Animating with Blender

Control Structures

The ideal control structure for a character is one whose tools are obvious, easy to use, and that produce intuitive results. Depending on your personal preference and the needs of your project, your animation controls might be anything from plain old armature bones (like my own rig in Figure 9.1), to finely crafted mesh object stand-ins that help you to remember what each control can accomplish at a glance (“Maloyo,” Figure 9.2). During animation, the controls are what you will be selecting, manipulating, and keyframing. Efficiency is paramount because you will be searching for the smallest amount of effective controls that allow you to pose the character to the level of detail you need.

Figure 9.1. The control structure ...