maya production workflow

[whalerider]

The Gnomon Workshop have a nice DVD set called Digital Environment Workflow - http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/dvds/mle01.html

[jarisky]

Looks interesting, but I'm seeking info on implementing characters to be animated with fully functional rigs. Judging by the link, the DVD you mentioned is more environment-focused. Thanks though. Any other ideas/resources, anyone?

[LabRat1]

This is a question I would be interested in knowing the anser to also... I am sure there are alot around these forums who would know the answer. I have seen people set up the rig with just simple geometry, but I don't know how useful that would be if you then have to modify the rig to work with the model.

The other option is... if you are working from concept sketches... I have read that when the character is roughly boxed in, the unrefined model would be handed off to an animator to work on the rig, while the modeler finished up the details of the model. These details could be adding Zbrush details, or painting the weights of the rig, etc.

I am sure someone has a good answer, and I am interested to see what it is...

[MDuffy]

It is best to finish the model before rigging, since as the model is being finalized the proportions and design may change once you get to see it in 3D, and this will require re-rigging. Ideally you want to model the character, then rig the character, then test the rig in some animation tests to make sure it works right, and then use it in an actual animation scene. If you reference in the rig file into your animated scene, then you can make additional changes to the rig file completely separate from the animation scene and data. You shouldn't have any keyframes on the rig in the rig file, because you won't be able to override them in the animation scene.

If you have to start animation before the model is finished, at least do a low resolution version of the model and make sure all the proportions are correct and will not change. Then you can rig the low res (proxy) version, and reference that into your scene. Then you animate with it, and when your model is complete you can add it to the rig and skin it. Save this into a new version of the rig, and then use the "replace reference" command to bring in the final rig. Make sure all the controls are the same between the proxy and the final rig so that "replace reference" will be able to find everything correctly.

Cheers,
Michael Duffy

[jarisky]

Awesome. Thanks for the help, Michael. I don't know if your cg pipeline website link is in your signature, or if you just posted that to show me, but the blog, pipeline, etc. links in the left column of your site are broken; computer tries to connect to local host, not your server. I'd be interested in seeing your site info if it's available.

Extra info (LabRat1 this may help you too)...I found the Maya (4.5 I think) training DVDs in my school library, and there was indeed a 3d pipeline tutorial. Basically a recording of a presentatio by Meteor Studies on the production of "When Dinosaurs Roamed America" for the Discovery Channel in 2000 or 2001. Meteor's workflow in the modeling/rigging/animating department was as follows: model based on reference images, UV unwrap and character setup simultaneously, animate using what they called a "tootsie" (which was basically a low-res model created from primitives), then texture and rig simultaneously.

My essential question was how to update newer versions of a model into a rig without messing up pre-existing animation. You've pretty much answered that, Michael; thanks again.

[jarisky]

So you're not supposed to have any keyframes on rig file. Are set driven keys OK? I was taught to create a foot ball roll control using set driven keys, so that the single channel can have two pivot points, one at the left of the foot on the ground, and the other at the right of the foot. The left and right pivot points are each in different nodes; the SDK connects the foot control's ball roll attribute to both left and right ball roll nodes. And I'll probably end up using SDK at some other point...I'm pretty sure this will be fine, but just checking.

[MDuffy]

So you're not supposed to have any keyframes on rig file. Are set driven keys OK? I was taught to create a foot ball roll control using set driven keys, so that the single channel can have two pivot points, one at the left of the foot on the ground, and the other at the right of the foot. The left and right pivot points are each in different nodes; the SDK connects the foot control's ball roll attribute to both left and right ball roll nodes. And I'll probably end up using SDK at some other point...I'm pretty sure this will be fine, but just checking.

Yeah, set driven keys are fine, as are any animation channels that don't need to ever be modified by the animator (such as background set pieces that have cycling motion. But anything the animators need to animate need to be free of keyframes in the rig.

It also helps to build your rigs so that when the translate and rotate values are set to zero, your rig assumes its default pose. Makes clearing off old poses and animations much easier.

Cheers,
Michael Duffy

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