Forum: 3D Modeling


Subject: SHOW ME HOW TO MAKE A BELT (flexible arund the waist)

marija opened this issue on Feb 06, 2005 ยท 4 posts


marija posted Sun, 06 February 2005 at 7:38 PM

I have made a belt for Poser 5 I'm using (on Windows XP Home) bur I have no clue how to make that thing wiggle and bend and be flexible just like a regular belt.I've made sure I'd have plenty of polygons in it to make the movements smooth but i don't know how to start.I don't want to spend days and weeks going through the tutorials. I just need someone to explain this to me, please.

daveH posted Sun, 06 February 2005 at 9:14 PM

as someone who does know how, i'm sorry to have to tell you that if you do not already know how, then you will have to spend days, likely weeks as a beginner, in making your belt poseable. there is no single simple way to accomplish the task, which also explains the hodgepodge of tutorials. if you don't wish to put in the time to learn, stop now.

the process of making a model poseable is arcane, has numerous pitfalls, and in the end boils down to much trial-and-error. the process is multidisciplinary, meaning that you need to master a number of different tasks at the same time. your image shows that you have already got the modeling and mapping tasks done, so that's two steps out of the way.

for now i can only give you a very basic and vague procedure. there are tutorials available on the specific steps. you now need to rig the belt by building a skeleton for it. the skeleton will be based on the polygon groups defined in the model. conceptually, rigging a poseable belt wouldn't be much different than rigging a snake or rope.

define a series of groups from head to tail, belt1, belt2, belt3, etc, etc; the more groups, the more flexible, but also the more awkward to handle. (you should look at poser's snake to study how it's constructed.)

next create a bone for each group, belt1, belt2, belt3, etc. (the bone name must match the group names.) now comes the fun part: joint parameters. define each bone's rotation order; in this case, each bone will have the same rotation order since each is oriented in the same direction. define each bone's falloff zones, which controls the influence each bone has on the polygon group it is assigned to as well as that of its neighbors (its parent bone and its children).

that describes the bare essentials of the process, but i've obviously left a lot out. i would suggest you get a copy of secrets of figure creation with poser for all the details.

all that being said, i don't believe that a poseable belt is in any way a practical figure, which is why no one makes them. making one probably has little value beyond the learning experience, which could be applied to making snakes and ropes.

for a beginner's project i would start very simple, with either a shirt or a pair of pants, focusing less on making the perfect shirt and more on learning all the necessary steps. you can always "borrow" the cr2 of another conforming shirt to practice with. and i can guarantee that you'll be able to find a helpful tutorial on making a conforming shirt and not one on making a poseable belt.

jumping in the water with this type of project, where you're starting from scratch with an unusual figure will guarantee you a lot of frustration. in any case, i wish you good luck!


marija posted Sun, 06 February 2005 at 11:11 PM

Thanks Dave, No, actually you DID explain a lot! I had bits and pieces of knowledge and I did figure out I'd have to put "bones" in it, in Poser Setup room but I think that knowing what the NEXT step is after that, would be the key for me. Thanks again.I might actually become a snake-tamer or a tailor for a while, until I figure things out...If you know what I mean...


nomuse posted Tue, 08 February 2005 at 4:07 PM

Much depends on how you want to use the belt. If it is to be a general-purpose flexible item, then indeed it should be rigged in multiple segments -- and for more easy in posing, look into rigging "EasyPose" dials into it. If it is to be fitted to a particular figure, then there are several rather different methods to do so. In that case, the only groups in the final object would be those needed to apply different materials. In my own opinion, rigging a belt as a conforming clothing is not the most convincing way to do it...the kinds of bends and deformations a conforming figure create are not those natural to an actual piece of leather or fabric. They work better when parented -- rigged as a smart prop, even -- but for extra realism there is a scheme that uses ERC to allow the belt to be parented to the hips but influenced by the abdomen.