Modeler part of the Morph-To-Skelegons tutorial.

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Alright, this is the "new and improved" version of my good old "Sluggish" tutorial.
It's seperated into two sections, one for the modeling part, and the other for layout.
Obviously, this part is for the modeling end of things.
You can download the files right here if you want to, but I suggest you just
follow the steps layed out here, and you'll have a better understanding of things.
Or, if you want to use the "New Slug" files, click here.
Click here to go straight to the Layout part of this tutorial

Ok, let's get started.
You can build the morph object first if you want to, or the path first. I choose to do the path first.
Basically, what I did was to use the Sketch tool, but you can use whatever makes you comfortable.
One thing about using the Sketch tool is, that it doesn't leave the points spread out evenly apart
from each other, so it takes a couple of steps to get it right for the Skelegons to be placed at even lengths.
Also, "NOTE" that I start the path from the 0,0,0 position and go towards the +Z axis.
This is essencial for the movement process to work.
If you do something else and it doesn't work,then don't blame me.

Now, with the path you just made in a background layer, go ahead and add a single point at the 0,0,0
position, as shown bellow. Then use the "Points to Polys" to convert the point to a polygon.
Then switch to "Polygon Mode".

Now, use the "Rail Extrude" set to "Uniform Lengths", go ahead and make your
new path (which is really just a segmented polygon object and "NOT" a real path).
The amount of segments will determine the lenths for you "Skelegons" and future bones.
If they seem too far apart, simply undo (the "u" key) the preceeding, and try it again
with a higher setting. You should end up with something like bellow.
Also, make sure that you use "Oriented" on.

Now for the fun part.
Select the entire, newly created path, so that it's high lighted.

Go to the "Construct" tab and hit the "Make Skelegons" button to the left and watch the fun.
You'll take notice, that all the bones will "probably" come out backwards, or "not" pointing
in the +Z direction. You'll "should" also still see the path object still high lighted.
Go ahead and delete it (the path polygon).
You should end up with only the "Skelegons" as seen bellow.

Simply hit the "f" key to "flip" the "Skelegons" around.
Things should look like the image bellow now.

The rest of this tutorial is really quite simple and basic.
If you haven't already made your morph (snaking) object, then you can do so now.
For this example, I simply made a long subdevided box. I gave it about 60 subdevisions.
You'll have to decide how many you will need for your own project, but the more you have,
the smoother it will appear when being deformed along the bones path in "Layout".
Also, take note, that the "Base" (or source) object starts off on the -Z axis from the 0,0,0 position.
This will keep things running smoothly without any problems when you bring it all over into "Layout".

Once you've made your main object, then you can make the "Morph" for that object.
As shown bellow, you will see the "M" button in the bottom-right-courner. Click on it and make a new
morph for you object and name it something like, "morph.move" and click OK.

Now, you will need to move the object to form the morph. The simplest way to
achieve this, is to make use of the "Aligner" tool and leave everything as is, "except" for
the "Z" setting, which you'll want to set to the "+" setting, also seen bellow.

The object will instantly move to the other end of the 0,0,0 axis when you click the OK button.
It should look something like what you see here.
NOTE: You may want to save your object/s anywhere along the way with
different names just in case you want to go back and change things around.
And in any case, this is a good time to save you object. I mean, after you make
a morph, it's "always" a good idea to play it safe and do a "save".

Ok, all that's left, is to cut ("x" key) and paste ("v" key) both the object AND the Skelegons,
and place them into just one layer, such as the "first" layer.

And there you have it!
Go on to the
Layout part of the Morph-To-Skelegons tutorial
and find out what's next.
And most importantly, HAVE FUN!
or
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