Cleaner mesh = better Claude Bonet map

[JamesMK]

Interesting stuff!

I guess I came to just about the same conclusion back in my Blender days... after several less than successful attempts with various approaches to weightpainting, it finally became clear that if each part of the mesh isn't properly modeled for the particular deformation that part is supposed to be exposed to, one can paint weights until hell freezes over - it won't work very well anyway.

On the other hand, with a perfect mesh, there's rarely any need to weight it at all (except for those obvious problem areas around the crotch of course, and a few others).

[dsavage]

Nice example Dan. I seem to remember somthing about this on a Maya tutorial I found some time ago. Something along the lines of the edge loops being closer together on the outside of a bend (elbow, shoulder, knee) and further apart on the inide of the deformation, though I've no idea where the tut. is, so I could be wrong.

[Cactus Dan]

Howdy,

Originally posted by dsavage
Nice example Dan. I seem to remember somthing about this on a Maya tutorial I found some time ago. Something along the lines of the edge loops being closer together on the outside of a bend (elbow, shoulder, knee) and further apart on the inide of the deformation, though I've no idea where the tut. is, so I could be wrong.

Hmmm..... interesting because that seems to be exactly what I did (although I just stumbled onto it). I'd be curious to see the rest of that tutorial. Too bad you didn't bookmark it back then.

Adios,
Cactus Dan

[dsavage]

Dan, I'll have a look for it - it was a link from one of the threads here a couple of months back. I'll let you know if I find it.

[dsavage]

Dan - good and bad news. Good news is I found the tutorial - www.hippydrome.com.
Bad news is it's the opposite of what I said, and also what seemed to work for you i.e. the tutorial suggests edge loops closer on the inside and further apart on the outside of the bend.

Maybe it's a case of 'whatever works for you'.

By the way, I've been following the development of your cowboy - coming along very nicely. Your face morph work was particularly interesting.

[Cactus Dan]

Howdy,

Thanks dsavage. Maybe the shoulder is just a special case, or it may have something to do with the fact that I'm trying to simulate the clothing (there's no modeled arm under the shirt sleeve). I don't know, but anyway, I'm going to check out that tutorial and see what I can learn. I've noticed that it doesn't matter what software it's for, as long as the tutorial is good, you learn something (as it was with Jason's book).

Thanks again.

Adios,
Cactus Dan

[flyingP]

Originally posted by dsavage
Maybe it's a case of 'whatever works for you'.

Or just a case of whatever works .

Cactus have you tried moving this in other directions as well ?

[Cactus Dan]

Howdy,

Originally posted by flyingP
Cactus have you tried moving this in other directions as well ?

Yes, and I need to make a slight adjustment in the contours so that not only will their tops lean toward the shoulder, but the backside should also. I figure that the arm would have more forward motion than backward so that would work out better.

I went through that tutorial that dsavage posted a link to, and found that I was at least partially right in what I did with the contours. Not only should the contours be tight on the inside of a bend and spread more on the outside of the bend, but they should also be angled toward the root bone on the outside of the bend and angled away from the root bone on the inside of the bend. The tutorial pointed out that this kind of structure helps to define the muscle movements also. Very interesting and informative tutorial. I've added that one to my bookmarks.

Adios,
Cactus Dan

[3dg]

Hey Cactus,

I know you already know this, but in addition to the topology of the mesh, there is some importance to the placement of the bones themselves. This article at Gamasutra really helped me out:

http://www.gamasutra.com/features/visual_arts/19981113/charmod_01.htm

HTH

Gary

[wuensch]

Hi, cactus-- actually the maya tutorial shows quite a similar shoulder construction.
I totally agree. one of the beginner errors I had to learn was that the single most important thing to good deformation is a good layout of the mesh-topology.

Olli

[Cactus Dan]

Howdy,

3dg: thanks for the link to that article. Yep, I have noticed (through trial and error) that bone placement is important.

Olli: as long as I learn from my errors, I reckon I'm doing OK. Although, I keep wishing I had known some of these things when I started this project. But even so, sometimes the investigation into solving the problems I encounter, is a rewarding experience.

Adios,
Cactus Dan

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