What we will be covering in this chapter - where the important topology lies on the upper body of a person. Specifically the key area of deformation around the shoulder: (Fade in Skeleton+ High res mesh)
What we would like to introduce is the concept of key edges or cuts for deformation which run from under the under the pectoral muscles (label), up over the top of the arm bicep/triceps area (+label as red edge loop appears) and around to the back/scapula area (label). (Camera moves around high level geometry over skeleton, as labels of muscle groups appear….pop…pop)
Why is topology for this area so important? (high level geometry fades out)
The shoulder area has the most extreme movement in both rotation and translation - (fade in Skeleton animation of movement extremes).
The Scapula (label) and Humerus (label) act as a ball and socket joint with 180 degree rotation along the z axis. [FEEDBACK NEEDEDHERE] The scapula (label) which supports the arm can also translate around from the back around the rib cage (Skeleton animation: rolls the scapula to drop the shoulders slumping the chest)
Key concept: A popular solution is to think of a poncho (or cape) dropped
over the shoulders of your mesh. (Camera moves around high level geometry as mid resolution poncho drops over shoulders)
With medium resolution example shown here you can see how the key loops shown in red (T- shirt version of the upper torso now starts to animate to same extremes- camera circles the mesh for +- three extremes of movement).
With careful skinning and no additional bones, this same concept can be applied to lower resolution meshes, which could be used in game. (T- shirt version of the upper torso now starts to animate to same extremes- camera circles the mesh for +- three extremes of movement).
Here the upper torso of the model is simplified to 3 rows only for shoulder
