Subject: Re: Bone joints - they look awful
From: [email-masked] (Robert Cohen)
To: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 31 Jan 1996 09:17:16 -0800

>

>        Well, the subject header pretty much says it all.

>        I've just set up a skeletal structure for a character I'm working
>on, and everything deforms well with the bones except for the joints.  They
>look awful.  It looks they're being folded, instead of retaining their
>natural shape.  Does anybody know how to work around this?  I've tried
>shifting the pivot points of the bones relative to the joint, but it hasn't
>done much good.  Should I be modifying the model in some way so that the
>joints will deform better with bones?

Since the object will be getting the most deformation at the joints, I would
try two things.. First I would subdivide the polys which comprise the joint
areas...  Then I would place several very small "anchor" bones around the
edges of the areas you want to be still (not deform).  The smaller you make
the anchor bones, the less it will anchor, so you will have to find the
compromise in size, based on how "firmly" you need this anchor to work.

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