Maya’s Controller Node Makes Setting PickWalking for a Character Rig a Little Easier

Jarred Love is a Rigger and Technical Animator who demonstrates a better way to get a pickwalk setup out of the controller node in Maya. Pickwalking is an important component to character rigs for animators and technical artists alike. It allows for a logical way to select animatable components easily, walking form one controller to the other.

Maya added a new controller node in Maya 2016 Extension 2. The Controller node added some new workflows, letting users easily identify which elements are meant for animation, enable 1-click select drag of controllers, have a way to easily view controller attributes, and define custom pick walking.

Jarred offers a few tips on how to use the controller node for a more complex setup, that is still quite user-friendly. This can reduce the need for custom pickwalking scripts. “The controller node pickwalking seems to work pretty great for simple ‘control hierarchies’ but becomes less useful as you branch off more to more siblings and grand-siblings.” Jarred says.