Bp's "how To Skinmesh In Ms3d" 101

BlackPanther

<div class="IPBDescription">Wanna learn how?</div> I always felt it was the modeler's job to make a skinmesh, not the skinner.
Plus it gives you more control on the final product.

I made this tutorial with my knife replacement for TFC (WIP atm), but it's the same approach to any model.


<a href='http://www.thegamingelement.com/xmas/other/skinmesh.htm' target='_blank'>Clicky</a>
**<span style='color:red'>Warning long load for 56k!</span>**

Enjoy.

Jim

what about those that solely mesh? <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->

RoadMaster

jeeze... that's like how I skinmeshed when I started skinning Panther.... it isn't really the best technique. On your knife the perpendicular parts aren't the only parts being stretched.... what you really want is to move the verteces so that all polygons kinda take up the same amount of space on the skinmesh. This is why most people making a skinmesh use a giant checkerboard texture when they are texturemapping, to avoid any unnecessary stretching. Try skinmeshing something complex with your technique and I think you'll have a lot of problems with steams and stretching, it's just probably not as noticeable on things like guns and knives, because most faces are perpendicular to each other.

Rico

Nice and helpful <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo--> thanks

BlackPanther

<!--QuoteBegin--RoadMaster+Mar 13 2003, 02:57 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (RoadMaster @ Mar 13 2003, 02:57 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> jeeze... that's like how I skinmeshed when I started skinning Panther.... it isn't really the best technique. On your knife the perpendicular parts aren't the only parts being stretched.... what you really want is to move the verteces so that all polygons kinda take up the same amount of space on the skinmesh. This is why most people making a skinmesh use a giant checkerboard texture when they are texturemapping, to avoid any unnecessary stretching. Try skinmeshing something complex with your technique and I think you'll have a lot of problems with steams and stretching, it's just probably not as noticeable on things like guns and knives, because most faces are perpendicular to each other. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
yeah i know. It's not meant to be an ADVANCED tutorial, just a simple tut on how to do it and understand the basics.
I know there are many techniques, but what you're implying is only a small modification of this one.

When you're at the step where you put the lines in the Coordinate editor, you can scale the vertex closer together so it won't look streteched on the sides.

If all else fails, put the faces that are stretched on another part of the skinmesh, via another view.

Vecdran

Finally...The first usefull topic I've seen in a week.

BlackPanther

This should be sticky.. err "WEBBED"