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Vidar3d
08-04-2007, 05:08 PM
Quick question for you guys. I am creating a hand rig for highly detailed glove. The rig is finished and working well but the skinning isn't performing quite as well as I hoped. The model has a lot of hard plastic type elements (think of a motorcross type glove) that shouldn't really stretch much at all embedded in the softer cloth like material. also there just seems to be too much stretching of the mesh in general. Would having the modeler increase the number of edgeloops around the knuckles help reduce the stretching? More edgelooping between the knuckles? Or does it not matter and I just need to fix it all up by painting and adjusting the weights, adding deformers to readjust the mesh as knuckles rotate. Rig is FK.

thanks for an suggestions....to sum up, how does the topology around knuckles effect the stretching in the mesh, how can it best be reduced, through modeling or adjusting parameters in the rig with set driven deformations and so on.
scrimski
08-04-2007, 05:22 PM
Posting screenshots and maybe the name of the used program would help.
In 3dsmax I would rather link the plastic elements to the bones than skinning them, but since I don't know what exactly you are talking about, it's more a vague idea.
Vidar3d
08-04-2007, 05:37 PM
I can't really post a screenshot because of this client's confidentiality requirements, but I am using Cinema 4D. I understand a screenshot would help illustrate what I"m talking about here, I'll try and mock-up something more generic that creates the same problem when I get into work this afternoon to give a better idea as to the problem I'm having.

Thanks for your quick reply.
refract
08-05-2007, 07:00 AM
The plastic parts should be hard-bound, as they should be.. they do not stretch. Add divisions to the hand where the hard bound parts end so they match up.
A decent low res model has 3 rings on top of each nuckle looping to a "v" to its base. A little hard to describe, but I think you know what I mean.
Vidar3d
08-07-2007, 05:13 PM
Refract - Thanks for your help. I was able to make it work with some creative weight painting. I"m a Maya guy who is trying to transitiion over to rigging in C4D. As far as I can tell there isn't really a "rigid bind" in C4D. I can edit the skin tag to either be linear, shperical, or a blend. I'm assuming the "linear" option would be the closest thing to a rigid bind.

Thanks again for your help.
ErikSvensson
08-07-2007, 06:29 PM
The best topology is the one you can feel, by posing stuff in real life, that is similar to the one you are doing now. Like go to a bike store and watch how the gloves works, then think in the edge flow to suit that deformation. It's like on the human head, you model the flow to simulate the muscles working, and were the foldings comes in posing. Then you go ahead making a topology that feels alright, fast bind it, skin it some, pose and tweak. Then work from that :)

Erik
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