Rigging a flexible rod I'm trying to rig a flexible rod using bones (for use in Unity). I've attempted to use 2 bones, one at the base and one at the tip of the rod



I have then used the weight paint mode to paint the weight so the end of the rod is more bendy:



In pose mode, the problem is the bend seems to be happening at a single point, rather than following the weight



I have added a deform->armature modifier to the rod:



And I think my armature/rod is parented correctly:



How can I make the rod curve smoothly? I've tried using multiple bones but the rod bends at very sharp angles, not smoothly. The following image is an idea of how I want the rod to curve (on the Z axis and X axis)
I would start with one bone for the whole rod (the bendy part anyways), and weight all the geometry to that bone.  Then...


Get into bone edit mode, select the bone.
Invoke the Subdivide command on that bone, for that rod, I'd subdivide it about 6-8 times.  But use your judgement.
Get into Pose Mode, and select all the bones.
Select the rod mesh, and get into weight paint mode.
Hit the "W" key, and select "Assign Automatic from Bones" from the popup menu.


Automatic weights for stuff like this usually works out pretty good.  I'd recommend b-bones subdivision to you, but if your exporting to a Game Engine, I'm not sure those would be supported.