Character Rigging, Deformations, and Simulations in Film and Game Production Course
This 2011 SIGGRAPH course by Tim McLaughlin, Larry Cutler, and David Coleman explores rigging, deformations, dynamics, and production practices in animation, visual effects and game development. Topics included analysis of performance requirements, motion system set-up, procedural rigging for secondary animation, and efficient extension of techniques over a wide range of primary and secondary characters.
Skinning: Real-time Shape Deformation
This 2014 SIGGRAPH course by Alec Jacobson, Zhigang Deng, Ladislav Kavan, and J.P. Lewis, serves both as an implementation recipe for state-of-the-art deformation techniques as well as summary of the most recent research and unsolved challenges in real-time skinning shape deformation. Assuming a modest technical background (college-level linear algebra and geometry), we introduce the basics of real-time skinning and then dive into cutting-edge methods found in academic research and used in industry production.
The following books address fundamentals of 3D computer animation rigging for film and game production.
At SIGGRAPH 2006, Jason Schleifer offered an Autodesk Maya Master Class, Animator Friendly Rigging, covering a spectrum of basic- to advanced rigging design concepts, tools, and software applications. While the specific application of these concepts was demonstrated in Autodesk Maya software, the underlying principles and concepts are transferable to any software application.
Ephemeral Rigging. At SIGGRAPH 2019, Raf Anzovin presented an alternative CG character animation methodology that eschews both keyframes and conventional hierarchical rigging. In his “Ephemeral Rigging” method, primary rig controls have no hierarchy or built-in behavior; instead, the animator calls for "ephemeral" rig behavior as needed. The system also facilitates "interpolationless" animation by removing keyframes as we know them, replacing them with discrete poses and inbetweening tools.
Cult of Rig. Raffaele Fragapane offers a principles-first software-independent rigging pedagogy on his website, which features extensive step-by-step video instruction on the subject. The software-independent approach advances principles that may be applied across a wide breadth of environments.