Muscle workflow

There are a few options when you start using Maya Muscle to set up skin deformations.

If you already use Maya skinClusters, you can convert your existing skinClusters to use Maya Muscle (see Convert Maya skin to Maya Muscle), or use Relative Sticky mode to use the Muscle deformer on top of your skinClusters without transferring or recreating your rig (see Relative Sticky deformation).
You can convert any NURBS surface in Maya to include a Muscle Object shape node and connect it to the Maya Muscle skin deformer. See Manually convert NURBS to Muscle Objects.
If you want to rig a character with Maya Muscle from scratch, you can start by using Muscle to set up basic skin deformation between a skin mesh and joint/bone objects.
While you can start by creating bones and muscles and weighting to them, it is recommended that you do a more typical pass at rigging to joints/bones/capsules first. This lets you focus on getting proper weighting and transitions all over your rig so that when you create and add weights to muscles, you can transfer from each joint as needed.

This workflow is described in more detail in the steps below.

Step 1: Set up basic skin deformation for your rig

To set up a rig for basic skin deformation

Load a rig that includes a polygon skin mesh with some joints/bones.
Convert the joint/bone objects to capsules. See Convert Maya joints to capsules.
Apply the Muscle deformer to your skin mesh. See Apply the Muscle deformer.
Connect the bone/joint objects to the skin mesh. See Connect Muscle Objects to a Muscle deformer.
Apply default weights for your rig. See Apply default weights.
NoteMake sure your scene view is in a shaded mode.
Refine the default weighting by painting weights. See Paint Muscle weights.
When you are finished, you have a basic skin setup with joints/bones, and you can go on to create muscles.

Step 2: Set up muscle deformation for your rig

To set up a rig with muscle-skin deformation

Load a rig that has basic weights painted for the joint/bone/capsule objects to the mesh. (See Step 1: Set up basic skin deformation for your rig.)
Consider the types of muscle available (see Types of Muscle) and create muscles.
- To create muscles, see Create muscles with the Muscle Creator.
- To create simple muscles, see Create simple muscles with the Muscle Builder.
  NoteYou can also create muscles by converting existing NURBS surfaces. See Manually convert NURBS to Muscle Objects.
For muscles, set up the muscle poses for Squash & Stretch. See Set muscle pose states.
Sculpt the muscles into the shapes you require.
- For muscles, see Sculpt muscles.
- For simple muscles, see Change the shape of simple muscles.
Connect the muscles to the Muscle skin deformer. See Connect Muscle Objects to a Muscle deformer.
Apply default weights for the muscle. See Apply default weights.
Refine the weighting by painting muscle weights. See Paint Muscle weights.
TipWhile painting muscle weights, right-click the joint/bone objects in the Influence list of the Muscle Paint window to enable the HOLD option. To ensure the falloff from area to area on your rig remains similar, unlock one bone and one muscle at a time, then add weight to that muscle. See Muscle Paint window for more information.

Step 3: Create a cache for faster playback

When you are finished with the muscle weighting, you can create a node or file cache so that you can easily playback your animations and light/render more quickly. See Create a cache.

NoteYou can also use the Maya Geometry Cache feature to create a cache. See Geometry caching overview.