Working with Armatures

I’ve been using Blender for a few weeks now, and getting used to the basics of it. I have read numerous tutorials regarding different aspects of Blender, though Armatures and Bones are still giving me a rough time and they are one of the reasons I have joined this forum.:confused:

I’ve attached the [.blender file](http://host-a.net/getfile.php?usern=Etokapa&file=Keyboard 7-6.blend) I’ve been working on and was hoping to get some feedback on my problem with the mesh not being attached to the armature, or vice versa…one of the two.

The problem I’m having is with the use of Armatures and Vertex Groups (Please ignore the piano, it was intended to be used later after I finished it :)). I’ve followed many tutorials regarding attaching meshes to armatures, but they seem to have no effect on my own mesh. I have labeled the vertices within the blue ‘person’ and assigned them to their appropriate bones, yet the mesh does not deform during Pose mode. Another odd thing I see is that after parenting the entire Mesh to the Armature, a dashed line is formed from the Mesh and points behind it to ‘nothing’ - some random pink/purple dot that I have no idea what it is there for. I’d like for it to be removed, or at least be given some purpose, but I can’t find one for it. Although it’s a small problem, my main concern is still the Mesh not connecting to the Armature. If anyone has any info regarding to this, it would be much appreciated.

-Etokapa

This should have been put in the animation help section.

What you have done wrong is you have parented the mesh to the armature as an object.

To fix it just select mesh and shift select the armature press alt+p and choose clear object parent and then realine the mesh with the armature, select the mesh then shift select the armature and press ctrl+p - armature - don’t create groups. That should fix it.

p.s. you also mixed up your lower arm and your hands vert groups, reverse them and you should be fine.