armatureBones.md

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Armature Bones

Written by: Grant Nelson

Summary

This guide will demonstrate how to create and manipulate Armature Bones in Blender, essential for character rigging and animation. We will cover the following sections:

• Setup and Adding Armature
• Creating and Positioning Bones
• Parenting and Bone Relationships

Setup and Adding Armature

1. Open a new or existing Blender project where you want to add Armature.
2. In the Layout workspace, ensure your 3D model or the area where you want to create bones is visible.
3. To add an Armature, go to the Add menu, and select Armature.
4. A single bone will appear in the viewport. If not visible, zoom out or reposition the view.

Creating and Positioning Bones

1. With the Armature selected, switch to Edit Mode using the dropdown menu at the bottom left of the viewport or press Tab.
2. Select the tip or base of the bone, then use the Extrude tool (Either open the Armature menu with Right Click, or press E) to create a new connected bone.
3. Position the new bone accordingly by moving it to the desired location in the model. Repeat the extrusion process to create a chain of bones that matches your model's structure.
4. Use the Rotate and Scale tools to adjust each bone's orientation and size to fit your model.

Parenting and Bone Relationships

1. In Edit Mode, select the child bone, then Shift-click the parent bone to select both.
2. Press Ctrl+P to open the parenting menu and select Keep Offset to maintain the current position or Connected to directly connect the bones.
3. To create a more complex rig, continue to define relationships between bones, ensuring proper hierarchy for realistic movement and control.

By following these steps, you should now have a basic understanding of creating and manipulating Armature Bones in Blender. This foundational knowledge is crucial for rigging characters and creating animations.

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