What are some of the best practices and tips for rigging and animating animals?

1 Planning and research

Before you start rigging and animating an animal, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and how realistic or stylized you want it to be. You also need to do some research on the animal's anatomy, movement, and behavior. You can use reference images, videos, sketches, or even 3D scans to help you understand the animal's shape, proportions, muscles, bones, joints, and skin. You can also study the animal's locomotion, poses, expressions, and personality to give it more life and character.

2 Rigging basics

Rigging an animal is a more complex process than rigging a human, due to the different body types, limbs, and joints. To ensure success, you must consider the right type of rig for your animal, such as biped, quadruped, or winged. Additionally, you must create a hierarchy of bones and joints that match the animal's anatomy and movement. Controllers and constraints should be added to allow easy manipulation of the rig. Skinning and weighting must also be applied to define how the mesh deforms with the rig. Finally, extra features like fur, feathers, scales, or tails can enhance the realism of the animal.

3 Animation basics

Animation is the process of creating movement and expression for your rigged 3D model. It can be done manually, by keyframing each pose and transition, or automatically, by using motion capture or simulation. Animation can also be layered, combining different types of animation like body, facial, or secondary. When animating an animal, it’s essential to consider the right animation style, such as realistic, cartoon, or fantasy. You should also create a storyboard and animatic to outline the main actions and emotions of the animal. Additionally, you should apply principles of animation like timing, spacing, ease in and out, anticipation, follow through, and overlap to create smooth motion. Reference footage, mirrors, or even acting out the animal's movement yourself can help capture nuances and details. Finally, adding variation and personality to the animal's animation such as blinks, breaths, gestures, and noises will make it more lifelike.

4 Rigging tips

Rigging an animal can be a difficult process, however there are some tips that can make it easier and more efficient. Naming conventions and color coding for bones, joints, and controllers helps to keep the rig organized and consistent. Modular and scalable rigs allow for reuse and adjustment for different animals or scenarios. Custom attributes and expressions create more functionality and flexibility for the rig, such as IK/FK switching, squash and stretch, or blend shapes. Scripts and tools that automate or simplify tasks like auto-rigging, auto-skinning, or auto-weighting can also be beneficial.

5 Animation tips

Animating an animal can be fun, but there are tips that can help you make it more realistic and appealing. To begin with, use reference footage and analysis to understand the animal's gait cycle, speed, weight, and balance. Breakdown poses and arcs will create smoother transitions between key poses. Secondary animation and dynamics can add more realism and interest to the animal's animation, like fur, feathers, scales, or tails. Exaggeration and squash and stretch can add more expression and emotion to the animation, especially if it is stylized or cartoonish. Finally, use feedback and critique from yourself, your peers, or your clients to improve and polish your animal's animation.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?