3D Graphics
Maya 2027 New Rigging System — What’s Different from the Existing Method
Have you ever experienced your character’s skin stretching or bending unnaturally whenever the arms or legs move during 3D character animation work? The key to solving this problem is the ‘Rigging’ system. The rigging system newly introduced in Maya 2027 is completely different from previous methods. In this article, let’s learn step by step exactly what has changed in Maya 2027’s new rigging system and how to use it.
Maya 2027 New Rigging System — What’s Different from the Existing Method
What is rigging? Simply put, it’s the process of creating the skeleton of a 3D character and connecting the skin. Just as a real human body is made up of bones, muscles, and skin, a 3D character must first have a skeleton made of joints, and when that skeleton moves, the surrounding mesh (skin surface) must be set to deform naturally along with it. This deformation process is called ‘Skinning,’ and the skinning method has completely changed in Maya 2027.
In previous Maya versions, skinning work was quite cumbersome. If the skin moved unnaturally when the arm bent, you had to redo the painting work to fix it, and sometimes you had to start over from scratch to modify saved settings. It was like trying to erase and fix an already completed drawing, only to have the whole thing fall apart.
In Maya 2027, Autodesk officially integrated ‘ngSkinTools,’ a professional plugin widely used in the industry. The biggest advantage of this new system is the ‘Layer-based Non-destructive Workflow.’ This means you can divide skinning settings into multiple layers and work on them, just like using layers in Photoshop. Therefore, you can modify or undo specific parts of your work at any time.
Maya 2027 New Rigging System Tutorial Usage
The fastest way to understand the new rigging system is to follow along hands-on. Here, we’ll explain the skin painting process using a simple arm model as an example.
First, assume that the character’s joints (bones) have already been created. Now you need to open the skinning tool.
- Setting up Skin Bind: From the main menu, select Skin → Bind Skin. First select the mesh (skin surface) to use as skin, then while holding the Shift key, select the joints (bones) in order. Then run Bind Skin and the mesh will automatically connect to the joints.
- Opening Paint Skin Weights: From the menu, select Skin → Paint Skin Weights Tool, or press the shortcut Ctrl+Shift+S. The painting tool options will then appear in the lower right.
- Selecting the Joint to Influence: One of the important features of the new rigging system is Influence Masking. From the joint list on the left panel, select only the specific joint you want to modify. For example, if you select only the forearm joint, only the weights in that area will change when painting.
- Setting Weight Values: In the painting options, set Opacity to 1.0 (meaning 100% influence). If you set the Value to around 0.5~0.8 to start, the character’s skin will deform together when the arm bends.
- Painting the Area: Paint the character’s skin surface with your mouse as if drawing. Near the elbow joint, two or more joints must have influence, so first paint the weight of the shoulder joint, then select the forearm joint again and paint the same area with a lower value (0.2~0.4). This creates a smooth deformation.
- Managing Work by Adding Layers: This is the most powerful feature of Maya 2027. Click the Add Layer button at the top of the panel. When you add a new layer, the previous painting work is maintained and you can do additional work in the new layer. For example, you can set basic weights in the first layer and fine-tune problem areas only in the second layer.
In the new system, you can name each layer. For example, if you name them like ‘Base Setup’, ‘Elbow Fix’, ‘Wrist Fine Adjustment’, you can easily identify which layer contains which work later.
Maya 2027 New Rigging System Step-by-Step Setup Method
This time, let’s go through a complete rigging process from start to finish. We’ll proceed assuming you already have a model and joints.
Step 1: Run Skin Bind (Skin Bind)
Menu path: Skin → Bind Skin → Click Option Box. Here you can select the bind method. The default ‘Geodesic Voxel’ method is recommended. This method creates natural deformations while following the shape of the mesh. Click Apply when done.
Step 2: Check Initial Weights
After binding, select each joint and rotate it to see if the mesh deforms along with the joint (select the joint from the menu, then press R to enter rotation mode). If any part deforms too much or doesn’t move, you need to fix it.
Step 3: Start Paint Skin Weights Tool
Select Skin → Paint Skin Weights Tool. You’ll see a new UI in the lower right panel. On the left is the joint list, in the middle is the 3D viewport, and on the right are painting options (Brush Size, Opacity, etc.).
Step 4: Masking Setup (Key!)
Click on the joint you want to modify in the left joint list. The area affected by that joint will then be highlighted in color (usually red indicates high weight). This is the new system’s masking feature, allowing you to focus on only one joint at a time.
Step 5: Create Layer and Paint
Click the Add Layer button at the top to create a new layer. Let’s name it ‘Base’ to indicate the base layer. Then set Brush Size to around 2.0~3.0 in the right painting options (adjust according to character size). Set the Value to 0.7 and paint the area around the selected joint with your mouse.
Step 6: Mirror Function for Opposite Side Setup
Once you’ve set up one arm, you don’t need to manually set up the other side. Select the Mirror option from the top menu. The weights you painted on the left will then be exactly mirrored and copied to the right.
Step 7: Rotate Joint and Verify Results
After finishing painting, select the joint in the viewport at the top of the screen and rotate it (press R → drag with mouse). If the deformation is unnatural, go back to Step 5 and add a new layer for fine-tuning.
Maya 2027 New Rigging System Workflow Tips
Now let’s introduce practical tips you can use in actual work. These tips directly help reduce work time and improve quality.
- ①Hierarchical Layer Structure: In the first layer, set only about 80% of basic weights. In the next layer, adjust detail areas (joints, cloth wrinkles, etc.), and in the last layer, make final fine adjustments. This way you can always go back to an intermediate stage and make modifications.
- ②Using Flood Function: Use this when you want to change a specific joint’s weights all at once. Select Flood from the top menu and set the Value, and that value will be applied to the entire selected joint area.
- ③Using Smooth Brush: When you want to smooth weight changes, select Smooth mode. This reduces sharp deformations at boundary areas.
- ④Check Enable All Influences: If a certain area doesn’t move, enable the ‘Show All Influences’ option at the bottom of the left joint list to see all joints. Check if the weight in that area is set to 0.
- ⑤Prune Weights Feature: When you’re almost done with your work, run the ‘Prune Weights’ option. This feature removes negligible weights below 0.001 to reduce file size and improve performance.
It’s more efficient to divide the character into multiple parts (upper body, lower body, arms, legs, etc.) and work on them separately. If you rig each part separately and then combine them at the end, the likelihood of errors decreases and teamwork becomes easier.
Maya 2027 New Rigging System Error Cautions
I’ve compiled common errors that can occur when first using the new system and how to solve them.
Problem 1: Mesh doesn’t move with the joint
Cause: The selection order of the mesh or joint during Bind Skin may be incorrect, or the bind itself may have failed.
Solution: Press Edit → Undo multiple times to return to the state before Bind Skin. Then select the mesh first, hold Shift and select all joints, then run Bind Skin again.
Problem 2: Only one arm deforms and the other doesn’t
Cause: The axis setting is likely incorrect when running the Mirror function.
Solution: From the top menu of the Paint Skin Weights window, select Mirror → Option Box. Check that the Axis setting is YZ (front-back symmetry). If your model is created in a different direction, you may need to select XY or XZ.
Problem 3: Mesh keeps breaking after painting (excessive deformation)
Cause: Multiple joints are affecting the same area with weights that are too high. For example, if the elbow area has shoulder (0.8) + forearm (0.9) + hand (0.7) all set to high values, the sum becomes 2.4, causing abnormal deformation.
Solution: Enable the ‘Smooth’ option in the filter at the top of the left joint list, and weights will automatically normalize (adjust so the sum becomes 1.0). Alternatively, lower and adjust the individual weights for each joint.
Problem 4: Saved work doesn’t load in the next session
Cause: You may have saved only the Maya scene file and not saved the skin weight information separately.