If you need to rig up a 4 wheeled automobile in Maya, there are plenty of great tools that can automate the process and save you some time. Few however provide the detailed control that you can get by using the new 4Wheel Vehicle Autorig for Maya.
4Wheel Vehicle Autorig
The 4Wheel Vehicle Autorig offers an interface panel that will allow you to easily connect which objects will serve which purpose in the final rig, which is pretty standard. You can easily name your rig, setup which are the front left / right, back left/right wheels, which object will act as the body of the car, and which objects will be used for the tires.
Of course the 4Wheel Vehicle Autorig also provides some control for translation animation. Typically animating a car along a path would be a pretty standard method for animating the direction of a car or vehicle in Maya.
Standard Controls
The final rig will offer you some pretty standard controls for steering the direction of the vehicle. The rig will also automatically rotate the wheels to the correct speed as the vehicle moves. You are also able to set an override speed for the wheels which becomes an important feature if you want to create skids, burnouts, or similar effects.
More Controls
4Wheel Vehicle Autorig goes a bit further with the rig setup though, allowing you to affect the tires of the vehicle and also have the vehicle respond to terrain in the scene. The 4Wheel Vehicle Autorig provides some great detailed controls like being able to flatten and bulge the vehicle’s tires realistically. Add to that the ability for the wheels and suspension of the vehicle to respond to terrain in the scene, and you have a great all-round tool for creating wheeled vehicle rigs in Maya.
Availability
4Wheel Vehicle Autorig for Maya can be found on creativeCrash, so be sure to check out the 4Wheel Vehicle Autorig for VFX here.
