Hi, I’m Ryan “Grif” Griffin. I’ve been working as a Technical Animator and Character Rigger in the game industry for over 20 years. Throughout my career, I’ve been asked multiple times to build custom rigging frameworks for studios — and while that’s ideal, sometimes you simply don’t have the luxury of time.
When you join a studio and only have a few weeks to deliver, building a full proprietary rigging system isn’t realistic. In those cases, relying on proven tools is not just acceptable — it’s smart.
One of my go-to solutions in those situations is mGear, an open-source rigging framework for Autodesk Maya.
Because it’s open-source, you get full access to the Python code. That means:
- You can modify existing modules
- Create your own custom components
- Add pre- and post-build scripting steps
- Adapt naming conventions (including Unreal-friendly setups)
- Integrate it into a studio pipeline
In this video series, I walk through:
- Installing mGear from GitHub
- Setting up required plugins (mGear Solvers + Weight Driver)
- Understanding Maya’s modules folder
- Using Shifter guide templates
- Customizing modules (head, spine, arms, legs)
- Mirroring modules symmetrically
- Adjusting blade orientation and IK planes
- Lip and mouth rigging in mGear
- Module settings and joint naming
- Custom pre/post build steps
- Building modules individually for testing
- Fixing pole vector alignment issues
- Deleting and rebuilding rigs safely
- Final rig generation
- Preparing rigs for Unreal Engine workflows
For this demonstration, I rig a stylized character modeled in Nomad Sculpt and show how quickly you can adapt a biped template — even for unconventional characters.
If you’re:
- Learning Maya rigging
- An animator who needs a quick rig
- A technical animator entering a new studio
- Working in Unreal Engine
- Interested in open-source rigging systems
This video will help you get up and running fast.
Download mGear:
GitHub → https://github.com/mgear-dev/mgear
I’ll be continuing this series with:
- Skinning workflows
- Weight painting strategies
- Unreal Engine integration
- Advanced mGear customization
- Dynamic and spring setups
You can also find me streaming live rigging and Unreal development most mornings. https://www.twitch.tv/grifnmore
We’re currently developing a game in Unreal Engine and using mGear extensively for character production.
See you in the next one.
