2009

Table Of Contents
To make the sphere an influence object
1 In the Hypergraph, select Jackie and Shift-select elbow_influence.
2 Select Skin > Edit Smooth Skin > Add Influence >
. In the Add Influence
Options, select Edit > Reset Settings, and then click the Add button.
Maya completes the operation within a few moments. To ensure the
influence object stays in the correct position at the elbow, you will parent
it to the left_shoulder joint.
3 In the Hypergraph, shift-select elbow_influence, elbow_influenceBase,
and left_shoulder joint, in that order.
The order of selection is important. The parent object should be selected
last.
4 Press p to parent the elbow nodes under the left_shoulder joint.
The elbow_influence nodes appear in the skeleton hierarchy below the
left_shoulder joint.
The elbow_influenceBase is known as a base object. It stores vertex
position information for the influence object. The reason for parenting
the base object to the left_shoulder joint is so that the influence objects
vertices stay in the correct position at the elbow whenever the elbow
moves to a new position. Other than this step, you do not work with the
base object.
5 Right-click Jackie and select Actions > Untemplate. It is easier to see
subsequent skin deformations when Jackie is displayed with smooth
shading rather than as a template.
6 From the menus at the top of the top view, turn off Show > Joints to
avoid having the joints obstruct your view of the skin.
7 Use each arms IK handle (ikHandle1 and ikHandle2) to pose the arms
in the following position.
328 | Chapter 7 Character Setup