Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

As soon as George Maestri's classic (digital) Character Animation was released, people began asking when he was going to do on edition for trully high-end users with the most advanced skill sets. Here it is; George writes directly to CG professionals, with more non-software-specific approaches to character animation.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Introduction (p. xv)
• 1 Real World Production (p. 2)
• Getting Started in Filmmaking (p. 4)
• People (p. 4)
• Getting Money (p. 5)
• Pitching Ideas (p. 6)
• Development Deals (p. 7)
• Budgets (p. 7)
• Deadlines (p. 8)
• Developing a Schedule (p. 9)
• How Much Will It Cost? (p. 10)
• Making the Most of Your Budget (p. 11)
• Making a Film (p. 13)
• Story and Ideas (p. 13)
• Modeling and Setup (p. 13)
• Dialogue (p. 14)
• Leica Reels (p. 17)
• Layout (p. 19)
• Animation (p. 20)
• Keeping Track of Things (p. 21)
• Rendering and Output (p. 22)
• Adding Sound Effects (p. 24)
• Distribution (p. 25)
• 2 Story (p. 26)
• Characters and Story (p. 28)
• Motivation Creates Character (p. 28)
• Obstacles Create Conflict (p. 29)
• Conflict Creates Drama (p. 29)
• Story Through Action (p. 30)
• Visuals Come First (p. 31)
• Developing a Story (p. 32)
• Keep It Simple (p. 32)
• Brainstorming a Premise (p. 33)
• Developing Your Premise into a Story (p. 35)
• Developing a Script (p. 37)
• Dialogue (p. 37)
• Visualizing Your Story (p. 38)
• Finalizing Your Story (p. 41)
• Conclusion (p. 41)
• 3 Rigging Characters (p. 42)
• Sliders (p. 44)
• Automation (p. 44)
• Wiring Things Together (p. 45)
• Direct Relationships (p. 45)
• Set-Driven Keys (p. 45)
• Expressions (p. 46)
• Scripting (p. 50)
• Skeletal Setups (p. 50)
• Grab Points and Handles (p. 51)
• Setting Up a Foot (p. 52)
• Spine Setup (p. 54)
• Ribs (p. 55)
• Shoulders (p. 56)
• Forearms (p. 56)
• Hands (p. 58)
• Facial Rigging (p. 60)
• The Jaw (p. 60)
• Present Facial Poses (p. 61)
• Replacement Animation (p. 62)
• Visibility (p. 62)
• If/Then (p. 62)
• Setting Up Replacement Animation (p. 63)
• Set-Driven Keys and Replacement Animation (p. 64)
• Skinning (p. 65)
• Deformers (p. 65)
• Conclusion (p. 66)
• 4 Animation Tips and Tricks (p. 68)
• Making Characters Think (p. 70)
• Thinking Starts in the Head (p. 70)
• Characters Are Whole (p. 70)
• 50/50 Rule (p. 71)
• Simplicity Is Key (p. 71)
• Dialogue (p. 71)
• Listening to the Track (p. 71)
• The Body and Dialogue (p. 72)
• The Mouth and Dialogue (p. 74)
• Facial Animation (p. 76)
• Expression Changes (p. 76)
• Eyes (p. 76)
• Animating the Body (p. 80)
• Overcoming Stiffness (p. 80)
• Hand and Arm Motion (p. 81)
• Grabbing/Gripping (p. 83)
• Takes and Double Takes (p. 84)
• Staggers (p. 87)
• Animating Laughter (p. 88)
• Breakdown of a Laugh (p. 88)
• Multiple Characters (p. 89)
• Choreography (p. 90)
• Who Comes First (p. 90)
• Crowds (p. 90)
• Environment (p. 90)
• Conclusion (p. 91)
• 5 Human Motion (p. 92)
• Using Reference (p. 94)
• Balance and Weight (p. 94)
• Gravity and Other Forces (p. 95)
• Character Mass (p. 96)
• How the Body Moves (p. 97)
• Muscle Energy (p. 97)
• Pendulum Effect (p. 97)
• Spinning (p. 98)
• Animating Locomotion (p. 99)
• Changing Speed (p. 99)
• Changing Direction (p. 101)
• Going Up and Down Slopes (p. 104)
• Jumping (p. 105)
• Leaping (p. 107)
• Dealing with External Forces (p. 109)
• Lifting (p. 109)
• Pushing (p. 110)
• Pulling (p. 111)
• Getting Pulled (p. 111)
• Animating Rhythm and Dance (p. 112)
• Understanding Tempo (p. 112)
• Figuring Out the Steps (p. 113)
• Getting the Hips Moving (p. 114)
• Moving On Up (p. 115)
• Stepping Out (p. 116)
• Adding Character (p. 117)
• Martial Arts (p. 117)
• Posing for Martial Arts (p. 117)
• Conclusion (p. 122)
• 6 Acting (p. 124)
• Acting Versus Animating (p. 126)
• Acting and Story (p. 126)
• Know Your Tools (p. 126)
• Know Your Audience (p. 127)
• Know Your Characters (p. 127)
• Character Descriptions (p. 128)
• Character Biographies (p. 129)
• Acting Technique (p. 130)
• Creating Empathy (p. 130)
• Creating Inspiration (p. 132)
• Creating Movement (p. 132)
• Acting and the Body (p. 140)
• The Head (p. 140)
• The Shoulders (p. 140)
• The Hands (p. 141)
• The Spine and Posture (p. 142)
• Other Techniques (p. 144)
• Sense Memory (p. 145)
• Animal Exercises (p. 145)
• Affective Memory (p. 146)
• Conclusion (p. 146)
• 7 Animal Motion (p. 148)
• Four-Legged Mammals (p. 150)
• Skeletons for Quadrupeds (p. 151)
• Analysis of a Four-Legged Walk (p. 152)
• Animating a Four-Legged Walk Cycle (p. 153)
• Other Four-Legged Gaits (p. 155)
• Trot (p. 155)
• Canter (p. 156)
• Gallop (p. 156)
• Stylized Walks (p. 157)
• Reptiles (p. 157)
• Snakes (p. 158)
• Serpentine Locomotion (p. 158)
• Sidewinding (p. 158)
• Concertina Locomotion (p. 159)
• Rectilinear Locomotion (p. 160)
• Setting Up a Snake (p. 160)
• Dinosaurs (p. 161)
• Insects and Spiders (p. 163)
• Setting Up Insects for Animation (p. 163)
• Analysis of Six-Legged Walks (p. 164)
• Spider Walks (p. 166)
• Conclusion (p. 167)
• 8 Anthropomorphic Animation (p. 168)
• How Real Can You Go? (p. 170)
• Creating Your Character (p. 170)
• Modeling Your Character (p. 171)
• Adding Faces (p. 171)
• Adding Limbs (p. 172)
• Character Setup (p. 173)
• Animating Objects (p. 174)
• The Big Secret: Timing (p. 174)
• Animating a Jointed Character (p. 174)
• Animating Deformed Characters (p. 176)
• Conclusion (p. 188)
• 9 Games (p. 190)
• Producing Games (p. 192)
• People Involved in Game Production (p. 192)
• Platforms (p. 193)
• Game Design (p. 194)
• Creating Characters for Games (p. 195)
• Textures (p. 196)
• Setup for Games (p. 197)
• Animating for Games (p. 198)
• Games and Staging (p. 199)
• Standard Moves (p. 201)
• Cycles (p. 203)
• Creating a Cycle (p. 203)
• Animating a Simple Cycled Walk (p. 203)
• Moving Characters (p. 206)
• Hooking Up (p. 206)
• Flowcharting (p. 207)
• One-to-One (p. 207)
• One-to-Many (p. 207)
• Many-to-Many (p. 208)
• Conclusion (p. 209)
• Index (p. 210)