Unnatural Deformation when rigging

[yihoo86]

I rigged this character, but for some reason, when i move the arm, the left side of the neck ALWAYS deforms unnaturally, like there is some invisible influnce on it but i didnt put any influence on that part. the right side moves just fine, which is even more weird because both sides are completely the same, i used the same joints, mirrored them, everything is the same on both sides, but the left side just deforms weird, and i cant seem to find a reason for it, please help!!

here's a picture

http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/1538/help018xd.jpg

here is an xray, showing the joints

http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/4538/help023tk.jpg

[papa]

You may need to have a bit more geometry or use an influence object in that area to keep the volume. Shoulders are a bit tricky.

[yihoo86]

here's a wireframe of the deformation

http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/7404/help032pz.jpg

yea, i thought about that, but the weird thing is that the right side works JUST fine, its only the left side that has the problem, which leads me to think that there may be something wrong with the joints at the neck.

also, if i delete the joints at the head, the deformation is gone, but when i create NEW joints for the head to replace the ones i deleted, the deformation is back

[sunder]

This may be a weighting issue. Select those troublesome points and take a look at them in the Component Editor to ensure they are being controlled by the right joints.

[yihoo86]

i've done some paint weights, but im still not too familiar with the tool. I want the left side to behave EXACTLY like the right side.

This is the weights of the right side

http://img472.imageshack.us/img472/2333/help040kd.jpg

Is there anyway i can somehow mirror these weights to the left side? Because no matter how carefully I paint the left side, I can't seem to get the same results as the right/good side

[DarkZed]

i think there is an option that lets you mirror the brush to one of the axis so you have 1 brush painting each side of the model with the same stroke. try the tool menu and check that out. it might help :)

[sriram viswanathan]

hi,

i think u won't mind me refreshing the basics of paint weights...

first of all - u select ur bone + mesh and apply skin weights

although u may be sucessful in anyorder of painting weights - the order to do is from the pelvic bone - spline 1 - 2 - 3 .... neck - head ... then hands and legs...

all the above joints u should not paint weight it initially - choose 2 window side by side and let one be the prespective and other be ur component editor.... now freeze all joints... select loops of vertices from pelvic and start assigning the value of 1 to the pelvic joint... then the spine set of verts - assign 1 s for it too... go on & complete the full set.... by doing this process u can be sure of 1 thing - all verts are only influenced by one joint at a time...

then open up ur paint weights tool ... pick smooth option and start smoothing every nearest loop of vertices... by picking it carefully ..

u may also animate the arms - legs roughly and then check for ur smoothness ... and paint accordingly..... after painting weights dont forget to clear the tapes....

picking vert and assingning value might be painfull... but if u want to become a good rigging artist or if u want to make ur character have a smoother deformation - u got to take the rough road before u learn to develop quick tools for assinging weights through scripts...


all the best dude... those verts migth have some null bone influence... try the option "prune small weights " ... or try to mirror paint weights ... if nothing works - follow the first procedure.....

[latte_maria]

I'm having a problem with rigging. When I attach an IK handle to the leg the leg bends backwards. I tried rotating the skeleton and the character as needed and then the leg bends sideways. What's going on? ( auto-oriented the bones on xyz and the character is facing the z axis.)

[papa]

After you draw the joints for the leg make sure you have a bend at the knee, you can also right click and "set prefered angle" on the joints.

[latte_maria]

Thanks it's working now. (just had to bend the knee joint.)

[latte_maria]

I just oriented the ball control to the ankle joint contraining on the y axis. When I move the control joints from side to side, the ankle joint snaps back abruptly. How can this be fixed?