Rigging in Toon Boom Harmony

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What does the course include?

What will I study over the 5 weeks?

You might be wondering what we’ll cover over the period of the course! Here’s a full curriculum break down below:

Week 1 deals with building a solid foundation of knowledge, ready to layer the fundamentals in coming weeks. You will become acquainted with your new best friend, the node view and lots of other useful tools (think deformers and cutters) that will make your rigs incredibly useful and easy to use.

Week 2: Building a Head and Magic Face

During week 2 we will step up your learning with a deep dive into the power of art layers and re-ordering of artwork. We’ll create non-rendering visual helpers to make things easy to select, organise our node view and discuss the best structures for the job. Oh, and templates!

Week 3: Upper Body Techniques

In week 3 we’ll continue our character build by solving some major problems within the upper body. How to build arms? What method works best in Z depth? Is there a solution for perfect shoulders? All is revealed along with a handy guide to importing Photoshop and Illustrator files with ease.

Week 4: Leg Constraints and Super Shoes

The fourth week means finishing off our character rig with a set of legs. We cover lots of great details on reversing deformers, kinematic outputs, using textures and complex cutter mask set ups. There’s also an advanced lesson in here about a true IK leg set up, if you’re feeling brave 🙂

Week 5: Master Controllers and More

Over the final week we take a giant leap forward into the future of rigging and build our very own master controller set up, complete with sliders. We also cover 2 point constraints, how to rig various types of hair, dynamic springs and troubleshooting common problems.

Frequently asked questions

What is rigging exactly?

Rigging is the process of creating structured characters or props. The job of the rigger is to create the skeletal framework for the animators to create movement with. It’s a creative, technical job full of compromises and wrangling, as some solutions don’t work for all situations. The real creative challenge comes when finding ways to cram all the correct functionality in, whilst keeping the rig fast and easy to use! Toon Boom Harmony is a leading 2D animation package that has rigging at its core, and much of the modern 2D cut-out shows on TV use this functionality. Rigging is used over pure hand drawn animation because it generally saves time and allows for better re-use of animation within a team.

How much free time do I need to take part?

The course has been designed to be studied part-time. As a guide, you’ll need to commit a minimum of 4 hours a week. It takes place completely online and lasts 5 weeks. There are no specific classes to attend, so it fits around your current life! All one-to-one tutorials are booked each week and automatically sync with my calendar, so you can pick a time that suits you.

Do I need to already know how to use Toon Boom Harmony?

Any experience you do have is useful, including in other animation software, but is not required. The course has been made for those new to Toon Boom Harmony or with basic experience, or those looking to up skill from other software. Please note that this course is more technical than its counterpart, Animation in Toon Boom Harmony.

What will I learn on this course?

The main aims of the course are to teach you how to build a character ready for animation, learning all the facets that go into a production style rig, the likes of which are used to make TV shows around the world. The final project will be a character rig of your own, demonstrating your understanding of the software and core rigging techniques.

Great teaching means limited places!

Due to the personalised nature of the tuition on this course, there are only a small number of places available.

Limited time

Read some of our reviews from former students

Watching these tutorials has helped me pick up my skills in Toon Boom much quicker than any other method. The one-to-one feedback feature is great for improving work and to discuss any queries I've had. I learnt lots and enjoyed the process.

Not only do you get a comprehensive understanding of how to use Toon Boom Harmony and its depth, you also get Adam. His guidance and willingness to adapt to your direction is what makes the course truly unique and special.

I've really enjoyed the course the video tutorials are excellent. Super clear, concise, easy to follow and the one-on-one tutorials are great. It allows you to work at your own pace, I'd definitely recommend it!

A 5 week course including software, one-to-one training and feedback. Learn in your own time, from anywhere in the world.

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