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    EYES: Master Eye Rigging in Blender

    Instructor:
    Wayne Dixon
    Subscribe
    ☆☆☆☆☆
     ( 2 )

    Windows to your Character's Soul

    Welcome to the Eyes course! I’m Wayne, your instructor, and if you’ve taken my Rig and Shape courses, you’ll know this is the next step in your journey.

    I’ve designed this series in a modular way to help you develop the skills needed to rig any character, not just copy a singular rig that I demonstrate in a tutorial.

    Get Caught Up

    Have you watched Wayne's previous Rigging courses?

    These two companion courses cover other important aspects of rigging with Blender.

    RIG: Blender's Character Rigging Playbook

    SHAPE: Add Shape Keys to your Rigging Toolbox

    What you will learn

    Through this curriculum, I’ll walk you through everything from the basics of eyeballs and eyelids to more advanced techniques like:

    •  Eye tracking
    • Pupil dilation (using multiple approaches)
    • Rigging non-spherical eyes that can be animated.
    • Geo-swapping for a stop-motion effect, including a fun face picker together.

    You’ll learn how to rig classic clamshell-style eyes, use shape keys for blinking, and create a 2D Grease Pencil eye rig. The final project dives into using the action constraint for an advanced eye setup.

    I’ve structured each lesson with on-screen step-by-step guidance to support all types of learners—including non-native English speakers and neurodiverse folks. Over time, I scale back the hand-holding so you can start thinking and problem-solving on your own.

    With 11 hands-on exercises and detailed PDFs for reference, my goal is to help you build real, lasting rigging skills for your own projects. Let’s get started—eye can’t wait!

    Chapter 1

    Introduction

    Understand what is going to be taught in this course, how Wayne sets up his Blender workspace, and an overview of the schematics Wayne has provided.

    Chapter 2

    Eyeball 101

    Breakdown fundamental concepts about eye motion, anatomy, technical methodologies, and types of eyes. Implement a basic eye focused on the eye tracking mechanism.

    Chapter 3

    Simplified Eyes

    Learn another method of rigging eyes through the geo-swapping method. This is fairly simple to setup and the result fits a claymation-like aesthetic.

    Chapter 4

    Clamshell Eyes

    Wayne demonstrates how to setup the classic 'clamshell' eyes. This includes the ability to deform the base spherical shape for more expressive, stylized emotional range.

    Chapter 5

    Action Constraint Eye

    This final rig is the most flexible and most difficult to setup. But it's nothing you haven't be prepped to achieve! These techniques apply to higher fidelity / more realistic character animation goals.

    Chapter 6

    What Next

    Congratulations you finished the course! So what do you do next? Wayne gives you guidance for how to continue developing your rigging skills.

    EYES Course – Frequently Asked Questions

    What skills do I need before taking this Blender eye-rigging course?
    You’ll get the most from this course with basic Blender familiarity (viewport navigation, object editing, and bones/armatures). No advanced rigging experience is required; lessons start with fundamentals and build up.

    What techniques are covered in the EYES course?
    You’ll learn eye tracking, multiple approaches to pupil dilation, rigs for non-spherical eyes, geo-swapping for a stop-motion look (with a face picker), classic clamshell-style eyes, shape keys for blinks, and a 2D Grease Pencil eye rig. The final project applies an action constraint for an advanced setup.

    How is the course structured?
    Each lesson includes on-screen, step-by-step guidance (great for visual learners, non-native English speakers, and neurodiverse folks). Support gradually scales back to encourage independent problem-solving. You’ll also get 11 hands-on exercises and detailed PDF references.

    Can I stream it with a membership or buy it outright?
    You can stream the full course with a CG Cookie membership. Prefer a one-time purchase? Get EYES on Superhive.

    Get this course and 273 others by joining CG Cookie

    Join Now
    Awarded upon completion:
    100xp +
    Course Curriculum
    2 Reviews
    • d
      ☆☆☆☆☆
      davpuccio23 ·

      Great course, Wayne is legendary: complex things that almost feel light. With basic rigging knowledge, I managed to complete all the lessons fairly quickly.. 

      It’s amazing to see how many variations can come from something as simple as two eyes. It really makes you think about how even the smallest of detail connects to the final result.

      Learned a ton of transferable techniques and started to see rigs as assemblies of smaller structures, which makes me confident in the perspective of approaching new builds in the future. 

      Couldn’t recommend it more, along with the entire rigging library.

    • ☆☆☆☆☆
      Dwayne Savage(dillenbata3) ·

      The humor and added positive feed back really enhance the learning experience. I also love the added extended suggestions to help push people out of tutorial lock. Great job and thanks for making this. The auto tangent chain is going to be a life changer for my own rigs. I can see this helping with shoe lace and belt animations as well as making my eye rigs easier for animators.Â