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 Bind Skin 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.

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 > .
3. In the Bind Skin 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 Normalize Weights mode you want to enable.

     (This mode becomes important as you edit smooth skinning later. See also Smooth skin weight normalization.)

   • 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 Bind Skin Options, click Bind Skin.

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

You can view an example skin binding workflow here: Skinning a cylinder by smooth skinning