Weight maps for a character

[S. Houtzager]

I have set up a skeleton bone set for a human model and want to apply weight maps to it because the mesh is a little funny in certain areas. Is there any tutorials or info on what a weight map should look like on a character? I have some deformation around the stomach and butt that I really want to get rid of.

[Tomas Egger]

Ola Steven,

Lets invite Alonzo to answer this.. :) He did several..

Thanks

Tom

[AVTPro]

Hey Steven there's a Salesman rig that comes with my Deformer Rig DVD for $85. It's has a sample of weights for a full man in a suit. However, it may also be online somewhere here.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10021583/tutorials/EIAS_Intermediate_Tutorials/avtpro_rig_stuff.zip

You have to add ".prj" if it still works. I did it in v5 I think. Anyway you should be able to see the extra bones.

If there's an interest I will do a new DVD.

[S. Houtzager]

I appreciate it Alanzo!

[S. Houtzager]

Hey Alanzo,

Are you sure this file has any weight maps. I am unable to find any. I am attaching a snap. The character icons are buried in this file so it is a little tricky.

http://www.intuitionusa.com/1/maps.png

[AVTPro]

Hey Alanzo,

Are you sure this file has any weight maps. I am unable to find any. I am attaching a snap. The character icons are buried in this file so it is a little tricky.

http://www.intuitionusa.com/1/maps.png

Oh Yeah...I looked too. I remember now, the weight map system worked so well I never used it.

I decided am going to go ahead and finish some of the tutorials I have for rigging. I'll get you a couple of old EI projects that I weight mapped.

[AVTPro]

There's a little confusion on the subject because the way Wmps work was changed to make it more compatible with other standard character animation programs when FBX was added . EIAS when I first started use to be multiple bones per one wmp. Meaning, make all the bones of an arm (shlder,elbw,ulna,wrst,hand) and then one wmp for the whole arm. Attach the bones and it wouldnt affect the chest or neck. That's the simple way.

However, other program that may import FBX use one weight per map. If you import a cylinder from Maya in EIAS via FBX there will be a wmp for every joint. This is good too because it generates a map for each bone which "excludes" the other bones on the chain.

The wmp system in EIAS has been revisisted and in v8. In EIAS 8 all the weight problems has been resolved and there's new features to soften the maps. I believe both methods work now, Multibone wmps and single bone.

The ReadyRigs DVD goes over a demonstration of how both methods should work in video #27 Weight Maps part 1. The video was created before v8 and doesn't show any new feature but only describes the methods. However the video goes on to show practical combination of both methods. I still recommend the DVD which is $85.

There's a part 2 video on the same subject that explains the old quirks with weightmap. The DVD basically shows a number of techniques that will help you achieve your skinning successfully no matter what method you use.

Also, I just did a quick test on MultiBone in v.8. It does work again.

https://files.me.com/avtpro5/g5ktxl

[S. Houtzager]

Cool. You know EI should allow you to sell the DVD on the EI web site. It would just make it easier to get the word out.