ABSTRACT
The foundation for building a powerful character control system that provides an important piece to the efficient animation workflow relies on a properly placed and constructed skeletal structure. The use of Forward and Inverse Kinematics is discussed, along with the techniques and tools to create customized controls. Rotation order and how to avoid gimbal lock is explained. Controller creation from NURBS curves is explored and described. The tools to create controls are examined and include the Expression Editor, Connection Editor, Set Driven Key, Constraints, Groups, and Clusters. The different constraints used in rigging are defined, and examples are given of their usage. Step-by-step instructions are provided for creating a controller from multiple NURBS curves.
