Inspired 3d Advanced Rigging and Deformations

More than just a step-by-step tutorial on rigging in Maya, Inspired 3D Advanced Rigging and Deformations helps you develop the skills you need to successfully manage your rigging process from start to finish. You'll learn the reasons behind each step in developing a character rig and learn how that rig fits into the entire pipeline process. The authors provide a unique glimpse at the real-world problems and choices that professional Character Technical Directors face, as well as the solutions they have developed for dealing with high-end digital characters. A follow-up to Inspired 3D Character Setup, this book takes this difficult and sought-after skill and provides in-depth explanations and techniques.

Author Brad Clark is an award-winning artist and animator whose experience ranges from modeling and rigging for television and video games to editing motion capture for Gollum in "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers". He is currently an animator and Character TD at the Animation Farm in Austin, Texas. He has taught animation, character design, and setup at Full Sail, trained 2D animators on SOFTIMAGE® in Manila, and has headed up internal training on motion capture, character rigging, and scripting for artists while with Acclaim Austin. His credits include the films "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" and "Major Damage", television series "Quest: Tales from the Ramayana", and the VEXX and NBA JAM ’04 video games.

Author John Hood began his journey at Full Sail, where he was a Course Director for computer animation. After moving to California to work in interactive entertainment, he gained experience working for many major companies in the field such as Eidos, Microsoft®, and Oddworld Inhabitants. He is currently a Technical Animator at Sony Pictures Imageworks in Los Angeles where he is working on the feature film "Open Season". His interactive entertainment credits include Soul Reaver I and II, Age of Mythology, and Stranger.

Author Joe Harkins is a Character TD at Sony Pictures Imageworks in Los Angeles, currently working on visual effects for the feature film, "Ghost Rider". Most recently, he worked on Open Season. Previously, he worked as a Creature TD at Tippett Studio in Berkeley, California on "Mask 2: Son of the Mask" and "Constantine". While at Tippett, he also worked on "The Matrix Revolutions", "Hellboy", and "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen". He has written for industry magazines such as 3D World and Computer Graphics, taught a Maya Master Class at SIGGRAPH 2004, and mentored students and professional artists. He has also served as a guest speaker at 3December, the Academy of Art University, the Expression Center, and Full Sail.