Who can resist some free 3D models? If you can't then you're in for a treat, in the form of a brace of 3D animatable character rigs that you can download right now.
They come from the Digital Art and Animation students at Cogswell College in San Jose, as part of the school’s in-house character programme, Project Avatarah.
Named after the college's founder, Henry Cogswell, and his wife, Henry and Caroline are a pair of adorable characters that have been created to be simple to use while being extremely versatile with all the controls you're likely to need. They're designed to be used in subtle animations, with extreme actions and locomotive cycles.
The bipedal characters feature full facial rigs, as well as detailed clothing control and secondary motion. They have IK/FK switching for limbs and spine, offer the ability to change the parents of controls mid-animation using space-switching, and their rotation orders are set up to reduce gimbal locks.
Henry and Caroline are the latest in an ongoing series of 3D animatable rigs from the Cogswell College students. While you're grabbing them for free, you can also pick up Cogswell, a fantasy winged quadruped character with believable weight, behaviour and aerial motion, and there are more on the way, including Toothy, a fierce big cat with detailed facial controls and a flexible spine, and Snowy, a versatile Bull Terrier.
You can learn more about Cogswell College's Digital Art and Animation programme here.
Words: Jim McCauley
Jim McCauley is a writer, editor and occasional podcaster, and is available for space parties.
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