Skinning and Envelopes :
For the Skinning process itself, we're going to use yet another script (optional). This one is from Adam Barton . Adam's 'Skinner' script is to be used on broken mesh bones in Edit Mesh only , and is to be used after Max's 'Skin' modifier has been applied, and the bones have been added to the list.
This script (WHICH ONLY WORKS ON EDITABLE MESH OBJECTS!)will take the bones and apply a pretty decent vertex weight distribution to the skin, based on the placement of the bones themselves ( which should be in the exact same position as the skin itself ) This step is just to save us some time with the editing of the envelopes and is completely optional, as I will be covering envelopes as well.
If you wish to use the script Download it here and I will show you how to run it. ( Extract Skinner.ms from the .zip file and place it in the Scripts folder in your Max installation directory )
To begin with, open up the Layers window and unhide your skin mesh. Then apply a ' Skin ' modifier to this mesh.
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Now under the Parameters roll-out where it says 'Bones:' click the 'Add' button and select all of your
Bone Mesh pieces only (
to ensure you don't add your splines by accident, hide them )
Now if you unhide the spline controllers, select one and try to move something around, you'll notice the bones are having an effect on our skin. The weight distribution could use a little work though, and this is where the script comes in handy.
With your skin mesh selected, and the script in the correct directory. Go to the MAXScript menu and click 'Run...' then select Skinner.ms
By running this script, I've just saved myself A LOT of time. Now all I need to do is go in and tweak a few envelopes. The best way to find areas that need tweaking is to actually go ahead and pose your character in pretty 'maximum' positions.
The fingers on my character were moved slightly when I was setting up the wire parameters, so I definitely need to tweak the envelopes there. You can go ahead and hide your Bone Mesh Pieces now, we won't be needing them again. (But do NOT delete them!)
Okay, so here's my first problem, the fingers:
With the skin mesh selected, go into the skin modifier menu and hit the ' Edit Envelopes ' button, and tick the ' Vertices ' box.
Now in your view ports, you should see lots of small grey lines with little squares at either end of them. These are our envelopes, and I'm going to be adjusting the vertex weighting of the ones on our hand. So go ahead and select which ever envelope you need to adjust by simply clicking on it, or selecting it from the Bones list. Then select the vertices you need to alter the weighting of, and scroll down to the 'Weight Properties', under Abs.Effect ... simply up the amount. You'll notice the selected vertices will be drawn closer to the envelope as the weight increases.
Do this with any areas that you think need it, and remember that it's not always a case of increasing the influence of the envelopes, you may need to decrease it also. Getting it perfect will take some patience.
And that concludes this tutorial on rigging a character. Hope it was of some use, and well done for getting through it all!
