Moho Forum

Hi all,

I'm learning bit by bit and still need to get used to some things, mostly timeline-related. But I will be there!

Two questions:

1)
I found myself several times now wanting to set keyframes on selected bones to fix the current state on a frame to animate from. I tried several things to do this, like selecting these bones - right clicking on the timeline and chosing 'add keyframe'. But this doesn't seem to work as expected and it looks like it only affects a single bone? Or I am doing something wrong.
(BTW I'm currently in the sketch bones mode while animating)

Is there a way to set keyframes on all selected bones with a single ui-action?

2)
Using the sketch bones mode to quickly set a bone chain state (which is pretty cool btw, really love it!); how can we make sure while drawing these bone states while animating that the length of the chain remains? In other words; how can we make sure the last bone still reaches the point we want it to reach? (hope this makes sense)

1. Freeze selected bones! I set custom shortkeys for it, and for Freeze all bones, because they are very handy! I don't remember the original shorkeys but you have the options under the Bone menu.

2. If you want to have the latest bone of a chain hold in position, target bones are usually the way to go. But I don't use sketch bones very much so I'm not sure how it will work there.

Try not to overthink it.

To me, keyframing in Moho is a fairly straightforward process: For key poses, I normally press Ctrl-F (Freeze Pose). This may keyframe other bones that don't need a keyframe but that doesn't seem to affect performance for me, so I just move on. I also like to use Ctrl-F when I want to hold a pose for a few frames and then copy/paste it (i.e., the keys in the top white row) at the frame where the animation will continue. This is quicker/easier than fiddling with the interpolation keys and just as effective.

For inbetweens poses, simply transforming the bones or using IK or targets will automatically set keys for those affected bones, and I just go with that. Since I do most of my animation inside a single bone layer, I can get through the main character animation very quickly. If I keep the timeline reasonably clean and in a single layers, it's easy to tweak the timing of the animation if necessary. Adding markers for notable keyposes and events also helps for retiming, as well lipsyncing and adding secondary animation.

When working in the Timeline, I mainly look red row (selected bones) when animating, and manipulate the white keys only when I need to retime the entire character. (Using Freeze Pose for the Key Poses will make retiming more predictable.) If you see other bone colors, I suggest hiding them...chances are, it's just a lot of clutter you don't need to see, and it may even slow down performance. For more info about optimizing the timeline, watch this video: Better Defaults

FYI, I don't recommend using Auto Freeze Keys. This option really does keyframe everything and you probably don't want that. it can make the timeline difficult to edit when used carelessly. It's better to use Freeze Pose to keyframe everything only on the frames where you want it.

After I get the main bone layer animation done to my satisfaction, then I'll move on to secondary pass, which may include animating points directly in their vector layers (usually with the Magnet tool.) I save this pass for last because it's a hassle to edit while you're still posing the character.

Re: Sketch Bones, I set all my key poses by drawing through the bone chain from the base to tip. This will keyframe every bone in the chain. After I have the key poses set, I'll go back and add any necessary inbetweens by drawing over the bones that need it. The trick is to keyframe all of the bones only for the Key Poses...this makes it easier to retime the animation if needed.

FYI, if I'm using Sketch Bones for tail or hair animation, I'm probably going to save that for the secondary pass because these motions will depend entirely on what the rest of the character is doing. If I try to animate the tail at the same time I'm animating the body, it can get messy...IMO, it's easier and faster to animate the bone chains in a secondary stage.

Tip #1: If Freeze Pose created keys in a bone channel that I obviously don't need, like say the Size bone channel, I'll just click on the channel icon to select all the keys and delete the entire row. It probably doesn't matter if I do this or not, it's just good housekeeping.

Tip #2: When I think I'm going to be selecting certain bones for keyframing often, I may lay them out for easy selection at frame 0, and then use Design Mode to toggle between my current animation frame and frame 0. For example, if I have a character with an extra long tail, it might cross over other body bones during animation and become tricky to select. But if I lay out the tail off to the side of the character in frame 0, I can easily select it there. Sometimes I'll use Offset Bones to do this. This tool is mostly obsolete now but it's still useful in this situation.

At least, that's how I used to do it. Nowadays, it's easier to use Stan's Bone Selection Buttons script. Just assign the bones to a button, and then click the button when you need to select them during animation.

Hope this helps.

Daxel wrote: ↑Thu Jul 20, 2023 6:24 pm 1. Freeze selected bones! I set custom shortkeys for it, and for Freeze all bones, because they are very handy! I don't remember the original shorkeys but you have the options under the Bone menu.

Glad you mentioned Freeze Selected...I almost forgot that one. By default, Freeze Selected doesn't have any shortcut assigned to it, but I went ahead and added one so I could add it as a button to MQC. I don't remember the shortcut because it's easier to just click the button when I need it. Actually, I don't bother to remember any of the shortcuts that I have a button for.

If I have a hand on the keyboard, I do use Ctrl-F for Freeze Pose though, probably because this one is obvious, easy to reach and easy to remember.

Victor mentioned Freeze Visible in a recent post, which I don't think I've used. I guess this one is good if you have hidden or Shy bones in the rig that you may not want keyframed (like daisy chained Smart Bones.) I should try replacing the Freeze Pose button in MQC with Freeze Visible and see how that works for me.

Greenlaw wrote: ↑Fri Jul 21, 2023 12:21 am
If I have a hand on the keyboard, I do use Ctrl-F for Freeze Pose though, probably because this one is obvious, easy to reach and easy to remember.

Victor mentioned Freeze Visible in a recent post, which I don't think I've used. I guess this one is good if you have hidden or Shy bones in the rig that you may not want keyframed (like daisy chained Smart Bones.) I should try replacing the Freeze Pose button in MQC with Freeze Visible and see how that works for me.

I like to change the shortcuts I use to be close to the left hand so I don't have to even look at the keyboard, and I memorise them using relevant letters or mnemonics. For example the most stupid one I have is D for manipulating bones, and the best I could think of was "dance". But hey, as long as it works...

Crtl + F was already perfect. I added Alt + F to Freeze selected bones.

I forgot Freeze Visible existed but I'll keep it in mind and if I have problems with hidden/shy bones I'll consider changing Crtl + F to Freeze visible.

Thanks guys! Going to try these!