top of page

CHARACTER RIGGING

MAYA

Autodesk-Maya-logo.png
3ds-max-icon-400px.png

Quick Navigation

Biped Setup

BASE / TORSO / NECK
LEG / KNEE / FOOT
ARM / ELBOW
HAND / FINGERS
MIRRORING / SKINNING
IKFK MATCHING
FACIAL  SETUP

Quadruped Setup

Anchor BaseTosoNeck
BIPED - BASE / TORSO / NECK
QUADRUPED RIGGING
STRETCHY SPINE / NECK / ROPE

CHAPTER 1

 

Creating a Character Rig : 

Common rigging pitfalls

CHAPTER 2

 

Creating a Character Rig : 

Basic spline torso

CHAPTER 3

Creating a Character Rig : 

Torso IK controls, rotation orders, and twist

CHAPTER 4

 

Creating a Character Rig : 

Torso FK controls

CHAPTER 5

 

Creating a Character Rig : 

Torso squash and stretch

CHAPTER 6

 

Creating a Character Rig : 

Torso global transform and cleanup

CHAPTER 7

Creating a Character Rig : 

Basic spline neck

CHAPTER 8

 

Creating a Character Rig : 

Neck controls and squash/stretch

CHAPTER 9

 

Creating a Character Rig : 

Neck space switching and cleanup

Dynamics

MUSCLE
JOINTS DYNAMIC
BODY MUSCLE
DYNAMIC ROPE RIG

Constraints

PARENT / BLEND PARENT
POINT
ORIENT
AIM
POINT ON POLY
CLOSEST POINT
GEOMETRY
TANGENT
MOTION PATH

Utility Nodes

CONDITION 
MULTIPLY DIVIDE
PLUS MINUS AVERAGE
BLEND COLORS
CLAMP
REVERSE
SAMPLER INFO

Deformers

BLEND SHAPE
LATTICE
WRAP
SHRINK WRAP
WIRE
TEXTURE
DELTA MUSH
CURVE WRAP
WRINKLE

Corrective Shapes

BLEND SHAPE
POSE SPACE
TENSION
COMBINATION
Anchor LegKneeFoot
BIPED - LEG / KNEE / FOOT

CHAPTER 1

 

Creating a Character Rig : 

Basic IK, FK, and result leg joints

CHAPTER 2

Creating a Character Rig : 

Leg settings switch with IK / FK attribute

CHAPTER 3

 

Creating a Character Rig : 

Leg FK controls and joint stretching

CHAPTER 5

 

Creating a Character Rig : 

No flip knee for IK leg

CHAPTER 6

Creating a Character Rig : 

Dual knee solution

CHAPTER 7

 

Creating a Character Rig : 

Snappable knee

CHAPTER 9

 

Creating a Character Rig : 

Leg global transform, space switching, and cleanup

CHAPTER 10

Creating a Character Rig : 

Reverse foot rig

CHAPTER 11

 

Creating a Character Rig : 

Smart foot roll

CHAPTER 4

 

Creating a Character Rig : 

Leg IK controls and joint stretching

CHAPTER 8

 

Creating a Character Rig : 

Non-uniform no flip IK leg stretch and automatic IK FK toggle

CHAPTER 12

 

Creating a Character Rig : 

Complementary foot controls and cleanup

Anchor ArmElbow
BIPED - ARM / ELBOW

CHAPTER 1

 

Creating a Character Rig : 

Basic Twist Arm

CHAPTER 2

Creating a Character Rig : 

Stretch IK/FK arms

CHAPTER 3

 

Creating a Character Rig : 

Snappable elbow

CHAPTER 4

 

Creating a Character Rig : 

Toggling Squash and Stretch

CHAPTER 5

 

Creating a Character Rig : 

IK/FK hybrid elbow

CHAPTER 6

 

Creating a Character Rig : 

Translation-based shoulder rig

CHAPTER 7

Creating a Character Rig : 

Arm global transform and cleanup

Anchor HandFingers
BIPED - HAND / FINGERS

CHAPTER 1

 

Creating a Character Rig : 

Basic hand joints

CHAPTER 2

 

Creating a Character Rig : 

Compound finger controls

CHAPTER 3

 

Creating a Character Rig : 

Palm controls

CHAPTER 4

Creating a Character Rig : 

Hand global transform and cleanup

Anchor MirrorSkin
BIPED - MIRRORING / SKINNING

CHAPTER 1

 

Creating a Character Rig : 

Mirroring

CHAPTER 2

 

Creating a Character Rig : 

Skinning

CHAPTER 3

 

Interactive Skin Binding

Anchor IkfkMatching
BIPED - IKFK MATCHING

CHAPTER 1

 

Creating a Character Rig : 

Matching the FK arm to the IK arm

CHAPTER 5

 

Creating a Character Rig : 

Matching the automatic IK knee

CHAPTER 2

 

Creating a Character Rig : 

Matching the IK arm to the FK arm

CHAPTER 6

 

Creating a Character Rig : 

Freezing IK controls

CHAPTER 3

Creating a Character Rig : 

Matching arm lengths

CHAPTER 4

 

Creating a Character Rig : 

Matching leg joints

BIPED - FACIAL SETUP
Anchor Facial

CHAPTER 1

 

Basic facial rigging using joint controls

CHAPTER 2

 

Basic facial rigging : Eye blink setup using blend shapes

CHAPTER 3

Basic facial rigging using blend shapes

CHAPTER 4

Basic facial rigging : blend shapes and cluster controls

CHAPTER 5

Sticky lips setup

Anchor QuadRigging
QUADRUPED RIGGING

CHAPTER 1

 

Building a skeleton and starting weights

CHAPTER 2

 

Continuing the weighting of the cat ending on the face

CHAPTER 3

Building controls

CHAPTER 4

Stretchy Spine / Neck / Rope

Anchor Dynamics
DYNAMICS

CHAPTER 1

 

Creating Muscles

CHAPTER 2

 

Make Joints Dynamic

CHAPTER 3

Creating body muscle

CHAPTER 4

Dynamic Rope Rig

Anchor Constraints
CONSTRAINTS

CHAPTER 1

 

Parent Constraint / Blend Parent

CHAPTER 5

Point on Poly Constraint

CHAPTER 9

Tangent Constraint

CHAPTER 2

Point Constraint

CHAPTER 6

Closest Point Constraint

CHAPTER 3

 

Orient Constraint

CHAPTER 7

Geometry Constraint

CHAPTER 4

 

Aim Constraint

CHAPTER 8

Normal Constraint

CHAPTER 10

Motion Path

Anchor Tangent
Anchor UtilityNodes
UTILITY NODES

CHAPTER 1

Condition Node

CHAPTER 5

Clamp Node

CHAPTER 2

Multiply Divide Node

CHAPTER 6

Reverse Node

CHAPTER 3

PlusMinusAverage Node

CHAPTER 4

BlendColors Node

CHAPTER 7

Sampler Info Node

DEFORMERS
Anchor Deformers

CHAPTER 1

Blend Shape Deformer

CHAPTER 5

Wire Deformer

CHAPTER 9

Wrinkle Deformer

CHAPTER 2

Lattice Deformer

CHAPTER 6

Texture Deformer

CHAPTER 3

Wrap Deformer

CHAPTER 7

Delta Mush Deformer

CHAPTER 4

Wrap Shrink Deformer

CHAPTER 8

Curve Wrap Deformer

CORRECTIVE SHAPES
Anchor CorrectiveShapes

CHAPTER 1

Corrective Blend Shapes

CHAPTER 2

Pose Space Deformer

CHAPTER 3

Tension Deformer

CHAPTER 4

Combination : Delta Mush + Cloth Sim + Dual Quaternion Skin

bottom of page