Character is rigged, but need help painting the weights (Maya)

Ryu-Gi · Oct 2013

I have a character model that I modeled and later rigged for a class earlier this year, and now I'm in an animation class and would like to use this character in an animation. Problem is, my weight painting sucks. Is it possible for someone to take a look at it and fix it for me? I can send you the model via a PM.

Here's the way the model looks, by the way:

selene_3d_with_normals_and_facial_flexes_by_ryu_gi-d63nq73.jpg

selene_3d_with_normals_and_facial_flexes_by_ryu_gi-d63nq73.jpg

PyrZern · Oct 2013

I think I remember this model :P
If your model is less than 10k, you can test it out by uploading it to Miaxamo something website for a free rig. Just to find out if you model joints and topology well enough or not.

Try posing her first, then paint-weight on it.

thatanimator · Oct 2013

just break the weight painting down and take it easy.

flood one joint with all the influence of the model, preferbly the hip joint.
then go over body parts one by one with 1/full influence, upper leg, lower leg, foot, toes, bicep, arm, hands..
then go down to .5/half influence and smooth inbetween those body parts, then lower a bit more and smooth a bit more..

breaking the skinning down like this might make it more managable for you!

the belts around the hip, where the thighs will rotate around, does look like it's gonna cause you some head ache though

Popol · Oct 2013

I use the same method thatanimator just said and it work very well.

I would add :
- don't forget to check "interactive weights", that means the sum of all influences of a vertex is always equal to 1 and never higher.
- when smoothing influences lock every joints except the two you smooth between or some other joins could "catch" part of the influence on a vertex.

I assume you work in Maya, but it should be the same in every program.

Ryu-Gi · Oct 2013

PyrZern wrote: »

I think I remember this model :P
If your model is less than 10k, you can test it out by uploading it to Miaxamo something website for a free rig. Just to find out if you model joints and topology well enough or not.

Try posing her first, then paint-weight on it.

The model's actually closer to 20k last time I checked.

Also all the suggestions so far say that I should just try painting the weights myself again, is that right? Because I've done it twice already and it still looks like hell.

Rokugan · Oct 2013

Upload to Mixamo, automatic rig it, test the deformation, export the rig, import in maya, check the weight of the automatic rig. I did this and it was a big help to understand how to paint them.

Popol · Oct 2013

There is no magic way man... painting weight yourself is the ONLY way to have good deformations.

Fashoomp · Oct 2013

I recommend putting some simple animations onto the rig. Bend some arms and legs, do some torso movements. I always start at the feet in my rigs and work my way up. Scrub the timeline to see how the character moves, and go in and tweak the problem areas until the values are at your liking. It's a lot easier to have an animation on the timeline as opposed to moving the area after every single tweak to see if it works well.

Ryu-Gi · Oct 2013

I'll try the Mixamo thing, but it looks like I might need to cut down her polys first. The model currentley stands at 15,399 polys...

slipsius · Oct 2013

Ya, I do the same method as thatanimator as well.

If you have some extra cash, i strongly suggest this dvd. It goes through the method and will show you how to do it all. It took my weight painting to the next level for sure.

http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/store/product/468/#.UmE-UFCsjPo

Jason Young · Oct 2013

Post up what specific issues you're having. Where are the problem areas? You've mentioned having skinned it twice but we have no idea what's not working.

Character is rigged, but need help painting the weights (Maya)

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