Continuing the preview of my FITC Toronto presentation, bones are generally used in 3D applications to deform character meshes. For characters with segmented limbs, bones themselves may be used to draw the character. This technique is used more often for 2D characters. The current rigging classes use a Template system to draw bones. Templates are symmetric about the bone’s axis and may be uniformly or non-uniformly scaled.
For bones with an assigned Template, the control points may be connected with lines (simple point-to-point drawing) or interpolated with a cubic Bezier spline. For more information on the composite Bezier curve, read this TechNote.
The screen shots above illustrate a bone chain drawn with standard bones and a Template. In the presentation, I will give a demo showing how you may toggle back and forth between different drawing methods for the bones.
For segmented 2D characters, bones may be used as a skeleton rig and a visual representation for the character. In a future release of the AS 3 rigging classes, the rig will be able to deform a continuous character whose outline is represented by a piecewise cubic curve.
See you in Toronto!
The Algorithmist 