#Skin 'n Bones
3 messages in this thread
Hello skinners, hello boners,
Skin is inexpensive, but Bones looks versatile. Have 3DS rel 4.0 with
inverse kinematics. Which package will take the most advantage of IK? I heard
that Skin is capable of whatever Bones is: it is just a question of TIME, since
Bones does it all in one shot (skeleton), but skin most REskin the whole body
every frame.
<< Skin is inexpensive, but Bones looks versatile. Have 3DS rel 4.0 with
inverse kinematics. Which package will take the most advantage of IK? I heard
that Skin is capable of whatever Bones is: it is just a question of TIME, since
Bones does it all in one shot (skeleton), but skin most REskin the whole body
every frame. >>
It really comes down to basically 2 things:
1) If you have an existing mesh, can't rebuild it using Skin techniques, and…
2) Need to animate it with seamless joints, skeltonally driven, FK or IK…
…then Bones is the answer.
However, if *all* of the joints don't have to be seamless, you probably have a
little more control using Sliced meshes with Skin, as you have global control
of the slices linked to the skeleton, plus local control of every slice. Both
systems can be time consuming to tweak.
IK is just another way of positioning the skeleton components manually, or
automatically using dummy follow objects. Both Bones & Skin/Slice work fine
with IK.
Bones is $500 and includes a handy Smooth.pxp, …Skin/Slice is $300, and comes
with Deform, Vapor, Flame, & Scatter routines.
Both are nice. You decide <g>.
BILL
Hi, Philippe. In addition to what Bill said, the Smooth function in Bones Pro
allows smoothing of Selected Vertices also, thereby providing the user with
more control. If there is any way to afford both programs, get both…IPAS 6 is
pretty indispensable if you do special effects. I have both, and because I'm
currently involved with character animations, I'm using BP more right now, but
will also need Vapor & Flame for my next project.
Regards, Connie