Is flipping a layer good practice?

[petes80]

Hi All

I'm getting quite into these smart bones for character head/body/feet turns etc. However I wanted your opinion on a technique I am using as to whether it's likely to create crazy problems in future. I don't want to get half way through creating an animation and find it's causing problems and then have to go back to the beginning. The technique I'm doing is to create the ability to do full 360 turns left and right with one smart bone. Unfortunately I couldn't get Heyvern's helpful scripts working properly so I have opted for the following:

Step 1: Draw character fully symmetrical to ensure matching corresponding back views
Step 2: Create a 180 turn from front to back to the right
Step 3: Flip the layer(s) involved in the turn to create the full 180 turn from front to back to the left

This seems to work and allows me to do full 360 turns both ways, but I just wondered if flipping the layer was going to cause any future issues? Is there a better way that someone has a tutorial on? (or can explain here).

Cheers
Pete

[sbtamu]

It is fine to flip the layer/s but remember that things like buttons, pockets, hands, hair parts, will not look right and you will have to adjust those.

[GCharb]

Layer flipping is used allot in animation in AS, if as You say all is symmetrical, there should not be major problems!

[heyvern]

Sometimes I cheat when flipping layers. If there are non-symmetrical items like shirts and pockets I will duplicate the layer, flip it as required, and fix those minor items. It's easier and faster than doing a whole new "turn" from "scratch". Basically you end up with a duplicated layer which requires hiding... but... well it's up to you if it's worth the extra effort.