Skeleton Setup - Game Character Development with Maya - page 678

We could create lots of joints, giving us the freedom to do anything we want with the hair,
but its current topology and associated joint restrictions mean we have to rely on fewer
joints.
1. First, hide the main skeleton. Then, as demonstrated in Figure 11.20a , create five
individual joints along the bottom of her hairdo.
FIGURE 11.20 Hair joint assembly
Tip
If the geometry layer is set to Reference instead of Template, joints can be
point-snapped to vertices, which will aid in their placement.
2. Because we want the hair to swing, using rotations is the best way to animate it.
Duplicate the five joints you just created, and move them up to the pivot points
from which the hair “hangs.” Halfway up the side of her head is an ideal position
( Figure 11.20b ) .
3. Parent the lower joints to the upper ones ( Figure 11.20c ). Rename them all, adding
_Tip after the names of the lower joints so that you will know these are end
joints.
4. Unhide the main skeleton, and parent the hair joints to the head. This gives you the
setup shown in Figure 11.20d .
We now have the ability to add some movement to her hair.
Grae's Wings
Grae's wings, like Kila's hair, need the ability to move. You should already have a wing
setup left over from Chapter 6 . We can use that here, saving us the effort of creating a new
one.