Animation for games

Abstract: This report will revolve around two things. What makes up a good facial rig,
from an animators point of view, and the difference in workflow, and
principles, between animation for games and animation for film and/or
commercials.

The main part of the thesis will be concentrated around the facial rig-task
given to me by Dice. What they wanted me to do was to aid one of the
technical animators, in charge of actually building the rig, in finding out
what actually makes a good rig, in terms of UI. Having an animator present to
help out in conveying the interests from animators, in terms of improving the
workflow, will greatly enhance and improve the rig from start, instead of
finding out later if the rig is sufficient or not.

The way I achieved this was mainly to research different kinds of rigs,
whether they were free rigs downloadable from the internet, or retrieved from
books on the subject. Once my research was complete I would then distill it
down to a couple of points and features that I liked and that would be
incorporated into the rig itself.

As an appendix to this thesis I will try and convey the difference between
animation for games and animation for film, pointing out the major departures
in terms of the classic animation principles as well as the differences in
teams and workflows.