Page 1 of 1
Reusing and Sharing Animation as Actions
Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 12:31 pm
by neeters_guy
I think Greenlaw's comment from another thread about reusing actions (Moho v12) deserves its own discussion. His comment is quoted below:
Greenlaw wrote:If you want to make a library of Actions that will be shared by many characters, it can be done but it takes some planning before you start saving your Actions.
It''s just like with motion capture for 3D animation: there are a few accepted standards for hierarchical structure and bone naming that
must be followed if you want to apply mocap data to a character and make use of a 'standard' library of motions. Attaching additional bones (wings, tails, and other accessories) and rig controls is allowed so long as you don't interrupt the main hierarchy.
With Moho, it's really not that different. If you wish to share Actions with a different character, you'll need decide on a 'standard' skeletal structure and naming convention, and stick with it. You can customize the rig for each character as long as you don't upset the flow of the main hierarchy.
Obviously, this is easier when all your characters are similar, i.e., all bipeds and have similar body proportions. It gets trickier when you try to mix characters with very different proportions but it can be done if you understand how Actions and targeting works.
Anyway, it's all doable but you have to be disciplined about it. Here are some tips:
- This is probably obvious but your 'shared' Actions should have keyframes only for the common skeletal bones. Actions that have keyframes for bones that exist only in specific characters probably should be defined as character specific Actions. It's probably a good idea to add a prefix to your Action name that lets you know if it's a shareable Action or a character specific Action. It doesn't matter what you call them, just be consistent with the naming convention.
- I think Moho will skip applying a keyframes to any bones it can't find in the target character, but obviously the animation might get weird.
- I believe you can have different bone lengths in the target character (within reason) and still make the Actions work. In some cases, you'll need to offset the rotation in joints like the shoulders or elbows. If you're clever about this, you can build in 'adjustment' bones in-between the 'animation' bones.
If you have any tips or animations you want to share, feel free.
Re: Reusing and Sharing Animation as Actions
Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 12:32 pm
by neeters_guy
One great tip from Chad's video is: After importing the action, be sure to set it as "relative." This will minimize any unwanted distortions due to bone length differences.
Re: Reusing and Sharing Animation as Actions
Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 12:35 pm
by neeters_guy
I hope to post more, but for now here's a (bad) example of what happens if you import a Character Wizard walk action and apply it to a totally random rig (the horror!
).
Note that besides naming the bones identically, they need to be created in the same orientation. Probably the easiest method is to copy/paste the entire template skeleton and alter it to fit the new character.
Re: Reusing and Sharing Animation as Actions
Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 2:07 pm
by Greenlaw
LOL! That's awesome.
To be honest, I started using Regular and Morph Actions in a serious way only a few weeks ago, and I got a lot of great advice from forum gurus like Wes, Chucky and Victor. I can't talk about how I'm using the Actions at my workplace but the feature is proving to be a huge timesaver for me. When I get this project off my plate, I'll be happy to share more Actions tips.
Re: Reusing and Sharing Animation as Actions
Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 2:38 pm
by funksmaname
woooooooow
lol
that's amazing.
Re: Reusing and Sharing Animation as Actions
Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 3:14 pm
by Víctor Paredes
Hehehe!
Well, in theory, it should work well if you flip some of the main bones in the woman character. Have you tried that?
Re: Reusing and Sharing Animation as Actions
Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2016 10:20 am
by neeters_guy
Víctor Paredes wrote:Hehehe!
Well, in theory, it should work well if you flip some of the main bones in the woman character. Have you tried that?
Thanks, that's a good tip. I'll test it out on some other rigs. This one was for lols.
Re: Reusing and Sharing Animation as Actions
Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2016 2:01 pm
by Ahroo
After importing the action, be sure to set it as "relative." This will minimize any unwanted distortions due to bone length differences.
I wanted to ask a question about this during the webinar, but didn't get the chance, so perhaps Victor or someone else can answer:
Are there any situations when you would NOT want to set it to "relative"? If not, would it not have made more sense to make that the default and just incorporate that step as part of the import command? Just wondering why we need to do two steps, instead of just one, especially if we always (or even usually) need to set to relative. Thanks!