Definition:

The ropes, chains, etc., employed to support and work the masts,yards, sails, etc., on a ship. (dictionary.com) Obviously this is referring to boat rigging but it is actually pretty close to 3D rigging as well. 3D riggers produce the deformers, constraints, solvers, and controllers that allow a model to be animated. As a character rigger/TD you are expected.

• You are required to know what is expected of a character and how to implement Maya’s tools to make it possible
• This means a rig has to be “right” and “clean.” (unlike modeling, texturing, animating, etc.)
• If problems are not resolved ahead of time they will haunt you down the pipeline, half your job as a Character TD is problem solving

In Production:

• Modeler: Builds the body of the car.
• Texturer: Paints the car and adds decals and other details.
• Rigger: Produces the engine, wiring, and functional aspects of the car that allows a driver to drive it.
• Animator: Drives the vehicle.
• Lighter/Renderer: This would just be the sun or lamp that illuminates the car.

Rig & Animation (skeleton & weight-painting) Lab

The final lab series involves rigging one of your characters from your project and then animating the result. The first setp of rigging your character is creating a skeleton and binding your model to it. The skeleton is much the same as its real-world counterpart. It is the support structure and foundation of articulation in the model. You could look at binding the model as parenting the components of the model to the skeleton. You determine the “parenting” of the components to which bones through weight painting. Once completed your model can bend, twist, and general deform to any natural and/or unnatural pose.