How to Cheat in Maya 2017: Tools and Techniques for Character Animation

This is not a book about Maya software with a few animation pointers thrown in here and there. This is a guide to Maya software written by professional animators. This book provides you with complete, set-by-step walkthroughs of essential animation techniques that increase your speed and efficiency while using Maya 2017 for character animation. From curves to constraints, this book covers all of the methods available in the latest version of Maya. Featuring gold-mine coverage this book teaches you new techniques for working with characters in animation tests and short films. Accompanied by a companion site, this is the one and only guide to get you up to speed. Key Features Complete step-by-step, walkthroughs of essential techniques every animator needs to know. Features interviews with leading experts and experienced animation leads. Companion web site including all exercise/example scene files and extras such as video tutorials and animation files. Interlude articles covering everything from Reference Video to Resumes.

Table of Contents:
Contents How to Cheat and Why............... ix Acknowledgments..................... xiii How to Use This Book.................xv 1 Animation Principles........................1 Squash and Stretch......................2 Anticipation....................................6 Staging............................................10 Straight Ahead/ Pose to Pose..................................15 Overlapping Action/ Follow-through........................... 22 Slow In/Slow Out....................... 26 Arcs.................................................. 30 Secondary Action....................... 33 Timing............................................ 38 Exaggeration............................... 42 Solid Drawing ............................. 46 Appeal............................................ 50 Interlude........................................ 54 2 Splines.......................... 59 How Splines Work.......................61 Splines and Spacing.................. 67 Tangent Types .............................74 Tangent Handles........................ 82 Spline Technique ....................... 89 Spline Reference ........................ 92 Interlude........................................ 95 3 Graph Editor.............. 103 Graph Editor Windup..............104 Visual Tools................................. 107 Working with Keys....................116 Value Operators........................ 120 Buffer Curves............................. 124 Speed Cheats............................. 128 4 Techniques................ 133 Auto Key...................................... 134 Timeline Techniques............... 138 Cartoony Motion......................144 Trax Editor................................... 147 Copying Curves........................ 151 Editable Motion Trails............. 159 IK and FK...................................... 167 IK/FK Switching......................... 171 Character Sets........................... 178 Grease Pencil Tool.................... 182 Grease Pencil and Trails......... 190 Interlude...................................... 196 5 Constraints................ 201 Parenting.....................................202 Parent Constraints...................207 Constraining a Prop................ 212 Constraint Weights.................. 216 Animating with Constraints................................. 221 Interlude...................................... 231 6 Rigging Cheats......... 235 Rig Testing..................................236 Sprucing it Up...........................248 Rigging Props............................256 Interlude......................................259 7 Standing Out............. 263 Adding BlendShapes..............264 Adding Clusters........................272 Wrap Deformer.........................282 Adding Hair and Cloth...........288 Interlude......................................296 8 Workflow................... 301 Planning/Reference.................302 Converting Cycles.................... 310 Stepped Keys............................. 313 Stepped Preview......................320 Moving Holds When Splining....................................... 324 Moving Holds with the Retime Tool.................................334 Refining Arcs in Polish............ 337 Final Texture...............................342 Interview.....................................346 9 Cycles.......................... 355 Cycle Basics................................356 Stride Length.............................363 Walk Cycle...................................372 Flying Cycle................................378 Quad Cycles...............................388 10 Referencing............... 393 Referencing Basics...................394 Offline Edits................................401 Saving Reference Edits...........407 Interlude...................................... 413 11 Facial Animation.......417 Planning and Prep................... 418 Core Poses..................................422 Lip Sync 1—Jaw Motion........428 Lip Sync 2—Mouth Corners........................................432 Lip Sync 3—Mouth Shapes..........................................436 Lip Sync 4—Tongue................441 Blinks............................................445 Blink and Brows........................450 Eye Darts.....................................459 Final Touches.............................465 Interlude...................................... 470 12 Animation Layers..... 473 How Animation Layers Work................................ 474 Animation Layer Basics.......... 476 Cheating a Cycle.......................483 Layers for Texture..................... 491 Interlude......................................496 Index..............................................501