character rigging with deformers in toon boom harmony

Can you tell our readers a bit more about how it can be useful? You mentioned the Auto-Patch node in Harmony Premium.

Character expression samples provided by Juhas. Without it, the rig artist spends too much time trying to make it work. If I’m being honest, I can’t find any alternative to this feature in other animation software. This tiny node is super powerful, especially when working on a character with visible black line-art. This results in smooth transitions between views and also makes the master controllers practical. You can make a full turnaround on one drawing substitution (one for each face part). What are the most important tools when doing this part of a rig, and why? A large part of the tutorial series is dedicated to the character’s facial features.

Even if the design seems simple, you still have to add mouth charts, blinks, hair and make them work in all views. The complexity will depend on the design and animation style. What are the most challenging features of a human to rig? In the tutorials you draw and rig a human character. If it’s the main character - add all the features requested by your animation director, but always keep it simple! You don’t want animators to struggle with overly-complicated rigs. Build with simple shapes, and add deformers only if needed. What are the fundamentals to remember when building a good character rig?īuild only what you need based on the animatic. Watch his tutorials and read our interview with Juhas below!Īn episode at the end of Juhas’ rigging series on YouTube, featuring final touches on a character rig. Juhas also offered valuable advice on how character rigging and build artists can pitch themselves to the industry.Ī talented rigging artist with more than a decade’s experience in animation, Juhas is currently a Technical Supervisor at Lighthouse Studios, the team behind kids’ favourites such as Bug Diaries and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. He covers his favourite uses of Harmony Premium’s features, and provides practical tips for improving workflow and organization.

We spoke with Juhas, and he was kind enough to provide extra insights on his rigs. Providing an in-depth look at his own personal project made using Harmony Premium, these videos take users from initial character design through to a fully deliverable character model, ready to be animated! Interested in designing and rigging a 2D character for a professional-grade animated production? A new tutorial series from Piotr Bartosik (known online as Juhas) has you covered.

Character rigging with deformers in toon boom harmony