Rigging Wings in Maya
In this Maya tutorial, we will learn how to rig a wing. Software required: Maya 2011 and up.
What you'll learn
In this Maya tutorial, we will learn how to rig a wing. We will first cover some things to consider when constructing the control rig. From there, we will set up the wing, step by step, making sure the system we build will be sufficient to the needs of an animator. We will also build a few MEL scripts to work efficiently. Software required: Maya 2011 and up.
Table of contents
- Understanding the Wing 1m
- Building the Primary Bones of the Wing 8m
- Adding Extra Joints for the Wing Fold 6m
- Creating the Feather Bones 7m
- Binding the Wing 7m
- Setting up the Primary Animation Controls of the Wing 14m
- Auxiliary Wing Controls 7m
- Finishing the Auxiliary Controls 10m
- First Level of Fanning Controls for the Feathers 8m
- Creating a System for Extra Feather Controls 3m
- Building Twist Controls for the Feathers 5m
- Connecting the Twist Parameters to the Control Objects 10m
- Applying the Blend Shapes 7m
- Second Level of Fanning Controls for the Feathers 5m
- Creating Controls to Fan the Feathers Collectively 5m
- Finishing the Feather Spread Rig 10m
- Starting on the Bend Rig for the Feathers 10m
- Painting Weights on the Feathers 10m
- Bend Controls for the Feathers 6m
- Refining the Weights of the Curves Tied to the Clusters 11m
- Connecting the Clusters to the Mid Feather Controls 4m
- Bend Controls for the End of the Feathers 5m
- Animation Controls for the End Clusters 10m
- Finishing the End Controls of the Feathers 7m
- Automating the Wing Fold 5m
- Layering the Wing as It Folds In 4m
- Correcting the Feathers During the Wing Fold 9m
- Completing the Wing Fold System 8m
- Cleaning up the Scene 5m
- Fixing Interpenetration as the Wing Deforms 7m
- Setting up Character Sets 4m
About the author
Delano works avidly as an animation author at Pluralsight. Starting his career at animation studios like Shilo, Delano has developed a strong passion for his talents. His animation and rigging background help him teach and create some of the most-watched training on Pluralsight. A few of his favorite projects that he has contributed to include: Character Interaction in Maya and in Softimage, Rigging the Human Face in Maya, Rigging Sea Creatures in Maya, and Rigging and Animating Transforming... more