Character Rigger

An Osteologist would tell you that bones are made of calcium, phosphorus, and sodium, as well as the protein collagen. A Character Rigger, however, would tell you that they’re made not of minerals, but rather algorithms, vertices, polygons, and mesh data.

That’s because when you’re a Character Rigger, you’re not a Scientist. You’re a 3D Animator who helps design video games by building the “skeletons” of on-screen characters. As a Character Rigger, therefore, you’re not dealing with real bones. You’re dealing with digital bones, which basically are animated stick figures.

Think of a video character like this: Before it has hair, skin, muscles, and clothing, the character starts as a skeleton: a series of lines and shapes connected to joints, or axes, around which they can rotate and pivot. Under the direction of a Game Director, you spend your days using software to create those lines and joints in the form of computer-generated 3D wire frames, which serve as blueprints for the Video Game Animator when he or she eventually animates the movements of characters.

Your job doesn’t stop at skeletons, however, as it’s also your responsibility to do “skinning,” the process of overlaying shapes on top of the bones, which move with them in order to create the character’s outward physical appearance.

Because realistic movements are an integral part of an immersive video game experience, you’ve got one of the most important jobs in the gaming industry: An expert in virtual anatomy, you’re the one who makes it possible for characters to realistically run, walk, talk, jump, and fight!