Creating a Magnum Mecha Character in Maya: Part 11

Final product image — What You'll Be Creating

1. Linking Mesh With Joints

Step 1

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

Step 2

First of all, go to Show > Polygon and turn on the check box to show all hidden body parts.

2. Linking the Foot Control

Step 1

Select left foot followed by Left_Heel_Jnt and then press P key to make the joint as parent.

Step 2

For testing purpose, rotate the foot control which is already connected to the Left_Heel_Jnt.

You'll see the foot mesh also rotates according to the rotation of the foot control.

Step 3

If you move the foot control, you will see the knee mesh doesn't follow it. You need to link the knee joint to the knee mesh.

Step 4

Select the knee mesh followed by Left_Knee_Jnt and then press P key to make the knee joint as parent.

Step 5

Next, you need to split the knee mesh into two parts. The upper part will be linked to the thigh joint and the lower part will be linked to the knee joint.

Step 6

First, isolate the knee blocked mesh. Jump in the face selection mode and select the upper indicated faces of the mesh. With the faces selected, go to Edit Mesh > Extract command to split the mesh.

Step 7

The mesh has been split in two parts as shown in the following image.

Step 8

Unhide all meshes. Select the blocked polygon mesh followed by the outer shell mesh and then press P key.

Step 9

Select knee ball mesh followed by Left_Knee_Jnt and then press P key.

Step 10

With upper and lower mesh selected followed by Left_Thigh_Jnt, press P key.

Step 11

For checking purpose, move the foot control up a little bit and you will see the knee ball along with the respective mesh parts orient well as shown in the following image.

Step 12

Select all thigh meshes followed by Left_Thigh_Jnt and then press P key.

Step 13

For checking purpose, move the foot control up a little bit and you will see the knee ball along with the respective mesh parts orient well as shown in the following image.

Step 14

Select all thigh meshes followed by Left_Thigh_Jnt and then press P key.

Step 15

Select robot's Pelvis mesh followed by Hip_Jnt and then press P key.

Step 16

In this way, you have completed the linking of the right side's leg meshes with joints.

Step 17

You can test the linking by moving Hip_Control in any direction.

3. Linking the Spine

Step 1

Select Abs ball mesh followed by Abs_Jnt and then press P key.

Step 2

Next, select Chest parts mesh followed by Chest_Jnt and then press P key. for parenting.

Step 3

Next, select Abs_Control followed by Chest_Control and then go to Constrain > Orient constrain.

Step 4

Select the rest parts of the chest followed by the main chest mesh and then pressed P key.

4. Linking the Hand

Step 1

Select thumb ball mesh followed by the connector mesh and then press P key.

Step 2

Select the base ball mesh followed by the palm mesh and then press P key.

Step 3

Select both parts of the palm mesh followed by Left_Wrist_Jnt and then press P key.

Step 4

Next, select thumb joint mesh parts followed by Left_Thumb_Jnt01 and then press P key.

Step 5

Select the centre thumb mesh followed by Left_Thumb_Jnt01 and then press P key.

Step 6

Select the thumb joint mesh and the thumb tip mesh followed by Left_Thumb_Jnt02 and then press P key.

Step 7

Next, select all finger connector meshes followed by the second part of the palm and then press P key.

Step 8

Now, select the index finger's first joint mesh followed by Left_Index_Jnt01 and then press P key.

Step 9

Next, first select the index finger's first mesh and the first joint mesh followed by Left_Index_Jnt01 and then press P key as shown in the following image.

Step 10

Again, first select the index finger's second mesh and the second joint mesh followed by Left_Index_Jnt02 and then press P key as shown in the following image.

Step 11

Again, first select the index finger tip mesh and the third joint mesh followed by Left_Index_Jnt03 and then press P key as shown in the following image.

Step 12

Now, select the middle finger's first joint mesh followed by Left_Middle_Jnt01 and then press P key.

Step 13

Again, first select the middle finger's second mesh and the second joint mesh followed by Left_Middle_Jnt02 and then press P key as shown in the following image.

Step 14

Again, first select the middle finger tip mesh and the third joint mesh followed by Left_Middle_Jnt03 and then press P key as shown in the following image.

Step 15

Now, select the small finger's first joint mesh followed by Left_Small_Jnt01 and then press P key.

Step 16

Again, first select the small finger's second mesh and the second joint mesh followed by Left_Small_Jnt02 and then press P key as shown in the following image.

Step 17

Again, first select the small finger tip mesh and the third joint mesh followed by Left_Small_Jnt03 and then press P key as shown in the following image.

Step 18

After connecting all fingers and joints respectively, you can check their movements by adjusting the values of the fingers' attributes as shown in the following image.