Parent Master |
Say you want to animate a character picking up a ball and then dropping it. Sounds simple, right? Well, in Maya, this can actually be a slightly tricky process.
But by downloading and installing this free tool, you will have made your life as a Maya animator much, much easier.
What is the Parentmaster for?
The free Parentmaster plugin is a way to attach and un-attach objects in Maya.
What do you need to do?
Importing and installing the ParentMaster should allow you to:
- Import a free plugin into Maya – the ParentMaster - and install it successfully.
- Learn how the Parent Master works by attaching and un-attaching objects in Maya using the free ParentMaster factory Maya file
- Use the ParentMaster to animate a character picking up a ball and then dropping it.
The ParentMaster "factory" |
You can find the free plugin here: http://www.creativecrash.com/maya/script/zv-parent-master
You will need to register with Creative Crash and then log in.
Installation
import ZvParentMaster
ZvParentMaster.ZvParentMaster()
To see Paolo Dominici demonstrate how it works, check out the demo at http://www.paolodominici.com/zvparentmaster/
Animate the ParentMaster factory.
Test your understanding of how the ParentMaster works by completing the free animation exercise so that the parcel moves through the factory, attaching and un-attaching as it goes (allow around 10-15 mins for this).
- Open up the Maya scene file that comes with the ParentMaster – it looks like a little factory. Create a project, and set to it.
- At the frame where you want to attach the parcel to the blue pusher, select the box, select the pusher, and click on the attach button
- At the frame where you want to un-attach the parcel from the blue pusher, select the box, select the pusher, and click on the detach button.
- Keep repeating the process until the parcel box moves through the factory.
Technical Notes
How to edit Parent Master constraints and adjust the timing in the Graph Editor:
- Go to the Parent Master menu bar and select the 5th icon down labeled “Select constraints and snap groups”, and click on it
- This will show your ParentMaster key frames in the Graph Editor
- Adjust the timing of the key frames just like you would any keyframes in Maya
Use the Parent Master to animate a character picking up and ball and dropping it.
- Import a character rig such as Morpheus. Google “Morpheus rig maya” to find and download the rig.
- Import a table (find one at www.turbosquid) into your shot
- Create a ball. Create/polygon primitives/sphere
- Set Morpheus’s hands to IK.
- Under Preferences, set your animation to stepped curves
- On stepped curves, animate Morpheus picking up the ball and dropping it, using the Parent Master.
Note that the Parent Master does not work with referenced files. Or, rather, it can be made to work - but it is trickier.
To see how to Install the ParentMaster Plugin watch the video below
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5R1X2qXv1g
To see how the ParentMaster works in detail, see this blog post.
Also you can download the ParentMaster Plugin from HighEnd3D.com
---Alex
The Escape Studios Animation Blog offers a personal view on the art of animation and visual effects. To apply for our new BA/MA starting in September 2016, follow this link.
---Alex
The Escape Studios Animation Blog offers a personal view on the art of animation and visual effects. To apply for our new BA/MA starting in September 2016, follow this link.
No comments:
Post a Comment