Load the scene

1. Load the Sabertooth_Set_Muscle_Pose_Start.mb file.

   This scene contains the sabertooth tiger with capsulated bones and a front leg muscle.

Setting Pose States

Although it is best to set the pose states before you begin sculpting your muscles, you can edit them at any point in your creation process.

To set the pose states

1. Scrub the timeline to view how the leg muscle deforms throughout the animation.

   Notice the exaggerated deformation of the front leg muscle due to some jiggling behavior. By default, all muscles contain a certain amount of jiggle. In this case, you will remove this jiggle to better visualize the muscle’s different pose states.

   

2. Select the front leg muscle.
3. Switch to the Front camera in the scene view and select the four outer wireframe boxes along the length of the muscle surface.

   These are the cross section controls that store the jiggle settings.

   

4. In the Channel Box set the Jiggle attribute to 0.

   Without jiggling, the muscle now behaves more realistically, which makes it easier to set the three main pose states.

5. From the main menu, select Muscle > Muscles/Bones > Muscle Creator.
6. In the Muscle Creator, switch to the Edit tab.

   The Edit tab contains controls that let you shape and fine tune your muscle surfaces in the different pose states.

7. Set the timeline to frame 3, which best represents the front leg muscle rest state.
8. In the Poses section of the Muscle Creator, click the Rest button.

   Although you might not see a visual difference, the muscle’s rest state has been set.

   

9. Scrub the Time Slider to frame 15.

   Click Stretch. As a result of this state being set, the muscle surface thins out.

   At this point, the humerus and leg joints are almost parallel, indicating a good muscle stretch.

   

10. Scrub the Time Slider to frame 7 and click Squash.

    The muscle surface’s volume expands a little to compensate for its new set state.

    This is the point where the humerus is almost perpendicular to the leg joints, indicating a good muscle squash.

    

Now that you have removed the jiggle from the muscle to better set its pose states, you can put the jiggle back in. You can now clearly see the front leg muscle bulge and stretch as you scrub though the animation.

Beyond the Lesson

In this lesson you learned about setting your muscle’s pose states. A completed file for this lesson, Sabertooth_Set_Muscle_State_End.mb. Now you are ready to adjust the muscle’s attach points locators, as well as edit its length and shape.