Vertex Independent Character Rig Weight Painting

A really smart feature would be some type of weight painting mode that does not rely on the vertex locations of the character. It would be acceptable to use the general shape of the mesh to capture the weight painting, but just not exact vertex locations. After the user paints, the weights are converted from X to vertex, then used normally.

The reason for this is to allow for a non-destructive, universal rig, or a rig that can be extensively customized, then later the vertex mesh heavily edited or completely changed without destroying the rig's weights. For example, some developers will use the same rig for many character meshes. Or some will use the same rig for males and females. Generic weight painting would allow the user to customize the way the bones control the skin without being dependent on the vertices. After changing out a mesh, the developer would only need to tweak the results to fit the new mesh better. Similar to using an envelope system, but with more control.

As far as implementation, one idea would be a 3D grid of points, which the user could choose a resolution for. Another is to use the bone shapes to store the weight data, such as a more advanced envelope that has its own vertices that can be moved around (Max does something similar), then painted. In either case, the generic painted points would be converted to nearest vertex points, then behave normally.