In this chapter, we will complete our modeling round by readying a model for game production through level of detail (LOD) creation, rigging, and skinning.
This chapter is not about modeling; instead, it aims to take you one step further towards animation. Many people learn modeling with the aim of doing animation, but the intermediate steps can prove a daunting obstacle. The first step we'll take involves model simplification (as it is easier to skin a low-resolution mesh than a highly sculpted one). After that we rig the creature using CAT, skinning the mesh to the rig, which is also known as binding or weighting, and examine some animation used to test the result.
The following topics are covered in this chapter:
ProOptimizer
Rigging the creature with CAT
Rig naming and selection
Rig display and access via layers
Skinning the creature
Skin advanced parameters
Adjusting envelopes
Painting blend weights
Weighting per vertex...