Maya: Character Rigging

Learn how to rig a character from scratch in Maya. Discover how to create joints and controls for effective animation.

Introduction

• Rig a character from scratch in Maya
• Make the most of the exercise files

1. Getting Started

• Rigs and interface design
• Basic rules of rigging
• Creating joints
• Rotation order and joint flipping
• Creating constraints
• Connections in the Node Editor
• Offset nodes
• Offset Parent Matrix

2. Creating Skeletons

• Setting up the character
• Drawing the leg chains
• Drawing the spine
• Adding ribs to the skeleton
• Positioning arm bones
• Creating hand skeletons
• Finalizing the skeleton

3. Creating Leg and Foot Controls

• Positioning the foot control splines
• Setting up IK leg chains
• Rigging the heel and toe controls
• Controlling the hip
• Controlling knee direction
• Organizing control rigs

4. Creating Body Controls

• Aligning the body controls
• Connecting body controls
• Setting up the spine controls
• Connecting spine controls
• Creating shoulder controls

5. Creating FK and IK Controls

• Understanding FK and IK rigging
• Creating control skeletons
• Constraining the control skeletons
• Connecting the main skeleton
• Creating floating controls
• Wiring up the FK and IK switch
• Hiding and showing controls

6. Rigging Hands

• Setting up offset nodes
• Setting up finger FK controls
• Creating custom attributes
• Getting the fingers to curl
• Controlling finger spread

7. Skinning Characters

• Preparing the skeleton for skinning
• Applying the skin modifier
• Adjusting skinning via paint weights
• Fine tuning weighting
• Mirroring weights

Conclusion

• Next steps