So when is it best to use deform bones as in the 'rigging a crane arm' lesson and when just use a setup as in 'rig a gun turret' (previous lesson). Is there a rule of thumb?
If you have to deform the mesh or if the separate pieces are apart of the same object then you use deform. If it's separate objects and they don't need to be deform then you can use parent to bone. As a personal preference, I always use deform except when I'm teaching someone about parenting to a bone.
Hi Sheila,
As Dwayne mentioned there is a bit of personal preference involved in some of these situations.
But sometimes you HAVE to use arm armature modifier with vertex groups. This is the case when the character/object is all 1 mesh and you need different parts to bend and deform in different ways. (like the crane arm)
Other times you can just use straight bone parenting when the object/character has separate parts that can move w/o "deformation" (like the Gun Turret)
And sometimes you will have a combination of the two (like the Wrangler).
How do I decide? I always try to use the simplest way. This really is a case by case basis but for the wrangler, it's a pretty simple character with a handful of meshes.
I decided to use bone parenting in the Hat for 2 reasons. To keep it simple as it's doesn't need to 'deform' - and also to teach bone parenting.
If there was a different character - maybe it would be more logical to use the armature modifier on all parts.
Hope that helps you decide.