3D Animation & Rigging – Core Vocabulary

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards summarizing essential terms and definitions from Modules 1-10 on 3-D modeling, animation, rigging, and Maya workflow.

Modeling

The phase of the 3-D pipeline that creates the geometric form of objects and characters.

Layout

Stage in which modeled assets are positioned and composed within a scene before animation begins.

Animation

Process of giving motion to 3-D objects or characters by changing their attributes over time.

Rendering

Final stage that converts 3-D scenes into 2-D images or video frames with lighting, shading, and effects.

Rigging

Building an internal skeleton, controls, and relationships that allow a static mesh to deform and move.

Skinning

Attaching a 3-D model’s surface (skin) to its rig so the mesh follows the underlying joints.

Joint

A pivot point in a skeleton that drives part of the mesh; organized in parent-child chains.

jointOrient

Joint attribute that aligns a joint to a specific local axis direction.

Forward Kinematics (FK)

Rotational movement propagated from root to tip of a joint chain.

Inverse Kinematics (IK)

Solving method that moves the end effector and calculates joint rotations back up the chain.

Keyframe

A marker that stores an object’s attribute values at a specific frame.

Keys

Short form for keyframes; used to create change over time in animation.

Timeline

Horizontal bar under the viewport showing the full frame range of the scene.

Time Slider

Dark gray bar on the timeline that indicates and scrubs the current frame.

Playback Controls

Buttons beside the timeline that play, pause, or step through animation frames.

Graph Editor

Curve editor that displays and edits animated attribute curves for precise control.

Motion Path

A curve to which an object is attached so it follows the curve during animation.

Path Animation

Technique of animating an object along a predefined motion path curve.

Set Motion Path Key

Command that inserts a key on an object already attached to a motion path.

CV Curve Tool

Maya tool for drawing NURBS curves by placing control vertices.

Shell (Mesh)

Disconnected set of polygons that form part of a polygon mesh.

Border Edge

Outside edge of a mesh or shell where polygons end.

Blend Shape Deformer

Deformer that morphs a base object into one or more target shapes.

Shape Editor

Maya window used to create and manage blend shapes.

Deformer

Tool that modifies geometry in ways beyond basic transforms (e.g., squash, bend).

Squash Deformer

Specific deformer that compresses and stretches an object to create squash-and-stretch effects.

Constraint

Relationship that controls one object’s attributes based on another without changing hierarchy.

Parenting

Placing one node under another in the hierarchy so the child inherits transforms.

Point Constraint

Constraint that links only translation channels of a driven object to a driver.

pairBlend Node

Node created when keyframes and constraints both try to drive the same attribute, allowing blending.

Driven Key

Key that links two attributes so that changing the driver automatically alters the driven.

Driver Attribute

Attribute whose value controls another attribute through driven keys.

Classic Linear (LBS)

Default smooth-bind skinning algorithm, also called Linear Blend Skinning.

Smooth Bind

Skinning method that assigns weighted influence of joints to mesh vertices.

Max Influences

Smooth-bind option that sets how many joints can influence a single vertex.

Paint Skin Weights Tool

Interactive tool for editing vertex weight values with brush-based painting.

Interactive Normalization

Weight-normalizing mode that forces each vertex’s total weights to equal 1.0 immediately.

IK Handle

Object that marks the end effector for an IK solver, used to manipulate the chain.

Driver/Driven Relationship

Dependency where one attribute (driver) automatically updates another (driven).

Contact Position

Walk-cycle pose where both feet touch the ground sharing body weight.

Passing Pose

Walk-cycle pose where one foot passes the planted foot; second key pose after contact.

Breakdown Pose

In-between pose that adds nuance and timing between two key poses.

Cycle

Looping sequence of animation, often used for repetitive actions like walks or idles.

Real-Time Frame Rate

Standard playback speed; typically 24 fps for film or 30 fps for games.

Non-Uniform Curve

Curve with variable parameterization allowing multi-knots; required for Bézier representation.

Bézier Curve

Mathematically defined curve controlled by anchor and handle points, representable with multi-knots.

Motion Capture

Technique of recording real-world movement and applying it to 3-D characters.

Channel Isolation

Process of muting or hiding unwanted animation channels to focus on specific motion.

Outliner

Hierarchy window in Maya that displays all scene nodes for parenting and organization.