Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Why Use Controls?
With the character mesh visible, trying to select the correct joint can prove tricky and often
frustrating. It would make things much less challenging if we could forget about the joints
on the base skeleton, controlling it through other means. Adding intuitive controls to your
rig will make the whole animation process easier and quicker.
Maya has a system on hand to help you with these controls. Every object has a built-in se-
lectionhandle;thisisdisplayedintheformofasmallcrossthatyoucanpositionanywhere
in the scene. You can activate these handles by going to Display > Component Display >
Selection Handles.
The selection handle crosses work well to a point, but imagine that you have one cross
for each joint. Looking at the example in
Figure 12.1
,
left, can you tell which area of the
skeleton is selected by which handle? Some of them are quite obvious from this angle, but
imagine how difficult it would be if you were looking from the side.
FIGURE 12.1
Our Kila skeleton with two different control methods
Thisiswhere
icons
workwelltorepresentcontrols.Custom-made usingMaya'scurvecre-
ation tools, an icon can be tailored to suit the area it will move—like the hand outline in
Figure 12.1
,
right—so that you and other animators can easily navigate the scene.
