3857ffirs.qxd 5/11/06 4:37 PM Page i The Game Animator’s Guide to Maya® Michael McKinley Wiley Publishing,Inc. 3857ffirs.qxd 5/11/06 4:37 PM Page i The Game Animator’s Guide to Maya® Michael McKinley Wiley Publishing,Inc. 3857ffirs.qxd 5/26/06 1:50 PM Page ii Acquisitions Editor: WILLEM KNIBBE Development Editor: HEATHER O’CONNOR Technical Editor: KEITH REICHER Production Editor: DARIA MEOLI Copy Editor: LINDA RECKTENWALD Production Manager: TIM TATE Vice President and Executive Group Publisher: RICHARD SWADLEY Vice President and Executive Publisher: JOSEPH B. WIKERT Vice President and Publisher: DANIEL BRODNITZ Permissions Editor: SHANNON WALTERS Media Development Specialist: KATE JENKINS Book Designer: FRANZ BAUMHACKL Compositor: CHRIS GILLESPIE, HAPPENSTANCE TYPE-O-RAMA Proofreader: JENNIFER LARSEN, WORD ONE Indexer: TED LAUX Cover Designer: RYAN SNEED Cover Image: MICHAEL MCKINLEY Copyright © 2006 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada ISBN-13: 978-0-470-03857-4 ISBN-10: 0-470-03857-8 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rose- wood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, (317) 572-3447, fax (317) 572-4355, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions. Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. 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TRADEMARKS: Wiley, the Wiley logo, and the Sybex logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates, in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permis- sion. Autodesk and Maya are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the U.S.A. and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. All other trade- marks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 3857ffirs.qxd 5/11/06 4:37 PM Page iii To my family, for their love and support. Acknowledgments So once again, events have allowed me the great opportunity to work with Sybex and Wiley to produce a book! And once again, while my name may be on the cover, I can’t take all the credit for its realization. Without the support of my family and friends, the understanding of those I worked with to produce the book’s artwork, and the hard-working assistance of my editors, this book would never have made it out of the idea phase! Great thanks once again to Steve Garcia, who contributed the ace concept art for all four of this book’s major projects. He was able to take a few sentences of description and cre- ate some fantastic pieces of art that I and the other artists were able to really have a blast making! Speaking of which, huge thanks to Gary Bergeron, David Russ, Leif Robles, and Evan Calderaro, who worked with me to create the models and textures used in this book’s projects. I couldn’t have done it without you guys! Great thanks to my good friend Sarah Stacy for helping me out at the last minute by providing her voice for the lip synching chapter. Thank you very much to Jacque Reimer for performing the sometimes-embarrassing gunslinger moves for the video reference and lugging those heavy pistols around! Thank you as well to Michael Morlan for helping me with the video reference filming. A great feature of this book wouldn’t have been possible without his expertise and equipment. Check out his impressive body of work (and maybe hire him for some) at www.Michael-Morlan.net. Big thanks to everyone I worked with at Feverpitch Studios. I’ve never worked with a greater group of people, and I’d count myself blessed to get the chance to work with any of you again in the future! And, of course, I have to thank everyone who withstood my bickering e-mails and finally conceded to contributing their profiles to this book. Floyd Bishop, Scott Ruggels, Kiel Figgins, Grayson Chalmers, Adam Houghton, and my good buddy Steve Garcia—thank you! I have to acknowledge the great people at Sybex, Wiley, and Alias who helped me so much in the creation of this book. While my writing skills perhaps have improved slightly since my first book, without their help I’m sure this thing would have been made with card- board and crayons! Willem Knibbe, Heather O’Connor, Keith Reicher, and Daria Meoli, thank you very much! Is book number three in the future? And last, but certainly not least, my parents and family. Without your constant sup- port and encouragement I would never have accomplished as much as I have. I love you all! Philippians 4:13 3857ftoc.qxd 5/11/06 4:39 PM Page iv Contents Introduction viii Chapter 1 Careers in the Game Industry 1 Developers and Publishers . 2 Artist Jobs in the Industry . 3 Junior Artist 4 3D Artist 4 Concept Artist 4 Character/Environment Artist 4 FX Artist 5 Technical Artist 5 Senior Artist 5 Lead Artist 5 Art Director 5 Demo Reels . 6 Art Tests 7 The Game Development Pipeline . 8 Chapter 2 Animation 13 Animation Concepts . 14 Timing 14 Emphasis 14 Secondary Motion 17 Anticipation 17 Follow-Through 17 Overlapping Action 18 Arcing Motion 18 Squash and Stretch 19 Settling and Resting 19 Straight-Ahead Animation 19 Pose-to-Pose Animation 19 3D Animation Terminology . 20 Keyframes 20 Interpolation 20 Rigging 20 Binding 21 Articulation 21 Forward and Inverse Kinematics 22 Vertex Animation 23 Blend Shapes 23 Animation Cycles 23 Set Driven Key 24 3857ftoc.qxd 5/11/06 4:39 PM Page v Rigging Tools and Commands . 24 Joint Tool 24 IK Handle Tool 25 IK Spline Handle Tool 25 Paint Skin Weights Tool 26 Clusters 28 Mirror Joint 28 Smooth Bind 28 Detach Skin 29 Go to Bind Pose 29 Animation Tools and Commands . 30 Setting Keyframes 30 Set Driven Key 32 Blend Shapes 34 Graph Editor 38 Dope Sheet 44 Trax Editor 45 Animation User Interface . 46 v Time Slider 47 ■ Range Slider 47 CONTENTS Playback Controls 47 Upcoming Lessons . 48 Chapter 3 Project: Calamity Jane 53 Assignment Breakdown . 54 Tutorial: Blend Shapes . 54 Creating Blend Shape Targets 56 Assigning Blend Shapes 59 Setting Up Set Driven Key 60 Tutorial: Rigging Calamity Jane . 63 Creating Leg and Feet Joints 64 Setting Up the Arm Skeleton 65 Mirroring Joints 70 Creating Specialized Joints 70 Setting Animation Controls 76 Binding the Skeleton 80 Painting Skin Weights 82 Tutorial: Walk Cycle . 85 Establishing Arm Movement 90 Ensuring Smooth Cycling 91 Incorporating Secondary Animation 92 Tutorial: Action Sequence . 96 Setting Pistol Constraints 97 Continuing the Animation 99 3857ftoc.qxd 5/11/06 4:39 PM Page vi Chapter 4 Project: Dire Wolf 103 Assignment Breakdown . 104 Tutorial: Rigging the Dire Wolf . 106 Hind Legs 107 Front Legs 109 Remaining Joints 109 Animation Controls 110 Binding to the Skeleton 112 Painting Skin Weights 113 Tutorial: Run Cycle . 116 Spine 117 Legs 118 Finishing Touches 125 Secondary Animation 126 Chapter 5 Project: Giant Kraken 131 vi Assignment Breakdown . 132 ■ Tutorial: Rigging the Giant Kraken . 134 Continuing the Skeleton 136 Applying Animation Controls 138 Binding to the Skeleton 140 CONTENTS Painting the Weights 141 Tutorial: Idle Cycle . 143 Beginning the Animation 145 Smoothing the Cycle’s Repeat 145 Creating the Head Movement 146 Tutorial: Attack Animation . 147 Finishing the Sequence 150 Tutorial: Death Animation . 151 Chapter 6 Project: Storm Tank 157 Assignment Breakdown .