Modelling & rigging abstract shaped characters for use with BVH files problems

[Brian Jones]

it looks like weighting problems, too sharply defined areas attaching around the arms/shoulders for example – there should be a fade off in the outer areas where the weighting of the points goes from 100% arm-joint/0% spine or body or whatever you are using to 50/50 to 0/100 so you get a smooth transition.
It looks like some of the hip/back should be much more similarly weighted like the front so it curves with the front rather than the front punching right through it.
You might need to remodel (and hopefully not using an Extrude) with the fewest points possible to get the look you need (which is going to be a a fair amount) but keep the weight painting afterwards down to a minimum.

[Chris Orcfilm]

Thanks Brian, I will learn more about weighting, thanks for the tip. Curious about your “hopefully not extrude” comment. When you covert and connect objects and then optimize them, they final shape should be the same as if you started from a block, no? Not sure how I’d go about creating the body without using extrude, at least not easily…

Cheers,

Chris

[Brian Jones]

the fewer points the less trouble in weighting typically – but you have to have enough points for the form, it’s a balancing act. In the help it says keep the points down for joint control and use SubD for smoothness after. Your model is not the standard figure they are thinking of but the general rule holds. Using an extrude means you are stuck with all the points from the original shape spline as well as triangles at the junction of the fillet and cap if the cap has Regular Grid turned on.
If it can be modelled from a simple object (cube probably) using SubD to smooth where you need but keeping fewer points to actually control it’s better. SubD surface modelling is something to investigate as well.