Although we are not up to rigging yet (adding a skeleton), I thought I would take a look at what is involved. I decided to add a joint to a door, that I had created previously, in Maya.
Only one joint (two bones and a pivot) would be required to open and close the door. To do this I changed to the top view in the viewport. Then selected rigging from the menu sets. From there I selected the Skeleton menu and create joints
In the viewport I had to click three points, one in the middle of the first hinge, the second at the midpoint of the hinge, and the third on the door itself.
Because the joint is created on the grid floor I then needed to change to the front perspective and re-position it across the hinge joint. From here I could resize the overall joint size with the move tool, scaling it to a desired size I then pressed the enter key to select my joint.
The next step was to add an IK handle. This would enable my joint to move on a hinged axis. The IK handle can again be found under the skeleton menu, under Create IK Handle. To apply it all I needed to do was click on a first point (door frame hinge plate) and a last one (door point).
The IK handle is inserted by Maya between these two points. If you select the last point and enable the move tool you can manipulate the joint through the movement of the bones.
I then tried to parent the second bone to the door but the door kept jumping up so the joint was at its base. This was due to the original placing of the joint at its creation and the reference points created between the two objects at this time. To bind the joint to its correct position I must first skin the door and bind the joint to that.
My Blueprint Factory 