Character Rigging – Blender 2.80 Fundamentals

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This tutorial is part of the Blender Fundamentals series, produced by Dillon Gu.

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Character Rigging in Blender #

Character rigging is the process of creating a skeletal structure (usually an armature) and attaching it to a character model (or mesh) to enable animation. In Blender, this involves using bones, constraints, and weight painting to create a flexible and efficient rig for animating characters realistically. This guide will provide an overview of character rigging in Blender and its importance in the animation process.

Creating an Armature #

To create a character rig in Blender, start by creating an armature:

1. In the 3D Viewport, press “Shift+A” to open the “Add” menu.
2. Select “Armature” and then choose “Single Bone” from the options.
3. Position and edit the armature to align with your character’s structure, adding bones for major joints and limbs.

Rigging a Character Mesh with an Armature #

After creating the armature, you will need to attach it to your character mesh:

1. Position the armature within the character mesh, ensuring the bones align with the structure you want to control (e.g., limbs, joints, or spine).
2. Select the character mesh first, then hold “Shift” and select the armature.
3. Press “Ctrl+P” to open the “Set Parent” menu, and choose “With Automatic Weights” from the options. Blender will calculate the influence each bone has on the surrounding mesh vertices.

Weight Painting for Fine-tuning #

Once the armature is attached to the mesh, you can use weight painting to fine-tune the influence of each bone on the mesh vertices:

1. Select the character mesh and switch to Weight Paint Mode in the 3D Viewport’s top left corner.
2. Select a bone in the armature. The mesh will display colors corresponding to the influence of the selected bone, with red representing high influence and blue representing low influence.
3. Paint the mesh to adjust the influence of the selected bone using the brush tools in the Tool Shelf (press “T” to toggle visibility). This allows you to create smooth transitions and realistic deformations when animating.

Adding Constraints and Controls #

For a more efficient and flexible rig, add constraints and controls to the armature:

1. Create custom controls using empty objects or additional bones, and use them as targets for constraints.
2. Apply constraints to bones in the armature, such as “Copy Location,” “Copy Rotation,” or “Inverse Kinematics,” targeting the custom control objects.
3. Organize and parent the control objects and bones to create a clean and user-friendly rig structure.

Posing and Animating the Rig #

Once the rig is complete, you can pose and animate the character:

1. Select the armature and switch to Pose Mode in the 3D Viewport’s top left corner.
2. Manipulate the custom controls or individual bones using the standard transform tools (“G” for grab, “R” for rotate, and “S” for scale) to pose the character.
3. Keyframe the transformations to create animations.

Mastering character rigging in Blender allows you to create complex and realistic animations, bringing your characters to life. Rigging is an essential skill for character animators, as it provides the foundation for creating believable and expressive animations. By understanding the principles and techniques of rigging, you can develop more engaging and dynamic character animations in your Blender projects.