Animating Next-Gen Characters in Maya

Learn a production workflow to game animation and time-saving methods for creating game-ready characters rigs, non-linear animation, and adding appeal. Contains over 6 hours of project-based training for artists learning character animation for next-generation games.

Popular highlights include: Rigging Techniques for Games; Scene Organization; Custom Shelves; Creating Control Objects with MEL; Constraints; Advanced Spline IK Twist control; Alias Attributes; Binding Techniques; Rotation Order; Follow-through; Exaggeration; Arcs; Timing and Spacing; Weight; Cycling Animation; Animated Transitions; Character Sets; Trax Editor;* You may use Maya version 8.0 and up to follow along with the training. X-Ray Joints is the only feature that we discuss that is available in Maya version 2008 and up only.

1. Preparing the scene for rigging 3. Creating MEL buttons to generate control objects 5. Setting up control objects for the legs 7. Building the spine 9. Establishing the hip and chest control objects 11. Efficiently controlling the neck and head 13. Building the left arm 15. Custom attributes for the fingers 17. Setting up the forearm twist via the Connection Editor 19. Manipulating the back hoses 21. Adding Character and Sub-Character Sets 23. Adding influence to the chest plate and shoulder pads 25. Fixing the deformations of the fingers 27. Modifying the weights of the back hoses 29. Starting the run animation / posing the contact position of the run 31. Cycling the run / fine-tuning the flow of the lower body 33. Shifting the hips in the Z axis 35. Adding follow-through to the upper body and head in the X axis 37. Wrapping up the upper body 39. Finishing the arms 41. Adding follow-through to the back hoses; finishing the run cycle 43. Enhancing the planted foot during the point animation 45. Creating animation clips to quickly retrieve animation data 47. Bonus: Animating transitions

2. Building a custom shelf 4. Constructing the character's legs 6. Finishing the leg controls 8. Rigging the spine using the Spline IK tool 10. Finalizing the spine controls 12. Finishing the head rig 14. Controlling the left arm 16. Rigging the right arm 18. Controlling the shoulder pads 20. Utilizing Global Scale 22. Binding the character to the skeleton 24. Painting weights on the hip 26. Adding falloff to the right arm's hose 28. Choosing a suitable rotation order for control objects 30. Animating the peak position of the run 32. Finalizing the legs 34. Keeping the upper body balanced throughout the run 36. Animating the twisting of the upper body and head during the run 38. Starting on the arms 40. Animating the shoulder pads 42. Upper body recoil for the point animation 44. Creating arm jiggle to show the weight of the weapon 46. Other animation examples 48. Bonus: Removing attributes from Character Sets