CompuServe Messages

<< In Alias I have used hulls, which are a collection of control vertices. My question is how can you get details of shape such as muscles which flex using the "simpler the better" method? >> The same way that you do in Alias. When you construct a spline control hull in any program, you're not constructing curves *directly*, you're drawing a series of straight lines…..just as you would in the 3DS Shaper…..except you can't immediately see the curve. In fact, with Alias or other NURBS modelers, you can likely use even fewer control vertices as they can be weighted….thus possibly allowing even more "curveature in the curves" without resorting to bunching vertices to pull the curve. << In Playmation they provide muscle chanel and spine control as well as skeletal and Inverse Kinematics. To get good movement you need them all. >> You don't need ANY of them to get good movement. All you need is the ability to move vertices around over time, and know how things move. All of the above just *help* in applicable situations. << Can you get an effect like magnetism in skin? >> Sorry, I don't understand the question. << I don't know how to apply Deform to an area of a skinned object that is composed of slices. Is there a proceedure? >> You use the same procedure as transforming/deforming any object. In a Skin heirarchial CS approach the CS's are objects. You can move/rotate/scale/bend/skew/taper/FFD, etc.. at the object or vertex set level. Moving/scaling/rotating the CS's for say an arm, is the manual equivalent of using spline or spine skeletonal deformation. Knowing *what* to do with them is the manual equivalent of "smart-skin" <g>. BILL