So this is like the biggest lesson I learned today…

You create say a cylinder shape, 3d, in Blender…

Then you put a bunch of bones in it…A skeleton…

Now you want to attach the bones to the skin so that when you move a bone one way, the skin also moves…

 

This is how in the new 2.66a Blender version update…

In OBJECT MODE, you press SHIFT then right click on the cylinder & also on the bones…

THE ORDER IN WHICH YOU SELECT THE BONES & THE MESH IS REALLY CRUCIAL…

OK, SO YOU HAVE TO SELECT THE ARMATURE LAST TO MAKE IT THE PARENT!!!

Then you press CONTROL + P

A menu appears with the word Object at the top…From the drop down menu choose “with Automatic Weights”…

Choose that…Wait…

Tadaah…

Now when you go to POSE MODE you can move each bone, & the skin will follow…The shape…You can see my all day’s work big accomplishment in the video above…

Really…This took me all day long to figure out…Wow this is hard…

if you do try to learn animation using free Blender software, remember that each version is slightly different, so be careful about which tutorials you are watching…Things may be different now…

Sorry this is so technical…But if you feel like learning animation with me, this was the biggest step…

I think after this hump, so to speak, I may be alright…

Warning: I have now been able to do this, then not…Then again for some reason yes…Then no again…I don’t know why sometimes it works & sometimes it doesn’t…

AHA…http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Blender_3D:_Noob_to_Pro/Bones Ok I checked the Blender WIKI & here is the reason…

Aha…THE ORDER IN WHICH YOU SELECT THE BONES & THE MESH IS REALLY CRUCIAL…

OK, SO YOU HAVE TO SELECT THE ARMATURE LAST TO MAKE IT THE PARENT!!!

This is why it was sometimes working & sometimes not working…Aha…

I created this video with the YouTube Video Editor (http://www.youtube.com/editor)

So, once you know how to model a shape, a mesh, in Blender 2.66a, then you are going to want to put a skeleton inside, bones…So then you are going to learn how to put the bones in, this is called Rigging…(rhymes with Digging)…Ok, now you have bones inside a mesh shape…How do you get the Bones to make the shape move? Well, in 2.66a Blender 3d animation, I did this…1)Very important first step by the way…Choose the shape first, FIRST, by clicking SHIFT & right clicking the shape with your mouse…Now…CHOOSE the BONE ARMATURE SECOND or LAST if there are several shapes…The LAST thing selected is the PARENT…The order in which you pick your things is crucial…If you ignore this you will be confused & sad because it won’t work…Armature LAST makes the armature the PARENT…2)Ok, the picking was in OBJECT MODE by the way…Step 1…So the very next thing you do, is CLICK CONTROL + P …CONTROL Button & the Letter P…This will bring up a menu(the Parent menu)…In that menu, choose “With Automatic Weights”…Ok that is it…3)Now go into POSE mode…If you click a bone in your armature, then rotate it, the bone will move & it will also move the mesh shape at the same time…If the bone doesn’t grab the shape you didn’t select your armature last…The bones have to be the last thing you choose when choosing elements…Promise…Took a whole day to learn this lesson…A very hard day too…Once you know this you have power…This, for me, was the major hump(so to speak…) I am posting this because I know how hard it was for me to learn & understand…(p.s. I have only been studying Blender for a week now…But this makes all the early grief worthwhile…)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BT_udwOw-jQ I forgot to mention this video of how to rig a straw…This one was actually THE ONE that helped me to grasp the concept of what rigging was about…(rigging is like putting bones inside an object, connecting the bones to the object, then being able to move the bones inside the object & the object will move its parts individually…Instead of moving the object as a giant 2d lump!