I am comfortable with Maya's user interface.​

  A. Very: I know my way behind the scenes and am able to edit nodes a variety of ways

  B. Somewhat: I am comfortable with the interface, but don't know much about behind the scenes.

  C. Not really: I'm still getting used to the interface and know nothing about behind the scenes.​

Feedback: There is no right or wrong answer here, just some introspection into how comfortable you feel with Maya's interface, and what's happening behind the curtain.  

1. Very: You can probably skim through these tutorials looking for anything you may not already know, or want to refresh your memory on.

2. Somewhat: You can probably skip the first section, Maya Interface, and will benefit from the Concepts/Tools section the most.  We still recommend skimming through all the tutorials to look for anything you may not already know.

3. Not Really: That's perfectly alright!  Welcome to the dark side.  We recommend you take the tutorials in order, starting with Maya Interface. 

​The outliner is a window used for...

  A. listing everything in the Maya scene file.

  B. organizing hierarchical relationships between objects (parent/child relationships).

  C. hiding and unhiding (turning the visibility on/off) of objects.

  D. all of the above

​

Feedback: The outliner is probably a riggers single most used window. If you don't know where it's located or you're unfamiliar with it's options, hierarchy workings, or shortcuts, please take a moment to watch the tutorial.

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Maya Interface: 1.02 the Outliner

In the channel box, when an attribute turns Salmon/Pink in color, it has....

  A. A parent constraint on it.

  B. an incoming connection from a keyframe.

  C. straight connections from another object.

  D. a true parent/child relationship with another object

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Feedback: As an animator, it's important to know what you're doing when you add a keyframe to the timeline.  As a rigger, it's important to know when an object is receiving input from another.  Watch the tutorials on the channel box to learn the behind-the-scenes of keying and learn about the other colors of the channel box.

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Maya Interface: 1.03d Channel Box: Colors

transform attributes...

  A. contain information that transform nodes keep track of, such as translations, rotations and scales.

  B. can be found in the channel box.

  C. are keyable

  D. All of the above

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Feedback: Transform attributes are important in animating - they're what you keyframe and the information noted over time is remembered on the transform node. We'll be using attributes a lot in the future, so brush up if you're feeling rusty.

Maya Interface: 1.03 Channel Box
Maya Interface: 1.04 Attribute Editor

Youc an find additional settings and options in the...

  A. Attribute Editor

  B. Tool Settings

  C. Outliner

  D. Channel Box

​

Feedback: The Tool Settings panel provides additional settings and options for all the tools you utilize in Maya.  For your basic translate, rotate, and scale tools, you can find additional options for limiting movement to degrees (called discrete), symmetry selection, soft selection, and axis orientation.

Maya Interface: 1.05 Tool Settings

You can isolate objects quickly using the...

  A. "Show" menu options in the viewport

  B. Layer Editor

  C. isolate mode in the viewport

  D. quick select sets

  E. All of the above

​

Feedback: There are multiple ways you can isolate or quickly select objects in Maya.  For animators, being able to grab all the controls you need for keying in a couple of clicks helps cut down on the time it takes to animate.

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Maya Interface: 1.06 Isolate Select

You can edit the hotkeys in Maya

  A. True

  B. False

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Feedback:  You can also program your own using the hotkey editor.

Maya Interface: 1.07 Hotkeys

Maya Interface: 1.07a the Hotkey Editor

A macro code is...

  A. a code using more than 100 lines of script

  B. a list of commands in the script editor

  C. a line of code that executes a single command

  D. a script you can source in Maya presets

​

Feedback: While we won't get into the nitty gritty of the script editor (don't worry, we won't be learning much code here!) it's important to know that the script editor spits out information every time you do something in Maya.  These single lines of code are called macro.  If you ever need to do anything via script and you're not sure how to start, you can always copy and paste what the script editor provides first.

Maya Interface: 1.08 the Script Editor

I am confident that I know my way around a rig and the basic workings (Ik/Fk switches and limbs, Space Orient switches, hidden controls and extra attributes)

​

  A. Very: I'm confident with rigs and can even begin troubleshooting when they don't work like they should.

  B. Somewhat: I'm great at animating a rig, but I don't always understand why they do the things they do (and break the way they do)

  C. Not very: sometimes I struggle to find what I need on a rig, never understand why the rigger puts things where they do, and don't always utilize or understand the added attributes (such as Space Orient switches)

​

Feedback: This question doesn't mean your comfort with animating, but with the rigs themselves. How much do you understand about their mechanics? This is a very important section for animators, so if you struggled at all with the following questions, I highly recommend watching the tutorial section Under Your Rig's Hood, if only to brush up what you already know. If you want to tackle troubleshooting down the line, you will need to be comfortable with vocabulary and concepts in this section.

When you create geometry in Maya, you create...

  A. a shape node

  B. a creation node

  C. a transform node

  D. all of the above

​

Feedback: Nodes are the first peak behind the curtain.  Maya is a node-based system with a fairly user friendly UI on top.  We won't dig too deep into nodes, but we will take a brief look behind the curtain and explain one of the more commonly utilized nodes: the shape node.

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Rigging Concepts: 2.01 Nodes

When you freeze transformations, you zero out the following attributes:

  A. Translate X, Y, and Z

  B. Rotate X, Y, and Z

  C. Scale X, Y, and Z

  D. A and B

  E. all of the above

​

Feedback: Almost a trick question!  Technically, translate and rotates are "zeroed out" and scale is set back to 1, but we consider all of this to be called "freezing transformations" as it is more about redefining where the objects default position and scale is.  This is incredibly important for objects like controls, which need to be at absolute zero for the animator to set the rig back to default position.

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Rigging Concepts: 1.02 Freezing Transformations

It is safe to delete history when...

  A. the history is non-deformational

  B. the history is on geometry

  C. the history is old

  D. the history is deformational 

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Feedback: History is a tricky subject.  Deleting nodes that are still feeding information to your geometry can be dangerous, particularly on objects that are skinned or being deformed in other ways.  You need to know when you can delete history, so that you can keep your file size down and your scene clean, without deleting anything vital to your shot.

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Rigging Concepts: 2.03 Deleting History

Pivot points can be adjust in Maya...

  A. True

  B. False

Feedback: being able to move pivot points around allows us to have controls wherever we want them - for example, in easily selectable, visible places on a body, while still maintaining the proper movement the control should have (like moving a clavicle from the base of the bone, not the middle!)

Rigging Concepts: 2.04 Pivot Points

There are ___ types of relationships in Maya

  A. 2

  B. 3

  C. 5

  D. more than 10

​

Feedback: This is a little bit of a trick question.  There are a dozen plus ways to set up connections between characters, but when it comes to relationships, we classify all connections as either True or False.  It is either a true parent/child relationship, or it is a fake relationship.  This is important to know because true relationships reorganize objects in the Outliner.  Often you need objects in separate locations in the Outliner, then you have to use fake relationships.  

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Rigging Concepts: 1.05 Relationships

There are ___ types of connections in Maya

  A. 2

  B. 3

  C. 5

  D. more than 10

​

Feedback: Connections are almost limitless in Maya.  You can create them through constraints, keying, set driven key, expressions, direct node connections, and more.  Just remember that every connection that isn't made by parenting in the Outliner is a fake relationship!

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Rigging Concepts 2.05 Relationships

What makes it interesting? Write a catchy description to grab your audience's attention...

A true parent/child relationship... (select all that apply)

  A. has one parent and one child 

  B. re-organizes objects in the outliner

  C. is created using a parent constraint

  D. can have multiple parents

  E. can have multiple children

​

Feedback: a parent/child relationship is formed when an object is nested under another in the Outliner.  The top object is called the parent, and the nested object becomes the child.  The child inherits all the movement, rotation, and scaling of its parent, but does not display any of the movement in its transform attributes in the channel box.  This allows for things like controllers to move with the rig, and yet stay at absolute zero in the channel box.

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Rigging Concepts: 2.05a Relationships: Real

Groups are helpful in rigging because they can be used to...s item about? What makes it interesting? Write a catchy description to grab

  A. organize the outliner

  B. parent objects

  C. constrain controllers without coloring the attributes

  D. maintain axis orientation on child objects when freezing transformations

  E. A and C

  F. B and D

  G. all of the above

​

Feedback: Groups are incredibly helpful and underestimated by most outside of the rigging discipline.  You can use them as middle man/proxies to take on constraints, non-frozen transformations, you can orient child object axes through them, and so much more.  They're the most helpful little buggers in all of Maya.

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Rigging Concepts: 2.06 Groups

Non-linear deformers can be used to create "quick rigs" without any rigging

  A. True

  B. False

​

Feedback: Deformers are great for quick rigs, without any of the complication of rigging.  As they are keyable, you can turn the deformations on and off on an object, with degrees of weight.  Bend deformers are great for rigging paper or book pages; waves and sin deformers can fake liquid movement you may want to fake instead of using fluid simulations; lattices can be used for faked snake or fish movement rather than rigs.  And all deformers can be applied to geometry and then deleted for quick modeling as well.

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Rigging Concepts: 2.08 Deformers

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Constraints are...(select all that apply)

  A. true parent/child relationships

  B. fake relationships

  C. turn attributes in the channel box yellow

  D. used to make connections between objects

​

Feedback: Constraints are the most commonly used of the fake relationships, and can be used a lot in animation for things like picking up and letting go of props, having accessories like buttons follow clothing, and creating quick connections between geometry.  

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Rigging Concepts: 2.07 Constraints

Blendshapes connect ______ to _______.

  A. deformed geometry to original geometry

  B. original geometry to deformed geometry

  C. deformed geometry to facial controls

  D. rigging geometry to body controls

​

Feedback: Blendshapes are the coolest of all the deformers.  They allow you to create a duplicate of the mesh, sculpt it however you want, and then reconnect it back to the original geometry in order to blend back and forth between the two.  This is how most facial expressions are made, and can be used for things like butt depression in cushions, correction shapes and silhouette changes.

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Rigging Concepts: 2.08k Deformers: Blendshapes

​

I am confident that I know my way around a rig and the basic workings (Ik/Fk switches and limbs, Space Orient switches, hidden controls and extra attributes)

  A. Very: I'm confident with rigs and can even begin basic troubleshooting when they don't work like they should.

  B. Somewhat: I'm great at animating a rig, but I don't always understand why they do the things they do (and break the way they do)

  C. Not very: sometimes I struggle to find what I need on a rig or don't understand why the rigger puts things where they do.

​

Feedback: There are no right or wrong answers for this question, only a gauge of where you feel you are in regards to rigs.  There's a lot going on under a rig, so it's fair if you don't know all of it.  We won't teach you all of it either, here!  Just the things that help you better use the rig as an animator.  

Controllers are most often...

  A. curves

  B. geometry

  C. joints

  D. all of the above

​

Feedback: While controllers can be made from anything, as they are defined as one object controlling another, most controls are made of curves.  Some riggers utilize geometry, but the problem with those is it makes selection more difficult, as you can not show none, then show only curves to select your controllers.  

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Under Your Rig's Hood: 3.01 Controls

Controls can have extra attributes on them that provide further animation capability.

  A. True

  B. False

​

Feedback: If you're starting out in animation, you may not yet be in the habit of checking each rig controller for extra attributes.  There are some controllers that pretty regularly have extra capabilities: foot controls, root controls, head controls.  Other rigs may have them in unexpected places, where you may not first think of.  It's a good idea to get familiar with a rig before you use it, and get in the habit of always checking the channel box for extra controls.

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Under Your Rig's Hood: 3.01d Controls: Extra Attributes Pt 1

Under Your Rig's Hood: 3.01e Controls: Extra Attributes Pt 2

Only the necessary controls for animation are visible on a rig.  All other controls are hidden by default.

  A. True

  B. False

​

Feedback: If a rig were to come in with all the possibly keyable controls visible, it would be overwhelming.  Ik limbs and Fk limbs each have their own set of controls, so if both came in visible there would be overlapping, and selection would be very difficult.  There can be many hidden controls that you should search for when first opening a rig.

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Under Your Rig's Hood: 3.01 Controls

________ move ________ which, in turn, drive the ______.

  A. Joints, controls, geometry

  B. Controls, joints, geometry

  C. Controls, geometry, joints

  D. Constraints, joints, geometry

​

Feedback: the heirarchy of control in a rig starts at the top, with a controller, then moves down through relationships and joints, to the bottom of the pyramid: geometry.  A rig, in essence, is controllers driving a skeleton driving mesh.  

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Under Your Rig's Hood: 3.02 Joints

Under Your Rig's Hood: 3.02d Joints: in the Rig

Gimbal Lock is caused by...

  A. poor painted weights/skinning issues

  B. two of the three axes becoming parallel and limiting rotational movements to two dimensions

  C. a malfunction in Maya's calculations of which axis gets priority

  D. joint orientation

​

Feedback: Don't be discouraged by the technical jargon.  Gimbal lock, once explained, is not that complicated.  It is not caused by the rig itself, though joint and controller orientation can play a role, but rather by the animator setting a key on a control's position and the computer trying to calculate the smartest route to that position.  It can be avoided, and we'll talk about how.

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Under Your Rig's Hood: 3.02e Joints: Gimbal Lock

Under Your Rig's Hood: 3.02f Joints: Rotation order

Fk joint chains are created by...

  A. creating a joint chain

  B. inserting an fkHandle into a joint chain

  C. adding controls to the base and tip joints

  D. adding a spline handle to the joint chain

​

Feedback: Maybe a little bit of a trick question... Some may find it surprising, but an fk limb is nothing more than a standard joint chain being driven by controllers at each joint.  Fk stands for forward kinematics, referring to the fact that movement comes from a heirarchy of joints: the base joint controls the middle joint, which in turn controls the tip joint.  Everything moves with the base.  For this reason, fk limbs are best used for rotations, creating beautiful arcs naturally in the way they're setup.

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Under Your Rig's Hood: 3.02a Joints: Fk Chain

IK stands for...

  A. Inward Kinematics

  B. Inverse Knee

  C. Inverse Kinematics

  D. Integrated Knee

​

Feedback: Knowing how and when to use an Ik chain is important for animators, since they make up half the rig.  Inverse Kinematics refers to the fact that the tip of the joint chain drives the movement of the rest.  Unlike Fk, where control starts at the base and moves down the chain from there, Ik chains have ikHandles in them that create an inverse movement when the base of the chain is moved.  For this reason, they are in situations where the end of the chain drives the movement or is "stuck" to a surface.  For example, legs.  You don't want the rig's feet to leave the floor when you move it's hips, so legs are most commonly set on Ik.

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Under Your Rig's Hood: 3.02b Joints: Ik Chain

In order for a spine setup to work properly, it must have integrated Ik/Fk chains.

  A. True

  B. False

​

Feedback: Though less common, some rigs will have separated fk and ik spines that the animator can switch between.  More advanced rigs will have integrated setups, however, as they give a more anatomically correct shape and more flexibility for the animator.

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Under Your Rig's Hood: 3.04 Spines

Skinning is the process of...

  A. parenting geometry to joints

  B. connecting joints to geometry through the connection editor

  C. deciding how much each joint effects the geometry

  D. binding geometry to joints

​

Feedback: To skin geometry, you select the joints you want to influence the mesh, then the mesh, and create a skin cluster node.  This assigns weight to each vertice of the mesh, telling that vertice how much to follow each of the surrounding joints.  You can paint these weights to specify, as Maya does her best to guess but is often not very good at assigning the weight correctly.  

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Under Your Rig's Hood: 3.06 Skinning