Creating a Magnum Mecha Character in Maya: Part 10

1. Linking Neck Controls

Step 1

Start Maya and open the file which was saved in the last part of the tutorial.

Step 2

Select Neck_Control followed by Head_Jnt and then go to Constrain > Orient.

Step 3

Select Neck_Control followed by Chest_Control and the press P key for creating parent child connection.

2. Linking Head Controls

Step 1

Select Head_Control followed by Head2_Jnt and then go to Constrain > Orient.

Step 2

Select Head_Control followed by Neck_Control and then press P key for creating parent child connection.

3. Linking Hand Controls

Step 1

 Select Left_Hand_Control followed by Left_Hand_IK_Handle and then go to Constrain > Point.

Step 2

Select Left_Elbow_IK_Control followed by Left_Hand_IK_Handle and then go to Constrain > Pole Vector.

Step 3

For testing the connection, move the hand control and you will see the hand joints also move according to its movement.

4. Linking Head FK Controls

Step 1

Select Left_Arm_Control followed by Left_Arm_Jnt and then go to Constrain > Orient constrain.

Step 2

Select Left_Elbow_Control followed by Left_Elbow_Jnt and then go to Constrain > Orient constrain. command to apply.

Step 3

Select Left_Wrist_Control followed by Left_Wrist_Jnt and then go to Constrain > Orient constrain.

Step 4

For testing the connection, move the hand control and you will see the FK controls also move according to that. 

Step 5

Select Left_Arm_Jnt followed by Left_Arm_Control and then then go to Constrain > Point constrain.

Step 6

Select Left_Elbow_Jnt followed by Left_Elbow_Control and then go to Constrain > Point constrain.

Step 7

Select Left_Wrist_Jnt followed by Left_Wrist_Control and then apply Point constrain here too.

Step 8

After connecting above FK hand controls, just move the hand control and you will see the FK controls also move with other controls.

5. Linking Arm, Elbow and Wrist Controls

Step 1

Select Left_Arm_Control followed by Left_Elbow_Control and then press P key for creating parent child relation.

Step 2

With Left_Wrist_Control selected, press Ctrl-G key to make the group.

Step 3

Rename the group as Left_Twist_wrist_Grp and also snap its pivot with Left_Elbow_Jnt by pressing D key and dragging the middle mouse button onto Left_Elbow_Jnt as shown in the following image.

Step 4

Open Outliner window and you can see the Left_Twist_wrist_Grp in the list as shown in the following image.

Step 5

Select Left_Elbow_Control followed by Left_Twist_wrist_Grp and then go to Constrain > Orient constrain.

Step 6

With Left_Hand_IK_Handle selected, go to the channel editor and set the value of Ik Blend to 0 as shown in the following image.

Step 7

Select Left_Arm_Jnt followed by Left_Arm_Control and then go to Constrain > Point constrain.

Step 8

Select Left_Wrist_Jnt followed by Left_Wrist_Control and then go to Constrain > Point constrain.

Step 9

Thus, all right hand's controls have been connected well and respectively just like the left hand controls.

6. Adding Custom Attributes

Step 1

Select Left_Wrist_Control followed by Right_Wrist_Control and then go to Modify > Add Attribute option.

Step 2

In the Add Attribute window, write Fingers Control in Log name fill box and then turn on Displayable radio button. Click on Add button and you can see the respective attribute created in the channel settings as shown in the following image.

Step 3

Again in the Add Attribute window, write Thumb in Log name fill box and then turn on Keyable radio button. Click on Add button and then you can see the respective attribute created in the channel settings as shown in the following image.

Step 4

In this way, two types of custom attributes are created in the channel editor as shown in the following image.

Step 5

Following the same way, create the custom attributes as Thumb, Index, Middle and Small fingers attributes in the channel editor as shown in the following image.

7. Adding Set Driven Key

Step 1

Jump into Animation mode. Go to Key > Set Driven Key > Set command.

Step 2

With Left_Wrist_Control selected, click on Load Driver button in the Set Driven Key window.

Step 3

Select Left_Thumb_Jnt01, Left_Thumb_Jnt02 and Left_Thumb_Jnt03 together and then click on Load Driven button as shown in the following image.

Step 4

Select Thumb attribute in the Driver group followed by all thumb joints with their Rotate X,Y and Z properties respectively and then click on Key button to set the initial key.

Step 5

With Thumb attribute selected, set its value to -5 in the channel editor as shown in the following image.

Step 6

Select all thumb joints followed by Rotate X, Y and Z attributes and then rotate the joints a little bit outwards. Click on Key button in Set Driven Window as shown in the following image.

Step 7

With Thumb attribute selected, set its value to 10 in the channel editor.

Step 8

Select all thumb joints followed by Rotate X, Y and Z attributes and then rotate the joints a little bit inwards. Click on Key button in Set Driven Window as shown in the following image.

Step 9

For checking the thumb attribute after keying, first select the thumb attribute in the channel editor and then drag it in left direction towards the view port with the middle mouse button to slide its value.

Step 10

First select Index custom attribute in Driver group and load it as driver. In the driven group, select all Index joints and then load it as driven group. Click on Key button for adding initial key as previously done for thumb.

Step 11

With Index attribute selected, change its value to -5 in the channel editor as shown in the following image.

Step 12

With all index finger joints selected, set the value of Rotate Z axis to -20 to reverse the joints outwards. Click on Key button to add key.

Step 13

With the same Index attribute selected, set the value to 10. With all index joints selected, set the Rotate Z value to 50 and then click on Key button to add key.

Step 14

First select Middle custom attribute in Driver group and load it as driver. In the Driven group, select all middle joints and load them as driven group. Click on Key button to add the initial key as previous done for thumb and Index.

Step 15

Set Middle attribute value to -5 and then with all middle joints selected, set the Rotate Z value to -20. Click on Key button as shown in the following image.

Step 16

Set Middle attribute value to 10 and then with all middle joints selected, set the Rotate Z value to 55. Click on Key button to add key.

Step 17

With Small attribute selected in Driver group, select all small finger joints and Rotate Z attribute in Driven group and then click on Key button as shown in the following image.

Step 18

With same Small attribute selected, set the value to -5. With all middle joints selected, set Rotate Z value to -22 and then click on Key button to add key.

Step 19

With same Small attribute selected, set the value to 10. With all middle joints selected, set Rotate Z value to 50 and then click on Key button to add key.

Step 20

Now you have completed driven keys for fingers and also created variation for all finger attributes. You have got the initial opening and final closing positions for the finger joints.

Step 21

In same way you have completed the right side's hand controls.

Step 22

With both wrist control curves selected, go to Modify > Add Attributes option command.

Step 23

In the Add Attribute window, write Log name as IKFK Blender and then turn on Keyable radio button. In the Numeric Attribute Properties tab, set Minimum to 0, and Maximum to 1. Click on OK button to create custom attribute.

Step 24

In the Set Driven Key window, load Left_Wrist_Control in Driver group as shown in the following image.

Step 25

With Left_Hand_IK_Handle selected in the Driven group, click on Load Driven button. With IK Blend and IKFKBlender attribute selected, click on Key button to add initial key.

Step 26

In the set driven key window, select Left_Wrist_Control and then set the value of IKFKBlender custom attribute to 1.

Step 27

With Left_Hand_IK_Handle selected, set the value of IK Blend to 0 and then click on Key button as shown in the following image.

Step 28

With Left_Arm_Control, Left_Elbow_Control and Visibility attribute selected, click on Load Driven button. 

Step 29

With Left_Wrist_Control selected, set the value of IKFKBlender attribute to 1. Select Left_Arm_Control and Left_Elbow_Control followed by Visibility attribute and then click on Key button to add key.

Step 30

With Left_Wrist_Control selected, set the value of IKFKBlender attribute value to 0.

Step 31

With Left_Arm_Control and Left_Elbow_Control selected, set the value of Visibility attribute off and then click on Key button to add key.

Step 32

With Left_Wrist_Control selected, set the value of IKFKBlender attribute to 1.

Step 33

With Left_Hand_Control and Left_Elbow_IK_Control selected, set the value of Visibility attribute off  and then click on Key button to add key.

Step 34

 With Left_Wrist_Control selected, set the value of IKFKBlender attribute to 1. With Left_Hand_Control and Left_Elbow_IK_Control selected, set the value of Visibility attribute on and then click on Key button to add key. In this way, we have completed both side's hand controls. 

Conclusion

In the next part of the tutorial, I'll show you how to skin the mesh with the joints.