Totally agree with the point that riggers should be animators first. If you can't think like an animator, how are you going to build something that can be animated well? 3D animators run into this all the time, probably more then we do in 2D (at least in my experience... most of the 2D riggers I know are animators first), they get rigs that are done by people who have never animated before (which is insane to me) and everyone suffers lol. Animation is my background (and my first love obviously) even though I prefer rigging to animation now. I love figuring all the tech stuff out and, you're right, it's like solving a puzzle!
I lost interest in studio rigging because it gets really repetitive. Once I had a well oiled workflow, the puzzle was gone. Now-a-days I'll do R&D on new shows, but not full production rigging. So much respect for people that have the patience for it, especially on the scale Rae does. Not to mention the mental fortitude to put up with the animators whining lol.
It makes sense that they would "prefer" that. (but, in real life they don't get to cherry pick people lol) If someone has never worked on a 2D production or even their own project at home, they'll just be guessing what the rig needs to do, and in a production there is no time allotted for learning, particularly in small departments. You might have 30 animators on a big project, so they can compensate for a Jr or 2 with zero experience. A huge rigging department is 4 people. I have rigged a show by myself. So even me having a sick day was a calculated risk. It's certainly not impossible to start as a rigger. I was a rigger first. If you have a nice rig you've done, and you can do the work, I don't think it would be hard to get started -- but having a little animation experience, even if it's just a little 30 second thing you do on your own, is going to go a long way.
Brand new Baby rigger here, I'm learning! LEARNING! Huzzah! Thank you for the info.
this was really nerdy but also super helpful, thanks!!
Totally agree with the point that riggers should be animators first. If you can't think like an animator, how are you going to build something that can be animated well? 3D animators run into this all the time, probably more then we do in 2D (at least in my experience... most of the 2D riggers I know are animators first), they get rigs that are done by people who have never animated before (which is insane to me) and everyone suffers lol.
Animation is my background (and my first love obviously) even though I prefer rigging to animation now. I love figuring all the tech stuff out and, you're right, it's like solving a puzzle!
I lost interest in studio rigging because it gets really repetitive. Once I had a well oiled workflow, the puzzle was gone. Now-a-days I'll do R&D on new shows, but not full production rigging. So much respect for people that have the patience for it, especially on the scale Rae does. Not to mention the mental fortitude to put up with the animators whining lol.
I enjoyed this!
wow no love for beginner riggers it's like "you a noob rigger? get outta here", " you a animator and wanna start rigging? come on in an take a seat"
It makes sense that they would "prefer" that. (but, in real life they don't get to cherry pick people lol)
If someone has never worked on a 2D production or even their own project at home, they'll just be guessing what the rig needs to do, and in a production there is no time allotted for learning, particularly in small departments. You might have 30 animators on a big project, so they can compensate for a Jr or 2 with zero experience. A huge rigging department is 4 people. I have rigged a show by myself. So even me having a sick day was a calculated risk.
It's certainly not impossible to start as a rigger. I was a rigger first. If you have a nice rig you've done, and you can do the work, I don't think it would be hard to get started -- but having a little animation experience, even if it's just a little 30 second thing you do on your own, is going to go a long way.
ok