Rigid Solver Attributes

Step Size

Sets how often within a frame the rigid body calculations occur. For example, if each frame of the animation is 0.1 seconds and the Step Size is 0.033 seconds, the solver calculates rigid body animation three times in the frame.

Generally, decreasing the Step Size value improves rigid body animation accuracy but slows scene play. If you have fast-moving rigid bodies that don’t collide as expected, decrease the Step Size. This is a nonkeyable attribute available in the Attribute Editor only.

Collision Tolerance

Sets how accurately and quickly a rigid body solver detects collisions. Generally, smaller Collision Tolerance values increase the calculation time and collision accuracy. A small Collision Tolerance is often necessary to create accurate collisions involving tiny or thin objects. This is a nonkeyable attribute available in the Attribute Editor only.

Scale Velocity

Scale Velocity is used with the Display Velocity attribute (see Display Velocity). If you turn on Display Velocity, a moving rigid body displays a velocity arrow icon that represents the magnitude and direction of the rigid body motion. You can change the Scale Velocity to scale the arrow.

Start Time

Sets the Time Slider frame when the solver starts animating dynamics for the rigid bodies it controls.

Current Time

Lets you speed up or slow down dynamic animation for all rigid bodies connected to the solver. Current Time works the same for rigid bodies as it does for particle objects. See Control the timing of particle dynamics.

Rigid Solver Methods

Solver Method

Provides a pop-up menu for choosing the accuracy and speed of rigid body calculations

Midpoint

Calculates faster with less accuracy.

Runge-Kutta

Calculates at medium speed and accuracy.

Runge-Kutta Adaptive

Calculates slower but with most accuracy. This is the default setting.

Rigid Solver States

State

Turns off or on the effect of fields, collisions, and rigid body constraints for the rigid bodies it controls. If you want to speed up playback of your animation and temporarily are not concerned with rigid body effects, turn off the State.

Friction

Sets whether the rigid bodies stick or slide after collision. If Friction is on, the rigid bodies stick; if Friction is off, they slide.

If the contact between rigid bodies is limited to instantaneous collisions, the Friction setting does not affect it much. Turning off Friction might speed playback.

Bounciness

Turns bounciness on or off. When off, objects won’t bounce against each other, but rigid body animation plays faster.

Contact Motion

When on, Maya simulates Newtonian physics for its rigid body dynamics. When off, Maya simulates a damped environment without inertia. More specifically, collision forces such as Bounciness and Friction do not affect the rigid bodies. Fields affect the rigid bodies, but not initial spin, initial velocity, or impulses.

Contact Data

Accumulates data about contact between rigid bodies in the scene (see Contact attributes).

Allow Disconnection

By default, you cannot break connections from a rigid body to the rigid body solver that handles its dynamic animation. You can turn on Allow Disconnection so that you can break the connections. See Warning when you delete rigid body connections. Available in the Attribute Editor only.

Cache Data

If you turn this on, Maya caches in memory the dynamic state of all rigid bodies connected to this solver. You can thereafter examine the animation of the rigid bodies by scrubbing the Time Slider or playing in reverse. See Memory caching.

Delete Cache

Deletes the cached dynamic state of all rigid bodies connected to this solver.

Rigid Solver Display Options

Display Constraint

Displays icons for rigid body constraints. See Edit attributes of a rigid body solver.

Display Center of Mass

Displays an icon for the center of mass of each rigid body.

Display Velocity

Displays arrow icons that indicate the velocity magnitude and direction of rigid bodies. See Scale Velocity to tune the display of the arrow.

Display Label

Labels rigid bodies as active or passive. Also shows the type of constraint.