Bind smooth skin

Binding smooth skin includes setting the smooth bind options, binding skin, then checking the binding by exercising the skeleton.

To bind skin

(Use these steps if you have already set the Smooth Bind Options you want.)

1. Select one or more deformable objects, then select the root joint of a skeleton or the parent joint of a limb.
2. Select Skin > Bind Skin > Smooth Bind.

To set bind options first, then bind skin

1. Select the skeleton or joints, then select the deformable object(s) you want to bind.
2. Select Skin > Bind Skin > Smooth Bind > .
3. In the Smooth Bind Options that appear, do the following:
   • Set the Bind Method to specify how you want joints to influence nearby skin points during initial skinning . For more information on how these options affect the initial skin point weights, see Bind methods for smooth skinning.
   • Select the Skinning Method you want to use.

     For example, select Weight Blended if you want paint weights to blend between linear and dual quaternion skinning. See also Blend smooth skinning methods.

   • Set the Max Influences value to specify how many joints can influence a smooth skin point.

     Typically, a maximum of four or five joints influence a given smooth skin point for a character.

   • Set the Dropoff Rate to specify how the weighting varies based on joint distance.

     (When you bind skin, the Dropoff Rate applies to all the selected joints. The influence each joint has on a particular point varies with the distance between the skin point and the joint.)

   • Set the other skinning options as required.
4. When finished with the Smooth Bind Options, click Bind Skin.

   You can also click Save to save the options you have set without binding skin.

To bind skin and set initial weights based on a heat diffusion technique

1. Select the joints and mesh you want to bind, then select Skin > Bind Skin > Smooth Bind > .
2. In the Smooth Bind Options, set the Bind Method to Heat Map.
   NoteOnly influence objects defined inside the mesh emit heat during Heat Map binding. For example, if you bind to a skeleton with end joints that extend outside the mesh, the end joints will not receive any weights during binding, and have no influence on the mesh. However, in a case where a bone penetrates the mesh but its joint objects do not, all influence emitted from the bone is transferred to the parent joint, even though the parent joint is outside the mesh.
3. Adjust the Heatmap falloff slider to control the dropoff of weights around your selected influence objects.

   This can help to reduce the amount of small weights spread across the mesh during heat map binding.

   By default, Heatmap falloff is set to 0, which produces smooth results but can let small weights spread far across the mesh surface. A value closer to 1 produces a sharper falloff, which keeps weights closer to the influence object, limiting the spread of small weights.

4. Click Bind Skin.