weight maps and long coats

knuckledusterharris_b01188de76

I'm trying to adjust the weight maps so that the two halves of the back of the coat tail stay together and flow naturally when the legs move (thigh bone). There seems to be more to this than just adjusting the weight map of the x axis, because you want the mesh to stay together left-to-right and not fracture. Any suggestions for keeping the mesh together and flowing as one piece?

Richard Haseltine

I would say don't use the legs, but handles with unique names. However getting good results is a fair bit of work whichever approach you take - you are certainly going to want a smooth transition across several polygons in your weight maps.

knuckledusterharris_b01188de76

how do I create handles? Do I need to give the coat tail some additional bones?

Richard Haseltine

Handles are additional bones that aren't in the fitted to model, so that they can be posed independently.

knuckledusterharris_b01188de76

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction--I'll give it a try!