Blog #2 – INFR i3110 – Working with Havok in Maya

In this blog, I will guide you through getting havok for maya, installing and creating sample scene in maya with Havok physics applied and finally preview it.

So first, let’s get Havok for Maya. Go to http://havok.com/try-havok and fill out the form and click submit.

And then download “Content Tools for game Artist & Designers” for your appropriate autodesk product.

After downloading simply install the application file. When it asks for which software to install havok for, make sure you choose Autodesk Maya.

Now, Installing the havok is done. Let’s create a simple havok scene in maya.

1.) Open Maya. And go to Window > Setting/Preferences > Plug-in Manager

2.) And check the plugin for havok in maya as shown below.

3.) Now Let’s create a plane on the grid at (0,0,0) and create a box on top of it. Rotate the plane a little bit so the box can slide of it easily.

4.) Now we apply Havok rigid body node to these objects, To do this select a plane and go to Havok Content Tools > Physics > Create Rigid Bodis. Now select a cube and follow the same procedure but in the attribute editor enter the value for mass (eg. 10). We do not need to enter mass for plane, because leaving mass to 0 means the object won’t move.

5.) Now go to Havok Content Tools > Export.

6.) Now go to Physics tab on left side and select Create Rigid Bodies and click on “Add >” button. Than select Create World and click add. Than finally go to Graphics tab and add preview tool.

7.) Click on “Run Configuration” and new window will open where you will see a box falling on the plane and sliding from it.

Creating rigid body objects in maya is easy, I am still trying to figure out skeletal meshes in havok.

See ya’ later.