I will be using HumanIK in Maya to create the controls (I’ll add set driven keys later), But my question is:
Is this default A-Pose okay to animate with HumanIk?
Or do I have to use a T-Pose like this for animating with HumanIK controls?
I don’t know if it will cause problems by not having a T-pose. I also won’t be using mocap.
Thank you.
The A pose all the way when it comes to rigging, it has many reasons why. I can give you a few.
The T pose is not a relaxed pose, after 30 degrees of arm rotation upward, the scapula generally stays stationary with the rib cage, after 30 degrees however the humerus starts rotating the Scapula drastically and that creates a non relaxed pose for the back, it also moves the clavicle upward also distorting the relaxed pose for the shoulders and partially lower neck muscles. Ultimately the deformations on an A pose are more natural to start rigging with than a T pose.
This is also true for the elbows where a small protrusion of the elbow would be ideal for a better rigging process and visual outcome.
If your character is extreme cartoony, then all this may not really matter, but good cartoon or stylized characters most definitely follow anatomical basis for posture and setup.
Note: Watch for the spinal column in the A pose give it a slight curvature follow anatomical preferences, you don’t have to have the same amount of bones or exact curvature but never have it as a straight line.
You can model and bind your character in whatever pose you wish. However, HumanIK wants the rig to be put in a t-pose for control generation (the skeleton definition). All you need to do is manually rotate the joints so that they are roughly straight and world-axis oriented (the interface for HIK lets you know when the joint chain is acceptably straight, etc). I like to bind the skeleton on frame 0 and key all the t-pose rotations on frame 1. Make sure you lock the definition when you’re done the control setup.
