Enhanced IK Animal Rigging in Maya

Maya 2012

This Maya tutorial will teach the viewer how to rig a mountain lion harnessing the power of Enhanced IK in Maya. In this tutorial, Farley Chery will lead the viewer through the rigors of creating a control rig for one of the great cats using Enhanced IK in Maya 2012. While the tutorial centers on a puma/panther these techniques work on all the great cats and any quadruped with similar anatomy. Much like his prior tutorial Motion Flow Rigging in Maya, and much like the first amazing techniques are unveiled. New ideas on internal automation principles will be explored and old ones expanded on. The artist will create a robust rig with a more straight forward workflow then the previous course, while still providing examples of problem solving techniques that arise when creating a complex rig. The tutorial focuses on presenting new or different techniques wherever possible for comparison with more established systems. Rigging one of the great cats with enhanced IK makes for a very flexible control rig. The base system of Enhanced IK though is versatile enough to use with many other methodologies in Maya. Enhanced IK greatly improves the functionality of Inverse Kinematics in Maya. By the end of this Maya tutorial you will be armed with techniques to make efficient and robust rigs for feline and canine quadrupeds, utilizing an enhanced control rig that is ready to be modified and finalized with your preferred hierarchies and dynamic parenting setups.