Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
7. Naming JointsIn Simple Words: Labeling your joints in a highly organized format so that you, scripts, and other animators know exactly what part of the body they are looking at.Example: Instead of joint1, renaming it to L_Elbow_JNT tells everyone it is the Left Elbow Joint.Where & Options in Maya 2023:You can manually double-click them in the Outliner.For batch renaming, go to Modify Search and Replace Names... to easily swap suffixes or prefixes (like renaming Left_ to L_ on dozens of items simultaneously).8. Mirroring JointsIn Simple Words: Taking all the hard work you did rigging one side of the body (like the left leg) and mirroring it perfectly across to the other side (the right leg) instantly.Example: Mirroring a fully oriented, named 15-joint arm chain across the center axis instead of drawing and aligning the right arm from scratch manually.Where & Options in Maya 2023:Go to Skeleton Mirror Joints $\square$.Key Options inside the window:Mirror Plane: Choose the plane to cross (usually YZ for crossing left-to-right).Mirror Function: Choose Behavior (so movements mirror symmetrically like a reflection) or Orientation (matching absolute coordinates).Search for / Replace with: Automatically swaps names (e.g., Search for: L_ and Replace with: R_).9. Connecting and Disconnecting a Joint ChainIn Simple Words: Gluing two separate skeleton chains together into one single entity, or severing a bone to split a chain apart.Example: You built a hand separately from the body skeleton. "Connecting" welds the wrist joint securely to the forearm joint.Where & Options in Maya 2023:To Connect: Select the child chain, shift-select the parent joint, and go to Skeleton Connect Joint $\square$. (Options include Connect Joint which moves the joint to the parent, or Parent Joint which draws a new bone between them).To Disconnect: Select the joint you want to separate from its parent, and go to Skeleton Disconnect Joint.10. Reroot SkeletonIn Simple Words: Changing the main master root (the absolute boss "grandparent" joint) of an entire skeleton structure to a completely different joint in the chain.Example: You drew a spine starting from the neck down to the hips, making the neck the root. You realize the hips need to be the root so the character can bend over. Rerooting flips the directional flow of the hierarchy instantly.Where & Options in Maya 2023:Select the joint you want to turn into the new master root of that structure.Go to Skeleton Reroot Skeleton. There are no option boxes for this; it instantly inverts the parent-child direction from that selected point upward!
7. Naming JointsIn Simple Words: Labeling your joints in a highly organized format so that you, scripts, and other animators know exactly what part of the body they are looking at.Example: Instead of joint1, renaming it to L_Elbow_JNT tells everyone it is the Left Elbow Joint.Where & Options in Maya 2023:You can manually double-click them in the Outliner.For batch renaming, go to Modify Search and Replace Names... to easily swap suffixes or prefixes (like renaming Left_ to L_ on dozens of items simultaneously).8. Mirroring JointsIn Simple Words: Taking all the hard work you did rigging one side of the body (like the left leg) and mirroring it perfectly across to the other side (the right leg) instantly.Example: Mirroring a fully oriented, named 15-joint arm chain across the center axis instead of drawing and aligning the right arm from scratch manually.Where & Options in Maya 2023:Go to Skeleton Mirror Joints $\square$.Key Options inside the window:Mirror Plane: Choose the plane to cross (usually YZ for crossing left-to-right).Mirror Function: Choose Behavior (so movements mirror symmetrically like a reflection) or Orientation (matching absolute coordinates).Search for / Replace with: Automatically swaps names (e.g., Search for: L_ and Replace with: R_).9. Connecting and Disconnecting a Joint ChainIn Simple Words: Gluing two separate skeleton chains together into one single entity, or severing a bone to split a chain apart.Example: You built a hand separately from the body skeleton. "Connecting" welds the wrist joint securely to the forearm joint.Where & Options in Maya 2023:To Connect: Select the child chain, shift-select the parent joint, and go to Skeleton Connect Joint $\square$. (Options include Connect Joint which moves the joint to the parent, or Parent Joint which draws a new bone between them).To Disconnect: Select the joint you want to separate from its parent, and go to Skeleton Disconnect Joint.10. Reroot SkeletonIn Simple Words: Changing the main master root (the absolute boss "grandparent" joint) of an entire skeleton structure to a completely different joint in the chain.Example: You drew a spine starting from the neck down to the hips, making the neck the root. You realize the hips need to be the root so the character can bend over. Rerooting flips the directional flow of the hierarchy instantly.Where & Options in Maya 2023:Select the joint you want to turn into the new master root of that structure.Go to Skeleton Reroot Skeleton. There are no option boxes for this; it instantly inverts the parent-child direction from that selected point upward!
