3D Facial Rigging in 3ds Max 2026: Beginner's Guide

Create neck, head, and jaw bones for a 3d character rig, set up layers, define pivot points, and prepare for animation.

Create bones for the eyes and eyelids, duplicate and mirror them for accurate left-right alignment, snap to the grid, rename, and reset transforms in preparation for skinning.

Begin skinning the head by assigning head, jaw, eyes, and teeth bones as influence objects with the skin modifier, while hiding eyelashes, eyebrows, and tongue, then test rotations.

Edit skin deformations by refining weights for the jaw and eyelids with the skin modifier, envelopes, and bench weights to achieve balanced jaw motion and natural facial deformations.

Refine eyelid weighting using the skin modifier, weight tool, and weight table to fix eyelid deformations. Paint weights, test with animation, and mirror for an efficient eyelid rig.

Set up a fleshy eye system with exposed controls, align rotations using a points helper, and drive upper and lower eyelids with expressions that respond to eye movement.

Create point helpers and bone objects to rig the eyebrows, mirror them to the other side, rename for clarity, and connect to the upper jaw bone before freezing transforms.

Add eyebrow point helpers as influence objects on the head model, configure the envelope radius parameter, and paint weights to achieve natural eyebrow deformations using the skin modifier.

Build and align neck, head, and jaw animation controls using shapes, editable lines, and pivots; connect controls, reset modifiers, and refine visualization for a streamlined facial rig.

Master constraining and orienting facial rig controls by aligning helper points, applying orientation and position constraints, and linking head, neck, and jaw controls for consistent movement.

Build and connect eye controls by duplicating and aligning controls, creating a global control, and linking them with inverse kinematics to drive realistic eye motion.

Create custom parameters on eye control to drive the left upper eyelid, left lower eyelid, right upper eyelid, and right lower eyelid, converting with deg to rad in the expressions.

Set up eyebrow controls by duplicating and aligning them with point helpers, link to a global eyebrow control, and mirror to the opposite side for animation-ready rigging.

Learn to attach hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes to the head using the skin wrap modifier, adjust falloff and distance, and ensure normals are corrected for accurate deformations.

Learn to set up tongue controls in a 3D facial rig by building bone chains, applying skin modifiers, and using wire parameters for bend and twist.

Fix eyelid interpenetration by using the skin modifier with painting weights and keyframe adjustments for realistic eyelid motion.

Learn how to add facial expressions by duplicating the head, sculpting smile and frown targets with editable poly and soft selection, and applying them for real-time updates.

Finish the facial expressions setup by adjusting shapes to produce a natural smile and place the modifier under the skin modifier. Hide unused shapes in a layer for later rendering.

Clean up the rig to optimize the scene, ensure default positions, and organize controls with layers and visibility for faster, smoother facial animation.

Master facial rigging fundamentals in 3ds Max 2018 with animator-friendly controls, constraining inverse kinematics, and jaw, eye, and eyelid systems to create expressive characters using a practice model.

Conclude by building a flexible facial rig with a skeleton and dual jaw, skinning the head, using skin and skin wrap, and wiring animation controls with constraints.