Animate a "Take" With the Pixo Jr Lamp

Animate a "Take" reaction shot with the Pixo Jr lamp

In this simple free tutorial we show how to animate a "take" (a reaction shot), with the Pixo Jr lamp rig which you can download from highend3d.com. 

The tutorial is a simple one, aimed at animation beginners, but it helps if you are already familiar with the Maya Interface.  Follow the thumbnails below to replicate the tutorial.

Fixing Problems With The Pixo Jr Rig

Pixo Jr is a great rig for learning animation, which you can read all about here.  You can also see a series of short tutorials for animation beginners, showing how to make the lamp hop.  But Pixo is an old rig (2006) and works less well in Maya today.  This is because of Maya's implementation of Parallel Evaluation, designed to make rigs perform faster in the Viewport.  Part of the Pixo Jr's rig is not behaving correctly in this new evaluation mode.  To see how to fix it - scroll down below. 

Lamp Animation by Kamile Pranckunaite

Above is a very good example of First Year Character Animation created in the First Year Animation Module AN4001, in which Escape Studios' students learn to master the art and craft of character animation.  The "Pixo" Lamp Animation above was created by Kamile Pranckunaite, an animation student studying the Art of Computer Animation, who has just completed the first year at Escape Studios.  The shot was animated in Maya and rendered in Arnold.

Meet Pixo Jr - Our Favourite Animated Lamp

Pixo Jr - a great training rig for Maya animators

Meet Pixo Jr - a free Maya rig created in homage to Pixar's pioneering animated short - Luxo Jr. - the film that made the studio's name and proved that CG animation could connect emotionally with audiences.

We recommend Luxo for the early stages of learning animation - it's a great way to get used to the Maya animation controls without things getting too complex, too quickly.

Pixo Jr is an excellent rig, free for student download at highend3d.com.