Rigging Artist Robert Joosten Shares a Spline IK Tool for Maya That Offers Variable Squash, Stretch, Rotation and Sliding

Maya has its own Spline IK solver that can come in handy for a variety of common rigging tasks. There are also many other tools available that extend some of the Spline IK capabilities in Maya. A new and free one from rigging artist Robert Joosten lets you easily create an IK setup on a curve. The tool features variable stretch, squash, rotation and sliding controls.

“The Spline IK module works on a curve and generates a joint chain that sticks to its position on the curve.” Joosten says. This way, squashing and stretching only occurs in the localized areas of manipulation, rather than the whole chain.

“The other benefit of using this module over a regular splineIK is the fact that the twist is divided over the controls that are generated and not just limited to the beginning and end.” Joosten goes on to say.

Learn more about Robert Joosten’s SplineIK setup with accompanying code here.