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Note: This panel appears when MetaWeight is selected in the Item List.
MetaWeight (which this block is for) is a weight tool that allows you to combine other Weight Tools to create a customized weight field. You have the added ability to use multiple Procedurals, Curves, MetaEffectors and any other future weight tools. So a MetaWeight is an object or collection of objects that produces static and/or dynamic weights for use with effects, shaders, and any other messiah entity that uses spacial weight values/maps.
You can think of MetaWeight in comparison to MetaEffector. With MetaEffector, you use multiple Effectors to design a weight field. By default Effectors are set for +, but you can set them to - by changing the Polarity setting. With MetaWeight, you can use, say, multiple Curves, Procedurals, & MetaEffectors as "effectors" with the added ability to set any standard blend operator, not just + or -. And Controllers (see below) just extend the power by allowing you to blend with other values. So think of it as MetaEffector where the Effectors can be spheres, boxes, cylinders, curves, etc. See the MetaWeight block for more info.
Add Weight Tools: To add a weight tool from your scene to this list, use multi-select in the Item List: hold down CTRL and individually click on the other tool(s) in the Item List. If you accidentally select something that isn't a weight tool, don't worry: when you click on Add Weight Tools it will only add the weight tools.
Weight Target List: This list shows you what weight tools are being used. The order that the tools appear in the list, from top to bottom, is the order that they will combine in.
There are two columns on the left side of the list. The first column is the enable/bypass toggle. These work just like the enable/bypass toggles used elsewhere in messiah: when it is green, it is enabled, and when it is red it is bypassed.
The next column is the blend operator type. This is used to control how the multiple weight tools will interact with each other. These are the standard operators seen elsewhere in messiah. For example, + is additive, x is multiply, etc. The Controller or Weight Tool Blend sets the level of each weight, and this operator sets how each will be combined.
Remove Tools: To remove a tool from the Weight Target List, select it and press this button.
Note: The following items are per Weight Tool. Each tool in the list has its own entry here.
Controller & Channel (pulldowns): You can choose an item from this list to control the Weight Tool Blend for the weight tool that is currently selected in the Weight Target List. Then select a Channel for it to read as the blend amount. If you set the Controller to (none) then you set the amount with the Weight Tool Blend numeric. This works in conjunction with the blend operator in the Weight Target List. Note: If you want to animate the blend level you must use a controller. You can just create a null for that. Also keep in mind that if you're using Static weights the blend isn't going to be animated.
Weight Tool Blend: Sets the percentage amount that this tool will be applied. This is only active if you don't have a Controller set, since if you have a Controller, that would perform this function. This works in conjunction with the blend operator in the Weight Target List.