- संपादित
Skinning FAQ
I have a few question I would like to ask that I'm not sure would be covered in a video tutorial regarding skinning.
A character example I want to provide is a dog.
Before skinning was available in Spine I would separate a complete dog image into parts (head, body, tail and each leg separated into 3 parts).
Now if I was to use a 3d modeling tool, I would most likely be skinning on a single mesh.
My question is what approach would be most fitting to use skinning in Spine?
A) 1 complete image, converted into a mesh and add a lot of vertices and weights.
B) A few images (head, body, tail and 4 legs) adding vertices and weights to each part.
C) Keep the original image setup (3 parts for each leg) and then mesh, vertex and weight everything.
My next question is regarding the dog's tail.
Before skinning was available in Spine I would rotate and swap the tail image. The default tail image is a curled tail.
Now skinning is available, how would I make the tail better animated?
Do I need to have a straight tail image to begin with in order to do skinning and animation on it?
Should I continue using the default curled tail image and as long as I provide enough vertices and weights I can make it straight or into any other position?
Should I break the tail image into smaller parts, along with skinning for better animation?
If anyone else has similar questions regarding skinning, feel free to post here.
Thanks
- संपादित
You should know that for the most part, the best structure for a skeleton is on a case by case basis, depending on the view, style and needed actions. And finding the answer usually amounts to experimenting on the different setups to see what looks best and is easiest to work with.
A) Using one complete image gives you the easiest time setting up and using it but makes it terribly rigid as you can't swap parts to change forms or drastically change the pose. Swapping between whole images and bone rigs is also currently not very easy or clean to do.
C) The original setup before meshes and skinning tended to need a lot of extra parts and extra separations just to be able to make things look good and move things correctly. Skinning greatly helps simplify the skeleton by being able to combine parts and remove the need for certain cheats.
B is of course the theoretical middle ground. "Few images" is definitely relative, depending on the design and actions, but either way, you should be aiming for the fewest images possible that provides the flexibility you need and achieves the look you want.
But again, take a look at your style, your view, what actions you need, and experiment on which setup is best.
I had a question about swapping skinned parts of skeletons to achieve different poses and therefore require both different bone poses and different images.
But I'll save it for later. Suffice to say: this was done extremely well with Barbara in Rayman Legends.
Thanks for the reply. I was more concern whether whole curved/bent legs/arms/tails would deform correctly when stretched out or if cutting them into smaller parts is a better option.
Will just reply quickly since I'm really short on time.
Pharan answered most of it. But basically you have to think about which parts will be in front and which will be behind, arms and legs behind the body should be in different images. If you know you will be using skinning, it's usually best to have your arms, legs or tails drawn in their stretched position.
I had a play with a 4 bone animal leg today with skinning and I couldn't get the hang of it. As I posed it, it was making to many bumps and dents in the edges. It was a standing leg, but not a stretched one and had about 50 weighted vertices.
Ohh. I do have a simpler question.
I have a skinned mesh and I want some vertices to be not affected at all by any bones.
That's not possible, right? I have to make a dummy bone that's at the origin of the slot's parent bone and bind those vertices to that bone?
Likewise, if I want vertices to only be influenced 50% by a bone, I'd need that dummy bone to stand in for the other 50% of the weight?
(Tested this, and it seems like the dummy bone may as well be the parent bone itself?)
Sounds like you answered your own question.
I have a skinned mesh and I want some vertices to be not affected at all by any bones.
That's not possible, right?
No
I have to make a dummy bone that's at the origin of the slot's parent bone and bind those vertices to that bone?
You could put the bone anywhere you wanted, but when it came binding the bones pick it as the first one, that way all the weights would default to it.
Likewise, if I want vertices to only be influenced 50% by a bone, I'd need that dummy bone to stand in for the other 50% of the weight?
Yes
Tested this, and it seems like the dummy bone may as well be the parent bone itself?
Or you could parent a bone to the root, put it next to the root and label it. Any vertices to be not affected will be assign to this one and you won't have lots of extra bones confusing you (or maybe export). You could use the root bone as the default one, but I'm not sure if that is a good idea.
Answer based on Spine 1.8.25 Pro.
12 दिन बाद में
SuperWiiMan लिखाI had a play with a 4 bone animal leg today with skinning and I couldn't get the hang of it. As I posed it, it was making to many bumps and dents in the edges. It was a standing leg, but not a stretched one and had about 50 weighted vertices.
50 sounds like a lot for a leg. You'll want to have a smooth transition as vertices get further from one bone and closer to another.
Keep in mind skinning tends to not work well with extreme bends. As you reach 90 degrees between 2 bones, the joint will start to collapse (lose volume), though this can be fixed by using FFD. Past 90 degrees it can start to look pretty bad.
Pharan लिखाI have a skinned mesh and I want some vertices to be not affected at all by any bones.
That's odd. Why would you want vertices to not be affected? You'd need to bind to a dummy bone (a bone you don't move).
Nate लिखाThat's odd. Why would you want vertices to not be affected? You'd need to bind to a dummy bone (a bone you don't move).
This is for things that are firmly attached to other things, in general.
A banner hanging from rope, or a battle standard.
A tree or bush on the ground, swaying.
A sea anemone.
That snake thing that other dude did where he didn't want the bottom of the snake to move around.
There are a lot of cases where you wouldn't want the parts that are on the ground or firmly held in place or attached to something to jiggle around loosely when using skinning 'cause they won't look as attached as they should be.
Anyway, dummy bone it is!
And the parent bone (parent of the slot) does make a good dummy bone, so no need to add a separate one.
Gotcha. 