Falloff On Weight Map

[pilkiwilky]

Hello, I am trying to make a rotating massage piece for a chair I am animating - it is the piece that sticks into your neck and it is covered with leather, so I am animating it rotating, but I need help figuring out how to make it look real. My problem is the weight map - I need it to falloff much more than it is (is falloff the right term?)

I want the weight map to gradually get lighter, influencing much more of the surrounding area of the piece - how do I do this? Attached is the image of the map. Righht now the animation looks like the leather is being stretched much too much right at the base of the map, and not at all right after the map ends.

I appreciate your help

Thanks

[Giacomo99]

If I understand the question correctly, you want to have the 100% areas of the weight map blend much more smoothly into the 0% areas.

The way to do this is: when you're using the Airbrush tool to paint the weight map, set the "Strength" to, say, 50%, and gradually "blend out" the edge of the map with soft strokes of the airbrush. (It looks like there's plenty of polygons in your model to work with, so that shouldn't be a problem.)

You can also play with the "radius" and "weight value" settings too. Once you get the hang of it, painting a smooth gradation should be pretty easy.

GM

[Wonderpup]

It looks like you have all the points in your map set to 100%- to get a falloff you need to reduce the value assigned to some of the points.

EDIT: Giacomo99 said it better and faster!

[pilkiwilky]

WOnderepup - HOW do i do this?

[Wonderpup]

I don't have lightwave in front of me, but from memory you have two ways to do it- first use the Airbrush tool, as Giacomo99o suggested which will let you 'paint' values onto your points- or second you can select rows of points and manualy assign values using the 'set map value' tool ( i think thats what its called).

Both of these options can be found under the 'Maps' tab in modeller.

So what you want to end up with is a weight map that is more red at the top of the 'hump' and gradualy fades to green toward the main body, so when you animate the hump, the movement tapers off.

[evenflcw]

I think you'd be better of using the Weights Tool with Linear or Radial Falloff. I think you'll be able to achieve a much smoother weightmap that way than trying to paint a smooth transition using the Brush Tool.

Or, just get this superb plugin http://www.flay.com/GetDetail.cfm?ID=1775

[adrencg]

I think you'd be better of using the Weights Tool with Linear or Radial Falloff. I think you'll be able to achieve a much smoother weightmap that way than trying to paint a smooth transition using the Brush Tool.

Or, just get this superb plugin http://www.flay.com/GetDetail.cfm?ID=1775

yes! You can't do weight maps without this PLugin...in fact, it should be part of Lightwave by default. Can't live without it.

Mike

[SplineGod]

You could probably just use bones and not use weight maps.
Theres a free plugin called FIs weight map blur that will blur
weight maps for you. Check on flay.com

[Gyphon]

Sorry to hijack the thread but...

SG:
I have seen many of your posts in that past referencing the use of bones only and no weightmaps at all. Is there a tutorial that will properly explain how this is achieved?

[SplineGod]

Theres nothing special you have to do. After adding the bones to your model, select them all and hit the r (rest) key. After that the bones will just work.
You will need to still do the usual tweaking with bone placement as well as play with falloff, bone strength settings etc.
Its a myth that you MUST use weight maps. Among many things that WMs will do, they can help tweak bone influence.
Im not aware of any specific free tutorials on it but I do have a couple of videos that cover the topic. One is getting started with Weight Maps which shows EVERYTHING you can do with WMs in LW and a new CD called Rigging a Quadruped where I show how to rig with bones only and with weight maps. I also show how to determine when and where to use WMs as well as how to simplfy WMs IF they are needed. :)

[evenflcw]

"shows EVERYTHING you can do with WMs in LW "

Does it show WM use with FX plugins even? :)

[SplineGod]

Not on the FX plugins (yet). This is a getting started with Weight Maps Video. Showing their use with dynamics would be a pretty advanced topic for many people at this time. I will probably get into using WMs to effect cloth, editfx and other things along those lines at some point :)

[evenflcw]

That's great Larry. As you might have suspected I was really only yanking your chain because you put it (ie EVERYTHING!!!) in such big letters as if it truelly was the end all be all WM training. Ofcourse, it can never be.

:)

[newtekker04]

Since this topic is up, I figure it might be an appropriate time to ask about weighting.

I've done a little weighting on characters before but usually use 100% strength for the maps. Could someone explain to me what circumstances might require a falloff of strength? This may be a pretty basic question, but as I said, I haven't done a whole lot with weights.

[SplineGod]

Evenflow,
yes I did suspect... ;)

Newtekker,
You do it to get a more natural bend between weights.