topic Re: Why can't I use a sculpt tool on my rig? in Maya Animation and Rigging Forum

Why can't I use a sculpt tool on my rig?

Anonymous — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 17:31:05 GMT

I am trying to use a sculpt tool on my rig mesh and I get that error “// Error: Sculpting not permitted. Create a blend shape deformer and add a tangent space target to use sculpting tools on meshes bound to skin.”

How can I fix it? Any recommendations or references?

Thanks

Re: Why can't I use a sculpt tool on my rig?

gcoleman7779 — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 19:24:47 GMT

When your mesh is skinned to joints it won’t let you alter it like that. What are you trying to sculpt at this stage?

You may need to unbind the skin, make the adjustments, then rebind it.

You could also create a blend shape to sculpt then apply to your mesh.

Re: Why can't I use a sculpt tool on my rig?

Anonymous — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 23:02:28 GMT

Can you please show me or tell me the solution steps? What you are mentioning...

Re: Why can't I use a sculpt tool on my rig?

gcoleman7779 — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 23:30:39 GMT

To sculpt directly onto the mesh, you would have to disconnect it from the joints it is skinned to. This can be done by selecting the mesh then going to the tab Skin>Unbind Skin, this would loose your skin weights so it is not ideal.

You could try to export your skin weights and put them back on once you are done the adjustments, but if you intend to change the mesh drastically it might not work smoothly. It all depends on what/how much of the model you intend to sculpt.

Here is a link to a video that covers exporting skin weights:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=153&v=hOjL-40P4-E&feature=emb_logo

You can also make a blendshape, sculpt it, and set your mesh to transform into that shape.

Here is a link to a video that covers blend shapes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C29DJYBLh_M

Re: Why can't I use a sculpt tool on my rig?

Hans_Redman — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 01:21:09 GMT

Do you have to unbind skin??? Is there a way you don't need to do that? I just did my skin painting.... I know I can save the map but still don't really want to unbind skin tbh..
Never mind I figured it out.(without unbind skin) 😄

Re: Why can't I use a sculpt tool on my rig?

gcoleman7779 — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 04:36:16 GMT

You can duplicate your mesh, make the changes you need on the duplicate, and then make the duplicate a blendshape that you always leave on. Not the cleanest way to do it but it works if time is limited, depending on your project. I would avoid a solution like that if you intend to export it and use it in a game.

Re: Why can't I use a sculpt tool on my rig?

Hans_Redman — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 20:30:07 GMT

You also can use Shape Editor to sculpt a rigged mesh.