[Bf-funboard] Some skinning feature ideas

[Benjamin Tolputt]

Michael Crawford wrote:
> Well i still think it's doomed but i might be wrong.
We're not going to agree on that point, so we might as well let it die 
then :)
> K.  suppose you take what would normally be the "normalized" view, 
> represented as black an white, and multiply that with the color.  Now 
> you get what I mean?  This way you display normalized, and 
> non-normalized values at once.  then you actually *can* change the 
> default view.  for this to work though, lighting should probably be 
> removed from weight paint mode and wire made default.
OK, I see what you mean now. I don't see how it adds any more usability 
than the currently suggested implementation (and as you acknowledge - it 
requires taking away some flexibility). Perhaps I'm not seeing the 
benefits here... It would appear that instead of normalizing the colour 
you are simply applying the normalization to "lighting". This would 
(from my first impression) be even more counter-intuitive &/or confusing 
than either of our methods in isolation (for both of us). I might be 
missing something though (text medium makes graphic interface talk 
difficult sometimes).
> well if you can't see it, why do you care about it anyway?
Because, even though I cannot see how much weight there is by the colour 
- it WILL affect the deformation somewhat. It only needs to move a small 
fraction of some bone's rotation to create enough of a dimple/spike to 
stuff up the final render. However, neither of us are really arguing 
about this point. Small weights will be an issue in either of the 
methods of painting weights - I just like the idea of the application 
being able to remove them "automagically" rather than having to run a 
script afterwards. Not a really big deal though.
> yeah... but you have to weigh intuitive against potential ease of 
> use...  (vim is a super efficient editor if you bother to learn how to 
> use it, Or you could use notepad)... ok.  extreme example.
Yup. Although the analogy breaks down somewhat - I get the point. 
Although the counter-argument is just how many people use "vim" compared 
to "notepad". Blender isn't just meant for the "elite", as everyone of 
the elite was once a "newbie" that had no clue. So long we aren't 
removing functionality/flexibility from Blender ("vim"), what's wrong 
with having the easy to understand functions of Maya/XSI/Project Messiah 
("notepad") in addition?

Regards,
B.J.Tolputt