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Hello all!

I have been away from the forums for a while, so I may be accidentally creating a topic that has already been discussed (I have indeed used the search function, on this forum and off, but I'm not the best when it comes to exact search terms, so I could have missed a thread that already discusses my problem). If so, please only grill me lightly.

I am practicing my 3D modelling using Blender, and am at the stage of rigging a human character. I have already introduced myself to the concept of vertex weighting, and am trying to fully understand how to successfully use edge-loops for smooth, natural deformation of the mesh. However, the shoulders of my character are being a bit of a pain in my back.. As the image below (on the left) is hopefully proof of, I have more or less got to the (my?) ideal setup for raising and lowering the arms sideways, but the circled areas show nasty deformations when I try to rotate the arms forward. It would be very nice if any light could be shed on how to prevent this, whether in link-to-tutorial form or advice form.


Thank you for reading!

im no expert on animation, but it looks like you are trying to manipulate the arm in an unnatural manner. try it with your own arm and study how it moves. you can freely rotate about the y axis as seen on your left side pic, this is how the arm is built, the motion provided by deltoids and trapezieus among others.

once you have it up around 90 degrees on the y you can rotate forward on the z, but if you try to twist, rotating on the x you can see that the shoulder joint has almost no ability to do that. most of the twisting comes lower down, somewhat at the elbow, primarily at the wrist. this twisting is possible do to the forearm being made of two bones which share a mostly fixed base at elbow. the shoulder just isnt built for this kind of twisting.

basically, it is not necessarily an issue of your mesh or rig, but an issue of how you are using them.

Hmm, I see what you are saying. It's quite possible I was asking my mesh to do too much. I will, as you said, study my own arm's range of motion. I hadn't even thought about the twisting being a problem (I can be dumb). Thank you!