moho seem to be making me stress daily

[Daxel]

Maybe you are creating keyframes for bones that you didn't want to keyframe. Maybe you need to learn some fundamentals.
Have you tried following some begginer tutorial series or the official Moho Manual Tutorial? https://lostmarble.net/Manuals/Moho%20T ... ual_HQ.pdf

[toddwaddington]

I'm a big fan of Udemy. There are also PLENTY of free tutorials on youtube. There are a lot of things I need to practice so I don't forget. Beginning with, "Oh, f%$#, I'm not at FRAME "0"!!"

Once you have a few dozen things in your head, the work flow becomes easier. I tend to take long stretches in between working with Moho, so often have to brush up. I keep telling myself one day I'm really going to dive into this. It's a serious program which takes time to master...for some of us. So, be patient and find some good tutorials. The tutorial book that comes with Moho is comprehensive.. I just tend to learn better watching video. I think it's an ADHD thing. UDEMY is a wonderful source for cheap paid options of very good tutorial series. I don't want to plug any one person, but a quick search will help you find the tutorials that are right for you.

They are offering Black Friday prices right now, so many courses for around $10 each.

No, I'm not a sales person. Just find Udemy helpful in many cases.

https://www.udemy.com/courses/search/?c ... ce&src=sac

https://www.udemy.com/courses/search/?s ... q=moho+pro

[toddwaddington]

you could probably learn everything you need to know from Poptoogi. Amazing: https://www.youtube.com/user/ShoNuff93

Also, McCoy Buck is very dedicated to this work: https://www.youtube.com/c/mtbuck24

[toddwaddington]

One more thing. I haven't gone through all of this, but a downloadable "shortcuts" PDF for Moho Pro 13.

https://defkey.com/moho-13-shortcuts?or ... e&pdf=True

[cgrotke]

Sometimes when I get lost in a scene and things start acting weird, I'll start fresh with a new, blank timeline (or action, or whatever is bugging me...)

The earlier work isn't really wasted - it taught me things and got me thinking about what exactly I need to do. I can stop and think about the cycle or action, look at some tutorials or read a bit more, then try again. I like to learn what I did wrong, too, so I can avoid it next time. The second time often works out better.

I also like making to-do lists and notes, so I can be sure to do everything that needs to be done.

[synthsin75]

So, you can't draw, don't want to learn how to draw or even trace, and get bored learning new software?
I think you should just quit. Seems to be where its heading.

[Greenlaw]

@house10, it helps if you can post an example of what you're trying to do so we can help troubleshoot specific issues. The description you posted is very vague. Are you following a tutorial? Working on an original setup?

IMO, Moho is relatively easy to animate with but it does require understanding the rig you're working with and how it's meant to be animated. If you can show where you're having trouble through screen caps and/or a video, that could make this thread more constructive.

[synthsin75]

So, you can't draw, don't want to learn how to draw or even trace, and get bored learning new software?
I think you should just quit. Seems to be where its heading.

am i talking of drawing here? if u have nothing to say stand in one corner n chew ur fingers

I never said you were talking about drawing here. Just seems to be a pattern. You say you can't draw, but also don't want to learn or even trace. And now you're blaming Moho because you haven't learned it as fast as you expected to or something. Not my problem if you have that consistent attitude.

[synthsin75]

I never said you were talking about drawing here. Just seems to be a pattern. You say you can't draw, but also don't want to learn or even trace. And now you're blaming Moho because you haven't learned it as fast as you expected to or something. Not my problem if you have that consistent attitude.

soo every one in d animation industry can draw right?
just like every music producer is a beat maker.

u seem to act like u know too much

I never said everyone in animation can draw. Why do you keep assuming things I've never said?
People in the animation industry simply hire others to do what they can't. Are you hiring?

[cgrotke]

The people I've known who do best in animation tend to be patient, detail-oriented, observant, dedicated, focused, creative, not easily frustrated, creative...

The people who give up are often in a hurry, easily distracted, bored, sloppy, lazy...

But there are roles for everyone in animation. Look at the credits to any major studio animation feature and you'll see that not everyone working on the film is necessarily an artist that draws.

Back to the original problem... can you do a walk cycle without any other actions applied to it? Just walking? I'm wondering if maybe your actions have some sort of issue. Try the walk without the wave and see if you can get that going. People here can then help you add the waving motion you want.

[Greenlaw]

I wouldn't rely too much on Actions for trivial motions like waving. After a while, they tend to make the animations look 'generic' and not particularly engaging. iMO, it will look better and may even be faster to simply pose the characters arm the way you want for the particular moment in the scene.

Using Actions does make sense for more complicated motions like the walk itself.

However, even then, I often wind up just keyframing a new walk animation as needed because a walk preset created for a different scene usually doesn't works as well for other scene with a different background or camera angle. After some practice and experience, it's really not a huge deal.

IMO, the 'hard' part in Moho is in creating a good 'all-purpose' rig that you intend to use over and over again. But once you master that, animating in Moho should be pretty easy and predictable. Again, like any skill, it depends on how much you study and practice.

I suggest trying a simpler task using Actions, one that's focused only on how to use the feature. This may reveal exactly what you're doing wrong and help you understand how to correct the issue in your walk cycle/waving animation. (FWIW, I spend a lot of time doing these 'mini-tests' almost every day I'm using Moho...it really helps!)

Good luck!

[Greenlaw]

Ah, yeah, Auto Freeze, aka, 'autokey' in other animation packages, can be a problem if you're not aware it's on. FYI, I only enable it in rare situations where I actually need every bone in a rig keyframed, and then I immediately disable it when I'm done.

I think the general idea for Auto Freeze is that beginner animators may find it easier to use when animating strictly pose to pose. However, Auto Freeze makes it difficult to create more complicated or nuanced animations.

It may be a 'newbie' mistake to leave it on but even the best of us sometimes can forget to turn it off.

[Greenlaw]

FYI, instead of using Auto Freeze, I like to use Freeze Pose or Freeze Selected bones when I need to insert a Hold or when I'm working on a cycle motion. This makes it easier and more predictable when retiming motions, especially inside a cycle.

Freeze Pose has the shortcut Ctrl-F by default but you'll need to set one for Freeze Selected Bones.

I have a tool I created a while ago that puts these commands in a button panel for easy access. More about it here:

MQC for Moho Pro

As a new user, you might find these tips helpful...

Better Default Settings for Moho Pro

I don't think I mention Auto Freeze in this video but maybe I should since I normally keep this off and I believe it's on by default.

[chucky]

Good luck. house10 , be nice.

FYI don't expect to be a master of anything after 3 years, especially not animation.
It's a hard slog.
I remember when I first used Moho and I actually rage quit because there were some simple things I had not quite wrapped my head around ( I think for me, it was how to use the red keyframes), when those basics sunk in, it wasn't so hard, but after more than a decade I still need the humility to know that the learning curve never stops.
The Dunning Kruger effect will not help you here.

I know many sound and music engineers, It's a craft/ an art that the greats never stop learning.
I even studied sound and was consistently top of my class but it would be outrageous of me to assume that I had 'mastered' it (no pun intended)

If you really want to learn animation, settled in for the long ride, that's the only way to enjoy it.

[Greenlaw]

Yes, animation is tedious by nature. You really have to love it to want to do it.

For me, Moho makes the process a bit easier and faster for certain styles of animation, but it can still be a lot of hard work. If I didn't also enjoy animating with Moho, I'd probably be using something else.