I have delved into the Autodesk Maya 2010 Modelling and Animation Handbook (Intermediate). So far, I have followed the first chapter on rigging. The technique I am currently addressing is 'joints'. These resemble bones in 3ds Max, but with a name change in theory comes different techniques and approaches. Also, the joints are joined together with spheres (similar to the custom spline controller made in 3ds Max).
The rig I have made in Maya currently has all four limbs, feet, toes, fingers, spine and a head with jaw bone. One interesting difference I have discovered so far is the way in which twist bones are created. In 3ds Max, it is a case of laying a new series of bones onto of the appropriate bone (such as twist bones onto the lower arm). These can be created from scratch, or duplicated from the original bone. With Maya, there is a specific button to press called 'Create Roll Joint'. Then, by dragging across the appropriate bone, this splits it into two and has the rotational properties similar to that of a 3ds Max twist bone (also resembles the refine bone tool). So far, the process has been very logical, and has taken a less time to navigate around. In addition, the use of what is known as the Hypergraph Editor has proven to be a great way of organising and and viewing items in the scene, plus their hierarchy and chains. Here is the hypergraph's interpretation of the scene, which I have broken down with headings (this has been split up into two as the image is long):
This approach is great for wanting to highlight or select a specific bone and makes the hierarchy visually accessible. Ono top of this, Maya's Mirror joint system is much better at dealing with mirroring rigged items as it allows for re-labelling. For Example, If I have a foot with items all starting with 'LeftFoot', I can tell the mirror tool to replace all of these labels with 'RightFoot'. This saves time and makes the rig overall much more organised.
Note: Clicking on the image will increase it's size and allow for a closer look. Alternatively, I have provided a short video which can be viewed by sleeting the link.
Early joints / rig overview - LINK
Hierarchy view - LINK
The rig I have made in Maya currently has all four limbs, feet, toes, fingers, spine and a head with jaw bone. One interesting difference I have discovered so far is the way in which twist bones are created. In 3ds Max, it is a case of laying a new series of bones onto of the appropriate bone (such as twist bones onto the lower arm). These can be created from scratch, or duplicated from the original bone. With Maya, there is a specific button to press called 'Create Roll Joint'. Then, by dragging across the appropriate bone, this splits it into two and has the rotational properties similar to that of a 3ds Max twist bone (also resembles the refine bone tool). So far, the process has been very logical, and has taken a less time to navigate around. In addition, the use of what is known as the Hypergraph Editor has proven to be a great way of organising and and viewing items in the scene, plus their hierarchy and chains. Here is the hypergraph's interpretation of the scene, which I have broken down with headings (this has been split up into two as the image is long):
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| Part One |
Note: Clicking on the image will increase it's size and allow for a closer look. Alternatively, I have provided a short video which can be viewed by sleeting the link.
Early joints / rig overview - LINK
Hierarchy view - LINK
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| Part Two |
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