Intro to Rigging by Fabio Siino

This course is a straight-up practical introduction to rigging in Autodesk Maya. No fluff, just the core techniques you need to bring characters, creatures, props, and mechanical assets to life with intuitive animation controls. You’ll start by understanding how Maya’s node-based system actually works under the hood, then move through hierarchies, constraints, joints, skinning, IK, and deformers. By the end, you’ll have built a complete modular character rig and added dynamic secondary motion with nCloth.

🎯 What you’ll learn

• Build clean, production-ready rig hierarchies in Maya
• Create stable joint structures with correct orientation
• Use constraints, IK, and FK/IK switching for animator-friendly controls
• Skin geometry with Smooth Bind and refine weights efficiently
• Rig mechanical assets like pistons, gears, and folding wings
• Assemble a complete modular character master rig
• Add dynamic secondary motion using nCloth and custom node networks

✅ Requirements

• Skills: Basic familiarity with Autodesk Maya’s interface and navigation
• Tools: 3-button mouse with middle mouse button
• Hardware: Computer capable of running Autodesk Maya smoothly

📝 Description

This course takes you through rigging the way it’s actually done in production. The first few weeks focus on understanding Maya’s Dependency Graph and node architecture. That might sound dry, but it’s the foundation that makes everything else click. You’ll learn how nodes talk to each other, how to build clean hierarchies, and how to use the Node Editor to troubleshoot and build systems that don’t fall apart when you move things around.

The middle section is all about mechanical rigging. You’ll build a mechanical arm with pistons, hinges, and gears using Inverse Kinematics (IK) and expressions. Then you’ll take those same principles and apply them to a spaceship with landing gear and folding wings. These projects are great because they force you to think about rigging as problem-solving, not just following steps.

The second half shifts to character work. You’ll build a modular rig piece by piece: limbs with FK/IK switching, a flexible spine, and then assemble everything into a master rig with global controls and a clean outliner. The final weeks introduce nCloth and dynamic systems for ropes, capes, and soft accessories. You’ll learn how to set up automatic secondary motion that reacts naturally to the main rig’s movement while keeping animator control intact.

🧑‍🎓 Who this course is for

• Aspiring character riggers looking for a structured, practical introduction
• Animators who want to understand what happens under the hood of their controls
• 3D generalists who need rigging skills for personal or freelance projects
• Students aiming for a career in animation or visual effects

🧑‍🏫 About the Author

Fabio Siino is a professional rigger and technical artist with years of experience in the animation and visual effects industry. He has worked on a variety of production projects, developing rigging pipelines and character setups for film and game studios. His teaching approach is hands-on and practical, focusing on the techniques and workflows that are actually used in professional environments.

🏁 Final Result

• A complete modular character master rig with FK/IK limbs, spine system, and global controls
• A mechanical arm rig with automated pistons and gears
• A spaceship rig with landing gear and folding wings
• A character setup with nCloth-based secondary motion for capes or soft accessories
• A portfolio-ready demonstration of your rigging skills across multiple asset types

📢 Guys, this is a Group Buy campaign, check the GBC forum thread to get access

You can find the course preview in the download section below.