Machine Animation Tutorial: Rigging Scissor Arms | Maya 2017

Long Form Tutorials

Learn how to use the IK function to rig a series of scissor arms inside a machine

Timecodes

Create pairs of joints using the Point Snap option to ensure that the joints are centered at the axes of the levers.
Create controllers (Locators) at the center hinge of all the scissor levers. Use Point Snap to center.
Group the controllers (⌘+G) and use center the pivot point (Modify>Center Pivot)
Rename all joint chains as desired (xLeverJoint#_#)
Create the IK Handles for each joint chain (Skeleton>Create IK Handle)
Parent the root joints to their respective Locator controllers (Constrain>Parent)
Parent the IK Handles to their respective Locator controllers (Constrain>Parent)
Parent the scissor arm polygon objects to their respective joint using the Outliner (Middle-mouse click and drag)
Use the ScaleX attribute of the controller group to control all the scissor arms.

Resources

FK and IK Explained

Inverse Kinematics (IK)

quick links

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