Rigging Dojo Prop Rigging Course

Created by ex- Blue Sky and Disney Feature Animation character TD, Jeff Brodsky, our Prop rigging with is a fantastic way to learn some new ways to think and apply rigging experience to setting up environmental and prop interaction with characters.
Jeff is a great mentor, teaching for RiggingDojo and at AnimSchool. Check out his “trunk rig” tutorial in our blog post from Jeff,one of the coolest trunk or tentacle rigs we have seen.
Rigging Tips and Tricks : Variable FK rigging with Mentor Jeff Brodsky

Week 1:
Rigging beyond the character
Theory and foundations covers the differences between prop and character rigging. With a look at how to  refer to story reels and check with the anim supervisor as to performance requirements keeping it simple, light and fast

Week 2:
Environment interactions: Rope bridge project part 1
Bridge rigs – Like the one Jeff rigged in “Horton Hears a Who” from Blue Sky Studios.

Week 3:
Environment interactions: Rope bridge project part 2
Continue to setup the bridge system and add control needed for animator control.

Week 4:
Prop management Tools: In-shot constraint tools for managing character/prop constraint setups like weapons and other systems.

Prerequisites
Maya and basic rigging (constraints, ik, bones, skinning) required.
Basic scripting knowledge as well since a rig like that has to be scripted. Nothing crazy just a basic understanding of variables, loops and functions.