1. A method of animating a three-dimensional object using an animation rig, the method comprising: defining a positional relationship between the location of one or more known points on an actual surface and an equal number of corresponding points on a virtual surface; defining a time interval; incrementing said time interval; determining the positional offsets of said one or more known points on said actual surface; transforming the corresponding point or points on said virtual surface by said positional offsets; calculating the change in the animation rig control values for said transformed points on said virtual surface; and updating said animation rig control values based on said calculations; wherein said animation rig control values are updated in a sequence based on the relative significance of the movement being controlled; and wherein a normalized minimum to maximum range is established for each rig control to reflect the allowable deformation for said animation rig control in a single time increment.