Maya tips 002 - Ghosting

There are 2 methods to do ghost that i use. One is "Ghost selected" that Maya provided, the other is "bhGhost".

Ghosting 1

I started with using "Ghost selected" by using the curves. What it does is it creates many curves before and after the key it is in. It can show quite a good representation of the movement arc. An example is here: Simple walk cycle (Animation Mentor Assignment)

Ghosting 2

But something even better that was shared on Facebook, which i used all the time till now is "bhGhost". It can be found here : bhGhost and more. Installation is same as the video for another tool. Great Thanks to Brian Horgan!

I use it for variety of uses. Sometimes for some reason IK is not used for the hands when it is in contact on the ground, any movement from the body or arm will create popping for the palm. So "bhGhost" can be used to move the palm back to the original position for each frame. Below the top image shows the frame at which a ghost is created, the bottom image shows another frame where the body moves and i am able to move back the palm to the same position.

I also use "bhGhost" to help when switching a control from FK to IK. Everytime the switch is done the arm will suddenly snap to another position, because FK or IK arm will remain at its last position when not used. Below image shows frame 108 where the ghost is created. Another image below shows frame 109 where the ghost has helped me position back the arm at the exact position. Switching back from IK to FK can use the way.

Well the best use for "bhGhost" is for checking for spacing, and path of action. It helped me so much! Of course with higher number of ghost created, maya will be a little slow....