BonesPro Modifer

BonesPro Modifier

The BonesPro modifier is the core component of the plugin. It dynamically deforms a mesh based on the animation of assigned helper objects or skeleton elements, referred to as bones. In a typical 3ds Max workflow:
Select your object, go to the Modify tab, open the modifier list, and apply BonesPro.

Main Rollout

The Main Rollout is always visible when BonesPro is selected in the modifier stack. It contains the essential controls for:

• object setup
• viewport visualization
• deformers
• bone management

Sub-Object Modes

BonesPro provides two primary sub-object modes:

• Bone Mode — select and edit assigned bones
• Vertex Mode — select and edit vertex weights

You can switch between modes using standard 3ds Max shortcuts such as:
Ctrl+B, Insert, 1, and 2.

Bones

This section controls how deformation bones are assigned, managed, and displayed.

• Assign
  Opens a selection dialog where you can choose the objects to be used as deformation bones for the mesh.
  Supported objects include standard 3ds Max bones, Character Studio skeletons, CAT rigs, and even regular mesh objects.
  BonesPro automatically checks whether the selected bones are part of a hierarchy and have a valid root node. If a root is detected, you will be prompted to optionally link the mesh to this root for proper rig integration.

• Copy
  Copy bone assignments from another object that already uses BonesPro.
  This is useful when multiple objects share the same rig—for example, a character and separate clothing meshes.
  The copied data is automatically linked to the Sync function. When Sync is enabled, any changes to bone parameters (such as falloff or strength) are applied simultaneously across all objects that share the copied setup.

• Show Bones / Hide Bones
  Toggle the visibility of bones in the viewport.

• Move Bones
  Opens a dialog that allows BonesPro modifiers in the scene to temporarily ignore their assigned bones.
  While Move Bones is active, transforming bones will not deform the mesh. This makes it safe to reposition or adjust bones without affecting the current deformation.
  Enable this mode to edit bone positions, then disable it to restore normal deformation behavior.

  The move state is shared across all BonesPro instances in the scene. This means you can control it from any Move Bones button, allowing you to adjust bones that influence multiple meshes at the same time.

• Refresh
  Update the mesh display after changes.

• Hide Mesh
  Toggle the visibility of the skinned mesh in the viewport.

Visualization

The next section of the BonesPro UI panel provides several toggle options for controlling how the object, bones, and skinning data are displayed.
These visualization settings help you better understand and debug the deformation setup. For a detailed overview, see the Visualization chapter.

BoneJiggler

These options control whether the mesh is affected by BoneJiggler modifiers.
If no BoneJiggler modifiers are applied to your bones, these settings can be ignored.

• Inertia
  Enables deformation influenced by the Inertia settings of bones with BoneJiggler applied.
  This results in delayed motion: bones lag behind during acceleration and overshoot or wobble when slowing down.

• Oscillation
  Enables deformation influenced by the Oscillation settings of bones with BoneJiggler applied.
  This adds harmonic motion to the bones, creating pulsing or rotating deformation effects.

  BoneJiggler Parameters

MetaBones and ParaBones

BonesPro includes two powerful sub-skin deformers: MetaBones and ParaBones.

• MetaBones
  Lightweight spherical deformers used to simulate underlying bone structure.
  They are ideal for areas like elbows, knees, or finger joints, where skin is pushed outward during bending.

• ParaBones
  Advanced deformers that can use any mesh shape.
  They allow the skin to stretch over custom forms, enabling precise control over volume and surface detail.

Both MetaBones and ParaBones let you:

• enhance anatomical features (e.g. ribs, joints, muscles)
• add padding or volume under clothing
• block or shape deformation in specific areas
• create stylized or dynamic effects

They are fully animatable and behave like physical objects beneath the skin, allowing for highly controllable and realistic deformation effects. Read more about it in the section “MetaBones and Parabones”.

Bone Selection

BonesPro keeps bone selection separate from standard 3ds Max object and sub-object selection, so you can highlight bones and vertices at the same time. Available commands include:

• select all bones
• deselect all bones
• invert selection
• interactive viewport picking
• select by name
• select parent or child bones
• select full parent or child hierarchies

The documentation also lists hierarchy shortcuts such as Page Up / Page Down and Ctrl + Page Up / Ctrl + Page Down.

Bones Rollout

The Bones Rollout is shown in Bone mode and is used to adjust how selected bones influence the mesh.

Modify Bone Influence

• Falloff: sets the radius of influence for a bone
• Strength: adjusts how strongly the bone affects the mesh
• Real-Time: updates deformation live while changing values
• Apply: commits changes when real-time updates are disabled
• Sync: applies bone setting changes across all BonesPro modifiers using the same bone
• Create Selection Set: stores assigned or selected bones in a named set
• Replace Bone: swaps the selected bone while keeping its settings and weights

Vertices Rollout

The Vertices Rollout appears in Vertex mode and is used to refine how specific bones affect specific vertices. The docs divide this rollout into two groups: Select and Modify.

Select

Vertex selection tools include:

• Shrink / Grow
• Ring / Loop
• Invert vertex selection
• Unlinked Vertices selection tools
• Inclusion-based selection
• Weights table
• By Influence
• Ignore Backfacing
• Select Element

These tools help isolate areas of the mesh based on topology, visibility, inclusion state, or the relationship between vertices and currently selected bones.

Modify

These commands change per-vertex weighting and inclusion behavior.

• Exclude from bones: remove selected bones from affecting selected vertices
• Include into bones: restore selected bones to those vertices
• Effects:
  • Bones Limit to control how many bones may affect a vertex
  • Equalize to distribute influence evenly across selected bones
• Reset: undo manual weight and inclusion edits
• Set Weight: assign explicit weights to bone/vertex pairs
• Quaternion: define dual quaternion blend values on selected vertices
• Soft Selection: spread edits smoothly beyond the current selection
• Edge Distance: limit soft selection spread through connected topology
• Custom Curve: customize soft selection falloff beyond the default linear behavior

Weighting Behavior Notes

BonesPro combines automatic proximity-based deformation with manual overrides.

• Explicit forced weights override the default proximity-based result
• Remaining influence can still be shared by other non-excluded bones
• If forced weights exceed 100%, BonesPro normalizes them proportionally
• When soft selection is enabled, nearby vertices are affected with reduced strength to create smoother transitions

Mirror

The Mirror tools allow you to quickly transfer weights and settings between symmetrical bones in a rig. Symmetry is based on the bone positions at the time they are assigned to BonesPro, ensuring stable mirror behavior even during animation.

• Show in Viewports — Displays helper gizmos for mirror setup and direction preview
• Mirror Plane — Defines the orientation of the mirror axis
• Offset — Adjusts the position of the mirror plane
• Threshold — Controls how accurately counterpart bones are detected
• Flip Mirror Direction — Switches the direction of data transfer
• Mirror Bone Settings — Copies settings to mirrored bones

For more informations consult the chapter Mirror Values. Mirror BonesPro skinning values

Properties Rollout

This rollout provides access to licensing information, as well as options for importing and exporting skinning data.

Summary

The BonesPro Modifier combines:

• object-level setup and visualization
• flexible bone assignment and hierarchy tools
• per-bone influence controls
• detailed per-vertex weight editing
• optional support for BoneJiggler, ParaBones, MetaBones, and dual quaternion blending

Together, these rollouts provide a full workflow for setting up, inspecting, and refining deformation behavior in 3ds Max.