All images from Maya 2008 Character Modeling and Animation by Tereza Flaxman.

This month VFXWorld concludes its excerption of the Thomson Course Technology book Maya 2008 Character Modeling and Animation. In this series, VFXWorld readers have taken on the challenge of animating realistic and compelling characters using the latest version of Maya, the powerful 3D graphics and modeling software. Excerpts have shown beginning to intermediate animation students and enthusiasts how to create professional quality characters, explaining the full character animation process from pre-production to final full body and facial animation.

Motion path animation is a technique which allows you to animate an object moving along a curve. The curve controls the direction, position and rotation of the object. To create a path animation you first create a curve and then attach an object to it. This excerpt from Maya 2008 Character Modeling and Animation teaches you how to animate a simple object on a path and set motion path keys.

Motion path animation refers to an object or character that is animated on a curve path. This is useful for animating creatures such as fish or snakes. It is also commonly used for rapidly generating blocking animation -- the preliminary positioning of characters in a scene, and subsequent camera adjustments. Path animation can also be used to control camera motion itself, a method that directly mimics the physical camera tracks used in live-action film production.

[Figure 1] CV curve for motion path (left). [Figure 2] The RebuildCurve Options window (right). 

By default, a motion path object moves continuously and evenly along the given path. However, you can adjust this as needed using keyframes to specify location along the path at a particular time.

1. Create a new scene.

2. Press F4 to change Maya to Surfaces mode.

3. Select Create > CV Curve Tool.

4. In the Top view, click several times from right to left to create a loop curve as shown in Figure 1.

5. Select the curve’s last CV. Holding down the V key, move and snap the CV to the curve’s first CV.

6. Select Edit Curve > Open/Close Curve to make a continuous curve. A closed curve is a loop with the first and last edit points coinciding. In this case, you want a closed curve so that your motion path is continuous.

7. Select Edit Curve > Rebuild Curve Option Box.

8. In the options window, make sure that Rebuild Type Uniform is selected, Keep CVs is checked, and Keep Original is unchecked (see Figure 2).