Project Outback: KineFX/APEX Rigging Workflows | Carlos Valcarcel | KineFEST 2025
23Explore the creation of Project Outback from a rigging perspective. Learn how a rigging framework was developed within the KineFX-APEX framework and how we customized some rig workflows inside Houdini. Finally, we will touch on future rig and animation techniques that we would like to investigate with APEX.
Carlos Valcarcel was first trained in computer engineering at École Polytechnique de Montréal, Carlos continued his studies in computer graphics and 3D Animation at Centre NAD where he began his learning journey in the field of character creation. Since then, he has been specializing in rigging for over 20 years, while continuously pursuing a technical and artistic training. Having worked with many animation softwares, Carlos is always trying to move away from the limitations of current systems and tries to anticipate the future needs of character animation. In his free time, he uses his experience to mentor students and to develop rigging and animation tools for Houdini, where he believes greater work can be achieved in a better way.
00:00:00 - Introduction to Project Outback & Rigging in KineFX
00:00:19 - Presenter Introduction: Carlos Valcarcel
00:00:43 - Carlos's Background & Houdini History
00:01:58 - Collaboration with Side Effects & Early Houdini Rigging
00:02:56 - Transitioning to Geometry Level Rigging
00:04:57 - Facial Rigging Prototype in Houdini
00:07:48 - Project Outback: Animation Workshop Assets
00:09:21 - Project Outback Rigging Objectives & KineFX Explained
00:14:59 - Procedural Joint Generation & Animation in KineFX
00:25:57 - Geometry Level Rigging Benefits & Examples
00:43:59 - Rigging Framework & Conventions (Naming, Axis, Zero Pose)
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