Archive notice: This article was originally published on February 18, 2019. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
mGear is an open-source framework for Autodesk Maya that allows rigging and animation aids & tools to be created even without programming knowledge. With the rigging system called “Shifter Rig Builder”, mGear offers, among other things, the ability to quickly and modularly build rigs for different characters (e.g. mechanical props, humans, creatures, vehicles, etc.). The developers have now released the new version 3.0 on Github.
mGear 3.0: Overview of New Features
Alongside a series of improvements to the interface and bug fixes (see release log), geometry updates can be automated in mGear 3.0 with “Flex”. In addition, there are now new functions for the “Shifter” auto-rigging system, including a new Guide Manager, as well as…
- New Game Tools for decoupling meshes and rigs for easier FBX export
- New Shifter components: chained FK/IK spline with variable IK/FK control, Chain Stack, Whip chain and more.
Flex: Manipulation Without Damaging Rigs
The new feature in mGear 3.0 – Flex – is a new tool for updating the geometry of a modified character without making the rig unusable. For this purpose, models must each be specified manually as source and target:
mGear then automatically calculates individual matching parts via “analyze” and “Update Shapes”. Alongside geometry changes, mGear can also transfer UV updates and other attributes, among other things. More about this here.
Download & Installation
mGear 3.0 is available free of charge for Windows, MacOS and Linux here. All Maya versions from 2016.5 are supported, with Maya 2019 currently only on Windows.
More information about the update on the website, the YouTube channel, in the release notes and the documentation.
