how to rig a chain?( a maya question)

[ashish7saxena]

still cant find out what to do :( anyone has the answer for this? please help

[Keithtron]

Sounds a little tricky, at least if you want to the teeth of the gears to nicely slide into the gaps in the chain. One thing you could try is creating a chain of bones with 1 bone for each link on the chain, and a closed CV curve with 1 CV at each bone. Then use the CV curve as a motion path for the bones. Use a RotationCycle attribute (I like to use 0-10 float attrs) on a control object to drive both the rotation of the gear and the movement of the bones along the motion path.

You could also directly attach the chain to the motion path without using bones, but I prefer to use a skeleton. It's more flexible, and it's always good to separate the rig from the geometry. That way you can substitute in a new chain or handle any other changes/problems that may pop up.

To top it all off, you could put a lattice on the motion path curve between the gears to make the chain sag a little bit in the middle. I suppose you could just build that sag into the motion path if you'd like as well, but if you use a lattice, you can give the animator control over how much sag to give it. I can't look up reference at the moment, but I think
a bike chain might bounce up and down a little bit, depending on how the rider is pedaling.

Good luck!

[ashish7saxena]

thanks a lot Keithron, i am gonna try it the way you have suggested.. :)

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