Hirarchy and several bones per mesh

Ok, the first thing I should tell you is that I'm currently switching from DeX to the Art Tools.
No I have this model, which animates perfect in 3D Max and when I'm using DeX.
I've already learned quite a few things so I
-created a note track
-used the property editor to definde my bones as bones
-change float keys to TCB
The last thing I have to do would be to create a hierarchy between bones and my mesh. The problem is, I'm using only a single mesh an about 10 bones and I can't figure out how to set 10 (bone-)parents for my mesh-child.
I've added only one bone for testing purposes but then the whole mesh moved the way the bone did and not only the vertices in its envelope.

In a nut-shell: How do I create the hierarchy with several bones per mesh ?

not 100% clear on what your saying, but im guessing you have a model, some guy w/e thats one big mesh persay, and that you have bones throughout the body and you want to connect them to different parts. well there is not quick and easy way to do this, you have to detach polys from the model and link the bones to the poly.


for example

a regular arm


initially its created out of several polygons linked together

you would have to detach the hand, link the hand to a bone

detach the lower part of the arm n attach it to a bone

detach the upper part of the arm n attach it to a bone

then attach the bones

or at least this is how i would do it, not 100% clear on what u want...

Yeah, you will have to cut up the mesh in different parts, like arms and legs etc., and then assign a bone to each body part.
What you then do is use the user property editor (which you can add to "utilities" by using the "configure button sets" button,
and then go for the mess properties and turn on 'connected'. That way the different mesh parts would appear as if still one when rendered, but you can move them seperatly.

and be careful not to move meshes when trying to connect... they won't work if verts dont line up... i had a big problem with that:bgrun:

Twistar, there is a field option in mesh properties in user properties menu, which you can change the threshold or range of the connection (like, if you moved it a bit, change the value to 1-10 and it connects anyway)

:( wish i knew that then