| Using smooth bind creates a skin in which each point is influenced by a number of joints. This allows the skin to deform smoothly with the skeleton. As with rigid bind, Maya automatically calculates which points should be influenced by which joints, based on their hierarchy and proximity. To bind skin using smooth bind: 1. | To create a cone to represent a tail, choose Create > NURBS Primitives and select the box next to Cone. | 2. | In the NURBS Cone Options dialog box, change the Axis value to X, and change the Height and Number of Spans values to 12 (Figure 11.30). Figure 11.30. By changing some values in the NURBS Cone Options dialog box, you can quickly create a surface that represents a tail. Click the Create button to finalize the cone. | 3. | Create a skeleton of seven joints to fit the tail (Figure 11.31). Figure 11.31. Adding seven joints results in six bones.
| 4. | Select the surface, and then -select the root joint. | 5. | Choose Skin > Bind Skin, and select the box next to Smooth Bind. The Smooth Bind Options dialog box appears (Figure 11.32). Figure 11.32. In this case, the default smooth bind options are fine. | 6. | If necessary, use the Smooth Bind Options dialog box to adjust the settings for the smooth bind. The Max Influences setting lets you choose how many joints can affect any given point, and the Dropoff Rate value controls how far a given joint's influence extends. | | | 7. | Click Bind Skin to apply the smooth bind. | 8. | Rotate the joints to test the skin. The surface moves with the joints and bends smoothly (Figure 11.33). Figure 11.33. As its name suggests, smooth bind provides smooth deformations.
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