Rigging and Animating Vectors in Moho Pro from Udemy

What's inside

Learning objectives

Properly rig a vector based character with bones
Correct vector movements with smart bones
Create face controls for blinking, eye movements and emotions

Create an interpolated mouth for smooth lip syncing
Implement smart mesh for head turns
Animate and lip sync a rig in moho

Properly rig a vector based character with bones
Correct vector movements with smart bones
Create face controls for blinking, eye movements and emotions
Create an interpolated mouth for smooth lip syncing
Implement smart mesh for head turns
Animate and lip sync a rig in moho

Syllabus

Introduction

An overview of what to expect from the course.

We will begin by overviewing the character design, drawing out the bones needed to animate and label the new bones for organization.

There are several ways you can rig and animate in Moho. How you approach the process depends on how the character is designed. In this video we go over what you need to know before we start laying down bones.

If you followed along with my Moho Vector Design course, you may have added the hair strands to the main hair layer. While you can animate and rig this way, you may find the process more appealing if you separate these areas. This video shows you how to make such a correction.

In this video we will lay down the bones for the character and demonstrate the proper hierarchy for connecting the body together.

With all the bones drawn out, it's now time to go through and label them. This is especially important for the bones that will be linked to Smart Actions later on.

We begin the process of linking layers by binding the main layers. We will also do this for some layers we plan to point bind later as layer binding can be a good placeholder for such cases.

We begin the process of point binding by connecting the arms.

By following the same procedure as binding the arms, the legs can be linked to create bends.

The coat can be attached to its own bones to allow for more control and later, physics. The coat art style, shading and highlights will need to be bound as well.

The torso will follow a similar procedure as the limbs with two bones making up the binding process. We will also need to take into consideration the shirt design.

Binding the hair involves attaching the hair strands and ponytail to their proper bones.

Target bones are used to anchor down areas of the rig, such as the feet. This can create a more grounded look, allowing to bend knees without the feet moving. You can tie targets anywhere you want with this anchor-like functionality.

Constraining bones allows us to reign in unruly movements that can easily occur with feet, hands, the head and more.

By making the bicep a Smart Bone, we can correct the movements that occur with bending the arm.

While we corrected the bend going one way, the other way also needs attention. We can create two actions for one Smart Bone to help correct this.

By following the steps from the previous two lectures, we can correct the bends for the back arm by using another Smart Bone.

The legs have some issues. We can use Smart Bones to correct these issues, much like the arms.

The torso has two bones we need to deal with. In this lecture we will start with the bottom torso and make corrections for both bends.

Like the bottom torso bone, the top must be turned into a Smart Bone to help correct issues with bending forward and backward.

In this lecture we will take some time to finish off any final corrections needed for the body bends.

There is an issue with the front leg popping into the coat when bending. In this lecture we will correct that.

By linking the pupils to a pin bone, we can easily move the eyes around for quick animations.

By controlling the eyebrows with a Smart Bone, we have easy access to creating basic emotions.

Using the same principle as the eyebrow Smart Bone, we can create a dial for the eyelids to control blinks.

Starting with the base masked mouth, we can toggle on Interpolated Sub-Layers for automatic animation between posed. Just be sure to refrain from adding or removing points between poses.

By placing some points on the head, we can generate a mesh which can be used to link layers and control them through animation.

We begin the process of turning the head by creating a dial and moving the head to the left using the mesh.

By following similar steps from the previous lecture, we can now move the mesh points and morph the head to create a front view of the face.

A second dial will be created to add an upward motion for the head.

With the new dial we can create a downward animation for the head.

With the head tilts in place we can go back and polish up the animations.

In this lecture we will move the hair strands and ponytail to build up the animations further.

We finish off by animating the ponytail with the rest of the head turn.

In this lecture we will correct the smaller hair strand with point binding.

Sometimes when working with actions certain keyframes can be accidentally applied. In this lecture we are going to clean up these mishaps.

Bone dynamics, or physics, can create motion for hair and clothing based on body and head movements. IK Stretching can also be applied to create squash and stretch through the use of targets.

Here we will add some hand poses to the rig which can be picked through the use of switches.

To begin our test, we will need to set up the canvas and position the character. These tasks include importing a background file, resizing the canvas and moving character bones to position.

By moving our bones and working within the timeline, we can set up the first part of our jumping animation for this test.

By using our mouth switch and an imported audio file, we can create an interpolated mouth by utilizing the Switch Selection panel.

To make the dialogue more interesting, we can finish the sequence by adding some more body and head animations to compliment.

Let's put those Smart Bones to use and create some additional actions for the character.

With the animation complete, let's render it out for the world to see!

My final thoughts on this course.

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what should give you pause

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Teaches rigging and animation techniques using Moho Pro, which is useful for creating 2D animations for cartoons, games, and other visual media

Explores Smart Bones, Smart Warp Meshes, and target bones, which are advanced techniques for refining and controlling character movements

Covers techniques for creating interpolated mouths and facial controls, which are essential for lip-syncing and expressing emotions in animated characters

Requires Moho Pro, which may require a purchase or subscription, potentially posing a barrier for some learners

Focuses on vector-based character animation, which may not be suitable for learners interested in other animation styles such as 3D or stop motion

Reviews summary

Rigging and animating characters in moho pro

According to learners, this course provides a solid foundation (neutral) in rigging and animating vector characters using Moho Pro. Students appreciate the step-by-step approach (positive) that guides you through building a complete character rig. Key techniques covered, such as Smart Bones (positive), Interpolated Mouths (neutral), and Smart Warp Meshes (neutral) for head turns, are highlighted as particularly valuable. While the course is largely seen as clear and easy to follow (positive), some learners note that having basic prior experience (warning) with Moho can be helpful, suggesting it moves quickly through some fundamental interface aspects. Overall, it's considered a highly practical (positive) course for learning essential Moho Pro rigging workflows.

Accessible introduction to Moho rigging.

"As someone relatively new to Moho, this course was a fantastic introduction to character rigging."

"If you're starting out with rigging in Moho, this course gives you a very solid foundation."

"I didn't know where to start with rigging, and this course made it approachable for me."

"It's a good entry point into the world of character animation using Moho Pro."

Focuses on building a usable character rig.

"This course is highly practical. I can immediately apply these techniques to my own character designs."

"It's great to work on a complete character example throughout the course; it feels very hands-on."

"By the end, I had a functional character rig ready for animation, which is a great outcome."

"The focus on building a rig and then doing a test animation makes it very useful for real projects."

Introduces essential Moho rigging features.

"I finally understand how to use Smart Bones effectively thanks to this course! They make animating so much easier."

"The sections on Interpolated Mouths and Smart Warp for head turns were exactly what I needed to learn."

"Learning about point binding and layer binding in detail was very helpful for controlling the character."

"The course does a good job covering the main tools needed for rigging, especially Smart Bones and the mesh tools."

Clearly guides through building a full rig.

"The course takes you from a basic drawing to a fully rigged character step by step. The instructions are clear and easy to follow."

"Following this course allowed me to rig a character correctly. It's very step by step and comprehensive for the specific rig it builds."

"The instructor breaks down the complex process of rigging into manageable steps, making it easy to follow along."

"I really liked the method of building up the rig using the example character, it made the process understandable."

Pace may be fast for absolute novices.

"While great, the course does assume you know your way around the basic Moho interface. Absolute beginners might need to pause frequently."

"It moves quite quickly in some sections, especially if you aren't already familiar with Moho's tools and layout."

"Having some experience with Moho before starting this course would definitely help keep up with the pace."

"I had to supplemental learning on basic Moho functions to follow along comfortably."

Activities

Be better prepared before your course. Deepen your understanding during and after it. Supplement your coursework and achieve mastery of the topics covered in Rigging and Animating Vectors in Moho Pro with these activities:

Review Vector Drawing Fundamentals

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Reviewing vector drawing fundamentals will help you better understand how to create and manipulate characters within Moho Pro.

Browse courses on Vector Drawing

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Practice drawing basic shapes and lines using vector tools.
Experiment with different stroke and fill options.
Try creating a simple character design using vector techniques.

Read 'Understanding Comics' by Scott McCloud

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Reading this book will provide a deeper understanding of visual storytelling principles, which can be applied to character animation in Moho Pro.

View The Cartoonists Club: a Graphic Novel on Amazon

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Read the book and take notes on key concepts.
Reflect on how these concepts can be applied to your animation projects.

Practice Bone Rigging on Simple Shapes

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Practicing bone rigging on simple shapes will help you internalize the core concepts of bone structure and hierarchy before applying them to complex characters.

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Create a simple shape in Moho Pro, such as a rectangle or circle.
Add bones to the shape and experiment with different bone hierarchies.
Animate the bones to see how the shape deforms.
Repeat with different shapes and bone structures.

Four other activities

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Create a Short Animated Loop

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Creating a short animated loop will allow you to apply the rigging and animation techniques learned in the course to a practical project.

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Design a simple character or object to animate.
Rig the character using the techniques learned in the course.
Animate the character performing a simple looping action.
Refine the animation and export the loop.

Study 'The Animator's Survival Kit' by Richard Williams

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Studying this book will provide a strong foundation in animation principles, which are essential for creating believable and engaging animations in Moho Pro.

View Adventures in Animation: How I Learned Who I... on Amazon

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Read the book and take notes on key animation principles.
Practice applying these principles to your animation projects in Moho Pro.

Explore Advanced Moho Pro Tutorials

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Exploring advanced tutorials will expose you to more complex rigging and animation techniques, allowing you to further refine your skills in Moho Pro.

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Search for tutorials on specific topics, such as advanced Smart Bone techniques or complex character rigging.
Follow along with the tutorials and try to apply the techniques to your own projects.
Experiment with different approaches and adapt the techniques to your own style.

Develop a Short Animated Scene

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Developing a short animated scene will provide a challenging opportunity to apply all the skills and knowledge gained in the course to a larger, more complex project.

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Develop a concept and storyboard for a short animated scene.
Design and rig the characters and environments for the scene.
Animate the scene, paying attention to timing, spacing, and character performance.
Add sound effects and music to enhance the scene.
Refine the animation and export the final scene.

Career center

Learners who complete Rigging and Animating Vectors in Moho Pro will develop knowledge and skills that may be useful to these careers:

Character Animator

As a Character Animator, you will breathe life into characters for various media, including films, television shows, video games, and online content. This course helps you master rigging vector characters with bones, a crucial skill for creating believable and engaging animations. Learning to properly build a bone structure capable of complex actions, as taught in this course, is a foundational step in bringing characters to life. The course's focus on correcting animations with Smart Bones and creating interpolated mouths for lip syncing directly translates to enhancing the expressiveness and realism of your character animations. By understanding how to assign Smart Bones as dials for basic functions like blinking eyes and animating head turns with a Smart Warp Mesh, you can improve the quality of your finished product as a character animator.

See salaries and explore the career path for Character Animator

Animator

An Animator creates the illusion of movement by designing and drawing frames in a sequence. This course helps you create animations of vector based characters in a variety of ways. In particular, the course's instruction on how to properly rig a vector based character with bones, as well as its teachings on how to correct vector movements with Smart Bones, helps you to create smooth and believable animations. This course additionally helps one who wishes to become an animator by teaching them how to implement Smart Mesh for head turns and how to create face controls for blinking, eye movements, and emotions, all of which will allow one to render more expressive and appealing characters. Learning how to animate and lip sync a rig in Moho may make you a more versatile animator.

See salaries and explore the career path for Animator

Game Artist

Game Artists create the visual elements of video games. This often includes character design and animation. This course helps you to properly rig a vector based character with bones. In particular, the course's instruction on how to create face controls for blinking, eye movements and emotions helps you to create detailed and expressive characters within a game. Moreover, one who wishes to become a game artist may find this course helpful thanks to its teachings of how to implement Smart Mesh for head turns and how to animate and lip sync a rig in Moho. These skills help a game artist to craft characters with detailed animations.

See salaries and explore the career path for Game Artist

Multimedia Artist

Multimedia Artists create animation and visual effects for various media, including films, television, and video games. This course may be useful to a multimedia artist who wishes to expand their animation skill set. Learning how to properly rig a vector based character with bones, as taught in this course, is a key part of creating realistic and fluid animations. The instruction on implementing Smart Mesh for head turns and creating face controls may find it particularly useful, as these skills help you to craft detailed and nuanced animations. This course can teach those who wish to become multimedia artists how to animate and lip sync a rig in Moho.

See salaries and explore the career path for Multimedia Artist

Motion Graphics Designer

A Motion Graphics Designer creates visually appealing and dynamic animations for a variety of purposes, such as advertising, explainer videos, and user interfaces. This course may be useful to improve your ability to create complex animations with vector-based characters. Learning how to properly rig a vector-based character with bones, as taught in this course, is critical for creating smooth and realistic movements. The course's instruction on correcting vector movements with Smart Bones and creating facial controls for expressions like blinking eyes and emotions allows you to add a layer of detail and polish to your designs, further enhancing their appeal. The course's focus on head turns with Smart Mesh may give you a set of skills useful in the motion graphics field.

See salaries and explore the career path for Motion Graphics Designer

Technical Artist

A Technical Artist bridges the gap between artists and programmers. This course may be useful for its lessons on how to properly rig a vector based character with bones. The course's instruction on how to correct vector movements with Smart Bones, as well as its teachings on creating face controls for blinking, eye movements and emotions, will help you to better understand how animations can be built in video games and other digital media. This course may additionally allow one who wishes to become a technical artist learn how to implement Smart Mesh for head turns and how to animate and lip sync a rig in Moho.

See salaries and explore the career path for Technical Artist

Instructional Designer

Instructional Designers create learning materials for various purposes. Such learning materials may include explainer videos that teach a skill, or onboard an individual in a professional setting. This course may be useful for incorporating animated characters to enhance the visuals in a lesson or module. Learning how to properly rig a vector based character with bones, as taught in this course, is a key part of creating animations for learning content. The instruction on creating face controls and mouths for animations is also critical for conveying an idea in a more effective and engaging manner. An understanding of how to implement Smart Mesh for head turns and how to animate and lip sync a rig in Moho can also be useful skills.

See salaries and explore the career path for Instructional Designer

Digital Artist

As a Digital Artist, you will create art using digital technology. This course can help you learn how to properly rig a vector based character with bones. The course's instruction on how to correct vector movements with Smart Bones, as well as its teachings on creating face controls for blinking, eye movements, and emotions can help you to create engaging and appealing digital artwork. This course may allow those who wish to become digital artists to learn how to implement Smart Mesh for head turns and how to animate and lip sync a rig in Moho.

See salaries and explore the career path for Digital Artist

Content Creator

As a Content Creator, you will develop engaging material for various platforms, such as YouTube. This course can help you learn how to properly rig a vector based character with bones. Learning how to properly rig a vector based character with bones, as taught in this course, can help you to add animated characters to your content. This course's instruction on how to correct vector movements with Smart Bones as well as how to create face controls for blinking, eye movements, and emotions may find this course useful, helping create a more engaging visual experience for viewers. An understanding of how to implement Smart Mesh for head turns and how to animate and lip sync a rig in Moho may be beneficial in this role.

See salaries and explore the career path for Content Creator

Virtual Reality Developer

Virtual Reality Developers create immersive experiences for gaming, education, and training. This course may be useful for its teachings of how to properly rig a vector based character with bones. The instruction on creating face controls for blinking, eye movements and emotions is useful for creating realistic and engaging virtual environments. This course may additionally allow one who wishes to create virtual reality experiences to learn how to implement Smart Mesh for head turns and how to animate and lip sync a rig in Moho.

See salaries and explore the career path for Virtual Reality Developer

Lecturer

A Lecturer delivers educational presentations on a variety of topics. This course may be useful for enhancing lectures with animated characters. Learning to properly rig a vector based character with bones, as taught in this course, is a key part of including such features in educational materials. Moreover, the course's instruction on how to correct vector movements with Smart Bones and how to create face controls for blinking, eye movements and emotions is also crucial for creating engaging lectures that appeal to students.

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UX Designer

A UX Designer focuses on enhancing user satisfaction by improving the usability, accessibility, and desirability of a product. This course helps you contribute to the creation of user interfaces using animated vector designs. By mastering the basics of rigging vector characters as provided in this course, you can add a layer of polish and detail to designs for interactive user experiences. Specifically, the lessons on facial rigging, including implementing interpolated mouths for smooth lip syncing, can be deployed for virtual assistants or digital avatars that provide feedback to users.

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Digital Marketing Specialist

A Digital Marketing Specialist develops and implements marketing campaigns across digital channels. This course may be useful to a digital marketing specialist who is interested in adding animated characters to presentations or marketing content. Learning to properly rig a vector based character with bones, as taught in this course, is a key part of creating engaging content. Moreover, the course's instruction on how to correct vector movements with Smart Bones and how to create face controls for blinking may be useful for creating content that effectively conveys a company's message.

See salaries and explore the career path for Digital Marketing Specialist

Web Designer

Web Designers create the layout and design of a website. This course may be useful for those web designers interested in adding animated characters to their websites. Learning how to properly rig a vector based character with bones, as taught in this course, is a key part of creating engaging web content. Moreover, the course's instruction on how to correct vector movements with Smart Bones and how to create face controls for blinking may be useful for creating content that effectively conveys a company's message.

See salaries and explore the career path for Web Designer

Software Engineer

Software Engineers develop and maintain software systems. Although this role is primarily technical, this course may be useful for designing user interface and user experience of software. Knowing how to properly rig a vector based character with bones is useful for designing and maintaining software interfaces that use cartoon avatars in the design. This course can also help one who wishes to become a software engineer by teaching them how to implement Smart Mesh for head turns and how to animate and lip sync a rig in Moho.

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Reading list

We've selected two books that we think will supplement your learning. Use these to develop background knowledge, enrich your coursework, and gain a deeper understanding of the topics covered in Rigging and Animating Vectors in Moho Pro.

ADVENTURES IN ANIMATION

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Comprehensive guide to traditional animation principles. It covers topics such as timing, spacing, weight, and anticipation. While the book focuses on traditional animation, the principles are directly applicable to digital animation in Moho Pro. It useful reference tool for animators of all skill levels.

Adventures in Animation: How I Learned Who I...

Hardcover

The Cartoonists Club: a Graphic Novel

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Provides a deep dive into the art of visual storytelling. It explores the power of comics as a medium and how visual elements can be used to convey complex ideas and emotions. While not directly about Moho Pro, it will help you think more deeply about character design, animation, and visual communication. It is valuable as additional reading to help you improve your animation skills.

The Cartoonists Club: a Graphic Novel

Paperback

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The Cartoonists Club: a Graphic Novel

Kindle Edition

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Rigging and Animating Vectors in Moho Pro

What's inside

Learning objectives

Syllabus

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Reviews summary

Rigging and animating characters in moho pro

Activities

Career center

Reading list

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