Rig it right! Maya animation rigging concepts

303 Pages·2017·11.83 MB·English

R I G I T R I G H T !
M AYA
A N I M AT I O N
R I G G I N G
C O N C E P T S
Rig it Right is written in such an interesting and compelling fash-
ion that it feels as though the author is sitting with the reader guid-
ing them through the creative process personally. Tina has taken her
experience training digital artists in the feature animation and aca-
demic areas, and made the process of learning a complex subject
fun, interesting, and stress free. She has made it straightforward and
informative to learn the process of character setup, a topic that can be
very complex and daunting to perform. No need for a degree in phys-
ics or math to understand the concepts discussed inside. Th is book
provides artists with information to create usable character rigs for
animation, and a wealth of tips, tricks, and pitfalls to avoid during the
development of their creations.
Jayme Wilkinson,
Digital Artist, Cinematographer, ASIFA, IFP, SMPTE,
20+ years experience in feature fi lms and video games.
R I G I T R I G H T ! M AYA
A N I M AT I O N R I G G I N G
C O N C E P T S
TINA O’HAILEY
First published 2013
by Focal Press
70 Blanchard Rd Suite 402, Burlington, MA 01803

Simultaneously published in the UK
by Focal Press
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Focal Press is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2013 Taylor & Francis
Th e right of Tina O’Hailey to be identifi ed as author of this work has been asserted by
her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988.
A ll rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereaf-
ter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
P roduct or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used
only for identifi cation and explanation without intent to infringe.
Notices
K nowledge and best practice in this fi eld are constantly changing. As new research and
experience broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional
practices, or medical treatment may become necessary.
Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowl-
edge in evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments
described herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of
their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a pro-
fessional responsibility.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
O’Hailey, Tina.
Rig it right! : Maya animation rigging concepts / Tina O’Hailey.
pages cm
ISBN 978-0-240-82079-8 (paper back)
1. Rigging (Computer animation) 2. Maya (Computer fi le) I. Title.
TR897.77.O53 2013
006.6’96—dc23 2012041598
ISBN: [9780240820798] (pbk)
ISBN: [9780240820910] (ebk)
Typeset in Utopia Std
by MPS Limited, Chennai, India
www.adi-mps.com
CONTENTS v
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ................................................ xiii
Introduction ................................................................... xv
Basic Rules of Rigging ........................................... xv
Taking Control of Your
Outliner/Hypergraph/History ............................... xvi
Introduction to Nodes .......................................... xvi
How to Find the Transform and Shape Nodes .... xvii
Looking Under the Hood ...................................... xix
PART I BASIC CONCEPTS .......................................... 1
Chapter 1 Props, Pivot Points, Hierarchies ............ 3
Zero-ing Out ............................................................. 4
Using Group Nodes to Hold Animation ................. 5
Making Children ....................................................... 8
Lock What Isn’t Going to be Animated ................. 11
What to Do If You Have Hidden Attributes and
Want Them Back ..................................................... 12
Pushing the Concept ............................................. 13
Chapter 2 Deformers ................................................. 15
Non-Linear Deformers .......................................... 18
Changing Deformation Order ............................... 19
Lattice ..................................................................... 21
Cluster ..................................................................... 22
Super Toothbrush ................................................... 24
Other Deformers .................................................... 31
vi CONTENTS
Chapter 3 User Controllers ...................................... 35
One-to-one Controllers ......................................... 38
Connection Editor .................................................. 38
To Limit the Controllers ......................................... 43
Adding More Animator’s Controllers ................... 44
A New Type of Connection: Constraint
Connections for Translate, Scale, Rotate .............. 45
Clean-up Time ........................................................ 49
Adding Scale to Our Rig ........................................ 50
Chapter 4 Utility Nodes and
Custom Attributes ......................................................... 53
Utility and Low/High Resolution Switch .............. 60
How Do We Create a Custom Attribute
on an Existing Controller? ..................................... 61
ENUM ..................................................................... 63
“One to Many” Connections ................................. 65
Chapter 5 Joints ........................................................ 67
Joints are Tricky Things .......................................... 69
Orient Joints ........................................................... 71
Character With a Skeleton: Googly-eyed
Puppet ..................................................................... 74
Check Your Joint Rotational Axis .......................... 76
Creating the Right Arm the Easy Way .................. 77
Simple IK Arm ........................................................ 77
Waist Control .......................................................... 79
Main Move for the Character ................................ 79
Interactive Skinning ............................................... 80
Them Eyes .............................................................. 81
Cleaning Up ............................................................ 81
Scale ....................................................................... 82
CONTENTS vii
Jaw Controller ........................................................ 83
Head Controller ...................................................... 83
Chapter 6 Blendshapes and Set Driven Key ........ 85
Hooking a Controller Up to a Blendshape ........... 88
Blendshape Weights .............................................. 90
Adding Controllers ................................................ 95
Set Driven Key ....................................................... 96
Set Driven Key to do Automatic
Corrective Blendshapes ........................................ 98
Set Driven Key to Drive a Forward
Kinematic Tentacle ............................................... 101
More Advanced Controller Setup ....................... 102
Extra Effort ............................................................ 104
PART II THE BIPED .................................................. 107
Chapter 7 The Biped ............................................... 109
The Leg ................................................................. 114
The Spine ............................................................. 117
Joint Orientations ................................................ 119
The Arms/Wings .................................................. 119
Orient Joints ......................................................... 121
Hands/Feathers .................................................... 121
Clavicle ................................................................. 122
Mirror Wings ........................................................ 123
That Bone’s Connected to the Other Bone ........ 124
Helper Joints ........................................................ 124
Finishing Up ......................................................... 125
Chapter 8 Skinning ................................................. 127
Pipeline 1: Creating Proxies Manually
then Skinning the Low-res Geometry ................ 129
Skinning ................................................................ 130
viii CONTENTS
Skinning the Bird ................................................. 132
Mirror Skin Weights ............................................. 134
Painting Skin Weights .......................................... 135
Creating Proxies ................................................... 138
Joint Adjustment ................................................. 139
Chapter 9 Upper Body, Lower Body, Root:
Always Have a Cha-cha ............................................ 141
Upper_Body_CNTRL and
Lower_Body_CNTRL ............................................ 142
Root_CNTRL ......................................................... 144
CNTRL Hierarchy .................................................. 145
Chapter 10 Feet and Knees: Simple,
Group-based, and Joint-based Feet ........................ 149
Peel Heel ............................................................... 152
Toe Tap .................................................................. 152
Tippy Toe ............................................................... 153
Main Foot Movement .......................................... 153
Locking Them Down Boss ................................... 154
Adding Controls for the Animator ...................... 154
The Knee ............................................................... 156
Cleaning Up .......................................................... 158
Chapter 11 Spines: FK, Spline,
SDK (Set Driven Key) ................................................. 161
FK Spine ............................................................... 161
Set Driven Key Spine ........................................... 164
Spline Spine ......................................................... 165
Chapter 12 Arms, Elbows, and Clavicles:
Single-chain, Triple-chain with Wrist Twist
(SDK or Cluster) .......................................................... 177
Functionality ......................................................... 177
IK/FK Switching Methods .................................... 178
CONTENTS ix
Not All Arms are Created Equal .......................... 181
Down to Rigging that Arm:
The Abstracted Steps .......................................... 181
Single Chain Method ........................................... 182
Chapter 13 Hands: SDK, SDK and
Keyable CNTRLS ......................................................... 197
A Simple Set Driven Key ..................................... 198
To Clean Up that Rig ............................................ 200
Chapter 14 Eyes, Blinks, and Smiles ................... 203
Joints .................................................................... 203
Groups .................................................................. 204
Fancy-smooshy Eyes ........................................... 204
Where to Put the Look at Controller? ................. 206
Blendshapes and Referenced Files .................... 206
Back to Blendshapes ............................................ 208
Blinks .................................................................... 209
Chapter 15 Master CNTRL and
Scale-able Rigs .......................................................... 213
Main_CNTRL to Move and Rotate
the Whole Character ............................................ 214
Main_CNTRL to Scale the Whole Character ...... 214
Scale Unskinned Geometry (eyes etc.) .............. 215
Problem Solving .................................................. 215
Bulletproofi ng ...................................................... 217
Animating the Rig ................................................ 218
The End of the Beginning ................................... 219
PART III ADVANCED TOPICS ................................. 221
Chapter 16 OMGimbal Lock .................................. 223
What is Rotational Order? ................................... 223
What Does it Look Like When You Lose
an Axis of Freedom? ............................................ 223