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Sophoria Academy
Dragon Rig

Dragon Rig ExPLAINED

Dragon Rig for Maya - Full Feature Video

🎥 Watch the video to explore every powerful tool included in this professional Maya Dragon Rig.
Before you purchase, discover the animation controls, advanced rigging features, and high-resolution textures that make this rig perfect for cinematic-level creature animation.
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WATCH THE VIDEO!
A little history about the Dragon Rig

About the Rig


Discover the unique Sophoria Dragon Rig, carefully crafted over the course of a year by a team of professional riggers and animators from around the world, and finalized by the esteemed Ara Hokhikyan, one of the best riggers in the industry.

Featuring multiple layers of complexity and a range of switches for both flight and ground modes, the Dragon Rig enables animators to easily switch between shots and animate the dragon's movements in 3D space.

Take advantage of this one-of-a-kind rig and bring your animations to life. But be sure to share your work and tag #SophoriaAcademy to show your support!

Rig Purchase Rules

*Before deciding on purchasing the rig please read our
Terms and Conditions

  • You may use the Dragon rig in your personal projects but under no circumstances may you use it commercially.
  • You may NOT customize or adjust any part of the Dragon rig or Dragon model.
  • You may NOT distribute the Dragon rig, all purchases of the rig itself are recorded.
  • You may NOT distribute the Dragon Rig PICKER that comes with the rig as standard.
  • All purchases are final, no refunds will be allowed.

What do i get when i buy the Rig?

When you purchase the Sophoria Dragon Rig, you’ll receive everything you need to start animating in Maya right away:

    🎓 Step-by-step training videos to help you load, set up, and use the rig inside Autodesk Maya
    🎥 Introduction videos covering both the Dragon Rig and the custom Picker tool
    📁 A clean, pre-rigged Maya scene with lighting setups, ready to animate with organized layers and user-friendly controls
    🧠 Features include neck and frill controls, sliced mode for anatomy study, simple leg setup, flight controls, advanced facial rig, and more

The rig is designed for educational use, student projects, and personal demo reels only. Commercial or freelance use is not permitted.

Upgrade your animation demo-reels with the exact rig used in our dragon animation courses, built by the Game of Thrones lead animator.

Own your own Dragon Rig!

Discover our unique Dragon Picker!

Kindly sponsored by MGLAND for Sophoria Academy Students!

Choose your own Dragon Textures

Own the Legendary Sophoria Dragon Rig – Created by a Game of Thrones Lead Animator

Unlock your animation potential with the Sophoria Dragon Maya Rig, designed by Jonathan Symmonds, former Lead Animator on Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon. This professional-grade rig is now available exclusively at Sophoria Academy.

Built by a global team of expert riggers and animators, the Sophoria Dragon Rig combines technical precision with artistic flexibility. Featuring advanced flight and ground mode controls, layered functionality, and an intuitive, well-organized structure, it’s the ultimate tool for animators aiming to bring dragons to life with cinematic realism.

🎓 Used in our official 12-week Dragon Animation Course, this rig empowers you to animate like a pro, with the same tools taught by Jonathan Symmonds himself.

Whether you're a student or seasoned animator, the Sophoria Dragon Rig will streamline your workflow and elevate your creature animation to new heights.

🔥 Don’t miss this chance to animate with the same rig used in professional productions.
👉 Buy now and start mastering dragon animation today.

Get Dragon Animation Assets Pack Add-on for only $49

Dragon Walk Cycle

Dragon Run Cycle

Dragon Landing

Lips Jiggle

Tongue Flick

Muscle Jiggle

Dragon Flight Cycle

Dragon Climb Cycle

Dragon Glide Cycle

Turn Right Cycle

Turn Left Cycle

Eye Blink

Nostril Breathe

Tongue Vibrate

Tail Windy Frills

Tail Tip Y Rotation

Tail Tip Flight Cycle X

Tail Flight Cycle Rot X

Tail Flight Cycle Double Speed

Tail Rotation Large - Y

Windy Membranes

Finger Wobble Rotation Z - Inverse

Finger Wobble Rotation Z

Finger Wobble Y

Finger Wobble Y - Inverse

Neck Jiggle Head Driven - Falloff

Neck Jiggle - Head

Neck Jiggle - Head 02

Neck Jiggle chest RL

Neck Jiggle chest LR

Leg Muscle Jiggle - Both

Frills Rotate - LR

Frills Side Wobble

Frills Up & Down Wobble

Frills Rotation - RL

Windy Frills

Over 35+ pre-made animations

🎬 Instantly Enhance Your Workflow with 35+ Pre-Animated Dragon Assets

Speed up your animation process and focus on creativity with over 35 professionally crafted dragon animation assets, available exclusively from Sophoria Academy.

This powerful asset pack includes high-quality, drag-and-drop animations such as:

    🐾 Walk Cycles, Run Cycles, and Flight Cycles
    🛬 Dragon Landing and Takeoff Animations
    👁️ Eye Blinks, Nostril Breathing, and Facial Movements
    💪 Neck Jiggles, Muscle Jiggle Animations, and Tail Flight Cycles
    🐉 Finger Wobbles, Tongue Flicks, Tail Rotations, and Wing Membrane Movements

All animations are fully compatible with the Sophoria Dragon Rig and can be imported seamlessly using the free Maya plugin Studio Library. With just a few clicks, you can apply detailed secondary motion and dynamic cycles—saving hours of manual keyframing.

💡 Ideal for both aspiring and professional animators, the Sophoria Dragon Animation Asset Pack empowers you to achieve cinematic-quality creature animation faster and more efficiently.

🎓 Animate smarter with the Sophoria Dragon Animation Assets—your shortcut to production-ready results.
Write your awesome label here.

Previews of The Sophoria Academy Dragon Rig

🐉 Explore the Full Power of the Sophoria Dragon Rig

Designed by legendary creature animator Jonathan Symmonds (Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon), the Sophoria Dragon Rig is one of the most advanced Maya rigs ever created for creature animation.

Take a closer look at the rig’s powerful feature set:

    🎨 Multiple High-Resolution Texture Variants — Ice, Green, Grey, and Orange-Blue
    🦴 Complete Rig Anatomy View — Sliced mode for blocking and animating different sections of the dragon
    💪 Dynamic Muscle Systems — Built-in jiggle and secondary motion controls for lifelike movement
    🧠 Complex Facial Rig — Full facial expressions with eye, jaw, nose, and brow control
    🐲 Detailed Wing and Tail Controls — Includes finger rotations, membrane flex, tail flight cycles
    🔧 Color-Coded Controls & Simple Leg Setup — Optimized for animation clarity and efficiency
    🎛️ Neck Frill Rigging, Neck Fat Jiggle, and Spine Flex — Fully realized quadruped dynamics
    🚀 Flight Control Systems — Custom controls for grounded, takeoff, and airborne motion

Every detail of this rig was crafted to give animators full control over performance and expression—while keeping the interface intuitive and production-ready.

🎓 Whether you're a student or a studio professional, the Sophoria Dragon Rig gives you the tools to bring creatures to life with film-quality realism.

Buy the Dragon Rig now!

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