rifle sling

sympatik

I have to model a rifle's sling. Should I model/map it straight at full lenght and then the rigger will bone and rig/wrap it around the body (for the rest on shoulder status)?

Kanni3d

yes. baking it while already posed will influence your normal map to have some gradients/unwanted shading due to the lowpolys tangents not being nice and flat. Treat it like a trim sheet in your uvs, and then you can create the sling and pose it/rig it post-bake.

sympatik

2.png

1.png

https://polycount.com/discussion/comment/2769790#Comment_2769790

Thanks.

Now that you confirmed that it must be modeled straight then shaped through bones, I guess that another question arises. The sling I conceived is designed as having at both ends two attachments like seatbelt tongues (see pic1), which should fit into two slots carved on the rifle. The sling is attached to the tongues with sewed loops plkaced at both its ends (see pic2: there you see it already modeled and in place around the tongue, which is attached to the stock: because I modeled before knowing that I had to model the sling as straight. But if I have to move it, I can easily do it with rotating it and point-snapping it to the unfinished end of the sling). One tongue remains attached on the slot which is on the stock's end, while the other (that's around the rifle's mouth) should be evidently modeled at the end the straight sling. It is there a way to place accurately the latter in its own slot (saving correct place and object's angulation), when shaping the sling with bones?

Eric Chadwick

The sling should be modeled and UV'd in it's "natural resting state". Sling bones will be only for animation that deforms the sling. The tongues can be separate static meshes, which use the same bone as the weapon.

sympatik

https://polycount.com/discussion/comment/2769808#Comment_2769808

Ok. But how to attach the tongues in their socket, once the sling is rigged?

Eric Chadwick

Just weight the static ends of the sling to the weapon bone, and the dynamic part of the sling to the moving sling bones.

Much like the static upper end of a cape would be rigged to the character's upper spine bone, while the rest of the cape would be rigged to dynamic cape bones.

sympatik

I see. This is a task for the rigger, then (I'm just a modeler/texturer, no clues about).