Maya Tutorials -- Rigging for Animation
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I’ll try to keep the “boring” stuff to a minimum, and get right to the point with what you need. There are so many things that you have to pay attention to when rigging that it is easy to forget which end is up. These tips and techniques should help improve your workflow.
Using Different Resolutions:
Having different resolutions of the character you are working with can dramatically increase the speed of your rig. You want to try to avoid animating the High Res version of your character until you have to do it. In my opinion, two or three different levels of resolution will work best ...
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This should just be primitive geometry parented to the joints. Cubes and spheres will work fine. The most important thing is to make sure your proportions are accurate. Don’t worry about trying to match up all the details in the model. Blocking resolution is optional, but if you’re going to have 50 characters is a scene running around, having a blocking res rig is essential.
Low Resolution:
Your low-resolution rig should be more accurately modeled to fit your character. This version could even include a high-resolution head that could be turned on and off so you can do lip-sync animations. Just like with your blocking-res rig, the model parts will be parented to the joints. The important thing is to accurately model all the proportions of your
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High Resolution:
This is your final rig, with the high-res model bound to the joints. Your high-res rig is the one that will be rendered once animation is final, and will be used by the animators to check their low-res animations. Some animation will probably have to be done at the high-res level, but it should be kept to a minimum. Try to avoid using it until absolutely necessary ...
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One solution is to have the low-res and blocking-res rig live in the same file as the high-res. That way, when something in the high-res changes, you can quickly update your low and blocking res versions. Then you just create each resolution from one file. To transfer animation between rigs, you’ll need to use referencing, export/import animation, or have a MEL script that will copy animation from one rig to the next.
I’d like to make a quick note about referencing. I have noticed that many smaller studios use referencing in their pipeline, while larger studios do not. For a smaller studio, referencing makes sense. You can’t spend all day opening and saving 300MB files, so you use referencing to keep file sizes down. Plus you don’t have the MEL scripts or plugins to handle animation transfer, so referencing allows you start animation sooner. Referencing also allows you to animate, texture, and even light a scene all at the same time. I can’t emphasize this enough: Don’t do it.
Importing and exporting animation is a much more widely accepted way of transferring animation. It works great about 90% of the time, until you change the hierarchy in your character. If you do, then you’ll find yourself copying over animations by hand (not fun!). If you know MEL, this is one of those times you should use it to your advantage.
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There are so many different ways now to transfer animation between rigs, it can be confusing. Choosing what’s right for you, or your studio, can be tricky. In the end though, everyone should be comfortable with the workflow.
While using different resolutions can be tedious and time-consuming for TDs, it is considered common procedure for most production houses. Once you’ve overcome the struggles of dealing with separate rigs for the same animation, the process will seem transparent.
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