Controlled bones? (referring to Luggage guy!)

[straffax]

Hi,

I have a character (discussed in another thread - now drawn in AS with vectors only - thanks slowtiger for pushing me ) that I'm looking for a good way to setup for animation.

It is in shape quite similar to the Luggage Guy in the library (which Selgin told me about). I've spent a lot of time trying to figure luggage guy out, but I can't fully understand. What are the "controlled" bones, the little ones, and how do I set up and use them?

Any tips on skeleton setup is welcome.

My idea now is to follow the manual: split the layers apart, add bones, turn on region binding, adjust bone strength and then assemble the body parts again. But Luggage Guy seems to be done in some even smarter way...

Here's the character (several hands visible in this version, will be switch layer later on):

[slowtiger]

It all depends on what movements she'll perform. For realistic movements you'll build a skeleton right like mother nature does. But you could do so much more and get funnier results with a different rig.

If everything is just cutouts, you won't need controlled bones. A cutout skeleton can be quite simple, this will add to the charm. You may even have completely stiff arms and legs - can be very funny for children's animation.

I usually start with a master bone right between the feet on ground level, so I can rotate the character easily on uneven ground. I also bind the hips to this bone, as well as the main body bone. In your case I'd start that bone right in her belt buckle: this way she could bend the body while the legs still stand solidly on the ground.

If you have vector layers, like for arms and legs, you may want to use controlled bones in the elbow and knee joints to maintain volume when bent. In that case you also should use bone offset.

[straffax]

Thanks, that was a couple of tips I will use!
But about the animation style, in this one I really want to have smooth bending of the body. For "stiff" cutout I'm a long time user of other software (Celaction2D) that performs it better, I must say.

So here is an image of what I'm trying to accomplish. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Víctor Paredes]

I'm making a videotutorial about this topic.
It should be ready in a couple hours.

[SvenFoster]

I get those results by doing the following



if your unfamiliar with control bones and such may be worth waiting for selgins no doubt excellent vid

[Víctor Paredes]

Here you have the tutorial
viewtopic.php?p=116411

Anyway, it's very much like SvenFoster's image

[rylleman]

Nice tutorial Selgin. A question though, why do you split your shapes with a line that is hidden anyway? Wouldn't you get the same result by just adding the points, without a line?

[Víctor Paredes]

Nice tutorial Selgin. A question though, why do you split your shapes with a line that is hidden anyway? Wouldn't you get the same result by just adding the points, without a line?

Thanks, Rylleman. You are referring to the line in the middle, right? If so, it's because in some occasions the bone angle can be is so close, the shape touches itself and you get a hole. To avoid that, I prefer to separate arm and forearm in different shapes of the same color.
In this case, it's harder this happen (because of the arc), but you can get it when needed, animating the bones and the curvature of that two points.
So, in resume, it's kind of optional, but it's to get a more flexible rig.

[SvenFoster]

Selgin I learn something everytime I look at one of your videos.

todays lessons were.
* create multpiple shapes as its nicer
* you can show the paths on the layer options (that i totally forgot even existed)
* selgin is part man/part ASP

[rylleman]

...it's because in some occasions the bone angle can be so close, the shape touches itself and you get a hole...

Ah, that makes sense. Great little tip then.

[slowtiger]

This whole thread inspired me to play around with different rigs a bit. I've found a nice solution for characters with stiff legs (cutout):

As you can see, the leg works quite contrary to intuition! I've created a "hip bone" which allows to move the whole leg vertically with only one key (z) instead of switching to (t).

Since I'm testing new styles anyway, here's a walk, quick and dirty, with the above rig.
http://www.slowtiger.de:/examples/cutwalk.mov
The pause in the middle is just to show that the cutout arms warp with the bones (same with legs). Works nicely with a strong texture.

[straffax]

Oh, I forgot to say thanks!
Thanks everyone for the answers!!

And Selgin, the video tutorial was fantastic!