Is it me or is paint weighting the most tedious and frustrating process in a standard workflow?

Animation is tedious but its fun. Modelling is quite tedious too but it too is very fun.

Am I alone here in feeling this way? Are there any tutorials or tips on adjusting weights effeciently? Thanks in advance!

I think that it is all about what you like doing. I don’t like animating so I find it tedious but I like rigging so painting skin weights doesn’t bother me, that and I can do it very quickly from years of practice. I don’t think that there is anything in 3D that isn’t tedious, it is just if you like doing it or not and how well you understand it.

Paul Neale
PEN Productions Inc.
penproductions.ca / paulneale.com
Master Classes for Max, Mudbox and Composite
DotNet Tutorials

MX Driver Car and Trailer Rig On Sale!

hey great response! you’re right i suppose.

since you’re a weighting expert, could you offer some tips?

a problem I have is selecting the right vertex. Sometimes the mesh is too dense. Also, there’s this workflow that i always use which gets really tedious.

1) edit envelope
2) select vertex
3) select bone
4) adjust abs. weight
5) repeat steps 2)3)4) for three hours

I realise there’s paint weighting but I can’t find a proper tutorial on using the weight painter. Could someone direct me to one?

My forth DVD covers it in great detail and I would suggest getting the whole series as the way you build the bones affects how well the skin will work.

Paint weighting is how I do it for the most part. I setup the envelopes as close as I can and then I move on to paint weights and blend weights, I also use the Skin Tools dialog a lot for setting hard weights and mixing 50/50 and so on. Also make sure that you are using the Remove Zero Weights.

Paul Neale
PEN Productions Inc.
penproductions.ca / paulneale.com
Master Classes for Max, Mudbox and Composite
DotNet Tutorials

MX Driver Car and Trailer Rig On Sale!