Skinny

Getting Started with Skinny:

Update: It is no longer nessesary to change the bone names for resolution changes. version 0.6alpha offers an edit bone tool, which assists in setting the resolution, shift and twist modifiers.:

	In x-y view, create an armature - If it does not already have the default name, rename it to 'Armature'
	In x-y view, select the tail of the bone...
	...tap 'e' and move your mouse up to generate another bone.
	Switch to object mode
	run the skinny script (it should appear in the scripts tab, after copying to your scripts folder and restarting blender)
	From this simple armature, Skinny generates a simple, animatable cylinder.

	Remove the previous mesh and switch to edit mode - in x-y view, select the tail of the first bone of the armature, tap 'e' and move your mouse to the left to generate another bone
	Switch to object mode, run Skinny again - the script now generates a more complex branching mesh
	Switch to edit mode - in x-y view, select the tail of the first bone of the armature again, tap 'e' and move your mouse to the right to generate another bone
	Switch to object mode, run Skinny again - the script now generates a mesh with a cross branch.
	Switch to edit mode and rename the bones as shown in this picture
	Bone names can be made visible by pressing the 'Draw Names' button in the Armature panel. The bones can be renamed by clicking the 'BO:' button in the Armature Bones panel.
	From this setup, Skinny will generate a mesh with different resolutions in the stem and branch segements. The first number in the bone name separated by the '_' character defines, how many vertices are used in a particular mesh segment.
	Looking at the backside of the generated mesh, it becomes clear, that the lower resolution branches are not branched off from the stem mesh symmetrically.
	To shift the position of the branches relative to the segments of the stem, a second number has to be added to the bone names of the branches, which defines by how many steps the branching mesh should be shifted.
	Using the above shift of 1 mesh segment, the resulting mesh is symmetrical with respect to attachment of branches, i.e. shows the same distance between the branches from both top views...
	...and bottom views.
	The attachment points can also be twisted by altering the third number of the bone name.
	Front view
	Top view best showing the twist.
	At mesh generation time, the armature needs to be confined to the x-y plane, however, as shown in this example, by using the twist modifier, armatures that naturally (without distortions) project in all three directions can be setup in pose mode after mesh generation with skinny.
	By attaching the branching bones asymmetrically (see above), additional armature configurations which extend in the z-direction can be made.
	To generate an undistorted T-intersection, the stem connection needs to be generated first, and the branch needs to be extended towards the left side of the stem (left to the axis of parent to child in the x-y view)
	To generate an undistorted crossing, again, the stem connection needs to be generated first, the left branch needs to be extended second, and the right branch last.
	If the branch of a T-intersection is extended towards the right side...
	...the resulting mesh is distorted...
	...but the distortion can be evened out by including 'R' as a fourth parameter in the branch bone name.

	Resolution changes are possible towards the branch of a stem, or in a simple connection
	However, a child bone segement can only be of lower resolution compared to the parent bone segement.
	Version 0.4alpha also supports mesh deformation based on bone envelopes. This example shows how size adjustment of the head and tail of the bone envelopes...
	... can be used to generate a plant-like mesh.

	To use mesh deformation based on bone envelopes, check the 'envelope mod' button in the pop-up menu shown at script start.
	Together with Blender's new sculpt and multres editing tools (and with a bit more artistic skills than mine...), Skinny can be used to generate interesting characters...
	...ready for skeletal animation...
	...and ready for texturing!