Find out how to set up the HumanIK rigging system in Autodesk Maya and start creating realistic skeletons for your 3D characters. This course shows how to build the bone structure, adjust its size, and add controls. Once the skeleton is defined, author Adam Crespi shows how to animate the rig, and retarget the animation onto other characters. The course also includes an exploration of nonlinear animation using the Trax Editor, and instructions for sending the rig to MotionBuilder to map motion capture data.

In Maya 2011 Essential Training, George Maestri demonstrates the tools and feature set in Maya, as well as the skills necessary to model, texture, animate, and render projects with this deep and robust piece of 3D animation software from Autodesk. This course takes an in-depth tour of Maya's interface, including navigating and manipulating objects in 3D and customizing the workspace. The course also covers object creation and modeling basics, shading and texturing, surface mapping techniques, character rigging, and lastly, rendering and final output. Exercise files accompany the course.