Cartoon animation
 

Hello,

I'm really interested in character animation. I have a few characters modeled. I'm able to create the skeleton and just need instructions on how to rig and animate my simple-type cartoons.

I figure I need to learn the walk cycle and go on from there without trying to tackle every rigging capability Maya has to offer at the first attempt which is all I've been able to find. I know Maya is extensive but I just want to start off with a basic rig to animate a simple cartoon character.

Any recommendations or links?

Thanks,
Do I sound a little frustrated? sorry.

I'm trying to convince the company I work for that 3d characters can help get their message out. This is why I want to animate a character dancing and maybe holding up a sign.


MPicone

after doing the last simplymaya challenge I can heartily recommend the lowman 1.2 rig to play about with learning animations.
Its' got a load of controls (especially in IK mode) and is great fun to use:
http://lichiman.aniguild.com/?s=lowman

As for your own custom rigs, I've tried to make a couple and they haven't been very good so I'd recommend finding some free online tutorials and then progress and possibly buy some tutorial videos from here and the other maya sites. The more methods you learn the easier it will become and the more tricks you'll learn on how to make them work well.

For walk cycles, here's a couple of great little examples:
http://www.rubberbug.com/walking.htm
http://www.idleworm.com/how/anm/02w/walk1.shtml

Good luck and have fun learning about it - I could easily become addicted to it now and cant wait for next year when I've got all my time to put into animating :)

hi

great rig here: http://andrewsilke.com/
I've seen many people use it too, with good effect.

some good info here too:
http://andrewsilke.com/

have fun!

Character animation question
 

Thanks for the info,

I've got a handle on rigging a character. Can anyone tell me a little about modeling a character like this specifically for binding? I did this model using polys and subs for most of the body. I use the rigid bind and have to spend way too much time moving yellow dots to keep geometry from being pulled when It shouldn't be. For instance, I move his tight arm and the ear is being pulled and I can't see any yellow points to delete.

Are there rules like only using Nurbs for a character like this? I'm trying to avoid spending so much time using Set Membership.

Boy render
 

Boy render