Sorry about that interrupt, and the length of this reply.

Anyhow, while still in the phase of model-building, Mudbox tuts are just the thing. Your person might need to take a side-step here and go through some of the DT tuts on UV mapping, and the UV maps must be built for the character mesh before Mudbox will be of any real use. Also, of course, you want those UV maps laid on correctly before the fine details are added to the mesh. So, since UV map arrangement for characters rarely can be done with default settings, the tuts on UV mapping are appropriate just before Mudbox is taken up.

Anyhow, after the person learns basic mesh-building and Mudbox, then it is time to take up rigging (skeleton creation) the mesh. Either the DT tuts or the excellent Gnomon Labs tuts are great at this stage. And the older tuts are just fine. (I've not found that either Gnomon Labs or DT has kept up with the improvements in the Maya rigging tools, but that is of no great matter. Its always nice to discover that something is actually easier to do in the software than you were just told it would be in the tuts.)

Then, finally, we come to the next knowledge chunk that has to do with skinning. Here is where the recent changes in the technology are important/critical. If it were me, I'd basically be keeping a sharp eye on any learning aids that have to do with Maya Muscle. Not much point here in learning the oldest skinning techniques - IMHO. I did, of course, because I hadn't found any thing that would tell me about the developments in the technologies, so I had to work through everything by myself before figuring out that a bunch of what I was in the middle of learning was essentially obsolete. This is a particularly delicate stage of trying to figure things out, and here is the main point where a person should not invest in books. Until you have figured out what you need to know, and what not to bother with, you can be blowing $60.00 each on the wrong books.

Finally, as nearly as I can figure out, the only good learning aids for development of control rigs (as opposed to general purpose animation principles) are all DT Tuts. The Forums at Creativecrash.com are most helpful at this stage of things.

Then, we are left with animation-proper. This will be a stage of relief to the learner, as it is relatively simple compared to all that has gone on before. Free tuts abound all over the web. Any book is helpful. The self-learning frustration level should plummet and one can wake up with a grin in the morning.

OK, this has probably gone on too long, but as a person who has spent the past year and half on this particularly trajectory, these are the kinds of observations I would offer up.

 

Bruno, I always find you to be "right on"!!! 

p.s.     I meant that "Motionbuilder" (not Matchmover") comes included in Autodesk's Creation Suite.