Okay, so I’ve watched a quite few tutorials on how to set up a simple rig and apply a mesh skin. but none of them say anything about actually applying the armature modifier after it was created. When I try to apply it now that my rig is skinned, everything gets messed up.
When is the armature modifier supposed to be applied?
You should never apply them.
It’s not. Keep it there.
If you’d like to continue getting help, less WTF’s are in order. We all know rigging can be painful and frustrating. The extra cussing is not needed and it’s a sure fire way to get your post ignored.
I’m repeating what the others have said, but, you almost never want to apply a modifier. When your mesh is skinned to an armature, you need the armature modifier to be present and active on that mesh for it to work.
If you want a good tutorial on rigging, Humane Rigging by Nathan Vegdahl, is where you should start. Youtube tutorials, for the most part, are incomplete or totally wrong/flawed.
Good luck!
Sorry for the inference to an expletive, and thanks for the answer.
Does this mean that the Apply button shouldn’t even be there in the modifier properties box? What about all the other modifiers? Are you saying that I should almost never apply them either? Is that why my mesh is being so difficult?
I have a part of my mesh that just won’t take to the armature. It’s a mirrored copy of another part that does work properly. The original (working) part was surface-subdivided and this subdivision was Applied at some point early on before making the copy. Could this be causing the problem?
@DanPro - I found those tutorials you recommended and I’ll go through them all. Thanks.
The modifier stack is your friend. If you have a mirrored mesh, it will create the other side for you and also the opposite vertex groups. Half the work. The mirror Mod must be above the armature modifier so it can create the other side and then the armature modifier will move it. Subsurf mods should be below the armature modifier so blender only has to move the low poly mesh. After it’s moved, the sub division mod smooths it.
Think of modifiers as a way to do work in a non destructive way.
Some modifiers should be applied. A mirror mod should be applied before making shapekeys. Only do this after you have weighted the mesh and are happy with the results.
Unfortunately the answer is “it depends on what you are doing and what part of the creation process you are in.”
I hope some of that is helpful.
Good luck!