Using Skeletal Bones

Panel-Components-Bones.gif (1663 bytes)

Click to show the Bones panel. Or select the Component Tab to show all component sub-panels.

Skeletal bones are used to create easily positionable models of Humans and Animals. An object can be attached to bones as a "skin". When a bone is moved, the skin is deformed to match the new position and orientation of the bone.

To add a bone to your scene, click on the bone's icon and drag it on to your Scene.

There are three types of bones:

	Standard This type of bone has a range of effect that is shaped like a cylinder. This the primary bone type. It is the most appropriate for building skeletons of Humans or Animals that occur in nature.
	Rounded Cylindrical This type of bone has a range of effect this is shaped like a cylinder with rounded ends. It is uncommonly used, but can be useful when multiple bones join at a single point.
	Spherical Bone A Spherical Bone is not like any bone in a human or animal. It is a convenient shape that can be used to deform skins. It is typically used to simulate a muscle, such as deforming a skin in order to lift an eyebrow. A Spherical Bones range of effect is equal to the size of the bone itself.

Once you have created the skeleton for the object you are modeling, you can attach a skin to each bone by either double-clicking the bone or selecting a bone and clicking on the Edit Toolbar. The nearest object will be attached as a skin. For Cylindrical bones, the Bone Effect window is opened to allow you to adjust the range of effect of the bone. The Spherical Bone's range of effect is equal to the size of the bone itself.

Before attaching a skin to a bone, you should position the object that is to become the skin so that its bones are embedded in their desired position. Once you have positioned the object, you should move the object within the Scene Hierarchy to the frame that contains the root bone.

An object that has been attached to a bone becomes a skin and can not be scaled or have any operations applied to it. For this reason it is important to ensure that the object is in its final state before using it as a skin. You can detach a bone from its skin by clicking on the Edit Toolbar a second time.