Sharing scene files with debut owners

[macmonkey_1975]

Hi there,
I am currently in a bind. I have two massive projects come in at once. I have an animator friend that is happy to help me out but they don’t have Moho. So I was wondering whether if I rigged the characters with smartbones and switch layers in my version of Moho Pro could he animate them in debut and ping them back to me to make any updates? Or is the only solution for him to buy a Pro license?

Edit; I just did a deep dive on the product comparison - so it looks like there is no graph editor in the debut version?! So will probably have to try and and convince him to purchase Pro?!
Many thanks

[Greenlaw]

If you have Pro you can test the project yourself in Debut to see if it will work for your friend. Just go into Preferences and enable Run As Moho Debut. When you relaunch, Moho will launch as Debut. If you've never done this before, Moho will as you to set a new Custom Content Folder. This should be different from the folder you use for Pro. When you're ready to go back to Pro, disable the option and relaunch.

Debut is limited but you can still animate using certain advanced Pro features like Smart Bone Actions and Vitruvian Bones in Debut, you just can't create the setups there. Be aware that some Pro features will work differently or not at all in Debut.

I don't know about the graph editor in Debut but I wouldn't be surprised it it doesn't exist there. FWIW, in the 8 or so years I've been creating TV animation with Moho, I rarely use it's graph editor myself. That said, it probably depends on the style of animation your going for.

Hope this helps.

[macmonkey_1975]

Thank you so much for your reply I will definitely check out Debut mode that will be super handy. I come from a 3d animation background so I love to get down and dirty noodling with the motion curves
Another option I'm considering if we need to go the pro route is to go halves with the other fella so it's not such an investment. I noticed that the physical copy on Amazon seems to be quite a bit cheaper that the USD to GBP conversion on the Moho site £290 vs £325.
I am assuming that once he has a license it doesn't matter too much whether he originally bought the physical or digital copy?! IF he downloads the trial then just enters the license number from the physical copy he would be able activate it?!

many thanks once again

[macmonkey_1975]

I have just had a play around and once i had turned off beginners mode so i could transform bones rather than manipulate so that i could animate pin bones - and turned off consolidate channels so i could see the individual bone channels -this looks like it might be everything that I need

[Greenlaw]

Thank you so much for your reply I will definitely check out Debut mode that will be super handy. I come from a 3d animation background so I love to get down and dirty noodling with the motion curves

I'm a 3D guy too and, yeah, I use the graph editor in Maya and other 3D programs all the time...couldn't live without it. That said, I haven't found the GE in Moho nearly as necessary when I'm animating 2D. It probably has a lot to do with the style of animation I do in Moho vs in 3D but I find I can still get nuanced performances in Moho without using the GE. (To see examples, of what I do with Moho, check my demo reels here: My Demos.)

I am assuming that once he has a license it doesn't matter too much whether he originally bought the physical or digital copy?! IF he downloads the trial then just enters the license number from the physical copy he would be able activate it?

So long as it's a legitimate 13.x license key, it should work with the installer from the Lost Marble website. I would check with LM to be sure.

If it's a legitimate 12.5 license key from Smith Micro, you'll need to use the final 12.5 installer from the SM website. BTW, if it's a legitimate and registered 12.5 license, Lost Marble will honor a discount to upgrade to 13.5.5.

Hope this helps.

[macmonkey_1975]

that is super handy thank you so much - and your demo reels certainly are testament to what is possible without venturing inside the GE in Moho
I think that Debut should work out great for my current situation and will save my friend a few quid. Although once he's worked in Moho I'm sure he'll soon hop onboard the Pro license.

Do you happen to know whether it's possible to turn on the Smart bone labels somehow in Debut - It displays the bones but there are no labels. It's Not the end of the world if it's not possible - I can always add text layers into the bone group and set them to not render.

I 'm looking forward to getting stuck back into moho I only get a few projects each year but it never fails to impress me
Many thanks once again for your time you have been very kind.
Have a great day
Dave

[Greenlaw]

Do you happen to know whether it's possible to turn on the Smart bone labels somehow in Debut...

Unfortunately you can't do that in Debut but, yes, attaching Note or Text layers to the root bone of your SBD panel should work. In Pro I sometimes like to use Note for labels (especially when I used Layer Shortcuts) because they're simpler to set up and may even display more cleanly and efficiently than Text layers, especially at small sizes.

When using Notes for labels, I like to enable Enable Note Scaling in Preferences but I'm not sure Debut has that option, so check before you go too far with it. Update: I just checked and Debut has this option. Note that you will still need to enable it in Debut even if you already enabled it in Pro.

Oh, one bad omission in Debut is that it doesn't support Onionskin mode. This can be a problem when you use multiple rigged puppets in a switch to change views, and you want to pose the rigs to smooth the in-between transitions. It's doable but it's difficult without Onionskin to preview the other rig's pose from the previous frame. Just a forewarning to your friend. (IMO, LM really should include Onionskin for Debut. Not having this feature can make the program way more difficult to use, especially for beginners.)

Good luck!