Introduction to Maya - Modeling Fundamentals Vol 2
This course will look in the fundamentals of modeling in Maya with an emphasis on creating good topology. It's aimed at people that have some modeling experience in Maya but are having trouble with complex objects.
# 1 27-01-2008 , 01:23 PM
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Unwanted movement attached to skeleton?

Hello,
I was wondering if anyone could help me get out of my fix!! Er... I've just started putting the bones in my penguin and attaching his skin. It seems that when i move his arms tho his belly is attached. I'm not sure what info i need to put down for anyone to understand what i've done? I guess im a bit stuck now till i can sort this out!! Thanks user added image

Jo

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# 2 27-01-2008 , 01:27 PM
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Hi There

It just looks like what maya's done when you added the smooth skin, I cant remember the settings but if you look in the help file I think you can set an "area" to skin.

Also to get rid of it I would use the componant editor, open it and then look for the smooth skin weights and you can select all the verts that are not in the arm then remove the weights on these. and then go with the paint weights tool and add/smooth the transition area.


"No pressure, no diamonds" Thomas Carlyle
# 3 27-01-2008 , 01:28 PM
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Check the help files for painting skin weights. These determine which joints effect which parts of your geometry.

Chris

# 4 27-01-2008 , 01:45 PM
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Great, I'll have a go. Thanks very muchuser added image

# 5 27-01-2008 , 01:51 PM
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Yeah i had this problem with the penguin as well
the book forgot to mention you would need to sort out the paint weights

# 6 27-01-2008 , 02:36 PM
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Ok, so I have used the paint skin weights tool and completly blacked out the body area under each section of the skeleton in the arm. I still seem to be having a little trouble tho. I had a look in the componant editor but couldn't understand what I had to to there. Does anyone have any tips for me please?

Jo

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# 7 27-01-2008 , 02:44 PM
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check the weights for the shoulder wrist tip and everything
all of my joints near the hand were really messed up
BTW youre penguins much better than mine

# 8 27-01-2008 , 03:04 PM
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I have checked through all of them. I have blacked it out for the spine aswell. I'm only moving the arm from the shoulder joint. It seems to have got worse again...... I'm not quite sure how to tackle it? I cant seem to navigate my way around yet without quite specific instructions! any offers?!


(Thank's for the compliment on the penguin. Mine looks nothing like the one in the book tho. I fancied working with something a bit more goofy to keep me smiling. That one has his chest puffed out and is a bit intimidating for a first job!! I think yours is much more true to the book user added image)

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# 9 27-01-2008 , 03:17 PM
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Regarding the component editor,If you select a joint in the component editor you can see all vertices that have a weight value assigned to that joint and the amount of weight each vert has.
The theory is this ..the weight of the skin cluster for any given joint must add up to 1 and must always add up to 1 so the verts in the cluster around it get a weight assigned that the total should add up to 1 ,an example of this would be 3 verts could have 0.333 each or 4 verts will have 0.25 each or they could have 0.1 ,0.4 and 0.3 and 0.2 which also adds up to 1.
If you assign a weight of 1.0 to any vertice then that is the only vert that will be affected by that joint,but here lies the probelm be cause every vertices must have some weight from one joint or another if you add weight to a vert it will remove a proportionate amount from the others so it still adds up to 1 and likewise if you remove weight from a vert it must add more weight to the others so it's a balancing act to get the right amount of verts with right ammount of weight for each joint.

This is easiest to achieve by getting it close what you need using artisan painting the weight but is easier to fine tune in the component editor,adding or subtracting little values to each vert as needed.

So Like Elephantinc said check all the joints in the arm to make sure none of them have any influence over the body because evn if a finger joint had 0.01 it will still influence and pull..

Hope this explains it a little and helps you sort out your problem.




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Last edited by jsprogg; 27-01-2008 at 03:35 PM.
# 10 27-01-2008 , 03:23 PM
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I sorry i cant help more
to be honest i never fully sorted it myself
i bought the simplymaya low poly man rigging tut
im gonna rig my dragon once its finished
if the tutorial tells me anything ill let you know

# 11 27-01-2008 , 03:32 PM
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Thank you jsprogg, Im going to print out your advice and try to fathom out whats going on! I wonder how long it ill take me........ user added image

Right... crack on!!

# 12 27-01-2008 , 04:42 PM
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Set your smooth bind back to its default setting, for character work its usually a good place to start.

Make sure that you are using 'add' for your paint weights and the setting is at .1 or .2 (especially if you are using a wacom with pressure settings) if not use a low pressure/opacity for your mouse.

try to use the add setting only and use the smooth option right toward the end basically once you are near completion. If you use smooth too much it will cause the weights to pop out all over the place so just use this near the end to go around and tweak those rough areas.

Also a small tip for you that tends to go by the way side and thats use the prune weights option too, this will balance out any odd vert weights and stop stuff popping out of place when you pose your character. Use a low setting of about .01

oh and dont rush it, do one side as best you can and then mirror the weights across. Job done

hope this helps

# 13 06-03-2008 , 10:04 AM
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Hi, I have been trying different methods to balance out the weights. Jay, in our advice You told me to try to use add only.. Well the whiteness in paint skin weights is spread all over his sides/belly for the joints in the arms. I have been using the scale paint tool as this seems to have some effect but every time i go back to a joint i have done it gets messed up by having done the next one.... can any one help me. I just cant seem to get past this point?????


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# 14 06-03-2008 , 10:11 AM
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Might sound a bot mad, but what version aof maya are you running?

If your on 2008 it might be worth having a look into the smooth skin weights option, theres a bit of a tutorial on it at autodesk's site, it makes skinning pretty fast and you get some nice results.


"No pressure, no diamonds" Thomas Carlyle
# 15 06-03-2008 , 10:37 AM
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Yes it is, Ill do that.. thanks :p


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