![]() ![]() Just a quick note on the relationship between the steps and the video for this tutorial: usually, I try to keep the steps in sync with the video, but as skinning is a bit of a different beast, you may find that they do not tally exactly. I tend to do this at numerous stages throughout the skinning process as it allows me to get a good feel for how the character deforms as a whole. After that, we can simply mirror the weights over. As our character is symmetrical, on a positive, we only need to focus on skinning half the mesh. The further 20% will be handed through secondary deformation methods that we'll look at further next time. We'll be aiming to get the skinning to take care of around 80% of the final outcome. We'll use a multitude of tools for this, such as the Component Editor and then the Weight Hammer. Lastly, we will go through and examine the deformation with a fine-toothed comb and fix any anomalies. If you are going for a cartoony feel, though, you may try to avoid adding the inclusion of wrinkles and folds. While we are doing this, we will want to maintain as many of the natural creases and bulges that occur as the body articulates. After all, it's the movement between poses we need to focus on, not just the key poses that we hit. During this stage, we will also set many keyframes on the rig to get a better idea of how the mesh transitions from one pose to another. After the initial blocking, we will then go through and smooth out the weights between 2 to 3 joints at a time. ![]() What we will end up with at this stage is a very chunky looking mesh as it deforms. As much as Maya will do its dandiest to do a great job, I simply like to have the final say. This is the blocking stage and the reason I do this rather than simply fixing what needs fixing is because I want to be fully responsible for the weighting of the character. Once we have created the initial bind, we will then get rid of the default calculation by making every joint have 100% influence over the vertices that surround it. With that in mind, here is a rundown of how I will tackle the joys of skinning. This way, I don't get bogged down in the fine details early on and then realize I need to make some drastic broad changes. That is to break it down into the 3 distinct stages: blocking, smoothing and refining. I tend to employ the same method for skinning as I do the majority of CG tasks that I deal with. However, if the skinning hasn't first been pushed to its limits, then these blend shapes and muscle setups will simply not cut the mustard. We can always use extra tools and techniques to push the believability of the deformation, such as using corrective blend shapes or a muscle setup. It is here that we create the foundation from which the majority of the deformation will come. For me, it is imperative that we spend as much time as possible refining the skinning for our characters. Once this relationship has been created, we will refine the initial bind calculation through a process known as painting weights. We will create this relationship using a skinning solution known as Smooth Bind in Maya. By doing so, we define how our skeleton will deform the geometry. So what is it exactly? Skinning is the process of assigning how much influence a joint should have over a vertex. I'll refer to it throughout this tutorial as skinning. Maya rigging: Introduction to rigging Maya rigging: Introduction to rigging a human torso Maya rigging: Introduction to rigging the neck and the head Maya rigging: Introduction to rigging the shoulder and the arms Maya rigging: Introduction to rigging the hands Maya rigging: Introduction to rigging the legs Maya rigging: Introduction to rigging the feet Maya rigging: Introduction to rigging the fingers and thumbs Maya rigging: Introduction to cleaning up the rig We have now reached the stage that is known variously as enveloping, binding or skinning. ![]() Jahirul continues his Maya rigging series by detailing the steps involved in skinning your rig with the help of an hour and a half-long videoĬlick here to download assets to accompany the final 3 parts of this tutorial ![]()
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