Introduction Case Study: Jack Nichoolas 5 What's A character sheet? Deconstructing the body Creating the Pelvis The Spine The Shoulders The Elbows The Knee As Tools Evolve, Concepts Remain Valid

Modeling tools are constantly reinventing themselves, which makes our lives as game developers easier. For instance, the newest version of Physique, the skin attachment program in Kinetix's Character Studio, uses a new method of attaching vertices to bones. The tool now supports true weighted vertex assignments, using envelopes. This method has serious ramifications for how spline configurations at the joints will be built in the future, as it allows you more easily create a good looking vertex attachment.

However, no matter what features future software versions support, these core concepts that I've outlined will remain true:

• Character sheets are one of the most powerful tools you have for nailing the detail and proportion of your model, and using them within your modeling environment leverages their strengths even more.
  
  
• The quality of skeletal joint positions (particularly those at the base of the hierarchical tree) will continue dominate the geometry built upon it.
  
  
• Building the skeleton first and then properly posing it will help your modeling and save you significant time and effort.