Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 9.32
The armature parenting menu, and the Armature modifier.
When you have these conditions satisfied, it's time to do your initial binding. Select one of your mesh objects,
then Shift-select the armature. Press
Ctrl-P
to parent. A new set of options appears!
Figure 9.32
shows the
pop-up menu. Choose
Armature Deform: With Automatic Weights
. This operation does a number of
things. First, it adds an Armature modifier to your mesh object, also shown in
Figure 9.32
. Along with the default
settings, enable
Quaternion
, which gives cleaner deformations. Second, it creates a number of vertex groups
within the mesh, one for each of the deforming bones. Third, it estimates the relative influences of each of the
bones on the mesh, storing those values in the vertex groups.
Repeat this parenting process with each of the objects that make up your character. In the case of the
sample character, this means one object for the main body form, one for legs/pants/shoes, one for each
hand, and one for the head. What do you do now? Grab a bone in Pose mode and see what happens.
The automatic weighting isn't horrible, but a number of problems can occur. Let's look at several cases
and learn how to fix them.
Too Much Influence
Figure 9.33
shows the arm in rest position, raised, and lowered. In the raised position, it clearly pulls too
much of the ribs and side along with it. In the lowered position, it pushes the same geometry into the
body. This is one of the easiest problems to fix, and a good demonstration of the Weight Painting
workflow.
Raise the arm so the bad deformation in the ribs is obvious. Then, Shift-RMB select the mesh and press
Ctrl-Tab. This puts you into Weight Painting mode on the mesh, but leaves the upper arm bone high-
lighted in Pose mode. In this special mode (weight paint + active armature) the transformation controls
affect the selected bone, not the mesh. Use the T key to bring up the tool shelf, which includes the
Weight Painting controls. You can refer back to Chapter 7 on surfacing for a refresher on the brush
Search WWH ::
Custom Search