Lynda - Character Animation Fundamentals with Maya with George Maestri

Watch as author George Maestri employs the basic principles of animation to bring to life simple 3D characters in Maya. Starting with an overview of the character rig, this course provides guidelines for arranging stock characters into strong poses and explains how to generate locomotion between poses in a modular fashion. The course includes step-by-step instructions on animating realistic gestures, walks, runs, facial expressions, and dialogue, and culminates with an animated scene built entirely from scratch.

Prerequisite courses: Maya 2011 Essential Training.

Topics include:

Using screen-drawing tools for Windows and Mac

Quickly posing characters with custom MEL scripts and layers

Understanding forces and their role in creating lifelike animation

Sequencing and timing pose-to-pose animation

Fine-tuning transitions

Animating a character's gait and run

Crafting realistic facial expressions

Syncing speech to animated dialogue

author George Maestri

subject 3D + Animation, Animation, Character Animation

software Maya 2012, 2011

level Intermediate

duration 6h 6m

released May 20, 2011