Inspecting Weights in Edit mode<\/h3>\n\n\nWe have many ways to inspect the weight maps. I believe this one is the easiest method:<\/p>\n
\n- Select your mesh.<\/li>\n
- Enter Edit Mode.<\/li>\n
- Open the Properties sidebar (type “n”).<\/li>\n
- Enable Show Weights.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n
![\"show_weights\"](\"http:\/\/blog.machinimatrix.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/show_weights1.png\")
<\/a>Enable display of weight maps in edit mode from the properties sidebar<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\n- Open the Object data Properties.<\/li>\n
- Navigate to the Vertex Groups list.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Now you can scroll through the list of vertex groups and you instantly see the current weight group displayed on your mesh. In the image i have selected the mPelvis weight group, thus the weight map display changes on the skirt.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n![\"show_weights2\"](\"http:\/\/blog.machinimatrix.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/show_weights2.png\")
<\/a>The selected weight Map is shown on the mesh<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n
Inspecting Weights in Weight Paint mode<\/h3>\n\n\nIn edit mode it is not possible to pose the mesh while inspecting the weights. However, since posing the character is very often needed to find bad weights, Blender has implemented select and move bones when the Mesh is in Weight Paint Mode<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n- Switch your mesh to Object Mode.<\/li>\n
- In the Tool Shelf (Avastar Tab) locate the “Show Bones” Section (in the Skinning & Rigging panel).<\/li>\n
- Select the “Skin” Preset:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
![\"preset_skinning\"](\"http:\/\/blog.machinimatrix.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/preset_skinning.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n![\"weight_paint_mode\"](\"http:\/\/blog.machinimatrix.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/weight_paint_mode.png\")
<\/a>The Mesh after the “Skin” Preset is selected<\/p><\/div>\n
When you now select an mBone (blue) Blender also switches to the corresponding weight map.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n
\n\nUsing a Pose for Inspection<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\nWhile in Weight Paint mode, you can also Pose the mBones. But beware: Avastar’s mBones can only be rotated! they can not be moved.<\/p>\n
So this mode is not very useful for creating poses for your mesh. But it is good for quickly testing how rotating a single bone will affect the mesh<\/p>\n
Note:<\/strong><\/span> For our purpose it is sufficient to have the Hip bones rotated by +\/- 25\u00b0. I also rotated both lower legs back by 25\u00b0. This gives a good test pose that is good enough for inspecting where the weights need to be fixed.<\/p>\n \nImportant:<\/span><\/strong> This was just a quick test. We will not continue to use this pose! There is a much better method (see “create a walk animation for testing”) below.
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n![\"walkNumbers\"](\"http:\/\/blog.machinimatrix.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/walkNumbers.png\")
fast walk:
(h)eight == (s)tep length
\u03b2 == 50\u00b0<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Details: The right Step Length<\/h3>\nOf course there is no single true answer to this. However i found the following works pretty well for human characters (with the proportions of the default SL Avatar):<\/p>\n
\n- For a running walk cycle the maximum distance between the feet is approximately equal to 1.5*length of the legs (that is a very fast running though). This translates to about \u03b2=75\u00b0 for the maximum angle between the legs (see image above).<\/li>\n
- For a fast (energetic) walk the maximum distance between the feet is approximately equal to the length of the legs. That translates to about \u03b2=50\u00b0 for the maximum angle between the legs.<\/li>\n
- For a slow walk (and for a fashion walks as well) the maximum distance between the feet is approximately about half the length of the legs. And that translates to a maximum angle of about \u03b2=30\u00b0 between the legs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Of course when you are working on a Ballet tutu then you may need to test much higher angles as well. So, you see, there is no one fits all answer. But for our purpose a maximum angle of 50\u00b0 between the legs should be working very well.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n
Advanced Tip: Create a walk animation for testing<\/h3>\nHere is a nice little trick that can help you a lot while you are weighting your model. The key idea is to create a very basic animation cycle that contains the extreme positions that you plan to support. Then use the timeline to scrub repeatedly over your animation to check your weighting.<\/p>\n
This approach has a few very cool benefits:<\/p>\n
\n- Your poses are well defined:<\/span> So you can step to a certain time frame and get the pose for that frame. Thus you can quickly check how a certain change in the weights influences other poses.<\/li>\n
- You can “see” your mesh in action:<\/span> So you can check if the mesh transitions work as anticipated.<\/li>\n
- You can change the pose in context:<\/span> So you even can now work and keep in Edit mode all the time. When you need to change a bone position, then just scrub on the Timeline without leaving Edit mode.<\/li>\n
- You can play the timeline:<\/span> thus you can even edit your mesh while the animation runs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The Timeline Copy Tool<\/h4>\n
Sparkles provides a function which can be used for quickly making simple Animation cycles. here is the tool manual page:<\/p>\n
We have many ways to inspect the weight maps. I believe this one is the easiest method:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Select your mesh.<\/li>\n
- Enter Edit Mode.<\/li>\n
- Open the Properties sidebar (type “n”).<\/li>\n
- Enable Show Weights.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/a>
Enable display of weight maps in edit mode from the properties sidebar<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n- \n
- Open the Object data Properties.<\/li>\n
- Navigate to the Vertex Groups list.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Now you can scroll through the list of vertex groups and you instantly see the current weight group displayed on your mesh. In the image i have selected the mPelvis weight group, thus the weight map display changes on the skirt.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/a>The selected weight Map is shown on the mesh<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n
Inspecting Weights in Weight Paint mode<\/h3>
\n\n\nIn edit mode it is not possible to pose the mesh while inspecting the weights. However, since posing the character is very often needed to find bad weights, Blender has implemented select and move bones when the Mesh is in Weight Paint Mode<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n
- \n
- Switch your mesh to Object Mode.<\/li>\n
- In the Tool Shelf (Avastar Tab) locate the “Show Bones” Section (in the Skinning & Rigging panel).<\/li>\n
- Select the “Skin” Preset:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/a>
The Mesh after the “Skin” Preset is selected<\/p><\/div>\n
When you now select an mBone (blue) Blender also switches to the corresponding weight map.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n
\n\nUsing a Pose for Inspection<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\nWhile in Weight Paint mode, you can also Pose the mBones. But beware: Avastar’s mBones can only be rotated! they can not be moved.<\/p>\n
So this mode is not very useful for creating poses for your mesh. But it is good for quickly testing how rotating a single bone will affect the mesh<\/p>\n
Note:<\/strong><\/span> For our purpose it is sufficient to have the Hip bones rotated by +\/- 25\u00b0. I also rotated both lower legs back by 25\u00b0. This gives a good test pose that is good enough for inspecting where the weights need to be fixed.<\/p>\n
\nImportant:<\/span><\/strong> This was just a quick test. We will not continue to use this pose! There is a much better method (see “create a walk animation for testing”) below.
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nfast walk:
(h)eight == (s)tep length
\u03b2 == 50\u00b0<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nDetails: The right Step Length<\/h3>
\nOf course there is no single true answer to this. However i found the following works pretty well for human characters (with the proportions of the default SL Avatar):<\/p>\n
- \n
- For a running walk cycle the maximum distance between the feet is approximately equal to 1.5*length of the legs (that is a very fast running though). This translates to about \u03b2=75\u00b0 for the maximum angle between the legs (see image above).<\/li>\n
- For a fast (energetic) walk the maximum distance between the feet is approximately equal to the length of the legs. That translates to about \u03b2=50\u00b0 for the maximum angle between the legs.<\/li>\n
- For a slow walk (and for a fashion walks as well) the maximum distance between the feet is approximately about half the length of the legs. And that translates to a maximum angle of about \u03b2=30\u00b0 between the legs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Of course when you are working on a Ballet tutu then you may need to test much higher angles as well. So, you see, there is no one fits all answer. But for our purpose a maximum angle of 50\u00b0 between the legs should be working very well.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n
Advanced Tip: Create a walk animation for testing<\/h3>
\nHere is a nice little trick that can help you a lot while you are weighting your model. The key idea is to create a very basic animation cycle that contains the extreme positions that you plan to support. Then use the timeline to scrub repeatedly over your animation to check your weighting.<\/p>\n
This approach has a few very cool benefits:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Your poses are well defined:<\/span> So you can step to a certain time frame and get the pose for that frame. Thus you can quickly check how a certain change in the weights influences other poses.<\/li>\n
- You can “see” your mesh in action:<\/span> So you can check if the mesh transitions work as anticipated.<\/li>\n
- You can change the pose in context:<\/span> So you even can now work and keep in Edit mode all the time. When you need to change a bone position, then just scrub on the Timeline without leaving Edit mode.<\/li>\n
- You can play the timeline:<\/span> thus you can even edit your mesh while the animation runs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The Timeline Copy Tool<\/h4>\n
Sparkles provides a function which can be used for quickly making simple Animation cycles. here is the tool manual page:<\/p>\n
- You can “see” your mesh in action:<\/span> So you can check if the mesh transitions work as anticipated.<\/li>\n
- Your poses are well defined:<\/span> So you can step to a certain time frame and get the pose for that frame. Thus you can quickly check how a certain change in the weights influences other poses.<\/li>\n