How do I control the armature in weight paint mode?

Question

When in weight paint mode when I right click a bone it goes into object mode and selects the whole armature but what I want to do is manipulate the bones while in paint mode, as seen in tutorials, to either move a part out of the way or test the weight painting.

Answer 1

The armature has to be in Pose mode, then Shift-select the mesh and go into Weight Paint mode.

If you have selection set to Right-click in Preferences then:

• Sample weight (color) with Ctrl LMB
• Select bone with RMB

If you have selection set to Left-click in Preferences:

• Sample weight (color) with Ctrl RMB
• Select bone with Ctrl LMB

Independently of Select with option:

• Paint with LMB
• Rotate, Move, Scale bone with R, G, S
• Paint gradient with Alt LMB