VRS v1.0 - SETTING SKELETAL WEIGHTS
       If plan to add Primitives to your Model or are just doing a simple Model Combination, you will need to know how to set Skeletal Weights. Every Vertex on a Model is set to a specific Skeleton or to several. Not setting a Skeletal Weight to a Vertex is the most common problem people run into when trying to Export their hard work.
       Setting Skeletal Weights can be as simple as setting all Vertices to a single point or setting multiple weights to multiple Vertices. The difference is that one will give you a generalized movement within your Model, while the other will give you very specific and more fluid movements. Just know that setting Skeletal Weights to get the proper movement you want is going to be 25% Knowledge and 75% Trial and Error. For something extensive, plan on Exporting and testing in Model Viewer alot. For this project, I'm going to focus on giving Grumpy's Wyvern a little bit better movement than just a jerky up and down movement.
  1. Let's open VRS and your Model.
  2. Select the main Model.

  3. Making a judgement call, select a Vertex that you want to use the Weight of.
  4. Then open the Skeletal Weight Toolbox.

  5. Scroll down through the list to find out what the Skeletal Weight is. There might be more than one, so check the whole list.
  6. In my case, I'm going to use Skeleton-17 and the orignal Skeleton-14 that I set when I added the Wyvern.
  7. Unless you have a photographic memory, I suggest writing the Skeletons and Weights down for later reference.
  8. Then, you want to select the Vertices you will be adding Skeletal Weights to.

  9. Mine is going to be the entire Wyvern since I want to affect the way the whole Object moves.
  10. Then open the Skeletal Weight Toolbox again.

  11. Set your Weights according to what you got from the main Model. This is accomplished simply by double clicking the Skeletal value you want to change and inputing your new Weight.
  12. I broke mine up to give it a fluid rolling motion while the main Model is moving. However, notice that my Skeletal Weight total still equals 1.0.
  13. After you've gone through and set your Skeletal Weights, you can select the main Model and Export. It's that easy.

Some common wierdness during Skeletal Weight modification :


  1. Alot of Blank Values : This occurs because you have multiples Vertices selected that have multiple different Skeletal Weights. Be sure you only have the Vertices selected that you plan to change.

  2. The Death to Computer Box : This will pop up during Export for several reasons.
    • You didn't configure your Primitive properly. If you didn't add a Primitive, this won't be your problem.
    • You have one or multiple Vertices that don't have a Weight associcated with them. Happy hunting.
    • You have one or Multiple Vertices that have total values not equal to 1.0. Again, happy hunting.

©2006 Grumpy Rarab Ltd.