Walk Cycle into action

[NanotechBeasts]

Okay I have finally made passable walk cycles.
They aren't great but they are done enough for what I am doing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pc83HdWX1A
I need to put them in an action and loop.
Any helpful tutorials on how to move this to an action loop of some kind? My walk cycles loops never seem to work. I also need to slow down the frames. Or I will just double them. Slowly and manually.
I am finishing the last two scenes for my concept trailer. I am ready to get done with it.

[Greenlaw]

When I need a cycle I created on the Mainline to be inside a Regular Action, I just copy and paste the keyframes to the Action. My cycle keyframes are typically in a single Bone Layer, so this is pretty easy. Just select the top three rows of keyframes and copy/paste. Before copying the cycle to the Action, I suggest using Freeze Pose for the first and last keyframes of the cycle, and starting the range from frame 1 of the Action. Also, give the Action a sensible name so you know which character it applies to and what the motion is for. This makes it easier to organize and recover the Actions later.

Sometimes, I'll just copy and paste keys from the character in another project and paste it into the current project. This is technically the same thing; it's just another way to store and repurpose the keyframes. This is easier for me because I don't use the same characters often enough to bother saving and organizing many Regular Actions for them. To me, Regular Actions are more useful in a long-format production or an ongoing series.

If you have a lot of keyframes nested in a bunch of layers for the cycle, I'm not sure using Regular Actions is the best way to handle this.

Copy Deep Frame Range command can copy keyframes within a character's hierarchy, so this might be worth looking into. I'm uncertain that it can be used in this situation, but only because I don't have much experience with this feature. If you try it, let me know how it goes.

Hope this helps.

[NanotechBeasts]

Okay I'll start with actions that. Any help on looping a cycle? The loop seems easy but it doesn't seem to work for me. I am not sure were I am going wrong. I had to modify both the bones and the points on my characters. So I really want a loop.

[NanotechBeasts]

I guess I could repeat the action over and over.

[Greenlaw]

Any help on looping a cycle? The loop seems easy but it doesn't seem to work for me. I am not sure were I am going wrong. I had to modify both the bones and the points on my characters. So I really want a loop.

When making a walk cycle...

• The first and last frames should be identical. The easiest way to accomplish this is to use Freeze Pose on the first frame, then copy those keys to the last frame position. Note: you only need to select the upper gray rows of keyframes because these channels are for all of the bones in the layer. (The lower red channels are for selected bones.)
• To cycle the animation, select all the keys at the end of the cycle, right-click over them, and choose Cycle. The keyframe settings window should pop-up.
• In Moho 14, Moho will set Cycle to loop to the second keyframe. This is usually correct because if the cycle loops to the first frame, it will play two identical frames and look like a glitch. In earlier versions of Moho, Moho looped the first frame by default, and the cycle had to be adjusted manually to start at the second frame.
• To adjust the cycle, click and drag inside the Absolute or Relative boxes, or type the value you want. Absolute is the exact frame the cycle will loop to; use this when you want Moho to always loop back to this frame. Relative is the range of frames to loop; use this option when you expect to move the keys around on the timeline.

Moho will continue the cycle after the last frame until you make another keyframe. When I want the cycle to end, I'll keyframe the bones, and then continue animating to ease the character out of the walk.

Play around using a project with a simple setup, like a spinning box or a couple of bones crisscrossing like scissors. It'll all make sense quickly.

I guess I could repeat the action over and over.

You could, but try using a Cycle first. It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it.

Note: The above info assumes the walk is 'in-place,' meaning the character is walking without moving forward. You slide the character's top group to move them forward. This will probably make it look like the character is sliding. To fix this, you can adjust the timing of the walk cycle by selecting the cycle keys and stretching them (using the Alt key,) until the distance looks correct. There are other ways to do this, like adjusting the stride using Relative Keyframing, but that's probably the most straightforward method.

If you prefer, you can include the forward movement in the walk. This approach is a little more involved, but it can look more natural, especially when the character needs to follow an irregular ground surface.

[NanotechBeasts]

I think something is wrong with my target bones. I have been freezing the bones/pose and points but when I put the file somewhere new it ends up a jumbled mess. I am on Moho 12.5 so I am not on the newest version.

[NanotechBeasts]

Oh wait I may have figured it out. Freeze pose and points are different than Keyframes. I am going give it another go.

[Greenlaw]

Wait! Freeze Pose keyframes all the bones. That's probably not what you want. Freeze Pose will also keyframe any Smart Bones in the layer, which inside a Smart Bone action could mess something up. Sorry for the misleading info.

You want to keyframe only the bones that are part of the walk cycle. To do this, select the bones, then use Freeze Selected Bones. I use a shortcut for this command, and I forgot it's not the same as Freeze Pose.

I'll use Freeze Pose (Ctrl-F) when I'm blocking out an animation or need to make a hold frame. In these cases, I want every bone keyframed to prevent any drifting.

BTW, I don't think Moho has a shortcut assigned to Freeze Selected Bones, so you'll need to set one. I use Ctrl+Shift+Q for Freeze Selected Bones because it's easy to reach with my left hand. (I use the same shortcut for Freeze Selected Points.)

[NanotechBeasts]

I think it actually fixed it. To my best knowledge I did everything else. I am just using this walk cycle for two scenes. I really appreciate your help. I was in two car accidents last year (which I was not at fault for) and although I didn't have any broken bones I had a brain bleed the first time and then the second time it irritated the preexisting damage and I have not fully received. This concept trailer is way overdue and while I am having serious doubts on continuing the series I still really want to finish the planned trailer as an example of my current abilities.

[NanotechBeasts]

Any help on looping a cycle? The loop seems easy but it doesn't seem to work for me. I am not sure were I am going wrong. I had to modify both the bones and the points on my characters. So I really want a loop.

When making a walk cycle...

• The first and last frames should be identical. The easiest way to accomplish this is to use Freeze Pose on the first frame, then copy those keys to the last frame position. Note: you only need to select the upper gray rows of keyframes because these channels are for all of the bones in the layer. (The lower red channels are for selected bones.)
• To cycle the animation, select all the keys at the end of the cycle, right-click over them, and choose Cycle. The keyframe settings window should pop-up.
• In Moho 14, Moho will set Cycle to loop to the second keyframe. This is usually correct because if the cycle loops to the first frame, it will play two identical frames and look like a glitch. In earlier versions of Moho, Moho looped the first frame by default, and the cycle had to be adjusted manually to start at the second frame.
• To adjust the cycle, click and drag inside the Absolute or Relative boxes, or type the value you want. Absolute is the exact frame the cycle will loop to; use this when you want Moho to always loop back to this frame. Relative is the range of frames to loop; use this option when you expect to move the keys around on the timeline.

Moho will continue the cycle after the last frame until you make another keyframe. When I want the cycle to end, I'll keyframe the bones, and then continue animating to ease the character out of the walk.

Play around using a project with a simple setup, like a spinning box or a couple of bones crisscrossing like scissors. It'll all make sense quickly.

I guess I could repeat the action over and over.

You could, but try using a Cycle first. It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it.

Note: The above info assumes the walk is 'in-place,' meaning the character is walking without moving forward. You slide the character's top group to move them forward. This will probably make it look like the character is sliding. To fix this, you can adjust the timing of the walk cycle by selecting the cycle keys and stretching them (using the Alt key,) until the distance looks correct. There are other ways to do this, like adjusting the stride using Relative Keyframing, but that's probably the most straightforward method.

If you prefer, you can include the forward movement in the walk. This approach is a little more involved, but it can look more natural, especially when the character needs to follow an irregular ground surface.

Thank you so much GreenLaw. My walk cycle is finally working. : )

[NanotechBeasts]

Wait! Freeze Pose keyframes all the bones. That's probably not what you want. Freeze Pose will also keyframe any Smart Bones in the layer, which inside a Smart Bone action could mess something up. Sorry for the misleading info.

You want to keyframe only the bones that are part of the walk cycle. To do this, select the bones, then use Freeze Selected Bones. I use a shortcut for this command, and I forgot it's not the same as Freeze Pose.

I'll use Freeze Pose (Ctrl-F) when I'm blocking out an animation or need to make a hold frame. In these cases, I want every bone keyframed to prevent any drifting.

BTW, I don't think Moho has a shortcut assigned to Freeze Selected Bones, so you'll need to set one. I use Ctrl+Shift+Q for Freeze Selected Bones because it's easy to reach with my left hand. (I use the same shortcut for Freeze Selected Points.)

Well the walk cycle was working pretty well until I started using it in my scene. Any part were I moved my points started horribly glitching along with the legs at points... I think the leg glitches have something to do with the target bones but I haven't been able to figure it out but why my shoulder patch and adjustment point changes (like moving the fur up with the back leg as it lifts) are working in the action and not in the actual scene is beyond me. I am not against using a work around, like using three rigs or more to try to finish the scene....but it seems like I am really missing something fundamental and possibly simple.

Here is one of my work files.

https://www.mediafire.com/file/c96d5l4j ... 8.zip/file

[NanotechBeasts]

To future readers, I am on Moho 12 and my flaw in looping the cycle was that I only looped my bone layer and not the changed vector layers that where also adjusted with my walk cycle. So between making Keyframes and looping I finally found a solution. It's not the best walk cycle. I am still green. But it's at least working.