So far, we have been animating 3D characters based on a single mesh. We moved, rotated and scaled single meshes using instances of the Actor
class in Silverlight applications. However, we did not animate specific parts of the model, like arms, legs, heads, and so on. How can we animate bones and skeletons defined in complex models in Silverlight?
Most 3D DCC tools offer different ways to create fully animatable 3D characters. Some advanced techniques allow the digital artist to specify the mapping between the motions of a real-life actor or input device and those of the character.
Unfortunately, we cannot import the animation definitions stored in many 3D character file formats. However, we are still able to create a 3D character using the bones and skeletons concepts. We can do this combining many autonomous meshes and performing independent transformations to them.
This requires additional work and is more complex than using a 3D character defined in a specialized...