Introduction

My name is Micah Reigstad and I am an animator/rigger from Minnesota, United States. My interest in creativity has shown ever since I was a child. Producing unique personalities for my precious stuffed animals started it all…. On a more serious note, I made convincing, full-sized guns out of Legos, and actually shot Technic pieces out from the working “magazine.” Once I discovered amazing video games with awesome stories and 3D art, I knew I had something to get excited about in my future.

I discovered the 3D world roughly 8 years ago and dabbled in nearly every related field of it from level design to modeling to now animation + rigging. I had the pleasure to have contributed to an award-winning total conversion modification for Battlefield 2, Forgotten Hope 2 (the surname was “Roughbeak”). I got accepted into the team first as a modeler then eventually found my true passion, character movement. Understanding the entire game design process and sharing tips with other people is an incredible experience!

Currently, I have a deep interest in animating next-gen quality models by collaborating with talented artists across the globe. This article will talk about tips/tricks from my experience of rigging, animating, and to a final rendered showpiece. The goal of this article is to help individuals understand the process of realistic FPS animation and hopefully broaden their knowledge in the subject of animation. The shown examples will be from my SIG Sauer P220 Animation Reel. The software solutions that I will be using are Maya and Marmoset. Without further ado, let us proceed to the juicy stuff!

Rigging Arms in Maya

Simply put, rigging is a process to easily and properly control an object (i.e. arms) by cleverly positioning “‘joints/bones“ on the geometry. Based on my first attempts of rigging, it will be no surprise that the most detailed model can be broken by a poor rig. With enough patience and dedication by looking at references, you will eventually achieve something that looks cool and feels good to the animator! Think of rigging as a human without a skeleton that mysteriously does not.. move… too well….

Arm Geometry Setup

Arms (credit of example model is from New World Interactive) should be centered at 0,0,0 coordinates, otherwise, you’ll get nasty offsets to manage. I prefer to have the pivot to be right where the “chest” is generally located– this will make things much easier later to mirror joints/bones, and controllers.