CGDD 4113

SKELETONS

AN EXERCISE• Start with Animation Menu->Joint Tool->□

• Left-click to add more joints

• Press Up arrow to go up the joint hierarchy

• Skeleton->Reroot Skeleton

• Skeleton->Mirror Joint->□

• Note: move individual joints by holding the ‘d’ key. Doesn’t affect children!

THE JOINT HIERARCHY• Window->Hypergraph:Hierarchy

CREATING A SKELETON FOR OUR DOG• Start with 08-PolyTexturing_02.ma

• Turn on X-Ray Joints

• Start by building spine

• Then build the leg

PARENT AND MIRROR• Select the child (hip), then shift-select the parent (pelvis)

• Skeleton->Connect Joint->□, the Parent Mode (or press the ‘p’ key)

• Skeleton->Mirror Joint->□

ARMS/HANDS• Make sure it looks good from the perspective view…

MIRROR THE CLAVICLE (CRAVICRE)• Select the clavicle bone and then Skeleton->Mirror Joint->□

• Search and replace l’s with r’s

• Well, at least it works…

FINISHING OUT THE EARS AND TAIL• Select the head joint and add

more joints

• Select the pelvis joint and add more joints

• Hide polygons and NURBS underthe “Show” menu in the perspectiveview

ZEROING OUT JOINTS• Select the pelvis and the

Modify->Freeze Transformations

• Select Skeleton->Orient Joint->□ to reorient the x-axis to their first child.

• May have to manually orient these joints (double-click rotate tool and set discrete to step size 90).