Open the scene

1. Load Sabertooth_Grow_Muscle_Start.mb.

   This scene contains the sabertooth tiger with muscle applied to the neck and leg joints. You will be growing the hind leg muscle in each pose state.

1. Select Muscle > Muscles/Bones > Muscle Creator from the main menu.
2. In the Muscle Creator window, switch to the Edit tab.
3. Select the Sabertooth_Cat skin mesh.
4. In the Grow section of the Muscle Creator, click the Grow To Surface button to load the sabertooth mesh.

   

5. In the Time Slider, go to frame 0.
6. Select the bn_L_B_fibula01 joint.
7. Click the button next to Main Bone to load it the length of the muscle.

   The Main Bone Tip field automatically populates the section with the proper joints.

8. In Grow section set the Angle to 120.

   By default, the growing occurs outwards from the centerline defined by the Main Bone and Main Bone Tip bones you select. All points within the Angle range specified in the Grow settings are grown.

9. Set the Fat to 0.
10. Make sure the hind leg muscle surface is selected, then click Grow Muscle.

    

    Depending on the values you have set in the %Rest/Sq/St fields, the muscle cross sections grow out in their respective pose state to the surface you selected as the Grow To Surface. The higher you set the %Rest/Sq/St values, the more expansion the muscle takes outwards to the selected skin mesh, and eventually grows past it.

    Note Contrary to the Sculpt slider, the %Rest/Sq/St sliders provide absolute values. This means that if you want to grow your muscle by 25% increments, you need to set the sliders to specific values.

Beyond the Lesson

In this lesson you learned how to grow a muscle using the controls from the Edit tab in the Muscle Creator. A completed file for this example, Sabertooth_Grow_Muscle_End.mb, can be found.