Learning Blender: A Hands-On Guide to Creating 3D Animated Characters

11. Character Rigging

Rigging is probably the most technical and complex part of the character-creation process. You have a character, but it’s static; it needs a skeleton that moves and deforms the mesh properly so you can animate the character and bring it to life. In this chapter, you’ll learn the basics of how to create skeletons, “rig” them (which is basically setting up your skeleton so it works intuitively), and finally do the “skinning” (the process that makes the skeleton deform the mesh as if it were skin). You’ll also learn how to use drivers to control your character’s facial expressions.