Hands On!

When working in animation, hands are some of the trickiest things to get right. In part because they have to look great, and they have to move. It doesn't matter if it's 2D, or CG animation, getting the hands right is imperative. So, I put a document together for the modeling department when we were working on a CG animation short for Garena's Free Fire Project, "Alvaro Awakened". 

Having worked as a figure drawing instructor comes in handy to understand the anatomy, but not the design. It's important to understand that designers are not anatomists, but rather need to create images that are pleasing to the eye, have a sense of design and rhythm -- and in the CG Animation world -- are functional.

Understanding the practical aesthetics, the functional aspects of anatomy, and the design/style consistency of the characters, are more important than the internal anatomical details. It may seem funny coming from someone that has studied and taught anatomy for decades, but that doesn't mean some of that knowledge isn't applicable. It simply means that knowledge isn't what the audience sees on the screen.

Getting caught up in the surface details in the wrinkles of the knuckles can be just as problematic as getting caught up in knuckle condyles of the bones. But, getting the shape of the stretching and bunching right, and rigging the movement, will go a long way.