I’ve been working mostly in 2D animation for a few years, but lately I keep getting asked if I can do 3D character rigging for small projects. I said yes to one recently and honestly felt completely lost trying to get a decent facial expression setup without it looking stiff or unnatural. How do you even start to build that intuition for weight and movement in a new dimension?
Totally get it. Jumping from 2D to 3D rigging is like learning a new instrument. I would start by watching how weight shifts in real faces and in acting performances you trust. Build a tiny facial rig with a handful of controls for the brow lips and jaw and test with a few expressions that felt close in mood. Then move to subtle deformations and judge if the weight reads through the move rather than the pose.
Your question about weight and movement in a new dimension hits the core of rigging work you can only feel by doing. I break it into three layers skeleton motion the surface skin deformation and the control scheme. For faces I start with a neutral pose and map key muscle groups known to drive expressions from the jaw to the cheeks and brows and then I evaluate how each control moves the skin not the other way around. The goal is a believable read at normal speed before exaggeration.
Sounds like a lot for a small project. Maybe the bigger issue is whether the client actually needs a full realistic rig or if a stylized approach could be enough. I would consider using smart shapes or blendshape tricks to get personality without over engineering. The risk is you chase realism and lose speed.
I learned quickly that weight is not just moving parts it is how you time the move. A furrowed brow needs a pause before it tightens and then a small bounce when the mouth opens. I keep a running set of micro expressions and see if they feel the same as in 2D cards I used to draw.
Another route is to study reference but not copy it. Try a simple rig with a couple of jaw and cheek sliders plus a handful of blendshapes. The trick is to test by animating a small emotional arc and then compare to the tone you want. If the expression reads but the weight is off you know you need to adjust the falloff and the skin weights.
Maybe the real thing to aim for is developing an approach that works for you as a person not just a method. Treat this as learning a system similar to writing or acting. Start with a plan to capture the core motion you want then build a lean rig that serves that goal rather than chasing a perfect deformation