I’m used to using 3DSMAX’s biped system for character animation.

Do you know if Maya has the ability to do any of the following and how? I’m currently working on a big project in Maya and if I could find some way to do any of the follwing it would make things so much easier.

1- With 3Dsmax’s biped what I really liked is that you could save the animation data seperately and later apply it to any similar rig made with the same biped tool. In fact you could even animate the rig alone , save the animation and then apply it to the rigged version of the character later on.

I hear there’s a way to at least save the animation info in Maya but I’ve no idea how..

2- Once I figure out # 1 is there a way to edit together and blend different animation clips in

sequence?

3- How can I layer animation? Let’s say for example you have a walkcycle and want to add some upper body movement (in a separate layer like looking around or scratching his head to the character while he keeps walking ?) and then once you’re done collapse the layers into one and save this new animation clip?

4- Also when creating cycles is there some way to copy paste and mirror versions your poses or part of a pose?

So far the only thing I found for Maya was the poseLib Script which let me save poses I create. If you haven’t used this tool. Try it out it’s really nice!

I know how to use the curves-post infinity -cycle & cycle offset to cycle the animation but doing so does not actually display the continuing cycleed animation as key on the graph editor so that I can edit & customize the animation at any point.

I apologize for so many questions but I’m hoping someone who’s experienced in character animation in Maya and using some of these time saving techniques might be able to guide me in the right direction.

Thanks,

Waqas

heya Waqas, answers to those questions may probably vary from person to person, each with different experiences/skill levels.

Here would be my answers.

1. There are multiple animation import/export scripts around on various sites. My personal preference is PAIE (python.attribute.import.export) found here.
its stable, fast and works well. This method preserves your keyframes and exports them to a custom file, which can then be imported to any similar rig.

However, tied with your 2nd question, you may want to look at character sets and trax editor (the reason I didnt put this as initial answer was due to various reasons, they can be unreliable, maya 2011+ has issues writing its .ma files if character sets are present and they can be tricky to get into pure keyframe data for manipulation again.)
You need to select all of your characters controls objects and create a character set from their attributes.

2. For merging/blending animation clips you’ll want to have used character sets and then in the trax editor, to export animation as a clip. that clip can then be imported to another file and retimed,merged and blended with other clips in the trax editor.

3. You can use mayas animation layers to layer pieces of animation (they are found next to maya display layers -> bottom right of the screen).

4. This is somewhat trickier to answer as it completely depends on the rig your using, as there isnt a “one-fits-all”. However you can contact the rigger and ask if they can advise you what to do, or most of the time, they’ll have a script that will work.

As for the post infinity cycle with offset in the graph editor, you can view the cycles under View -> infinity (in the graph editor), however as you said, you can’t edit the automatic curves, but im sure someone knows a work around ( from the top of my head i can think of perhaps using smart-bake (Edit -> keys -> bake simulation))

I hope that helps.

Lee Dunham | Character TD
ldunham.blogspot.com