Hi,

Can anyone offer any suggestions or an approach to weighting the CPs for the bicep/shoulder rotation (the arm lowing to the side and raising up)? This is the 'sleeve' which should be easier then the arm itself.

I've got the shoulder. But I keep getting lost on the bicep (sleeve) and I'm in my 3rd day!

Think about what you do:
= Do you start with one horizontal (or one vertical) spline and work with that...
= Do you start with one pair of bones and then work in others...
= Do you start with aligning the CPs on the X axes then shoot for the Y...
= Something else entirely??

Thanks!
Rusty

The example Squetchy Sam with sleeves seems like the way to go to me. The sleeve was weighted exactly like the underlying bicep, then, the part of the weighting that was the actual bicep bones was changed to being the sleeve bones...which are in exactly the same place as the bicep bones.

So, what I would do would be to get good looking movement on the underlying model without the shirt, then, use that information to weight the shirt. Make sense?

Hope that helps, Rusty.

Thanks, that is a good idea however the arm CPs and the sleeve CPs are nowhere near the same. If you have any other thoughts on 'how' you go about doing the arm, let me know.

Rusty

One option would be to re-model the shirt sleeve. You can accomplish the same thing with weighting without re-modeling, but it will take more trial and error and figuring. It's just easier if the shirt sleeve has roughly the same density and layout. If the added density or different layout is absolutely necessary, then it's just going to be tougher to weight. In my mind, a different layout would only be necessary if you put folds in the sleeve (otherwise it would loosely conform to the shape of the bicep) and a high density would only be necessary if you are using cloth, then the weighting would be totally different for the sleeve.

If you opt for leaving the modeling as-is, I would still weight the underlying arm and then use that information to help figure out the weighting for the sleeve...it's just not going to be a one-to-one transfer of the weighting.

Hope that helps, Rusty.

Hi David!

A (nother) question... :-)

If I do as you say above (except instead of using the bicep bones, substitute in the sleeve bones, yes?)... then will the sleeve mesh expand out to accommodate the muscle flex? And, will it somehow do this even when the bicep is rotated and the arm twists under the sleeve (while the sleeve does not twist)?

Is that clear? In other words if, from the default model position, you rotate the lower arm forward to flex the bicep will the front of the sleeve push outward to accommodate the flex... and... if you then rotate the bicep so that the lower arm rotates upward and the flexed muscle rotates from the front to the top will the shape of the sleeve somehow morph from the front upward to the top to still cover the flexed muscle as it rotates up?

The best I can do at describing it. Sorry.

Thanks!
Rusty

I think I understand, Rusty. The sleeves won't flex at all unless you use the "Animation_Controls/Squetch_Controls/ARMS/sleeves_squetch_like_bicep" Pose...which can be added to a model by dragging it from the quick fix version of Squetchy Sam that I have posted in this post. It will be in the next update to the installation rigs, but for the next week or so it will be there. I think the installation stuff I sent you has that included.

Hope that helps.

I have not been able to try your last suggestion and in fact I'm at a dead stop with not only the Squetch rig but with all my animation efforts. I have a very bad case of tendinitis dating from 1997 and once in a while it slams me down. My wrists, elbows and shoulders hurt so bad that I can't do anything on the computer (except talk to it using dragon and this does no good for AM :-( ).

I must also admit that I've become very discouraged with the Squetch rig... after 4 months I have yet to rig a single character. But I'm the original 'bounce back kid' and I know that once I can use my hands again -- i.e. use the mouse and keyboard again -- I'll return to the battle.

What a drag... I'm already going through AM withdrawal!

Cheers,
Rusty

Did you ever try using a Wacom tablet... using the pen is actually quicker for me, than the mouse and easier on the wrist and fingers... it's just like writing.

I have a Wacom Tablet and love it but not to replace a mouse or wheel or keyboard (not for myself anyway). If I just don't type so much and, I switch between the mouse and several other wheels and mice I have I'm okay. Been working a lot on my book and all the typing did the damage.

r