Maya, irregular cluster deformation problem... plz need help

# 1 02-02-2014 , 12:57 AM

Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2013

Posts: 68

Maya, irregular cluster deformation problem... plz need help

Hello people,
I was looking for a way to rig eyes so that they could blink more naturally and I stumbled on a tutorial that used "Rigid bind" and using "Cluster painting tool". The blinking was perfect but, when I constrained the rigid-bind bone controllers to the neck contoller and I try to move the mesh, the the eye region I attatched to the extra bone deforms in a very funny and frustrating way. (Ahead of the mesh)

Please I need help if there is a work around, I don't want to use the usual skin bind and weight painting because it takes me forever to paint the weight to the desired position. I used rigid bind and cluster weight tool to achieve the desired result in less than 5 mins.

I normalised weights, group controls and constrained it to the neck joint ctrler, still didn't work.

Please help me out and if there is another way to achieve the result easier without using rigid bind, I would really appreciate if anyone would share.

Cheers,
Lucem

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# 2 02-02-2014 , 07:01 AM

Technical Director
Join Date: Feb 2004

Posts: 2,988

Looks like there's a double transform somewhere. See here: https://download.autodesk.com/global/...ber=d30e306047

Unfortunately there's no real "one-step-fix" to this. You have to play around with your hierarchy in order to solve the problem. The explanation that I've linked sounds very much like the issue you're having here.

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

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# 3 02-02-2014 , 08:43 AM

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Join Date: Jul 2013

Posts: 68

Thanks a lot "NextDesign" I'll have a look at the link and test it out... Will let u know how it went...
Thanks again

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# 4 03-02-2014 , 05:45 PM

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Join Date: Jul 2013

Posts: 68

Hey, I read the documentation on the maya page and found out the problem was double deformation effect, but the solution that was given didn't work for me... It said "To counter this, delete or detach the construction history on the shape before binding." And "One way to remedy this is to organize the affected points into a set that is only affected by the cluster deformer, which remains parented to the joint"

It's like nobody in the whole world of animation knows how to solve this... I searched through out the net but, couldn't find any fix for this problem.

If you got another way to rig eyes to make them blink naturally without using clusters I'd really appreciate.

Why the hell did maya make that "cluster" anyway?

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# 5 03-02-2014 , 07:38 PM

Technical Director
Join Date: Feb 2004

Posts: 2,988

It's not a problem with the software, but of the design of the rig. It is just the way the math works out sometimes. All riggers come across this, and they have their various ways of how to fix it; you have to be creative sometimes. The cluster is actually an invaluable tool that, when used properly, can add a lot of functionality into your rigs very quickly.

It's hard to give any more help as you haven't showed us a screenshot of your rig's hierarchy, or even a link to the scene file. It's therefore pretty close to impossible to help you with a fix.

What you're seeing on the net is not that people don't know how to fix it, it's just people not giving enough information for someone to give a fix user added image