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Animation Basics
Animation Basics
Controlling animation
Animation in Maya
Maya
animation provides you with the powerful tools you need to bring
the characters and objects in your scenes to life. These tools give
you the freedom to animate any attribute of an object and the control
you need to successfully transform joints and bones, IK handles,
and models over time.
In this guide, you can find information on the
various animation techniques in Maya, how to use the different types
of animation, and how to preview, playback, and save your animations.
This guide focuses on the following types of
animation in Maya:
- Keyframe
animation lets you transform objects or skeletons over
time by setting keyframes. For example, you can keyframe the joints
and IK handles of a character’s arm to create an animation of its
arm waving. For more information, see
Keyframe Animation.
- Driven
key animation lets you
link and drive the attributes of one object with those of another
object by setting driven keys. For example, you can key a character’s
X and Z translations as Driver attributes and
a door model’s Y rotation as the Driven attribute
to create an animation of a character and a swinging door. For more
information, see
Driven keys.
- Nonlinear
animation lets you split, duplicate, and blend animation
clips to achieve the motion effects that you want. For example,
you can use nonlinear animation to create a looping walk cycle for
one of your characters. For more information, see
What is nonlinear animation?.
- Path animation lets
you set a curve as an animation path for an object. When you attach
an object to a motion path, it follows the curve during its animation.
For example, when you assign a car model to a motion path that follows
a road in your scene, the car follows the road when you play the
animation. For more information, see
Path Animation.
- Motion capture animation lets
you use imported motion capture data to apply realistic motion to
the characters in your scene. For example, you can use the captured
motion of a horse to animate the skeleton of a quadruped model.
For more information, see
Motion Capture Animation.
- Layered
animation lets you create and blend animation on separate
layers. You can modify an animation sequence on layers without permanently
altering the original, or simply organize your keyframe animation
onto layers. See
What are animation layers?
- Dynamic
animation lets you create realistic motion using the
rules of physics to simulate natural forces. For example, you can
use Maya® Dynamics™ to create effects such
as sparks spraying from a welding torch or hail falling from the
sky. For more information, see
Dynamic Animation
- Expressions are
instructions that you can type to animate attributes. For example,
you can write an expression formula that animates the flapping of
a bird’s wings. For more information, see
Animation expressions.