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Creator
Dragon's Lair - Dirk Rig by Emilio Serrano
The Dragon's Lair Dirk rig is a free mGear Maya rig of Dirk the Daring from Don Bluth's 1983 laserdisc classic, rigged by Emilio Serrano. It ships with a full AnimPicker for body, face and extras, facial controls with the range his performance needs, and a model by Bram Van Gerrewey. Built for comedic acting, exaggeration and the broad gestures of classic hand-drawn animation.
Part of our free Maya rigs collection. Browse all 70 free rigs
- v2.1
- Version
- 139
- Downloads
- 26 Aug 2026
- Last updated
- 29 Dec 2025
- Released
- Works with
- Maya
- Licence
- Free
- File size
- 23.7 MB
Maya- mGear
Instant download Vetted creator
Latest rig updates
Dragon's Lair is out
Everything the rig ships with. What you get on day one:
AnimPicker for body, face and extras
One picker covers the body controls, the facial controls and the additional controls.
v2.1 update
The lips now scale correctly with the rig, and the bone sets are cleaned up for a more stable setup.
Expressive facial controls
The expressive range Dirk's over-the-top performance style demands.
Model by Bram Van Gerrewey
An expressive, round face and theatrical armour that keep Dirk's hand-drawn feel.
Watch it move
Dirk the Daring, rigged on mGear
The story behind Dirk
A Dragon's Lair Dirk rig built for big, readable acting
Emilio Serrano rescued Dirk the Daring from the dragon's dungeon and brought him into Maya, as a tribute to one of animation's best-loved arcade heroes. Dirk is the unlikely star of Don Bluth's 1983 laserdisc game: bumbling, brave and permanently surprised to still be alive.
Bram Van Gerrewey's model captures his hand-drawn sensibility, with an expressive round face, theatrical armour and the posture of a man who probably should not be here but is absolutely going to try anyway.
The clean body controls support the broad, 2D-feeling gestures that honour his Don Bluth origins. That makes him a strong pick for dialogue, comedic reactions and fan animation that celebrates the golden age of arcade games.
Inside the rig
What you get with the Dirk rig
Dirk the Daring mGear Maya rig
Version 2.1, with the lips scaling fix and cleaned-up bone sets.
AnimPicker
Body, face and additional controls in one picker.
mGear guide
Included with the rig.
3D model and textures
By Bram Van Gerrewey.
Great for
What the Dirk rig is great for
- Character acting that leans into comedy, exaggeration and timing
- Dialogue shots
- Comedic reactions
- Broad, 2D-feeling gestures in the classic hand-drawn style
- Dragon's Lair and arcade fan animation
Additional information
The details
- Software
- Autodesk Maya
- Rig framework
- mGear
- Facial controls
- Yes, in the AnimPicker
Requirements
Autodesk Maya
- Autodesk Maya
Credits
A collaboration
- 3D model and textures: Bram Van Gerrewey
- Rigging: Emilio Serrano
Licence terms
Free
Free to download and use in your own animation work.
What animators say
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Vetted
Every rig on Animworks is checked by our team before it goes live.
Supported
Questions and bug reports go straight to Emilio Serrano, or email support@anim.works.
Yours to keep
It lands in your downloads the moment you check out, and stays there.
Community
Share your feedback on the rig
Animating with Dragon's Lair - Dirk Rig? Post your shots in the Discord, ask Emilio Serrano a question, or tell us what you would want in the next version.
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