Change Parent tool

General Moho topics.

Moderators: Víctor Paredes, Belgarath, slowtiger

Post Reply
Hellyar
Posts: 80
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2016 1:28 am
Location: England, near Europe
Contact:

Change Parent tool

Post by Hellyar »

Hello,
In the ASP11 Users Manual, page 98... it says "use the Change Parent Tool".
I cannot find it!
There's a Reparent Bone Tool but I presume the Users Manual is correct and that isn't the one to use!
Thank you for any help.
User avatar
slowtiger
Posts: 6298
Joined: Thu Feb 16, 2006 9:53 am
Location: Berlin, Germany
Contact:

Re: Change Parent tool

Post by slowtiger »

That's the right one.
AS 9.5 MacPro Quadcore 3GHz 16GB OS 10.6.8 Quicktime 7.6.6
AS 11 MacPro 12core 3GHz 32GB OS 10.11 Quicktime 10.7.3
Moho 13.5 iMac Quadcore 2,9GHz 16GB OS 10.15
Moho 14.1 Mac Mini M2 Pro OS 13.7.6
Hellyar
Posts: 80
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2016 1:28 am
Location: England, near Europe
Contact:

Re: Change Parent tool

Post by Hellyar »

Thank you!

Also, in the Users Manual it says under Reparent Tool...

"Select the bone whose parent you want to change using the Select Bone tool. Then, using this tool, click on the new parent bone."

I've tried this, but it doesn't seem to work. I am presuming that when it says "this tool" it's referring to the last mentioned tool, the Select Bone tool.
Hellyar
Posts: 80
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2016 1:28 am
Location: England, near Europe
Contact:

Re: Change Parent tool

Post by Hellyar »

Nope, it means the Reparent Bone Tool. Just bad syntax... again.

Are these support materials tested on new users?

I am, by nature, very pedantic which is why. when I learn a program, I end up (slowly) knowing it inside out. But these vagaries - and actual errors - in the ASP support materials are causing me great difficulty.

I've never taken this long to get to grips with a program. I am ending up disliking the program and wondering whether to ditch it. :(
User avatar
jahnocli
Posts: 3471
Joined: Fri Oct 29, 2004 6:13 am
Location: UK

Re: Change Parent tool

Post by jahnocli »

Hellyar wrote:...I've never taken this long to get to grips with a program. I am ending up disliking the program and wondering whether to ditch it. :(
Well, that's a decision only you can take, of course. Every program has its quirks, but I really think this software is the best for a single person doing animation. Personally, I never liked the freehand drawing part of Anime Studio, still don't, but you find ways round these things if you want some of the other features. Good luck with your decision-making!
You can't have everything. Where would you put it?
Hellyar
Posts: 80
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2016 1:28 am
Location: England, near Europe
Contact:

Re: Change Parent tool

Post by Hellyar »

Dear jahnocli,

Thanks for your thoughts.

It's not the program I'm frustrated by: it's the support materials. Referring to tools that don't exist (i.e. using different, undocumented names for them), etc., isn't helpful for a beginner. In this instance, wasting lots of time my trying to find the "Change Parent Tool", presuming that, with the intelligent tool display, it was hidden because I was doing something wrong.

Even the Infinite Skills course - which, in many ways is excellent - randomly uses "alternative" names for tools, etc. I spent ages trying to find the "Bone Rotation Tool". After ages looking on the internet, I've figured out that the trainer probably means the "Transform Bone Tool". Yes, it's a description of what the trainer is going to use the tool for; but it's not its name. Unless - genuinely - it really does exist and I haven't found it yet. No idea.

Anyway, thanks again to all. I'll use the arrow-pointy-plastic-thing to deactivate the think-machine and take the elephants for their morning walkies! :lol:
User avatar
slowtiger
Posts: 6298
Joined: Thu Feb 16, 2006 9:53 am
Location: Berlin, Germany
Contact:

Re: Change Parent tool

Post by slowtiger »

Part of your confusion stems from the fact that tools have changed between versions, and the learning material isn't always up to date - not even the manual. It would help a great deal if any video mentions the version it was made for, but nearly nobody does that.

Example: translate, scale and rotate have been separate tools in earlier versions, but made into one tool in recent versions. I still rotate stuff, but now with the "universal transformation tool" or whatever it is called in the recent version. Believe me, it's hard to teach AS with these obstacles.

I've got experience with so many different programs and versions over time that I have adopted a habit of "the function must be there somehow, no matter how it's called" and just try until I find it.
AS 9.5 MacPro Quadcore 3GHz 16GB OS 10.6.8 Quicktime 7.6.6
AS 11 MacPro 12core 3GHz 32GB OS 10.11 Quicktime 10.7.3
Moho 13.5 iMac Quadcore 2,9GHz 16GB OS 10.15
Moho 14.1 Mac Mini M2 Pro OS 13.7.6
Hellyar
Posts: 80
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2016 1:28 am
Location: England, near Europe
Contact:

Re: Change Parent tool

Post by Hellyar »

Many thanks, slowtiger.

I think one of the issues is learning a long-established program where some of the original elegance has disappeared through the discursive proliferation of features. Basically: it becomes a challenge to see the forest for the trees.

For example, MS Word 1.0 (which I still have on my MacPlus), is a pretty good word-processor. Not as good as its defeated competitors (e.g. Fullwrite, Easywrite, MacAuthor); but elegant and intuitive. Now it's a monstrosity: all singing, all dancing; all tone deaf, all left-footed. Trying to learn Word in detail from scratch, now, is nigh-on impossible... not just because of the number of features, but because the elegance has been lost. And I'd like to tie their ribbons, yellow or not, round their old coked necks. Menus were fine.

I bet that if I could get hold of ASP1 (or thereabouts), I would have greater clarity than I have now. I've learnt about Smooth Joints, Animated Bone Parenting, Bone Dynamics, etc., but I have no idea why there's a fat end and a thin end to a bone and what, if anything, they signify and precisely what is the relationship between the bone and its function. [I've checked the User Manual carefully and cannot find any reference to why there's a fat or thin end.] The problem is that tutorials are reluctant to spend time on the absolute basics - what could be termed, the heart of a program ~ because they've got so much to get through.

In the 80's, I used to write computer manuals. The rule, then, was that the writers weren't allowed to know the program beforehand. They were given a quick face-to-face overview and then had to struggle and, empathetically, convert their struggles into clarity for other "beginners".
Post Reply