CGTalk - Influence Objects in Maya?

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M-J

06-27-2002, 11:22 PM

hi everyone, sorry for double-posting (i posted this also in the animation forum), but it's quite software-specific...

has anyone ever tried out influence objects in maya? do you think they are better than blendshapes?

i'm asking because i'm trying to rig a character's face and i'm still not sure which method to use...i heard about those influence objects but never tried them out myself... what is the basic idea behind them? do you know of any large productions which actually used influence objects?

btw, is there a way in maya to deform a mesh in a way that the volume of the "muscles" stays the same (like squash and strech)?? i mean like the muscle bones in project:messiah...

thanks guys

chromeus

06-28-2002, 03:48 AM

i've never tried using influence objects for facial animation, but i imagine they'd work just as well. you'd wanna make sure you toggle on "use component" so that you could manipulate it on the vertex level. and if you want something to deform while it retains its shape you can use soft bodies with springs, although they are normally used for jiggles and bounces (think beer gut!).

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