download free: Digital-tutors: Animating Creatures in Maya: Insects

Learn an artist-friendly workflow to creature animation in Maya. Contains over 4 hours of project-based training for character animators learning new methods of animating multi-limbed creatures.

Popular highlights include:
• Animating Hexapedal Creatures
• Tips for Animating Insect Legs
• Adding Energy for Appealing Movement
• Using Pose to Pose and Straight Ahead to Block in Animation
• Convincingly Animating Antennas
• Follow-through
• Overlapping
• Weight
• Anticipation
• Establishing Timing for an Attacking Creature
• Fine-tuning Motion With the Graph Editor
• Adding In-betweens to Control Spacing
• Animating in Sections for a Faster Workflow
• MEL Scripting for Animation
Lesson Outline:

1. Introduction / Overview of the rig 4:24
2. Preparing the scene for animation 10:27
3. Blocking in the next two extremes 10:52
4. Finalizing the first blocking pass 14:20
5. Adding a second blocking pass 7:22
6. Smoothing out the animation 4:30
7. Planting foot steps - Front legs moving forward 14:30
8. Inbetweening foot steps - Middle legs moving forward 12:28
9. Planting foot steps - Front legs moving to the side 8:48
10. Planting foot steps - Left back leg moving to the side 12:21
11. Inbetweening foot steps - Middle legs moving to the side 10:41
12. Tweaking the body during the charge 8:17
13. Animating the back legs during the charge 11:10
14. Completing the leg plants during the charge 12:13
15. Finishing the leg plants - Focusing on right side 8:20
16. Finishing the leg plants - Focusing on left side 7:00
17. Beginning to finalize the upper body 10:13
18. Adding animation to the front section of the thorax 10:01
19. Completing the petiole 8:43
20. Animating the head 7:52
21. Animating the gaster 13:02
22. Working on the mandibles 10:49
23. Adding animation to the antennas 9:13
24. Fine-tuning the front right claw 9:16
25. Wrapping up the right claws 12:50
26. Fixing up the front left claw 8:26
27. Completing the left claws 13:02
28. Finalizing the insect animation 14:35