character rigging simplified
:film credits:
The shortest distance between inspiration and reality is a bendy line
Characters bring life to a project, but character rigging can too often kill the flow of creativity with an uphill technical struggle.
Retain your beginners mind while building and animating characters the way you always dreamed.
Everything old is new
Rubberhose 1.0 revolutionized the field of character animation by making it intuitive for once.
Whether you want to add something new to your motion work, or you're a seasoned character animator, Rubberhose 3 builds on a legacy of simplicity with a whole new set of powers.
Is it really that simple?
Character animation is hard work and we believe in reducing technical friction whenever possible.
Character comes from the artist, not the tool.
Superfast overview
Animating a character can unlock new ideas for design and Rubberhose was built for exploration. Everything is adjustable and you will never have to trash keyframes because of a new rigging idea.
Stay flexible.
First released in 2015, Rubberhose v1 forever changed how animators work and think about characters.
A new set of concepts have been introduced in v3, but like always, built on the foundation of:
simplicity
Animation is hard work, so enjoy the process.
Style presets have been a part of Rubberhose since v2, but never as capable of such limitless potential. Bend presets make customizing the way a hose works even more flexible.
What is it?
Rigged animation, but simplified. And far from simplistic.
A powerful set of tools to connect characters or shapes or anything.
An animation system that works like how you imagined animating would be, before you learned about keyframes.
The freedom to let animation inform design in a non-linear interplay of inspiration that never locks you into decisions made by your past self. You are the master of your destiny.
What it's not?
Mathematically perfect IK. Because IK usually looks like a robot. Of course, you are free to dial in the realism to your taste if you’re into robots. Everyone loves robots.
The subject of a heavy manual requiring late nights reading in preparation to start using it. There is a help page, but you probably won’t need it. Simple is kind of our thing.
A rigging solution for every conceivable setup. Rubberhose does a few things incredibly well, and it plays well with other systems like Duik and Limber.
Every shot is different and so is every animator. Compare and contrast the top 3 character rigging solutions and pick the best fit for your project.
Spoiler alert: We love Duik and Limber and think they work really well with Rubberhose.
Follow along with Jake as he takes you on a journey of the mind. From the basics to pro level power-ups.
Then go deeper into the manual for a more technical look at how it all connects.
