VFX and Technical Artist Paul Giydenko (Paul Winex) is responsible for some great tools for both Side Effects Houdini and Autodesk Maya. If you haven’t seen his Multi Script Editor Lets You Code for Houdini, Nuke and Maya, or his Take on a Better Hypershade Editor In Maya, you should definitely check those out. Recently, Paul has created and posted a Matrix Based Maya Collision Rig.
Collision rig for specific parts of main rig like footprints or wheels
Running the script will build you matrix-based simple rig, which you can then use for things that would benefit from automatic collisions, such as footprints or a character’s hands or any character interactions with objects. It also can be useful for vehicle wheels and tires, so they will always have contact with the terrain. In fact, you can even use the Maya Collision Rig to set up a pseudo dynamic setup for hair, cloth elements, tentacles or hoses, as seen in the demo video.
Visit Paul’s GitHub for more information, and a download: Maya Collision Rig.
