Part 2: Character Animation

Do you know how to walk? How to talk? Do you know how to stand, or sit, or pick something up with your hands? Do you know what face you’re making at this very moment? Are you sure it’s not weird?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, I don’t believe you. Of course, I believe you can do these things. I’m sure you’re very good at walking, talking, standing, sitting, picking things up, and making a not-weird face; you’re so good you do it all without thinking, and that’s the problem. You’re not thinking. We do an awful lot of things without knowing how. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the field of character animation.

A 3D character is a complex system of interdependently moving parts, none of which move by anything such as instinct, reflex, or muscle memory. Every part must be positioned and keyed deliberately by the animator, just as we did with the objects we animated...