What you'll learn

In this series of tutorials, you will gain a solid foundation in the character rigging process. We'll get started by first learning how to create a skeleton that is clean and that will deform well. We'll then bind our character to our skeleton and cover some time-saving weight painting techniques. After that, we'll set up controls that are user-friendly. Along the way, we will also learn how a control object's Rotate Order can help to prevent Gimbal Lock interpolations, how to export skin weights using MEL, as well as how to mirror Blend Shapes and use Blend Shape targets to correct deformations. By the end of this set of tutorials, you will have the understanding needed to rig your own characters. Software required: Autodesk Maya 2014.