← ArchiveTalk2025
Bifrost Rigging in Maya - Part 3: Creating a Custom Module
Walks through building and publishing a custom spline rig module inside the Bifrost Modular Rigging Framework, demonstrating how to author reusable procedural rig components for character pipelines.
Abstract
Matthew Tucker walks through building a custom spline rig module inside Maya's Bifrost Modular Rigging Framework, starting from the editable template module and parenting it to a root module. He demonstrates authoring base and end controls with pins, then using iterate nodes to procedurally generate any number of evenly spaced mid controls and joints, driving their placement with interpolate transform matrix, divide/increment/decrement nodes, and dynamically built name strings. He builds a spline through the controls with a resample matrix chain, editing its decomposed-matrix internals to manually set the forward axis and up vector so the spline orientation matches the controls, then drives the joint chain along it. The module is cleaned up, parameters like joint count and mid-control count are promoted to the top of the graph, and the optimized module is published for reuse.
How to read this
- Category
- Production talk / tool tutorial
- Contributions
- Walks through building a custom spline rig module in Maya's Bifrost Modular Rigging Framework, starting from the editable template module parented to a root module
- Procedurally generates evenly spaced mid controls and joints with iterate nodes, interpolate transform matrices, divide/increment/decrement nodes and dynamically built name strings
- Builds and orients a spline via a resample matrix chain (editing decomposed-matrix internals for forward axis and up vector), then promotes parameters and publishes the optimized module for reuse
- Context
- Third and most hands-on part of the Bifrost rigging series, applying the interface and concepts from Parts 1 and 2 to author a reusable procedural module.Builds on: Bifrost Rigging in Maya - Part 2: The Module Interface
- Correctness
- Studio/vendor practice, not peer-reviewed; the workflow is a demonstrated authoring recipe, so correctness is about following the construction steps rather than a validated result.
- Clarity
- Detailed step-by-step build; benefits from pausing and following along rather than a single passive watch.
- How to read it
- Treat as a follow-along build after Parts 1 and 2; focus on the iterate-node procedural generation and the spline orientation fix (forward axis and up vector via decomposed matrices), pausing to replicate steps if you are authoring your own modules.
Builds on
Built upon by
Nothing yet.
Related work
Keywords
This page summarises the entry and links to its original source. The archive never hosts or redistributes the publication itself.Show it in the full archive list →