Rigging Cartoon Vehicles in Maya
Learn a production workflow for creating vehicle rigs with emphasis on cartoon performance, squash and stretch rigging techniques, and the principles of building solution-based rigs for easy animation. Software required: Maya 8 and up (2008 required for project files.)
What you'll learn
Contains over 8 hours of project-based training for setup artists and animators learning the processes of creating intuitive cartoon rigs with animator-friendly controls. Perfect for experienced artists. Popular highlights include: Creating Customized Tools; Squash and Stretch Tools; Custom Tools for Pinning Objects; Maintaining Volume with Squash & Stretch; Creating MEL Scripts; Creating Illusion of Weight on Tires; Automating Follow-through in Antenna; Automating Revolving Lights; Intuitive Control for Steering Wheel; Rigging with Non-linear Deformers; Rigging Doors and Windows; Automating the Car Idle; Setting up Proxy Meshes; Adding a Smooth Node Switch; Creating Control Objects; Attaching Vehicles to Motion Paths; Binding to Lattices; Creating Exhaust Sputter. Software required: Maya 8 and up (2008 required for project files.)
Table of contents
- Creating a MEL Script for Snapping Objects 11m
- Starting the Wagon Rig 8m
- Creating Bones to Deform the Vehicle 11m
- Designing a MEL Window to Apply Squash and Stretch to the Rig 9m
- The Execution Command for the Squash and Stretch Tool 12m
- Finishing the Squash and Stretch Tool 16m
- Adding Volume to the Squash and Stretch of the Vehicle 10m
- Finishing the Squash and Stretch Setup of the Vehicle 6m
- Creating the Initial Controls 8m
- Finishing the Vehicle Body Control Objects / Adding a Twist Deformation 14m
- Making the Proxy Cage for the Vehicle 9m
- Controlling the Spinning of the Police Light 10m
- Connecting Objects to Polygon Meshes 12m
- Beginning the Setup for the Antenna 7m
- Connecting the Antenna to the Mesh 7m
- Finishing the Antenna 0m
- The Setup Process for the Doors 11m
- Adding a Control Object to the Front Right Door 11m
- Finishing the Front Right Door 8m
- Working on the Front Left Door 18m
- Starting Setup of the Steering Wheel 9m
- Wrapping up the Steering Wheel 3m
- Starting on the Back Doors 10m
- Final Tweaks for the Back Left Door 6m
- Beginning the Right Back Door 5m
- Finishing the Right Back Door / Starting on the Back Lock 11m
- Finishing the Back Lock 10m
- Beginning the Setup of the Exhaust 10m
- Finishing the Exhaust Rig 2m
- Rigging the Siren with Non-linear Deformers 10m
- Tying the Non-linear Deformers Together to Create a Noisy Siren Effect 6m
- Final Tweaks for the Siren Rig 12m
- Starting on the Tires: Creating Control Objects 7m
- Connecting the Tire to the Control Object and Setting up a Tire Follow Switch 12m
- Looking into Ways to Rig the Tires to Revolve 12m
- Creating the Illusion of Weight on the Tire 7m
- Working on the Connections Between the Tire Control and Squash Deformer 7m
- Completing the Back Right Tire 7m
- Moving on to the Back Left Wheel 12m
- Applying the Revolve Expression to the Rear Left Tire 4m
- Adding the Squash Deformer to the Rear Left Wheel 8m
- Starting Our Work on the Front Left Tire 9m
- Wrapping up the General Connections of the Front Left Tire 9m
- Setting up the Steering Control 4m
- Working on the Last Wheel 7m
- Finishing the Rig for the Last Tire 7m
- Creating the Wagon Idle Expression 9m
- Adding the Idle Shake to the Hood 9m
- Making Character Sets for the Vehicle 9m
- Determining a Good Rotation Order and Writing a MEL Script to Quickly Apply It 5m
- Smoothing the Wagon Model and Setting up a Control to Switch Between Smooth Levels 11m
- Concepts for Adding a Vehicle to a Motion Path 15m
- Bonus: Explanation of the Connect to Mesh (CTM) Tool 6m