Rigging Sea Creatures in Maya
In this tutorial we will learn how to rig a sea creature in Maya. Software required: Autodesk Maya 2012.
What you'll learn
In this tutorial we will learn how to rig a sea creature in Maya. Throughout the tutorial we'll focus on setting our creature up with creative and intuitive controls. We'll learn how to set up Mel scripts to cut down time on repetitive tasks. We'll learn how to create a proficient vertebrae rig. We'll create an automated overlapping tail system that can be blended into an FK control rig. We'll also explore skinning techniques to reduce the time it takes to edit weights. By the end of this Maya tutorial, you'll have the knowledge you need to create your own aquatic creature rigs, with techniques that can be used on a wide variety of creatures and characters. Software required: Autodesk Maya 2012.
Table of contents
- A Discussion on the Design of the Control Rig 3m
- Prepping the Scene 2m
- Adding Tools and Scripts to Our Shelf 11m
- Building Curves for the Vertebrae and Tail 8m
- Creating Curves for Ribcage and Hip Bones 4m
- Building Bones for the Dorsal Column 5m
- Extra Joints for the Ribcage and Hip 12m
- The Tail Bones 11m
- Adding the Head Bone 3m
- Clusters for the Creature's Front Fin 3m
- Creating Joints Along the Front Fin 6m
- Finishing the Front Fin Joints 9m
- Clusters Along the Back Fin 5m
- Setting up the Back Fin Joints 9m
- Binding the Creature 6m
- Editing the Deformations of the Neck and Head 11m
- Refining the Deformations of the Back Fins 12m
- Correcting the Deformations of the Ribcage and Hip 6m
- Constraining the Vertebrae and Tail Bones to Their Drive Chains 3m
- Spline IK System for the Vertebrae 6m
- Controlling the Midsection of the Vertebrae 6m
- Animation Controls for the Vertebrae 6m
- Finishing the Animation Controls for the Vertebrae 8m
- The Center of Gravity Control 4m
- Starting on the Vertebrae's Twist Rig 9m
- Completing the Twist Rig 10m
- Neck and Head Controls 10m
- Building FK Controls for the Tail 10m
- Continuing the FK Tail Rig 4m
- Connecting Tail Bones to FK Controls / Dynamically Parenting the Tail 4m
- Setting up a Switch for the Tail Control System 5m
- Completing the FK Tail Rig 3m
- Starting the Auto-overlap Rig for the Tail 5m
- Connecting the Tail's Chain to Its Dynamic Curve 7m
- Controlling the Dynamic Tail in Real-time 7m
- Adding a Global Control / Organizing the Scene 5m
- Auxiliary Controls for the Extra Tail Bones 3m
- Rigging the Front Fins 7m
- Finishing the Front Fin Controls 9m
- Setting up the Back Fins 10m
- Dynamically Parenting the Back Fins 6m
- Toe Controls 7m
- Finishing the Toe Controls 3m
- Simulating a Swimming Aquatic Creature 7m
- Controlling the Creature's Swim System 5m
- Finalizing the Control Rig 7m
- A Discussion on Animating the Sea Creature 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