Assign vertex groups to bones

Okay, here is my setup…

I have a poly figure with a pair of shoes and a simple rig.

I have assigned vetex groups to specific parts of the shoe (front middel and back) and now I would like to assign those vertex groups to specific bones. Now I have tried selecting the bones in pose mode and assign the vertex group of the shoe (in weight paint mode) to the bone. But it does not assign it there. :frowning:

Another thing. How can I duplicate/mirror my weight paint on the one shoe to the other? I can do it with the character body but not the two shoes. Is it because they are seperate? Or maybe something to do with the naming. :confused:

Thanks for reading this

RE: 2.49b. If you’re using 2.50a2, it’ll be different:

A number of separate meshes can be linked to one armature, so that’s not the issue. If the names of your vertex groups match the bone names, then it should be fine.

Did you link the armature (bones) to the shoe mesh(es) in any way before trying to do the weight painting/vertex assignment? You can use an Armature modifier or you can make the armature the parent of the shoe(s) using the “Armature” option.

Once linked in this way the weight painting should work and the armature should deform the shoe mesh(es).

If you want to easily mirror the weights from one shoe to the other they have to be parts of the same object and mesh, and have to be highly symmetrical across the worldspace X axis. Then use either the “Mirror X” option in the Weight Painting panel or one of the bundled scripts in the Mesh category that can do the mirroring.

If for some reason you need the shoes to be separate objects/meshes, you might be able to Join them, do all your vertex weighting and get them working OK with the armature, break the armature link, then Separate them in Edit Mode and re-link the two separate meshes to the armature again. I’m not sure this would work but it’s worth a try.