Chapter 8: Deformations and Rigging

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Maya 8 at a Glance

• Chapter 8 Deformations and Rigging

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Nonlinear Deformers
Bend
Flare
Sine
Squash
Twist
Wave
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Additional Deformers

• Clusters A collection of vertices that can be
  transformed to alter the shape of an object
• Soft Modification A tool allowing you to push
  and pull geometry
• Lattices Uses a 3D grid of points as a way to
  deform the overall shape of an object

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Additional Deformers

• Sculpt Deformers Uses influence objects to
  create bulging effects
• Wire Tool Uses a NURBS curve to deform a surface
• Wrap Deformers Allows a low-res mesh to deform a
  more complex model
• Jiggle Deformers Creates a jiggle motion as the
  object moves

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Blend Shapes

• Allow you to change the shape of one object to
  match another
• Commonly used in facial animation
• A base object can morph along percentages to
  blend multiple targets

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Basics of Joints

• Joints are used to guide deformations using the
  skinning tools
• Joints form hierarchies making up a complete
  skeleton

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Inverse Kinematics

• IK automatically rotates a chain of joints
• End points can be positioned using translation
  instead of rotation
• Good for character limbs, such as legs and arms

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Inverse Kinematics Solvers

• Single Chain Solver Rotates the joints so that
  they all lie along a fixed plane
• Rotate Plane Solver Adds a manipulator to rotate
  the chain around an axis
• Spline IK Employs a curve to control the joints
  and their rotations
• Spring IK Solver Rotates bone chains
  proportionally across all affected joints

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Full Body IK

• Automates much of the IK creation
• Consolidates a full body of IK into one body
  solver

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Constraints

• Point Causes one object to move to and follow
  the position of another object
• Aim Constrains an objects orientation so the
  object aims at other objects
• Pole Vector Causes an IK chains pole vector to
  move to and follow the position of an object

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Skin Binding

• Rigid Bind Breaks each part of the surface into
  clusters that are associated with a joint
• Smooth Bind Allows individual vertices to be
  weighted across multiple joints
• Flexors Lattices, volumes, and clusters that
  deform an object based on joint angles

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