Maya 2011 mesh rigging?

[Draco Silverpath]

Hey! I got the 2011 version of Maya and I've got a fully made character, problem is, I can't for the life of me figure out how to go about rigging the thing for SecondLife import!

 

've poked around and the most I can find is some posts saying somethig about using a blender rig inside Maya, but thats it, no real help.

 

Could someone point me in the right direction please?

 

Thanks!

[Chosen Few]

Are you brand new to rigging in general, or just to the specific requirements for SL?

If it's the former, then forget all about SL for the time being, and focus your efforts toward learning the basic principles of rigging, itself.  Read the Rigging section of your Maya help file to learn about Maya's rigging tools, and follow the tutorials on how to use them.  Once you've got a solid handle on the subject, SL will still be here waiting for you, and you'll have no problem applying your knowledge to its particulars.

 

As for SL's specifics requirements, there are only a few things to know:

1.  You can only use the existing avatar skeleton. Custom skeletons are not supported (yet).

2. All the bones must be named properly.  If you misname so much as a single bone, SL won't be able to understand the rig.

3.  The entire sekeleton must be included in the influences list on every rigged item, even if the model iself does not cover the entire body.  In other words, even bones that have zero influence must be included.   The easiest way to ensure this is simply to make sure the "Remove unused influences" option is uncheckeed in your bind options.

4.  You can only do smooth binds.  SL does not understand Maya's rigid binds.

5.  It's best to work in Z-up orientation, just like SL.  By default, Maya is Y-up.  As you probably know, you can change the global orientation in your Maya preferences.  (Note: changing the orientation haphazardly can screw up some of your existing scenes, so do be careful.)

 

There are lots of pre-made skeleton files floating around.   You can grab the one I use here: http://abbloch.com/slmaya/skeleton.ma

Alaternatively, you can make your own skeleton, if you know all the bone names, and the proper heirarchy.

[Lanfer Christensen]

Any tuts on how to rig a mesh correctly to that skeleton on maya. I model in maya but never did rigging.

A tut would be appreciated!

 

Also got one question. I have a buff human mesh the legs are close together and if i set my mesh like this

the legs are gonna clip in the middle. Can i move the skeleton or it HAS to be in this default position ?

[Chosen Few]

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Lanfer Christensen wrote:

Any tuts on how to rig a mesh correctly to that skeleton on maya. I model in maya but never did rigging.

A tut would be appreciated!

---

I don't have any tutorials specific to that skeleton.  Even if I did, it still wouldn't be specific to your particular model(s), so nothing beyond the general concepts would be directly applicable, anyway.  The good news is there's no need to get specific.  SL can't utilize any of Maya's more advanced rigging features (and neither can most game engines), so it's basically just smooth bind, adjust the weights, and you're done.  Do those tasks well one time, and you've pretty much got it.  You'll be able to apply the same skill to every rig you do, thereafter.

If you search YouTube for "Maya weight painting" there are tons of good video tutorials you can watch.  I just took a quick glance at

, and it looks pretty good.  I didn't watch the whole thing, but what I did see of it covers the basics of weight painting quite well. 

A couple things to note:

1.  See how well the author's model is toplogized?  His edge loops are all beautifully arranged.  (Granted, the fact that it's a cartoon character, rather than a realistic human, makes that a lot easier to acheive.)   The point here is rigging isn't just about the rig.  The geometery of the model itself must be well configured for animation, in order for the rig to be able to act upon it properly.

2.  Minor point, if you're using a different version of Maya, your Paint Skin Weights Tool settings panel might look a little different from the one in the video.  All the same stuff will be in there, only the layout might be a slightly rearranged.

 

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Lanfer Christensen wrote:

Also got one question. I have a buff human mesh the legs are close together and if i set my mesh like this

the legs are gonna clip in the middle. Can i move the skeleton or it HAS to be in this default position ?

---

You can move it, and then use the bone offsets option in the SL uploader, if you really want to.  But you don't necessarily have to.  There's no law that says the bone has to be centered inside the limb.  Depending on the model, it may or may not be advantageous to have it centered.  For example, if the model is built such that the 'femur bone' runs along the model's inner thigh, then the two legs won't clip each other when figure stands with its knees close together.  Make sense?

 

 

[Lanfer Christensen]

Yep! and thank you for the informative reply!