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- Understand the purpose of rigging
- Understand the how to move the rig in a natural way
- I can use rigging in an animation to make parts of an object move
In this lesson you are going to learn about rigging.
Getting started
- Open Adobe Animate on your computer.
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Create a new file in Full HD.
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Select the Fit in Window zoom option at the top right (pictured).
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Add in a Bitmoji if you have one (or make one if you want to). If not you may look
online for an appropriate Bitmoji-style picture.
- Find the Asset Warp Tool (or press W on the keyboard):
Rigging
The next step is to turn our graphic into a rig.
In animation, a "rig" refers to the digital skeleton of a 3D model. Essentially, it is a complex framework or system of digital bones, joints, and controls that allow animators to manipulate the model's movements and poses with precision. Rigging is the process of creating these rigs.
Rigs are created with bones and joints defining how different parts of the character or object move in relation to each other.
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The next part is to build the rig's skeleton. When you are in the Asset Warp Tool,
click on your image in the middle.
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Next, drag a line from the central (red) point created on the rig
across to the top of their arm.
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Now drag connect it up to their hand and add each of their fingers as shown below:
Animating our rig
Now we'll need to add in some keyframes and tweens.
- Add in a keyframe at the first frame, and then a second at frame 45.
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Using the Asset Warp Tool, you should now be able to move a part of the rig individually from the rest
of it. Move the hand of your Bitmoji as shown:
- Try adding in a tween and see what happens. Your Bitmoji should look like it's a waving.
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So far you have two keyframes. For a waving animation, you'll need to have more than the two frames.
You can copy the first keyframe (it's not as easy as pressing Ctrl/Command + C as this
will copy the contents of the frame). Right-click on the frame to copy it and select Copy Frames. Move along
to frame 90 and right-click and press Paste Frames.
- Now do the same with frame 45 and then paste it at frame 135. Repeat this until you have enough frames to make a decent waving animation.
- Finally, insert a Classic Tween to make the animation smooth.
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1
Upload a screenshot of your animation below:
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2
In your own words, explain what rigging is in animation.
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3
Explain how skeletons come into play when talking about animation.
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4
How well do think you completed this task?
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5
What parts of this task, if any, did you struggle with?
Once you have answered each of the questions, remember to save this worksheet by pressing the Save button.
Now try making the an animation similar to the following animation with a stickman: