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Fine-Tuning Bulges
The Bulge Editor on page 4687 duplicates many of the controls available at the
Bulge sub-object level. It gives you a focused, two-dimensional view of the
current bulge settings.
Shaping the Bulge
Once you've inserted the bulge angle, and recorded the angle setting, you
then shape the bulge by inserting and adjusting cross sections. You can either
move and scale the cross sections, or adjust each one's shape using control
points.
Adding More Poses to Your Character
For more complex body movements, you may need to add bulges for different
positions. Overall, you might want to build a generic character that works in
a number of situations, regardless of the type of motion.
Some examples are:
■ Moving the character into several extreme poses.
■ Putting the arms high over the head and bending them into different
positions.
■ Making the character squat and lifting the legs into various positions.
■ Adding bulge angles to the links at places where real muscles would bulge.
Once the skin reacts well to the full range of motions, you can then place the
character into a less demanding pose and it should work perfectly.
Tendons
Tendons tie links together, extending the effect of moving one link to another
link where the tendon is based. Their effect is similar to that of tendons in a
body.
For example, raising an arm usually stretches the skin along the same side of
the body. To get this effect using Physique, you could base a tendon on a
spine link, then attach it to the upper arm or collarbone, so when the arm
lifts, the skin around the torso stretches as well.
4652 | Chapter 17 character studio