The Michael Smith Animation Website

Throughout my career as an animator, and having to rig my own characters...I've become somewhat proficient (IMHO) at rigging.

I watched Jeff Brodsky's (Character Technical Director at Disney) elephant trunk rig demo and I was so impressed that I decided to take a weekend and recreate it in 3DS Max (thanks to Jeff for answering some quick questions I had about his setup too).

I love the ingenious thinking that went into creating the rig as it shows the true artistry that can be found in rigging. The rig (simple to use....somewhat complex under the hood) behaves almost like it's magic! I may post the rig so people can play with/learn from it too.

WOO HOO FOR MATH!!!

You can watch Jeff Brodsky's original demo here: https://vimeo.com/49353110

Now I need to go and animate an elephant!!!