SC2Mapster

Hi I'm having trouble skinning my own models on existing sc2 bone structures. I don't know much about animation in 3ds max other then what I've tried to learn in the past few days.

I'm not even sure what questions to ask, and most tutorials I find are not very helpful.

Does it matter if I move the bones to make it easier to skin, will that break animations? I made an infantry model and the default pose of the replacement is very awkward.

I have successfully imported my own models as doodads, just with this I'm in very unfamiliar ground. Thanks for any help.

You need to familiarize yourself with bones, the "bone tool" and assigning vertices to bones. Nothing special.

I know there's a video on youtube regarding this. Or you can go to CGtuts.

Quote from Triceron: Go

When working with skeletons with pre-existing animation, you generally don't want to modify the bones in any way, or you risk breaking animations. You position your model to match the skeleton as close as possible in its bind pose (usually frame 0).

There's a few different methods you can use to skin objects.

The first is using the 'Skin' modifier, which is your basic rigging tool. You select your mesh, apply this modifier, and through it you can choose which bones to influence the model. Keep in mind that you do not need to work with one solid mesh, and using multiple objects with multiple skin modifiers works just the same, although if filesize is an issue you may want to stick with one mesh. Personally I try to keep parts separated, so if I need to make use of attachments or modifications it would be easier to swap parts.

Second method is using 'Select and Link'. This method simply parents a mesh to a bone, so the mesh will follow wherever the bone moves. This is the simplest solution if you have parts that are rigid, like a gun that fits in a hand, or a hat that fits on a character's head. The drawback is that select and linking only works with one bone, so if you have something that bends like an arm or a leg, use Skin instead.

Third option is using Skinwrap. I use this method when the model I am using is very similar to the model/skeleton that I am attaching it to. Say I made a custom marine model with a jetpack (Rocketeer), it has a jetpack, new gloves, new helmet. By using Skinwrap, I can make my Rocketeer mesh bind onto the same skeleton as the Marine, and it will use the Marine as a basic envelope. Think of it as shrink-wrapping your model onto a pre-existing one so that your mesh basically moves the same way the original does. After you Skinwrap, you convert the modifier into a regular Skin modifier and do your adjustments from there. This is a more complicated version of Skinning, but it can also save some time if your model isn't too different from the original.

I would suggest checking up some tutorials online if you're not familiar with rigging.

Thanks a lot for the reply! It was your videos that originally inspired me to try replacing most of the units in my map with my own models. I'm heading back from vacation now so I look forward to giving it a try with much more effort and enthusiasm.

@GhostNova91: Go

Skin Wrap basically works by looking at the weights of vertices of one mesh, and applying them to the corresponding vertices of another.

-You would want to Align your Female Protoss Mesh on top of the Perserver Mesh as perfect as possible.
-Add the Skin Warp Modifier to your Female Protoss Mesh
-Under Parameters click Add and Choose the Perserver Mesh, then Unclick Add
-Deformation Engine: Face Deformation applies skins based off of common faces, Vertex for Vertices (video recommends Face Def for Games)
The rest of the Parameter options determine the radius and the amount of vertexes/faces can be effected by a single area

There is a good Youtube Tutorial explaining Skin Wrap here:

The Skin Wrap probly won't be perfect, the Weight Tool can come handy for making adjustments.
-Select your Skin Modifier
( A Skin Wrap can be converted to a Skin in the Skin Wrap Parameters "Convert to Skin" )
-Under Parameters, Click Edit Envelopes, then enable Select Vertices.
-Under Weight Properties Select the Weight Tool (Looks like a Wrench)
-Select a bone under the Skin Parameters, You should see the vertices change color:
Red: 1~ ( 1 = 100% pull)
Orange-Yellow: 0.75-0.5
Blue: 0.25~

-Selecting any Vertices and Clicking any of the numbers in the Weight tool will assign that weight for that Bone.
-Mechs and robotic rigs would want 1 weight for the entire element
-Organic rigs require some blending between bones ( better to look for a youtube video if you need more detail on this)

Quote from DrSuperEvil: Go

Once you have the unit skinned it is pretty easy to swap textures using the Texture Select By Id event.

Shameless plug much? He didn't need to know that at all. You seem to have a penchant for pasting that Texture Select By Id thing all over the place, in places where it is unnecessary to know.