I finally I got round
to finishing the skeleton setup. I still find the tweaking stage
unnescesarily complex in Max, but it's definitely eased by getting
the bones "right" in the first place. I guess I was
just used to the workflow in Maya; the ability to edit the weight
of the bones afterwards means that you don't have to be as pedantic
with the scale and placement as you do in Max.
I had to start the skeleton from scratch- basically because I
didn't realise how closely the bones adhere to the size of the
visual objects. In maya they're more iconic than a direct indication
of size.
It does seem a lot
more cluttered, but the best idea if you want to add a skeleton
to a complex shape in Max is to use more bones. Also, avoid using
the Fins "feature" because they're simply misleading.
It's not possible to make thin bones; bones are ALWAYS capsule
shap in Max.
Anyhoo - he's working
and weighted properly now.
