Maya: Rigging Floss

#1

Hello gents,

     I have been trying to rig some floss in Maya, and I'm stumped. I initially set it up using Spline IK, but I couldn't figure out how to implement it properly. What I need is a U-shaped rig with two static ends at the tips of the lines, and a control in the bend of the U that flexes the joints along the chains on either side.
     
                                      -------------------  <<Static end
                                     |
      | <<Main control, translatable, causing whole chain to bend.
                                     | 
                                      ------------------- <<Static end
     
     Is there a way to link the live ends of two Spline IK's to create this desired functionality?
     
     Thanks!
#2

Here’s a way that doesn’t involve combining two splineIKs that may help out:

-Create a straight curve
-Rebuild the curve to be Cubic and 4 spans
-put a cluster on the first 2 cvs, the last 2, and one on each of the 3 middle ones
-parent the cluster on both sides of the middle cluster under the middle cluster (now when you move the middle cluster, you’ll get that U shape)

From here you could:
-use a wire deformer to manipulate the mesh
-create lofted nurbs surface along the curve to create the mesh
-create a stretchy splineIK setup to create joints that the mesh can be bound to

Hope this helps

#3

Thanks for the suggestions! This worked well, I just added a few more spans for additional control and flexibility. Looks like I was just over-thinking the issue by approaching it with Spline IK. Good ole clusters!

Cheers!

#4

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