Learn to Rig a Complex Quadruped in Maya for Games and Film

Name: Learn to Rig a Complex Quadruped in Maya for Games and Film
Rating: 3.9 (72 reviews)

Everything you need to know to understand rigging a complex, 4-legged character for games!

Created by3dmotive LLC

Last updated 4/2017

English

English [Auto],

What you'll learn

Create IK/FK rig systems in Maya
Understand rigging Spline IK systems
Learn to deal with the unique challenges of rigging a quadruped character or creature

Course content

4 sections • 36 lectures • 6h 34m total length

Download Course Files Here!0:04
Introduction and Course Overview1:12
Master quadrupedal rigging in Maya for games and film, applying practical standards, skinning to joints, and creating a control rig with a spline to move hips and shoulders.
Zeroing Controls16:41
Master rigging fundamentals by learning how to create and manage clean controllers using NURBS curves, and zero them with a zero node to preserve world orientation without freezing transforms.
Joint Basics7:50
Master laying down joints in Maya by using the joint tool, understanding scale compensate, and managing joint orientate and auto orientation; freeze transforms to keep clean rotations and stable parenting.
Planning Our Skeleton11:39
Plan the quad wolf skeleton by laying joints along anatomy, choosing a stable Z-based rotate order, and establishing a three-joint, plane-constrained rig for animator control.
Joint Layout19:43
Position and name the quadruped joint layout in Maya. Use x-ray view and axis translation for accurate placement, and name joints consistently with left and right distinctions.
Binding the Mesh13:24
Block out and paint weights on the mesh to test deformations, skin to the joints, set max influences for game engines, and apply classic linear skinning with a skin cluster.

Introduction0:24
Complete the skinning of our quadruped character to its initial skeleton and prepare a control rig to animate the skeleton in Maya.
Skinning the Back Legs9:49
Master skin weighting for a quadruped back leg in Maya by pruning small weights, zeroing unused influences, cleaning left/right influences in the component editor, and mirroring with normalization.
Skinning the Back Legs - Refinement10:05
Refine skinning of the back legs in Maya by painting weights and adjusting normalization, balancing brush techniques, and considering platform targets from mobile efficiency to console headroom.
Skinning the Back and Tail16:12
Detach the skin and keep history, then rescan with new joints for clean skinning on a quadruped. Smooth weights with the weight hammer and manage bind poses for game engines.
Skinning the Front Legs14:06
Fine-tune weight painting and joint placement for the front legs of a complex quadruped in Maya, balancing bending and twisting motions to fit game-engine needs.
Skinning the Neck and Head14:35
Learn how to skin the neck and head of a quadruped in Maya, using a joint chain to improve deformations, weights mirroring, and gameplay considerations for game engines.

Introduction0:54
Explore building a control rig for a quadruped in Maya, focusing on the tail and back leg, setting up IK systems and controllers, and integrating with a three-bone doglike rig.
Preparing to Rig the Tail10:55
Rig a tail in Maya using a control library and a script for copy-paste translate and rotate. Align controls to joints with zero-based arrays and a UI in world space.
Rigging the Tail11:10
Learn tail rigging best practices in Maya: establish a consistent _CTRL naming convention, use zero nodes and a control group, and manage display colors with layer overrides.
Creating the Back Leg FK Rig15:36
Create a back leg ik/fk control rig in Maya, using Blender to blend between ik and fk. Manage NURBS curve controls, shape nodes, and naming for a clean, animatable rig.
Creating the Back Leg IK Rig9:20
Learn to build a back leg IK rig in Maya, choosing ankle placement, naming conventions, and solver options like rotate plane, single chain, and splint IK for animator-friendly control.
Setting Up Plane Driver14:19
Create a clean plane driver for a quadruped leg by adding a pull vector control to a two-joint chain, align with a pole vector, and name and freeze rotations.
Finishing the Back Leg IK Handles15:22
Finish the back leg rig by using a rotate plane solver, blending IK and FK with a cable attribute, and implementing floor contact via a marker.
Setting Up Foot Pivots10:17
Add foot pivots on floor contacts, including medial and lateral pivots with empty groups, then implement reverse foot setup with a pull vector control to align rotations and toe lifts.
Setting Driven Keys19:47
Learn to drive quadruped pivot controls in Maya with set driven keys, blending multiple curves for heel, roll, rock, and lift to give animators additive, conflict-free control.
Finishing the Rear Leg14:30
Finish the rear leg rig in Maya for a quadruped by balancing automation and animator control, using direct connections in local space to align the pull vector with the foot.

Introduction0:57
Introduction to rigging a complex quadruped in Maya, showing the left-side rig with the back leg and tail, while the right side remains for you to practice.
Building the Front Leg FK Rig6:20
Build the front leg FK rig by duplicating joints into FK controls, snapping and reshaping shapes to the leg, and color-coding for a clear skinning workflow in Maya.
Building the Front Leg IK Rig19:22
Rig the front leg IK system for a quadruped by building a scapula-driven control, configuring the plane driver, and duplicating and renaming pivots for consistent movement.
Dealing with Maya Quirks7:09
Explore practical rigging tips for a quadruped in Maya, including using the hypergraph and connection editor. Learn how explicit naming and Maya quirks—like twists that reset after reopen—affect the rig.
Resetting the Driven Keys17:33
learn to copy set driven keys with maya's bonus tools, rename pivots to avoid conflicts, and adjust driven key setups for a quadruped rig using worldspace positions and parent constraints.
Creating the Main Controls8:29
Create the main controls for a complex quadruped rig in Maya, including two bottom move-rotate controllers and a top god mode control, with color coding and a clean hierarchy.
Rigging the IK Back16:10
Learn to rig a quadruped in Maya by combining spline IK under an FK rig to animate shoulders and hips independently. Explore duplicating joints, curve setup, and pole vector control.
Rigging the FK Back14:12
Rig the FK back for a quadruped in Maya by creating readable controls and spine references named spine one and spine two, using constraints for translates and rotates.
Stretchy Spline IK9:40
Apply stretchy spline ik to a quadruped spine by measuring curve length with arclen, normalizing it to 1, and driving joints with multiply-divide nodes for squash and stretch.
Head and Neck11:11
rig the head and neck of a quadruped in maya by duplicating and orienting joints, building a linear spine ik curve, and enabling twist control with skin and bind poses.
Repairing the Rig9:33
Repairing the rig involves detaching the skin, resetting controls, and realigning shifted parts to restore quadruped alignment in Maya, including turning off IK and snapping components to a new home.
Finishing the Head and Neck Rig - and course wrapup15:49
Finish the head and neck rig with local/global switching, reverse nodes, and constraints; explore object up vectors and spline IK, then wrap up the quadruped rig with FK/IK.
Bonus Lecture: Further Learning with 3dmotive0:18

Requirements

Autodesk's Maya

Description

Quadrupeds come in various types, and they all have their own unique needs, but in this module we will rig a canine character which covers many of the unique problems in rigging a quadruped. Some of these problems include how to deal with the back leg and setting up a spline ik for the back.

In the first module we will analyze the problem we are attempting to solve. We will start with talking about some basic rigging processes we will use throughout the modules, and then discuss how we will lay out our joints. At the end, we will bind our mesh to the joints and begin skinning. In the second module we will go through the process of skinning our character using tools such as the Paint Weights Tool, the Prune Small Weights function, and the Component Editor. In the third module, we start building the control rig to drive our bind joints, focusing on a simple FK control structure for the tail, and then working on the back dog leg In our fourth and final module, we will finish the rig, completing the front leg as well as the spine and the head/neck area. We will also illustrate how we can deal with some of the quirks we stumble over in Maya and how to overcome and troubleshoot your rig.

(Students - please look under Section 1 / Lecture 1 downloads for the source files associated with the lesson.)

More about the Instructor:

Chad Robert Morgan started his career in computer games and animated film after his tour in the US Navy and using his veteran’s benefits to attend Sonoma State University in northern California. His first job in the industry was at LucasArts - where he was introduced to Maya and mentored by some of the best people in the industry. From there he spent some time working at ReelFX before moving back to California and joining The Collective, which eventually became Double Helix and worked on such titles as Silent Hill : Homecoming, Strider, and Killer Instinct. Chad has taught several Maya Master Classes for Autodesk and has an article published in 3DWorld magazine. Chad now runs his own fledgling company, Spectral Ink Productions, and works for clients such as WhiteMoon Dreams and UCI.

Who this course is for:

All those who want to improve their character rigging skills, and understanding of the challenges that rigging brings

Learn to Rig a Complex Quadruped in Maya for Games and Film

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Understanding Joints in Quadrupeds7 lectures • 1hr 11min

Intro to Rigging the Back, Legs, and Tail6 lectures • 1hr 5min

Learning IK Rigging and Set Driven Keys10 lectures • 2hr 2min

Refining the IK and RK setups, and Rig Polish13 lectures • 2hr 17min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: