Character TD Miquel Campos has released mGear: an open-source modular auto-rigging framework for Maya capable of generating “an infinite variety of rig combinations … without programming knowledge”.

mGear provides character artists with a library of customisable rig components for different body parts. It uses custom solvers to improve playback, but its output “should be compatible with any Maya animation tool”.

Haven’t I seen this for Softimage?
mGear is based on Gear, Blur Studio rigging supervisor Jeremie Passerin’s Softimage rigging framework, although it isn’t an exact copy.

According to Campos, “Some of the [extra Softimage functions] will be implemented in the future; some of them never will be implemented [if they don’t fit with] Maya workflow and philosophy”.

Availability and system requirements
mGear is available to download now. It works with Maya 2013 and above running on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. The download is free, but you can donate to support future updates.

Note: downloads are being handled through Gumroad, but if you don’t want to donate, you can get hold of mGear without having to enter your credit card details by entering a price of $0.

Read more about mGear on Miguel Campos’s website

Watch video tutorials on how to use mGear on Campos’s Vimeo channel

Download mGear from Gumroad

Tags: animation, character, character rigging, character TD, free, Gear, Jérémie Passerin, Maya, mGear, Miquel Campos, modular, open source, rigging framework, softimage