad skinning is still a bad rig. Prioritize clean deformations for the best results!

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Intuitive Controls for Animators

A great rig has controls that are easy to understand. Animators should instantly know what a control does when they select it. This boosts efficiency and keeps the animation process smooth and fun!

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Pivoting Matters!

Even the best rig fails with wrong pivots. Accurate pivot placement ensures correct deformations. Small adjustments can make a huge difference! A good rig with wrong pivots will give you wrong deformations.

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Happy Maths!

Keep your controls clean. Instead of freezing transformations, use offset groups to maintain clarity and flexibility in your rig. A small step for cleaner math, a big leap for easier rigging!

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Naming Matters
A good naming convention saves tons of time when debugging, fixing, or modifying rigs. Spend a few seconds renaming every object and node—your future self (and teammates) will thank you!

Hierarchy Matters
A well-structured hierarchy makes controlling, debugging, and modifying a rig faster and easier. On the other hand, a poorly planned hierarchy can lead to broken rigs and wasted time. Build smart from the start!

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Analyze Before You Rig
Don’t overwork parts of a rig that won’t be animated. Focus on understanding what the project needs and prioritize accordingly. This saves time and ensures your energy goes into the most important elements, creating efficient and effective rigs.

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Control System vs Deform System
In rigging, two essential components drive character animation: control systems and deformer systems. Controls let animators pose characters intuitively, while deformers handle how the geometry reacts.

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Different types of rigs
There are different kinds of rigs designed to meet the specific needs and limitations of various projects. Whether it's animation, video games, or VFX, each type of rig is tailored to its medium to ensure the best performance, control, and appeal.

Artistic vs Technical Riggers:

Rigging blends artistic vision and technical precision, with riggers often specializing in one of two areas. Artistic riggers focus on character appeal and expressive rigs, while technical riggers handle props, setups, and tools that bring everything together.

Let’s talk mindset:

In a studio, we’re all part of one big team working toward the same goal—a great project. It’s not just about completing your task and moving on; it’s about setting up the next department for success. Collaboration and forward thinking are key to great results.

How does rigging communicate with texturing?

As riggers, we rarely need textures—default materials suffice. Only iconic marks, like scars or birthmarks, require our attention. While texturing comes later, we focus on creating appealing deformations that make characters come alive in motion.

How does rigging communicate with layout?

Layout rigs are simplified versions of animation rigs. They’re lighter, often using basic skinning or cut geos. To streamline the pipeline, they must share naming, pivots, and control shapes with animation rigs so animators can build upon layout work

How does rigging communicate with animation?

Rigging provides the tools animators use to bring models to life. Clear communication ensures rigs are intuitive, efficient, and flexible, helping animators focus on performance instead of technical issues.

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How does rigging communicate with modeling?

A good or bad rig starts with the loops, as Tina O’Hailey says in Rig It Right. Rigging relies on clean models. Ideally, we collaborate early with modelers to ensure smooth deformation—but often, we adapt to whatever they provide.

Where is rigging in the 3D pipeline?

Rigging connects modeling and animation. We take 3D models and prepare them for movement, ensuring they’re ready to be brought to life by animators. Without rigging, models would remain static and couldn’t be animated!

What is Rigging?

Many describe rigging as adding joints to a character, but that’s only part of the story. Rigs aren’t just for characters, and not all use joints. Anything that will be animated—vehicles, props, or characters—needs a rig.

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