A Bit Lost Concerning Skeletons

Hey everyone, hope all is going well for you!


I'm trying my best to figure this out, but I think I'm just confusing myself even more. I'll describe where I'm at and where I want to go.

Right now, I have models that need to be rigged and animated. I do have a skeleton, but have learned that a feature within Blender, segmenting a bone, won't actually carry over to Unity. This is a rather critical feature as I need it to not only create realistic twisting within the lower arm, but also to create a more smooth deformation with some clothing. Without it, I'm simply not sure what my solutions are.
Apparently this segmenting is a shortcut for something called a bone chain, something I'm only vaguely familiar with. As best I can see, it's essentially a series of bones meant for smooth deformations, IE the twist I'm after in the lower arm, controlled by another bone. This then seems to conflict with what I've read about with what Unity supports and sees as optimized, or to put it another way, as few bones as possible.

At this point, it seems like I need two skeletons: one for animations within Blender, and another that will have those animations baked to it for Unity. I honestly don't even know where to begin to get that kind of system started and working, though.

Would this then be the correct way to proceed, multiple skeletons? Or am I completely missing the mark here?
If you have any tips or suggestions, or even links to video tutorials (does not have to be Blender-specific,) they would all be much appreciated.


Thanks, and take care!

 

I won't pretend to know anything about Blender, but I do know a fair amount about rigging and animation. Unity has guides for the bone structure of a humanoid: https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/Preparingacharacterfromscratch.html

Use that skeleton structure, pay attention to which joint is the parent of which child. You will then (likely) create IK handles on your skeleton for easy animation. Then once you are happy with your animation you will bake the animation into the skeleton and export it.

I have created a tutorial on how to do this in Maya, although a different program the concept is the same.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsFozkwUkNJavIcvA6JCoqlFtK6KT0-bf

Good luck.

 

Hey Dick-Sledge, thanks for the response!

After doing some more research, it looks like I've simply been approaching rigging all wrong. More research needs to be done as to what I actually should do, but initially, that's my conclusion. It seems that I've been thinking too simply, to put it one way.

I'm working through your video now, and you definitely have a lot of good points (thanks for making that, by the way!) It looks like it'll definitely be of use. I'm watching the part concerning root motion, which is a curious thing. I've always disregarded that in favor of scripted motion. I suppose that's yet another thing that needs researched. =-)