Separate blendshapes seamlessly in Maya

Posted by Mat on Oct 29, 2011 in Featured, Tutorials | 0 comments

Last week, I had to come up with a way of separating one blendshape into multiple blendshapes. So basically, imagine we have one blendshape of a full smile and we need to separate it into left and right.

If you go to the Edit Deformers menu, there is an option to paint blendshape weights. This is the tool we will be using, but the tricky part of separating blendshapes like this is the overlap area between the shapes. Since blendshapes are additive, if the overlap area is not done properly, when both blendshapes are enabled you may run into areas where it is morphing more or less than what you intended.

Rig encapsulation using Maya’s assets

Posted by Mat on Sep 3, 2011 in Blog | 0 comments

I’ve been playing around lately with Maya’s assets, and I think they’re pretty cool. Following the example provided in Maya’s documents, I wasn’t too happy with the result. I had to play around a bit before figuring out how I want to use them. Here are my thoughts on some points after playing around.

There are two levels of encapsulation when working with assets: black boxing and attribute locking. Black boxing basically just hides  any non-published nodes from the Outliner so the animators can’t go getting into trouble with the guts of the rig. The guts of the rig is the proverbial “big red button”: leave a note saying “DO NOT TOUCH”, and it only increases temptation. Attribute locking goes through the entire asset and locks any attributes that have not been published.

Final Destination 5

Posted by Mat on Aug 20, 2011 in Blog | 0 comments

A movie I recently worked on came out last weekend. That movie is Final Destination 5. I worked on it over at Prime Focus from February to the end of June.

Prime Focus was responsible for the epic bridge collapse sequence in the movie. A lot of hard work went into the sequence, and it featured a lot of gory deaths :)

I was responsible for the digital doubles on the bridge, both background and hero characters. I also wrote some tools for the project including a motion capture importer/mapper, and a tool to help match move easily make adjustments along the camera’s axis, while not changing how it appears to the camera, when stereoscope issues arose.

If you haven’t seen the movie yet, consider checking it out. You pretty much know what you’re going to get from a Final Destination movie, but this installation is a lot of fun, not as predictable with how the deaths play out, and quite funny!

Intro to Maya Muscle

Posted by Mat on Aug 7, 2011 in Blog | 1 comment

I started using Maya Muscle this past week for a project I am doing at work. I’m enjoying it a lot so far. Muscle simulations have come a long way since I was last actively working with them.

I started out using the simple muscle system with the muscle spline deformer, but at the advice of the documentation I have started exploring the newer “Muscle Creator” system, successor to the “Muscle Builder”. I can see how this new system adds more flexibility and makes things even easier again for setting up and customizing muscles (as stated in the docs).

Nesquik Commercials

Posted by Mat on Aug 5, 2011 in Featured, Projects, Work | 0 comments

This is another project I did almost two years ago now. Once again, it was a quick turnaround for Hatch Studio, when I was last working at PEN Productions. Paul Neale Rigged the ears on the bunny in the two commercial spots the bunny character was used in, while I took care of the rest of the character. I think Hatch did a great job on these commercials, as well as the Kid’s Cuisine spots.

Kid Cuisine Commericals

Posted by Mat on Aug 5, 2011 in Featured, Projects, Work | 0 comments

This was a project from close to two years ago now. Time sure does fly. It was a quick turnaround for Hatch Studio when I was last working with PEN Productions. I did all the rigging on the penguin-looking main character, “Kid”.

PEN Productions Master Classes

Posted by Mat on Jul 21, 2011 in News | 0 comments

Paul Neale and PEN Productions are now offering online Master Classes! Paul is one of the top character riggers, modelers, and technical directors in the 3DS Max community and has been recognized by Autodesk as a 3DS Max Master.

Three classes are currently being offered: Max/Mudbox Workflow, Intro to Character Rigging, and Max Script for Character Rigging. This is a great opportunity if any of these topics appeal to you, as you are being taught directly by one of the best in the business and unlike DVDs and video tutorials you get the chance to ask questions.