Basically if you have low poly character (say ~1000 polygons) and you don't do "spinning flying kicks" you MIGHT get away with non-weighted vertices.
But any good, normal Triple-A game that uses 2000-3000 polygons REALLY needs them; the density of the mesh is greater and then you really need to blend those seams (hips, knees, elbows) or you get "bend straw" effect, ie ugly sharp kink where the bones meet.
Part of the problem is that so few use these Triple-A class characters with Blitz, so it's bit deceiving to think that they are not needed - lack of weights also *forces* ppl to use those low-poly models because high-poly models are close to impossible to get working right as it is.
You can test this easily with two cylinders (one low-poly and one high-poly), and with just two bones (lower half and top half)... high-poly cylinder will "shear" nastily when you twist/rotate the upper bone... with weights this tearing effect would be much smoother.
But yes, I agree Sabata, it's bit frustrating and pointless try to convince the code-heads that we really do need this feature... why can't they just respect our professional opinion that comes from the years of experience? I won't try to tell Mark how he should do his compilers; I trust that he knows better although some things might seem to me silly and not needed.
But any good, normal Triple-A game that uses 2000-3000 polygons REALLY needs them; the density of the mesh is greater and then you really need to blend those seams (hips, knees, elbows) or you get "bend straw" effect, ie ugly sharp kink where the bones meet.
Part of the problem is that so few use these Triple-A class characters with Blitz, so it's bit deceiving to think that they are not needed - lack of weights also *forces* ppl to use those low-poly models because high-poly models are close to impossible to get working right as it is.
You can test this easily with two cylinders (one low-poly and one high-poly), and with just two bones (lower half and top half)... high-poly cylinder will "shear" nastily when you twist/rotate the upper bone... with weights this tearing effect would be much smoother.
But yes, I agree Sabata, it's bit frustrating and pointless try to convince the code-heads that we really do need this feature... why can't they just respect our professional opinion that comes from the years of experience? I won't try to tell Mark how he should do his compilers; I trust that he knows better although some things might seem to me silly and not needed.