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View Full Version : Step by Step on how to assign MetaEffectors by Lyle

Sil3
11-09-2003, 10:10 PM
The following text is from a session on #messiah3d IRC channel.

Lyle showed up and wrote a step by step on how to add Mettaefectors, i took the liberty to edit it and post the info here, wich i believe to be very usefull.

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<lmilton> 1. Start messiah

<lmilton> 2. Load an object

<lmilton> Go to Setup->Effects and add a BoneDeform effect to that object

<lmilton> 4. add a few bones

<lmilton> 5. Go to Setup->Tools and add a MetaEffector

<lmilton> 6. Add some Effectors

<lmilton> When you create a MetaEffector, you're really creating a "toolbox" that will hold Effectors. So, Select the MetaEffector


<lmilton> 7. Select one of the Bones and hit F3 to expand the interface


<lmilton> 8. Click on the Bone tab, then choose the MetaEffector you created from the weight popup.

<lmilton> Ok, we've already taken care of the Assignment portion. Now it's time to take of the drawing.

<lmilton> While you can add an object directly to the weight drawing list, you can have this taken care of automatically when you select bones.

<lmilton> 9. Click on the Skeleton tab and activate: Auto Draw Weights for Targets.

<lmilton> When you select the bone, it will automatically draw the weight on your object.

<lmilton> So, using this feature, the weight drawing will "automatically" change when you select a bone.

<lmilton> This is only compatible with Weight tools, though. The standard bone weighting doesn't get computed until you leave setup.

<Stoehr> Using connected and all connected falloff options for effectors: Do the connected points have to be seperate object layer, or does it find the points connected, regardless of being in the same object?

<lmilton> All connected will find all those points that are connected. This means that if you have an object that has, say, 2 separate spheres, if you move an effector over one of the spheres, only that sphere will be affectes.

<Stoehr> Does the metaeffector or effector have to be parented to anything in particular? the mesh, bone...?

<lmilton> Nope.

<Stoehr> So I can parent to anything, it's just for my convenience.

<lmilton> Yes.

<Stoehr> very nice.


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Hope it helps and be sure to visit #messiah3d.

Thanks for the visit and the info Lyle :beer:
Chewey
11-09-2003, 10:45 PM
For beginners trying to follow those steps it might help to point out how to set your objects display type in order to see the weighting displayed on screen.

I sense that the manner in which tools are added and how and where they are supposed to show up in the list is often confusing to beginners. Sometimes it's not intuitive how or when a tool gets parented to an item that you desire the effect/tool applied to, or if when you are in setup mode and "adding" an effect if you need to have an object selected for that "add" to work properly.
Sil3
11-09-2003, 11:38 PM
Originally posted by Chewey
For beginners trying to follow those steps it might help to point out how to set your objects display type in order to see the weighting displayed on screen.

I sense that the manner in which tools are added and how and where they are supposed to show up in the list is often confusing to beginners. Sometimes it's not intuitive how or when a tool gets parented to an item that you desire the effect/tool applied to, or if when you are in setup mode and "adding" an effect if you need to have an object selected for that "add" to work properly.

Yes, but this text was taken from an IRC chatting between Lyle and a new user, he asked on how to assign them, Lyle kindly told him. And itīs the " W " display type for those who dont know :p

Beginners shouldnīt also expect to learn an application only on some basic tutorials, most of the time even those tutorials assume that you know some basic stuff, people that really wishes to learn take their time and read the docs, thereīs no need to read them all at once, just need to try to make something and read the part that matters.
lmilton
11-10-2003, 12:43 AM
Yup, that was simply a reply to a user request, and wasn't really intended for a "general tutorial". Sil3 just thought that other users may find the info useful. On that note...

There are other things you can do to streamline your workflow if you're already familiar with messiah. For one, you could create scripts/commands to create BoneDeform effects, create MetaEffectors, and assign them to bones. Much of this can be either a key press or double-click away.

Personally, I'd use armatures and create a custom menu similar to what Thomas Helzle did in his new menu armature on www.zoogono.com .

Hope this info proves useful.

-lyle
chikega
11-11-2003, 02:38 AM
Thanks for the breakdown, Sil3 ... every little crumb helps ;)
Sil3
11-11-2003, 02:59 AM
My pleasure :wavey:
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