maya character setup (487pgs)

8/9/2019 Maya Character Setup (487pgs)

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CHARACTER SETUP

VERSIO N 4


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ALIAS|WAVEFRONT s 210 KING STREET EAST s TORONTO, CANADA M5A 1J7

CHARACTER SETUP 2001, Alias|Wavefront, a division of Silicon Graphics Limited.Printed in U S A. All rights reserved.

Maya 4 Documentation Team: Steven Brooks, Susan-Belle Ferguson, Lisa Ford, Claude Macri, SusanPark, Diane Ramey, and Linda Rose.

Alias is a registered trademark and Alias|Wavefront, the Alias|Wavefront logo, Conductors, Dispatcher,

Trax, Wavefront IPR, VizPaint2D, and ZaP!iT are trademarks of Alias|Wavefront, a division of Silicon

Graphics Limited. Maya is a registered trademark and Maya Artisan, Maya Builder, Maya Cloth, Maya

Complete, Maya Fur, Maya F/X, Maya Invigorator, Maya Invigorator Lite Edition, Maya Live, Maya PaintEffects, Maya Real Time SDK,and Maya Unlimited are trademarks of Silicon Graphics, Inc., used

exclusively by Alias|Wavefront, a division of Silicon Graphics Limited. IRIX and Silicon Graphics are

registered trademarks and SGI is a trademark of Silicon Graphics, Inc.Wacom is a trademark of Wacom Co., Ltd.

NVidia is a registered trademark and Gforce is a trademark of NVidia Corporation.

Inferno and Flame are registered trademarks of Discreet Logic Inc.

Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

Red Hat is a registered trademark of Red Hat, Inc. Microsoft, Windows NT, and Windows 2000 are

trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

UNIX is a registered trademark, licensed exclusively through X/Open Company, Ltd.

All other product names mentioned are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Graph Layout Toolkit, 1992-1996 Tom Sawyer Software, Berkeley, California. All Rights Reserved.

This document contains proprietary and confidential information of Alias|Wavefront, a division of Silicon

Graphics Limited, and is protected by Federal copyright law. The contents of this document may not be

disclosed to third parties, translated, copied, or duplicated in any form, in whole or in part, or by anymeans, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the express written

permission of Alias|Wavefront, a division of Silicon Graphics Limited.

The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice. Neither Alias|Wavefront, a

division of Silicon Graphics Limited, its affiliates, nor their directors, officers, employees, or agents are

responsible for punitive or multiple damages or lost profits or other special, direct, indirect, incidental, orconsequential damages including any damages resulting from loss of business arising out of or resulting

from the use of this material, or for technical or editorial omissions made in this document.


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USING MAYA: C HARACTER SETUP

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CONTENTSPart 1

Pa rt 1 Chara cter Setup a nd Ma ya

1 INTRODUCING CHARAC TER SETUP 29

Unde rstanding cha ra cte r setup 30

How to use this book 31

2 CHARACTER SETUP FEATURES 33

Using de forme rs 34

Using skeletons 35

Skinning 36

Using constraints 36

Using cha ra c ter sets 37

Part 2

Pa rt 2 Deforme rs

3 INTRODUCING DEFORMERS 41

Understanding deformers 41

Deformab le ob jec ts, po ints, and sets 42Nodes, history, and the deformation order 43

Deformer placement 44

Editing d eforme r se t me mbership 46

Ed iting d efo rmer sets with Rela tionship Ed itor 46

Providing exclusive deformer set membership 46

Ed iting d efo rmer set me mb ership w ith Ed it Mem b ership Too l 46

Painting deformer set membership 47

Pruning deformer set membership 48

Point twea king on objec tsb eing de forme d 49

Displaying and hiding intermediate objects 50

Changing an objec ts deforma tion order 50

Showing and hiding all deformers 51

Changing e valuation p erforma nce 51
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CONTENTS

Changing d eforme r pe rforma nce settings 51

Editing a dvanc ed deforme r crea tion options 52

Editing pa ra llel b lender cha nnels 52

Crea ting shea ring effec ts with shea r cha nnels 53

Modeling with deformers 53

Setup and animation with deformers 54

Editing node be havior to improve pe rforma nce 54

Understanding node behavior attributes 54

Editing nod e be havior 55

4 USING BLEND SHAPE DEFORMERS 57

Understanding blend shape deformers 57

Target a nd ba se o bjec ts 58Targe t shap es, ba se shap es, and blend shap es 58

Ta rge ts 58

Related MEL c omm and s 58

Dependenc y g raph nodes 59

Crea ting blend shape de forme rs 59

Setting c rea tion op tions 59

Creating a blend shape deformer 61

Editing blend shape deformation effects 61

Using the Blend Sha p e e d itor 61Cha nging Blend Shap e ed itor slide r orienta tion 62

Ed iting blend shap e d eformer cha nnels 62

Ed iting b lend sha pe d eformer attribute s 63

Sc aling influenc e o f a ll targe ts 64

Matching position, rotation, and scaling of targets 64

Blend ing ob jects with different topo log ies 64

Deleting a targets object 65

Setting ta rge t w eights 65

Setting keys for blend sha pe s 66

Saving a b lend shap e a s a new target 66

Selecting a blend shap e d eformer nod e 67

Creating a new blend shape deformer 67

Adding target object shapes 67

Setting ad d op tions 67

Adding a target object shape 68
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Rem oving ta rge t objec t shape s 69

Setting remo ve o ptions 69

Removing a target shape 69

Swa pping target objec t shape s 70

Setting swa p op tions 70

Swa pp ing tw o ta rge t shap es 70

Deleting blend shape deformers 70

5 USING LATTICE DEFORMERS 73

Unde rstanding lattice de formers 73

Lattices 73

Influence lattice and base lattice 73

Latt ices as deformab le o bjects 74

Lattice deformersand lattice flexors 74



Creating lattice deformers 74


Crea ting a lattice d eformer 76

Editing lattic e de forma tion effec ts 76

Editing the influence lattice 77

Ed iting la ttic e d eformer cha nnels 77

Ed iting lattice d eformer attribute s 78

Ed iting influenc e lattice shap e c hanne ls 79

Editing influence lattice shape attributes 79

Resetting influence lattice shape and location 80

Resetting influence lattice pointsand removing tweaks 80

Editing lattice deformer sets 80

Pruning lattice deformer sets 81

Changing influence lattice resolution 81

Tog gling lattice sha pe ha nd le (L ic on) 81

Turning o n o r off d ispla y o f lattice p oints 82

Show ing a nd hiding a ll la ttic e d eformers 82Weighting lattice pointsto alter their influence 82

Sc ulp ting the influenc e lattice 82

Free zing the lat tic e d eforma tion ma pp ing 82

Ed iting the b ase lattice 84

Grouping b ase a nd influenc e lattices 84

Parenting latticesto objectsbeing deformed 84
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CONTENTS

Deforming a lattice with other deformers 84

Assuring a smo oth de formation through the b ase la ttic e 85

Improving performance 85

Changing lattice resolution performance settings 85

Deleting lattice deformers 85

Skinning with lattice deformers 86

6 USING CLUSTER DEFORMERS 87

Unde rstanding cluster de forme rs 87



Crea ting cluster de forme rs 88


Creating a cluster deformer 89

Editing c luster de formation e ffec ts 89

Manipulating the cluster handle (C icon) 89

Ed iting c luster d eformer c hanne ls 90

Editing cluster attributes 90

Ed iting c luste r de forme r sets 91

Pruning c luster d efo rme r sets 91

Editing cluster weights 92

Painting cluster weights 93

Adjusting jiggle weight by painting 99

Set ting the c luster rela tive to the p a rent t ra nsform 102

Controlling the deformation percentage of the entire cluster 102

Using weighted nodes 102

Setting the loc a tion of the c luster hand le 102

Dele ting cluster de forme rs 102

7 USING JIGGLE DEFORMERS 105

Creating Jiggle deformers 105

Setting jigg le c rea tion op tions 106

Editing jiggle attributes 106

Adjusting jiggle weight by painting 107

Using disk cache for jiggle animation 107

8 USING BEND NONLINEAR DEFORMERS 111

Understanding bend deformers 111

Related MEL co mma nds 111
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Dependency graph nodes 112

Crea ting b end de forme rs 112


Creating a bend deformer 113

Editing bend deformation effects 113Manipulating bend deformer handles 114

Editing be nd de former c hannels 114

Ed iting be nd d eformer attrib utes 115

Deleting a bend deformer 116

9 USING FLARE NONLINEAR DEFORMERS 117

Understanding flare deformers 117



Creating flare deformers 118


Crea ting a flare d eformer 119

Editing flare deformation effects 120

Manipulating flare deformer handles 120

Ed iting flare d eformer c ha nnels 121

Ed iting flare d eformer a ttrib utes 122

Deleting flare deformers 123

10 USING SINE NONLINEAR DEFORMERS 125

Understanding sine deformers 125



Creating sine deformers 126


Creating a sine deformer 127

Editing sine deformation effects 127

Manipulating sine deformer handles 128

Editing sine deformer channels 129

Editing sine deformer attributes 129

Deleting sine de forme rs 130

11 USING SQUASH NONLINEAR DEFORMERS 131
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CONTENTS

Understanding squash deformers 131



Creating squash deformers 132


Creating a squash deformer 133

Editing squash deformation effects 133

Manipulating squash deformer handles 134

Ed iting squa sh d eformer c ha nnels 135

Editing squash deformer attributes 135

Deleting squa sh de formers 136

Examples 137

Sq ua shing a sp here on to the ground 137

Bounc ing b all setup 139

12 USING TWIST NONLINEAR DEFORMERS 143

Understanding twist deformers 143



Creating twist deformers 144


Creating a twist deformer 145

Editing twist deformation effects 145

Manipulating twist deformer handles 145

Ed iting tw ist de former c hanne ls 146

Editing twist deformer attributes 147

Deleting twist deformers 148

Example 148

Sp ira l sta irc a se mo d eling 148

13 USING WAVE NONLINEAR DEFORMERS 149

Understanding wave deformers 149



Creating wave deformers 150


Creating a wave deformer 151
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Editing wave deformation effects 151

Manipulating wave deformer handles 151

Editing wa ve de former c hannels 152

Ed iting wa ve d eformer attrib utes 153

Deleting wa ve deforme rs 154

Example 154

Ripp le an ima tion 154

14 USING SCULPT DEFORMERS 159

Understanding sculpt deformers 159

Sc ulp t sp he re 159

Flip mode 159

Project mod e 160

Stretc h m od e 160



Creating sculpt deformers 161


Crea ting a sculpt d eformer 162

Editing sculpt deformation effects 162

Ma nipula ting the sc ulpt sp here 162

Manipulating the stretch origin locator 163

Ed iting sc ulp t d eformer c hanne ls 163

Ed iting sc ulp t de former attribute s 164

Editing sculpt deformer sets 165

Pruning sculpt deformer sets 165

Dele ting sculpt d eformers 165

15 USING WIRE DEFORMERS 167

Quick start 167

Understanding wire deformers 170

Influence wiresand base wires 170

Holders 170

Wire dropoff locators 171



Creating wire deformers 171

Sp ec ifying Wire Too ls to ol sett ings 172
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CONTENTS

Creating a wire deformer without holders 173

Creating a wire deformer with holders 174

Editing wire deformation effects 175

Moving, rotating, and scaling influence wires 175

Moving, rota ting, and sc aling d eforma ble ob jec ts 175

Ed iting the shap e of influenc e wires 175

Moving, rotating, and scaling base wires 175

Adding influence wires 176

Rem oving influenc e wires 176

Controlling the effectsof crossed influence wires 176

Resetting influence wires 177

Crea ting w ires groups that p arent influenc e w ires to b ase w ires 177

Ed iting w ire d eformer c hanne ls 177

Editing wire deformer attributes 178

Using wire dropoff locatorsfor localized deformation effects 180

Smoo thing jag ged effects 182

Limiting the wire de formation reg ion 182

Adding and removing holders 182

Moving, rotating, sc aling holde rs 183

Ed iting the shap e o f holde rs 183

Editing wire deformer sets 183

Pruning wire deformer sets 183

Deleting wire deformers 183

16 USING WRINKLE DEFORMERS 185

Understanding wrinkle deformers 185

Radial wrinkle deformers 186

Ta ng ent ial wrinkle d efo rme rs 186

Custom wrinkle deformers 186



Creating wrinkle deformers 187

Sp ec ifying Wrinkle Too ls too l setting s 187

Creating a wrinkle deformer 188

Editing wrinkle deformation effects 188

Manipulating the wrinkle deformerscluster deformer handle 188

Moving, rotating, and scaling the influence wires 189

Ed iting the wrinkle d eformers c luster d eformer 189

Ed iting the wrinkle d eformers wire de formers 189


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Deleting wrinkle deformers 189

17 USING WRAP DEFORMERS 191

Unde rstanding wra p de forme rs 191

Deformable objects 191

Wrap influence objectsand wrap base objects 192


Creating wrap deformers 192

Creating objectsto use aswrap influence objects 193


Creating a wrap deformer 195

Editing wrap deformation effects 195

Moving, rotating, or scaling wrap influence objects 195

Manipulating wrap influenc e o bjec t po ints 196

Moving, rota ting, or sc aling de formed ob jec t 196

Ed iting NURBSw rap influenc e ob ject c hanne ls 196

Editing po lygo nal wrap influence ob jec t c hannels 197

Ed iting wrap d eformer cha nnels 197

Editing wrap deformer attributes 199

Adding and removing wrap influence objects 200

Improving performance 200

Deleting wrap deformers 200

Skinning with wrap deformers 201

Examples 201

Deforming high-ressphere with low-ressphere 201

Deforming plane with five cones 202

Part 3

Pa rt 3 Ske letons

18 INTRODUCING SKELETONS 207

Understanding skeletons 207



Ed iting node b eha vior 208

Workflow summ a ry 209
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CONTENTS

19 BUILDING SKELETONS 211

Understanding skeleton construction 212

Jointsa nd b ones 213

Joint chains 214

Limbs 214Skeleto n hierarchy 215



Crea ting joint chains a nd limbs 216

Sp ec ifying Joint Too ls too l sett ings 216

Creating a joint chain 218

Creating a limb 218

Editing joints 218

Editing joint attributes 218Disp la ying a joint s loca l axis 222

Orienting a jointslocal axis 222

Moving, rotating, or scaling a joint and itsbone 222

Editing joint chains, limbs, and skeletons 223

Viewing skeleton hierarchy 223

Selec ting jointsa nd na vigating the skeleto n s hiera rc hy 223

Disp laying a ll the loca l axes in a limb or skeleto n 223

Reo rienting all loc al axes in limb or skeleto n 223

Inserting a joint 224Removing a joint 224

Disconnecting jointsto create new skeletons 225

Connec ting jointsto c omb ine two skeletons 225

Mirroring limb s or skeleto ns 226

Rerooting a skeleton 227

Set ting d isp lay size o f a ll joints 227

Displaying joints as bo xes rather than bo nes 227

Set ting an d a ssuming p refe rred a ng les 228

20 POSING SKELETONS 231Understanding skeleton posing 232

Forwa rd kinem a tics (FK) 232

Inverse kine ma tics (IK) 233

IKhandlesand IKchains 234

IK solvers a nd syste ms 235

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Posing with forward kinema tics (FK) 236

Posing with inverse k inema tics (IK) 236

IK rotate plane ha ndles and solvers 236

IK single c hain hand les an d solvers 237IK spline ha nd lesa nd solvers 237

Using IK solvers a nd systems 237

Crea ting IK solvers 237

Ed iting IK syste m a ttrib utes 238

Disab ling and ena b ling a ll IK solver node s 239

Switching be tween IK a nd FK 239

Proc ed ures for switc hing b etw ee n IK and FK 240

Ab out the Gra ph Ed itor disp lay resulting from Set IK/ FK Key 242

Exam p le of switc hing from FK to IK 242

21 USING IK ROTATE PLANE HANDLES 245

Understanding IK rotate plane handles 246

Start a nd end joints 246

Handle position control gnomon 247

End effec tor 247

Handle wire 248

Handle vector 248

Rotation disc 249

Joint c hain plane 249

Joint c hain plane indic ato r 250

Tw ist d isc 250

Reference plane 251

Pole vector 251

Referenc e p lane indica tor 252

Twist indic a tor 252



Understanding IK rotate plane solver be havior 253

Crea ting IK rotate plane handles 253

Sp ec ifying IK Ha ndle Too ls too l settings 253

Creating an IKrotate plane handle 254

Posing IK rotate p lane handles 254

Moving the hand le 254


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CONTENTS

Manipulating the pole vector 254

Manipulating the twist disc 255

Co ntrolling joint c hain flipp ing 255

Editing IK rotate pla ne handles 255

Editing IK rota te p lane hand le c hannels 255

Ed iting IK rota te pla ne hand le attrib utes 256

Ed iting IK rota te pla ne solver attribute s 259

Deleting IK rotate plane ha ndles 260

22 USING IK SINGLE CHAIN HANDLES 261

Unde rstanding IK single c hain handles 262


Handle position and orientation control gnomon 263

End effec tor 263

Handle wire 264

Handle vector 264



Unde rstanding IK single c hain solver be havior 265

Crea ting IK single c hain handles 265


Creating a n IK single c ha in hand le 266

Posing IK single cha in handles 267Moving the hand le 267

Rotating the handle 267

Editing IK single c hain ha ndles 267

Ed iting IK single cha in hand le cha nnels 267

Ed iting IK single c hain ha ndle a ttribute s 268

Ed iting IK single c ha in solve r a ttrib utes 270

Deleting IK single cha in ha ndles 271

23 USING IK SPLINE HANDLES 273

Unde rstanding IK spline handles 273



Crea ting IK spline ha ndles 274

Animating the joint chain 275

Setting op tions be fore creat ing the IK sp line hand le 278
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Setting a ttributes afte r c rea ting the IK sp line hand le 281

Preventing unwanted start joint flipping 282

Working with soft b od y c urves 283

Tips for working with IK spline handle s 284

Working with human skeletons 284

Working with animal skeletons 285

Working w ith sinuous mo tion on skeleton s 286

24 USING IK TWO BONE HANDLES 289

Quick start 290

Understanding IK two bone handles 291


Handle position control gnomon 292

End effec tor 293

Handle wire 293

Handle vector 294

Rotation disc 294

Joint c hain plane 295

Joint c hain plane indic ato r 295

Tw ist d isc 296

Reference plane 296

Pole vector 296

Referenc e p lane indica tor 297

Twist indic a tor 297Related MEL co mma nds 298


Understanding IK two bone solver be havior 298

Crea ting IK two bone handles 299

Setting up the IK two bo ne solver 299


Creating an IKtwo bone handle 300

Posing IK two bone handles 300

Moving the hand le 300

Manipulating the pole vector 300

Manipulating the twist disc 301

Co ntrolling joint c hain flipp ing 301

Editing IK two bone ha ndles 301

Editing IKtw o b one ha ndle c hannels 301


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CONTENTS

Ed iting IK two b one ha nd le attrib utes 302

Ed iting IK two bo ne solver attribute s 305

Deleting IK two bone handles 305

IK two bone solver plug- in source cod e 306

Part 4

Pa rt 4 Skinning

25 INTRODUCING SKINNING 309

Understanding skinning 309

Deformable objectsand skin objects 309

Direct skinning methods 310

Indirect skinning methods 310Bind pose 311

Double transformation effects 311

Editing skin point set memberships 311

Changing a skinned objec tsd eforma tion orde r 311

Point tweaking skinned objects 312




Workflow summ a ry 314

26 SMOOTH SKINNING 315

Unde rstand ing smooth skinning 316

Smo oth skin ob jects and p oints 316

Smo oth skin p oint w eight s 316

Smo o th skin po int set s 318

Smo oth skin influenc e ob jec ts 318



Binding smooth skin 319

Setting smo oth b ind op tions 319

Chec king the b inding 321

Adjusting smooth skin behavior 321

Editing smooth skin 321
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Going to the bind p ose 321

Overcoming problemswith reaching bind pose 322

Changing the bind pose 322

Editing maximum influences 322

Ed iting joint smo oth skin a ttrib utes 322

Ed iting skin c luster c ha nne ls 323

Editing skin cluster attributes 324

Editing skin point weights 325

Painting smooth skin point weights 327

Mirroring smo ot h skin w eigh ts 331

Co pying smo oth skin w eights 331

Resetting skin point weightsto default weights 332

Holding smooth skin weights 332

Controlling smooth skin weight normalization 333

Pruning insignific a nt smo ot h skin we ights 334

Rem oving unu sed influen c es from a smo ot h skinne d surfa c e 334

Batch export and import of smooth skin weight maps 334

Detaching smooth skin 337

Using smooth skin influence objects 338

Adding an influence object 339

Remo ving an influence ob ject 340

Editing NURBSinfluence object attributes 340

Ed iting po lygo na l influenc e ob ject a ttribute s 341

Examples 341Skinning a c ylind er b y smo oth skinning 341

Hand muscle b ulge with influence ob jec t 345

Using influence ob jec ts to p revent unwa nted de forma tion 348

27 RIGID SKINNING 351

Understanding rigid skinning 352

Rigid skin objectsand points 352

Rigid skin point weights 352

Rigid skin point sets 353

Flexors 353



Binding rigid skin 354

Sett ing rigid b ind op tions 355

Binding skin 356


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CONTENTS

Chec king the b inding 356

Adjusting rigid skin behavior 356

Editing rigid skin 356

Going to the bind pose 356

Overcoming problemswith reaching the bind pose 357

Changing the bind pose 357

Editing joint cluster channels 357

Editing joint cluster attributes 358

Editing rigid skin point weights 359

Painting rigid skin point weights 361

Editing rigid skin point set membership 363

Painting rigid skin point set membership 364

Detaching rigid skin 366

Detac hing a nd reatta ching skeleton 367

Detac hing a nd reatta ching selected joints 368

Crea ting flexors 368

Creating all typesof flexors 368

Editing joint lattice flexor effec ts 370

Manipulating the joint lattice flexorsinfluence lattice 370

Co pying joint lattice flexors 370

Ed iting joint lattice flexor c hanne ls 371

Editing bone lattice fle xor effects 372

Manipulating bo ne lattice flexors influenc e lattice 372

Copying bone lattice flexors 372

Ed iting b one lattice flexor c hanne ls 372

Reassigning bone lattice flexor joints 373

Editing joint or bone sculpt fle xor e ffe cts 374

Ma nipulating the sc ulpt sp here 374

Editing sculpt flexor channels 374

Editing joint c luster flexor e ffec ts 375

Editing with joint cluster flexor manipulators 375

Example 375

Skinning a c ylind er b y rig id skinning 375
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Part 5

Pa rt 5 Constra ints

28 INTRODUCING CONSTRAINTS 381

Unde rstand ing constra ints 381

Constraint node behavior 382



Enabling and disabling all constraint nodes 383

Workflow summary 384

29 USING POINT CONSTRAINTS 385

Understanding point constraints 385

Constrained a nd ta rget o bjec ts 385

Ta rget p oint 386

Target ob jec t w eights 386

Constrained objectsposition 386

Locked channels 386



Creating point constraints 387

Sett ing c on straint op tions 387Creating a point constraint 387

Editing point c onstra ints 387

Ed iting p oint c onstraint c hanne ls 388

Editing point constraint attributes 388

Add ing target objects 389

Remo ving ta rge t ob jec ts 390

Changing target object weights 390

Animating target object weights 390

Offsetting constrained objectsposition 390

Deleting point constraints 391

Using point on curve loca tor c onstra ints 391

Creating point on curve locator constraint 391

Editing least squaresmodifier attributes 392

30 USING AIM CONSTRAINTS 395


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CONTENTS

Understanding aim constraints 395


Ta rge t p oint 395


Constrained ob jec ts orientation 396

Rolling effects 397

Motion history de pe nde nce effects 397

Locked channels 398



Creating aim constraints 398

Sett ing c on straint op tions 398

Creating an aim constraint 399

Editing aim constraints 399

Ed iting a im c onstraint c ha nnels 399

Editing aim constraint attributes 400




Preventing rolling effects 403

Controlling motion history dependence effects 403

Deleting a im constra ints 404

Examples 404

Aiming a sphere at a sphere 404

Aiming a cone at a sphere 405

31 USING ORIENT CONSTRAINTS 407

Unde rstand ing orie nt c onstra ints 407


Ta rget o rient a tion 407



Locked channels 408Related MEL co mma nds 408


Creating orient constraints 408


Creating an orient c onstraint 409


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Editing orient constraints 409

Editing orient constraint channels 409

Editing orient constraint attributes 410





Deleting orient constraints 412

32 USING SCALE CONSTRAINTS 413

Understanding scale constraints 413


Ta rge t sc a le 414


Constrained objectsscaling 414Locked channels 414



Creating scale constraints 414


Creating a sc ale c onstraint 415

Editing scale constraints 415

Editing scale constraint channels 415

Editing scale constraint attributes 416





Deleting scale constraints 418

33 USING GEOMETRY CONSTRAINTS 419

Understanding geometry constraints 419

Constrained a nd ta rget o bjec ts 419Ta rget p oint 420


Constrained objectsposition 420

Motion history d ep ende nce 420

Locked channels 420

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Creating geometry constraints 421


Creating a geometry constraint 421

Editing geometry constraints 422Editing geometry constraint channels 422

Ed iting g eo me try c onstraint a ttribute s 422





Anima ting the c onstrained ob jec t 425

Using a po int c onstraint w ith a ge om etry co nstra int 425

Deleting g eo me try co nstra ints 425

34 USING NORMAL CONSTRAINTS 427

Understanding normal constraints 427


Targe t vec tor 428



Rolling effects 429

Motion history de pe ndenc e effects 429

Locked channels 430



Crea ting norma l c onstra ints 430


Creating a normal constraint 431

Editing normal constraints 432

Ed iting no rma l c onstra int c hanne ls 432

Editing normal constraint attributes 432






Dele ting norma l c onstra ints 436


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35 USING TANGENT CONSTRAINTS 437

Understanding tangent constraints 437


Targe t vec tor 438

Target ob jec t w eights 438Constrained ob jec ts orientation 438

Rolling effects 439

Motion history de pe ndenc e effects 439

Locked channels 440



Crea ting tange nt constra ints 440


Creating a tangent constraint 441

Editing tangent constraints 442

Ed iting ta nge nt c onstraint c hanne ls 442

Ed iting ta nge nt c onstra int a ttributes 442






Dele ting tange nt c onstra ints 446

36 USING POLE VECTOR CONSTRAINTS 447

Unde rstanding p ole vec tor c onstra ints 447

Ta rge t ob jects 448

Ta rget p oint 448


Constrained pole vectorsend position 448

Locked channels 448



Crea ting pole vec tor constra ints 449


Creating a pole vector constraint 450

Editing p ole vec tor constra ints 450

Ed iting p ole vec tor co nstra int cha nnels 450


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CONTENTS

Ed iting p ole vec tor c onstraint a ttributes 450




Offsetting constrained pole vectorsend position 453

Deleting pole vec tor c onstra ints 453

Part 6

Pa rt 6 Chara c ter Sets

37 INTRODUCING CHARACTER SETS 457

Unde rstanding cha ra cte r sets 457

Charac ter node behavior 458Understanding node behavior attributes 458


Workflow summary 459

38 DEFINING CHARACTER SETS 461

Unde rstanding c harac ter set d efinition 461



Crea ting cha ra cter sets 462Setting c rea tion op tions 462

Crea ting a c harac ter set 463

Creating character setswithin character sets 464

Crea ting subcha rac ter sets 464

Editing cha ra cte r se ts 464

Selec ting c harac ter sets 464

Adding channelsto a character set 465

Remo ving c hannelsfrom a c haracte r set 465

Ed iting c ha rac ter set c hanne ls 465

Ed iting c ha rac ter attribute s 466

Ed iting a c harac ter set 466

Viewing a nd ed iting the c haracter pa rtition 467

Me rging cha rac ter sets 468

Deleting character sets 468


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39 ANIMATING CHARACTER SETS 469

Understanding animating characters 469

Setting the c urrent c harac ter Set 470

Keyfra ming c haracter sets 470

Crea ting e xpressions for cha ra cter sets 470

Using motion c a pture for cha ra cter sets 471


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PART 1

CHARACTER SETUP AND MAYA


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C HARAC TER SETUP A ND M AYA CHARACTER SETUP

29

1 INTRODUCING CHARACTERSETUPMaya offers the most sophisticated tools available for setting up characters so that

you can then focus on the creative challenges of character animation.

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CHARACTER SETUP PART1

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INTRODUCING CHARACTERSETUP | 1

Unde rstand ing c harac ter setup

UNDERSTANDING CHARACTER SETUP

Character setup (or rigging) is preparing models and related objects for animation.

A model consists of one or more geometry objects (for example, NURBS or

polygonal surfaces). Preparing the m odel for anima tion includes using Mayas

deformers, skeletons, skinning, constraints, and characters features in the Animation

menu set. This book focuses on these features. For overviews of these features, see

Chapter 2, Character Setup Features.

This book assum es you u nderstand Mayas fundam ental features. To get started

quickly with the several important character setup features, see the Character Setup

lessons in Instant Maya.

Character setup can also involve the use of expressions (see Using M aya: Expressions)

and dyn amics (see Using M aya:D ynamics). As you prepare for animation, you shou ld

think ahead about how you would like to render your characters (see Using Maya:

Rendering). Further, during character setup you m ight want to take ad vantage of

other aspects of Maya, such as Maya Fur an d Maya Cloth.

After you ve set up your characters, youre ready to an imate them. For m ore

information about Mayas animation features, see Using M aya:A nimation.

Model of character

Model set up andready for animation
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How to use thisb ook


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HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

Using M aya: Character Setup is a task-oriented reference. It describes the features of

the Animation menu sets Deform, Skeleton, Skin, Constrain, and Character menus.

(For information abou t the other m enus in th e Animation menu set, refer to Using

Maya: A nimation.)

As you use the features p rovided by the Deform, Skeleton, Skin, Constrain, and

Character menus, u se this book as a reference to find ou t more about th e basic tasks

of character setup. For example, to find out about editing a particular attribute, look

it up in th e index and then turn to the app ropriate section. This book is not meant to

be read straight through, but skimming through it can provide you with an overall

picture of Mayas character setup features.

Character setup by Jason Schleifer


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How to use thisbook


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2 CHARACTER SETUP FEATURESThe character setup features include deformers, skeletons, skinning, constraints, and

characters.

Image and character setupby the Stain X team


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CHARACTERSETUPFEATURES | 2

Using deformers

USING DEFORMERS

Deformers enable you to change the shape of objects. Deformers features are

available in th e Animation m enu sets Deform menu . For m ore information on

deformers, see Chapter 3, Introdu cing Deformers.


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Using skeletons


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USING SKELETONS

Skeletons en able you to create h ierarchical, articulated d eformation effects. Skeletons

features are available from the Animation menu sets Skeleton menu. For more

information on skeletons, see Chapter 18, Introducing Skeletons. After you create a

skeleton, you bind it to objects you w ant to d eform by skinning.


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Skinning

SKINNING

Skinning is setting up a models objects so that they can be deformed by skeletons.

Skinning features are available from the Animation menu sets Skin menu. For more

information on skinning, see Chapter 25, Introducing Skinning.

USING CONSTRAINTS

Constraints enable you to constrain the position, orientation, or scale of an object to

other objects. Constraints features are available from the Animation menu sets

Constrain menu . For more information on constraints, see Chapter 28, Introdu cingConstraints.
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Using character sets


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USING CHARACTER SETS

Character sets bring together all the aspects of a character that you wan t to animate

together. Character sets are available from the Animation menu sets Character

menu. For more information on character sets, see Chapter 37, Introdu cing

Chara cter Sets.


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Using character sets


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PART 2

DEFORMERS


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DEFO RMERS CHARACTER SETUP

41

3 INTRODUCING DEFORMERSMayas deformers enable you to change the shape of objects.

UNDERSTANDING DEFORMERS

With Mayas deformers, you can change the shape of objects. Maya includes the

following types of deformers:

Blend shap e deformers: Blend shap e d eformers let you change the shap e of oneobject into the shapes of other objects. For more information, see Chapter 4, Using

Blend Shape Deformers.

Lattice deformers: Lattice deformers enable you to deform objects with lattices. Formore information, see Chapter 5, Using Lattice Deformers.

Jiggle deformers: Jiggle deformers let you cause points on a surface or curve to shake

as they move, speed u p, or slow d own . For more d etails, see Chapter 7, Using Jiggle

Deformers.

Lattice and squash deformers acting on head
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INTRODUCING DEFORMERS | 3

Und erstand ing d eformers

Cluster deformers: Cluster deformers enable you to control a set of an objects points(CVs, vertices, or lattice points) with varying amounts of influence. For more

information, see Chapter 6, Using Cluster Deformers.

Bend nonlinear deformers: Bend deformers enable you to bend an object along an

arc. For more information, see Chapter 8, Using Bend Non linear Deformers.

Flare nonlinear deformers: Flare deformers enable you to flare or taper an object

about two axes. For more information, see Chapter 9, Using Flare N onlinearDeformers.

Sine nonlinear d eformers: Sine deformers enable you to change to the shap e of anobject along a sine wave. For more information, see Chapter 10, Using Sine

Nonlinear Deformers.

Squash nonlinear deformers: Squash deformers enable you to squ ash and stretchobjects. For more information, see Chapter 11, Using Squash Nonlinear Deformers.

Twist nonlinear d eformers: Twist d eformers enables you to twist the shap e of

objects. For more information, see Chapter 12, Using Twist Nonlinear Deformers.

Wave non linear d eformers: Wave deformers enable you to d eform objects w ith a

circular sine wave and create ripple effects. For more information, see Chapter 13,

Using Wave Nonlinear Deformers. Sculpt deformers: Sculpt deformers enable you to deform objects with a spherical

influen ce object. For m ore informa tion, see Chapter 14, Using Sculpt Deformers.

Wire deformers: Wire deformers enable you to d eform objects with one or m oreNURBS curves. For more information, see Chapter 15, Using Wire Deformers.

Wrinkle deformers: Wrinkle deformers enable you to create detailed wrinkling

effects by combining wire d eformers w ith a cluster d eformer. For m ore information,

see Chapter 16, Using Wrinkle Deformers.

Wrap deformers: Wrap deformers enable you to d eform objects with NURBS

surfaces, NURBS curves, or polygonal surfaces (meshes). For more information, see

Chapter 17, Using Wrap Deformers.

Note that other software packages use the terms mod ifiers and space warp torefer to wh at Maya calls deformers.

Deformable objects, points, and sets

A deformer can create deformation effects on any deformable object. A deformable

object is any object whose structure is defined by control points. Control points

include NU RBS control vertices (CVs), polygona l vertices, and lattice p oints. N URBS

curves, NURBS surfaces, polygonal surfaces (meshes), and lattices are all deformable

objects. For brevity, control points are often called points, and the control points of a

deformable object are often called deformable object points.

Maya Unlimiteds subdivision surfaces are deformable. For more information, see

Using M aya: Su bdivision Su rfaces M odeling.

Using Mayas API development tools, you can define you r ow n, custom d eformable

objects. For more information, see the online M aya Developers Tool Kit

documentation.

A characters model can consist of one deformable object (for example, a large

polygonal surface) or of groups of deformable objects (for example, groups of

NURBS surfaces).
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Unde rstand ing d eformers


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When y ou create a d eformer, Maya p uts all the d eformable object p oints that the

deformer can affect into a set, called a deformer set. You can edit this set; for more

information, see "Editing d eformer set membership" on p age 46.

Nodes, history, and the deformation order

One w ay to think about a scene in Maya is that it is a web of nod es. Each nod e

consists of specific information and actions associated with that information. Eachnod e can receive, hold, and provide information by means of attributes. A nod es

attributes can connect to the attributes of other nod es, thus forming the w eb of

nodes. As you use Mayas interface, Maya creates, connects, evaluates, and destroys

nod es. At any m oment, wh at you see in the w orkspace is the result of how Maya is

continuou sly evaluating the web of nodes that u nderlies and comprises your work.

In short, un derlying everything you do in Maya lies Mayas d ynam ic, node-based

architecture.

Dependency gra ph

Mayas dep endency grap h p rovides a representation of the relationships between

connected nod es. To view the d ependency graph , you can use the H ypergraph (for

more information, see Using M aya: Essent ials).

For any p articular nod e, the depend ency graph shows the nodes history. The nod es

history includes all the n odes that are connected to it, or are connected to nodes th at

are connected to it, and so on . For discussing a nodes history, the terms u pstream

and downstream can be useful. Upstream nodes are nodes that can be evaluated

before the nod e itself is evaluated, and dow nstream nod es are nodes that can be

evaluated only afterthe node itself is evaluated. Note that, from Mayas perspective,

a nodes history includes its future as well as its past.

Deforma tion orde r

Its important to k eep a n odes history in mind wh en using d eformers. The

deformation effect provided by a particular deformer can d epend on w here Maya

places the deformer in the nodes history. The reason is that the deformation effect

can vary dep ending on the order in w hich Maya evaluates the d eformations. The

order in wh ich Maya evaluates deformations is called the deformation order.

In general, you can apply as many deformers to an object as you like. Because the

effects depend on th e order in w hich the d eformers d eform the object, you can create

a grea t var iety of effects. For exam ple, for a N URBS cylinder, if you create a bend

deformer and then create a sine deformer, the result will be different than if you first

created the sine deformer and then created the bend deformer.


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Und erstand ing d eformers

In general, by default, the order in which deformers act on a deformable objects

original shape is the order in which the d eformers w ere created. The d eformerscreated first act on the original shape first, and the deformers created last act on the

original shape last.

Deformation chain

Consider the history of a NURBS sphere being d eformed by one or m ore deformers.

In the dependency graph, the original (undeformed) shape node

(nurbsSphereShapenOrig) would follow immediately after the make nod e

(makeNurbSpheren). Note that Maya sometimes refers to an object d isplayed as the

original shape n ode an intermediate object. Maya places a tweak node (tweakn)

after the original shape n ode (for more information on tw eak nod es, see "Point

tweaking on objects being deformed" on p age 49). After the tw eak nod e, Maya

places the d eformer n odes that carry ou t deformations, typically in the ord er that thedeformers were created. The ord er in w hich Maya places the deformer nodes

downstream from the original shape node determines the deformation order.

How ever, note that you can control deformer placement (see "Deformer placement"

on page 44) when you create a deformer, and change the d eformation order (see

"Changing an objects deformation order" on page 50) after creation. Finally, after

the deformer nod es, Maya places a shape node th at provides the final (deformed)

shape of the sph ere (nurbsSphereShapen).

The spheres history d etermines the d eformation ord er. Because Maya evaluates th e

sphere starting from the make node and working all the way through in order to the

final (deformed) shap e nod e, the node connections involved are said to p rovide a

deformation chain.

Deforme r pla ce ment

When you create a deformer, you can specify the deformers placement in the

deformable objects deformation order (see "Editing advanced deformer creation

options" on page 52). The p lacement can affect the d eformers effect and

performance.

Maya includ es the following d eformation ord er p lacement op tions:

Default placement

Bend followed by sine Sine followed by bendUndeformed cylinder


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Unde rstand ing d eformers


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Before p lacemen t

After placement

Split placement

Parallel placement

Front Of Chain p lacement

Note that after you create a d eformer, you can edit a d eformer n odes placement by

changing the d eformation order (see "Changing an objects deformation order" on

page 50).

Default placement

With Default placement, Maya places the deformer just upstream of (before) the

deformed shape.

Default placement is the same as Before placement unless the deformer is going to

act on a shap e nod e with no history. In this case, the placement will be the same as

After placement.

When you create a n um ber of deformers for an object with Default placement, the

result is a deformation chain whose ord er is the same as the order in w hich youcreated the d eformers.

Before placement

With Before placement, Maya places the deformer immediately upstream of the

deformable objects deformed shape. In the objects history, the deformer will be

placed right before the deformed sha pe.

After plac ement

With After placement, Maya places the deformer imm ediately d ownstream of (after)

the deformable object. You would use After placement to create an intermediate

deformed shape som ewhere in the m iddle of the objects history. Note that w ith

After placement, the original shape of the object is not hidden.

Split placement

With Split placement, Maya splits the deformation into two deformation chains. You

wou ld u se Split placement to d eform an object in tw o w ays at the same time,

creating two final shap es that originate from the same original shape.

Parallel placem ent

With Parallel placement, Maya places the deformer in parallel with the existing

up stream nod es in the objects history, and then blends the effects provided by the

existing up stream nodes an d the deformer. A parallel blender nod e (default nam e:

parallelBlendern) that blends the effects of the existing up stream nod es and the newdeformer w ill be p laced right before the final shap e.

Parallel placement is useful w hen you wan t to blend the influences of several

deformers acting on an object. For example, if for some object you create a bend

deformer w ith Default placement, and then create a Sine d eformer w ith Parallel

placement, you can directly control how m uch influence each deformer has on the

object, blending the influence of each deformer. The parallelBlender node provides a

weight channel for each deformer. You can edit the channels of the parallel blender

node; for more information, see "Editing p arallel blend er channels" on p age 52.


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Editing deformer set membership


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To e dit de forme r set me mbe rship with the Edit Me mb ership Tool:

1 Select Deform > Edit Membership Tool.

2 Select the deformer you wan t to ed it.

3 Go into component selection mode (click the select by component type icon).

The members of the d eformer set w hose joint you selected are d isplayed in yellow.

This set is the currently selected set. Members of other sets are displayed in other

colors. Points d isplayed in dark red are not in a set.

4 To add points to the currently selected set, select them while pressing the Shift keyand left mouse button, and then release the mouse button.

The selected points are now displayed in yellow, indicating they are in the currently

selected s

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