Automatic rigging and animation of 3D characters

TL;DR: This work presents a method for animating characters automatically, given a static character mesh and a generic skeleton, that adapts the skeleton to the character and attaches it to the surface, allowing skeletal motion data to animate the character.

Abstract: Animating an articulated 3D character currently requires manual rigging to specify its internal skeletal structure and to define how the input motion deforms its surface. We present a method for animating characters automatically. Given a static character mesh and a generic skeleton, our method adapts the skeleton to the character and attaches it to the surface, allowing skeletal motion data to animate the character. Because a single skeleton can be used with a wide range of characters, our method, in conjunction with a library of motions for a few skeletons, enables a user-friendly animation system for novices and children. Our prototype implementation, called Pinocchio, typically takes under a minute to rig a character on a modern midrange PC.