'Dynamic Weight Paint' improvement: Create a Slider Button (0.000-1.000) for the Bone's Deform property in the Properties Editor
This can be explored for advanced, Organic Rigging techniques.
Currently, it is possible in Blender to Add Driver to the Deform Option, but it is just a binary solution that will cause glitches in the on/off switching. In order to generate real 'Dynamic Weight Paint' reality, it is required to use Object Modifiers, such as Weight Vertex Mix Modifier. But it's not super practical and the applications remains a bit obscure for 3D Character Rigging. I've only did that experimentally so far, as a proof of concept.
However, with an in-built Slider Button for the Deform property of a Deform Bone, 'Dynamic Weight Paint' would become a peace of cake. The rigger would just have to Add Driver to that Slider Button (with some smart input(s), perhaps a Bone Transform's Target for a Corrective Automation), so that there could be a gradual change of the Weight Paint Ratio of Vertices in realtime on a Rigged Model. This would be a way to allow 'Dynamic Weight Paint'. As I've mentioned previsously, this is already possible with the Object Modifier; but having it directly as a Deform property's Slider Button, would make it so much more accessible (an interesting). It could be understood as the: "overarching 'Influence' of a Deform Bone's Vertex Group", that works on top of that Vertex Group's basic Influence on the Mesh. If the Slider Button is 0.000, this would mean that the Deform Bone's Vertex Group is as effective as if the Deform Bone is turned off, and if the Slider Button is 1.000, this would mean the Deform Bone's Vertex Group is as effective as if the Deform Bone is turned on. Any in-between Value of that Slider, would mean that the overall Deform property for that Deform Bone is more than 0% but less than 100%. By Driving that Value, it would be possible to make smooth, gradual transitions between the Weight Ratios affecting each Vertices on a Mesh. Particularly interesting in the cases of Blended Weights (or shared Weights).
In the link below, there is an incomplete, bad example; I'm sorry I' can't currently provide an ideal sample of 'Dynamic Weight Paint' with an ideal functional application (but they do exist theoretically). At least, you may visualize realtime change of Weight Paint Ratios from that timestamp (using Weight Paint Mix Modifier); and, more likely if you are a rigger, you probably can conceive why this can be so valuable in Organic Rigging. Making this readily accessible through Deform property's Slider Button would be nice! I'm not a developer... but it feels like relatively simple thing to achieve. The maths, also, aren't very complicated: it does look like just as an overarching % thing that was just not conceived or implemented in Blender's Rigging system. [Remember, I just want to show the realtime Ratios' changes in this video, don't waste your time beyond 7:50 or so, because this is not a tutorial or anything like that] youtu.be/uRS1_UMklFo
1 Comment
Could you add some images to illustrate your concept / idea? I didn't quite grasp it at first glance TBH, although it sounds interesting.