Kitty Corp Meow Mix Forums

(http://i1214.photobucket.com/albums/cc485/Nanobuds1220/tutorials/1-1.png)

(http://i1214.photobucket.com/albums/cc485/Nanobuds1220/tutorials/2-1.png)

As you can see, the arms aren't lined up with the bones too well.
The best thing to do is vertex edit the area to fit with the bones easier... use the edit mesh modifier to do this. If you need some tips with vertex editing, you can find various tutorials around the internet. However, by the end of editing, the objects should line up with the bones like this:
Notice how the ArmJ bone  is where the elbow is suppose to be. The center of rotation for your arm is in your elbow, so make sure the ArmJ is in the center of the elbow area. There should be an even about of verts on either side of the bone.

Now for hands... try to line them up like this:
Notice how I distributed the verts evenly around the joints. This will help make the rigging process easier. Also take not on the location of the bones.

Fingers tend to terrify people. However, it's just as easy as rigging arms. The only problem that people have is lining them up correctly. If you do this, then rigging will be a million times easier. These hand's aren't even Ezio's... they're SCV's StarKiller's. If lining up the hands is near impossible, just borrow hands from another model.

Legs are usually easy. From this pic, you can see that the bones don't line up with the polygons well.
The solution? Just rotate the bones. Its that easy.

The length is just fine, so no need to do any major mesh editing. This however, may not be the case for all models, and will usually need mesh editing like in Part 1a.

The torso is pretty much perfect for this model. Just make sure the BustN bone is in near the center up the upper-chest/rib cage area. The WaistN bone should be the lower torso/abs.

Make sure the hips are centered around the HipN bone. The legs should be lined up horizontally with the hip, and vertically with the butt cheek. Just picture where your leg joints are, and line them up accordingly.

The head is pretty easy... just make sure the HeadN bone is at the base of the head, and the NeckN bone is at the base of the neck.
(http://i1214.photobucket.com/albums/cc485/Nanobuds1220/tutorials/head.png)

Alright, to start rigging, I usually rig the BustN, WaistN, and HipN first.
1. Use the Skin modifier on all the polygons, add the bones, then open the Weight tool. Select all the verts.
2. Weigh the verts 100% to the BustN
3. Deselect the verts above the BustN bone, and rig the rest to the WaistN
4. Deselect the verts above the WaistN bone, and rig the rest to the HipN bone:

This should hopefully prevent you from having any stray verts. I will later go in and show you how to tweak up those areas so they bend more smoothly.

Start by selecting the verts from the collar-bone area to the fingers, and weigh it to the ShoulderN bone. Try to avoid rigging any verts around the Pectoral area.

Then, deselect the verts on the chest and back, and only rig the rest of the arm to the ShoulderJ bone.
Then rig the verts about halfway down the shoulder area, near the elbow to the ArmJ bone.
Finally, rig the Hand to the HandN bone

Now time to make some tweaks. First, turn on AutoKey at the bottom and move the bar to any frame. Then, rotate the ShoulderN bone.
See how it stretches? Select the verts being stretched, and click the + button or the Blend button on the Weight Tool to try to smooth it out. It just takes experimenting with the tools and weights to master it.

Then rotate the ShoulderJ bone. It should have a nice, smooth, round rotation to it like a natural bone movement. My rig didnt need any tweaking.

Now for the ArmJ. It is such an easy part to rig, yet I see so many people screw up on it.

First, bend the arm and hide and polygons around it. See how the elbow looks very flat? Not good.

Select the flat verts, and rig them to the ShouderJ bone, so its not as flat.

I'm not done yet. It is still flat and unnatural.

Select the verts on the edge of the elbow, select he ArmJ bone in the Weight Table,, and hit the blend tool a few times until it looks better.

Voila! The elbow looks better.

Now, rotate the hand bone.
See how it goes through the sleeve and armor? that is called Clipping. Thats a no-no. Just fix it by selecting the problematic verts, and rig them to the HandN bone.

Time for the horrible, feared, fingers... actually they're really easy. You just gotta line up the verts properly, and it'll work.

First select the verts of one finger, and rig them to the 1stNa bone.
Then, select the verts above the 1stNb bone, and rig them to the 1stNb bone.

Then rotate them. See how the joint is kinda flat? Use the same method as the ArmJ bone to smooth it out.
Do the same for the 1stNb bone if needed.
Just do the same for the rest of the fingers. The thumb is also rigged the same, its just sideways.