Anatomical study of the upper torso

To achieve realistic deformations a clean and anatomically correct skeletal base is important. In this post Puppeteer Lounge alumnus Francesco Gioia goes over setting up a complex scapula setup for muscle simulation.

Character Articulation through Profile Curves

Character Articulation through Profile Curves from Pixar Graphics on Vimeo.

A new approach by Pixar Graphics for character articulation that produces detail-preserving deformations fully controlled by 3D curves that profile the deforming surface. 

The deformation for the mesh is controlled by profile curve much like line art with Bezier handles to fix and articulate the underlying geometry. Looks like a blend of 2D line art controlling 3D geometry, very intuitive process resulting in better deformation with art directed profiles and volume preservation! I would love to see this implemented on all 3D platforms in the near future! This could be the end of needing to create skin binding, facial blend shapes, adding helper joints and corrective blend shapes but resolving with good old line arts driven by a traditional puppet rig. Rig driven by wire curve deformers with indirect bind for articulation is something that I am familiar with but never thought those wire deformers could have the possibility of being hand keyed and posed in vertex level with Bezier handle controls much like traditional animation. Very interesting!

Presented by Fernando de Goes, William Sheffler, Kurt Fleischer SIGGRAPH 2022. Check out the documentation here.

Maya : Auto Rigger - Deformation

Maya : Auto Rigger - Deformation from Robert Joosten on Vimeo.

Deformation auto rigger by Robert Joosten.

Joint based deformation

Joint based deformation from Plabon Bhattacharya on Vimeo.

Joint based deformation demo by Plabon Bhattacharya.

Corrective Joint Based Rigs

Corrective Joint Based Rigs from Kiel Figgins on Vimeo.

Corrective joint based rigs by Kiel Figgins. Cool stuff!

Rigging reel by Alexander Lee

Tech art / Rigging reel 2019 from Alexander Lee on Vimeo.

Tech art and rigging reel by Alexander Lee. Nice musculo-skeletal setup and deformation.

Rigging demo reel by Eric Hug

Rigging Demo Reel from Eric Hug on Vimeo.

Interesting rigging approach on creating wrinkles and fleshy movements showcased in this demo reel by Eric Hug.

Fast and Deep Deformation Approximations

fdda implementation (maya plugin) from Matt LeFevre on Vimeo.

Custom implementation of the paper "Fast and Deep Deformation Approximations" by Matt LeFevre.

Croods 2 Rig Features

Croods 2 Rig Features from Stephen Candell on Vimeo.

Croods 2 rig features by Stephen Candell, Nathaniel Dirkson, Kevin Ochs and Jaryd Snover. Amazing deformation and love the presentation!

Collision Offset Skin

collisionOffsetSkin from TianShaopeng on Vimeo.

This looks promising! Collision Offset Skin tool by Tian Shaopeng. Beta version download here.

White Rhino Rig Breakdown

White Rhino Rig Breakdown from Grant Laker on Vimeo.

Jumanji White Rhino rig breakdown by Grant Laker.

Character Rigging by student Benjamin Morgan (Rigging Workshop 3 - Body Setup)

Maya Muscle Rig from Ben Morgan on Vimeo.

Character Rigging by student Benjamin Morgan (Rigging Workshop 3 - Body Setup) from Puppeteer Lounge on Vimeo.

Body setup animation test by Puppeteer Lounge student Benjamin Morgan! Also I would like to congratulate Benjamin on his new position as Character TD intern at Insomniac Games, the makers of Ratchet and Clank, Resistance, Sunset Overdrive...

Vital Skin by Vital Mechanics

This looks promising! Check out Vital Skin FX used in simulating realistic skin deformation.

Rigging an Ogre for Shrek4

Deformation demonstration of the Ogre character from Shrek 4 (Forever After) movie by David Otte.

The Warriors Gate (Flesh and Cloth Simulation)

The Warriors Gate (Flesh and Cloth Simulation) from Ehsan Kiani on Vimeo.


The Warriors Gate (Flesh and Cloth Simulation) by Ehsan Kiani. If you want to learn how to setup SKIN dynamics and realistic looking flesh deformation, you can purchase the recorded video of SKIN (FAT) Simulation Webinar that we conducted with Ehsan Kiani.

Watch Demo video below.

SKIN (FAT) Simulation Webinar with Ehsan Kiani Teaser “Demo” (16-4-2016) from Puppeteer Lounge on Vimeo.

Game of War (Flesh Sim Breakdown) + WEBINAR @puppeteerlounge

Game of War (Flesh Sim Breakdown) from Ehsan Kiani on Vimeo.

Check out Flesh Simulation Breakdown reel by our guest instructor Ehsan Kiani.

Learn to setup similar rigs by participating at our LIVE Webinar Event with Ehsan Kiani (LIVE Lecture + LIVE Q&A session + Webinar Video Recording).

More Info: http://www.puppeteerlounge.com/webinar

OverMorpher Pose Space

OverMorpher PoseSpace Teaser from clovis gay on Vimeo.

OverMorpher PoseSpace by KinematicLAB is a 3dsmax Plugin dedicated to pose space deformations. Looks like a reliable system with nice interpolation regardless of the poses. Check it out!

Elastic Implicit Skinning

Elastic Implicit Skinning (SIGGRAPH ASIA 2014) from Rodolphe Vaillant on Vimeo.


Elastic Implicit Skinning technique demonstration.

Character Fat Simulation (Sumo Wrestler)

Character Fat Simulation (Sumo Wrestler) from Ehsan Kiani on Vimeo.

Realistic character fat simulation by my good friend Ehsan Kiani.

A horse R&D project - a breakdown

A horse R&D project - a breakdown from Lonnie Kraatz on Vimeo.

Impressive breakdown for a horse rig.