I’ve been doing some practice rigging here in Blender, and I’ve come across a situation where I’d like to use Bendy Bones for the main part of the rig (the spine) and then incorporate some standard bones for the arms and legs. This doesn’t seem to be a problem per se, but I’m having a difficult time figuring out how to display two different bone types in one armature. The viewport display only allows for a universal display configuration. I’m sure I’m missing something simple here, but it’s been a long day so far. Anyone know how to make it so that certain bones can be shown as Octahedral while others are Bendy in the same Armature?
Every bone, in every Blender armature, is a bendy bone. There is no difference in type. The difference between bones is only how many segments they have. If a bone seems like “not-a-bendy-bone” to you, it’s actually just a bendy bone with only a single segment.
You cannot have both the bendy bone display and some other display at the same time. However, bendy bone display is usually fine (I don’t like that you can’t see the origins of the bones myself though), and it’s not necessary to see the exact angles that a bendy bone takes except when tuning the bendy bone parameters-- so ideally, it shouldn’t be necessary to use bendy bone display after a rig has been set up anyways.
Thank you for your reply. Yes, I’m aware that “bendy bones” are in fact just regular bones with subdivided segments between origins. You did answer my question though. It’s not possible to display two “bone types” at the same time in a single armature. In my opinion, this actually a disadvantage for both riggers and animators. It should be possible, for convenience and organization, to display multiple bone types. It’s the same principle that allows you to add custom shapes to bones or controllers. I see your point, I just don’t like the way bendy bones display in the armature when they’re not “bendy”.
Thanks.
If you want, you can create custom shapes for bones that are not bendy bones, and then use bendy bone display. If you want sticks, give them a stick custom shape; if you want octohedral, make a quick octohedral mesh and use that.