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Smart bone looks fine - points move when switching back to Main timeline

Posted: Fri May 23, 2025 7:54 pm
by NealF2
Sometimes MP is very frustrating.

I'm doing my first head turn using a smart bone.
I go into the action and create the head turn. All looks fine.

Then I go back to the main timeline and several of the points have moved.
I go back and forth getting it perfect. Main timeline keeps going weird and not showing what's in the action.

So I started adjusting the moved points back in the Main Timeline. Then the action is off. Been going back and forth for an hour.
Man, this can get frustrating.

So am I doing something wrong or is it a bug?

Thanks.

Re: Smart bone looks fine - points move when switching back to Main timeline

Posted: Fri May 23, 2025 10:40 pm
by Greenlaw
Without seeing anything, I can only guess.

For art layers, I like to copy the frame 0 key frame to frame 1…this assures that the Smart Bone Action’s frame 1 matches what you get in the Mainline.

If that’s not it, I have to assume another Smart Bone Action is affecting what you see on the Mainline. Maybe one of the controls is very slightly offset.

This also implies you have two Smart Bones controlling the same points. If this is intentional, make sure you’re not introducing a conflict between the two. I avoid this by making sure one dial controls only X motions, and the other only Y motions. Or, I animation the points, bones, or the layer with one Smart Bone, and the another item with the second Smart Bone.

Again, these are just guesses. If you can post images and/or a project file, that would troubleshooting more certain. The project can be stripped down to only the problematic parts.

Re: Smart bone looks fine - points move when switching back to Main timeline

Posted: Fri May 23, 2025 10:58 pm
by NealF2
Hi.

Right now there is only the one character. No animation yet. And only the one Smart Bone.
Is there a way to upload to this forum?I haven't found it yet.

Thanks.

Re: Smart bone looks fine - points move when switching back to Main timeline

Posted: Fri May 23, 2025 11:48 pm
by NealF2
I'm doing a little more experimenting.

I'll get back here this weekend and see if I can figure it out.

Re: Smart bone looks fine - points move when switching back to Main timeline

Posted: Sat May 24, 2025 11:28 pm
by Greenlaw
Hi!

This forum needs a third-party file server to upload. Google Drive and Dropbox work well.

I like to use Dropbox. If you don’t have Dropbox, you can get a free Basic account here:

https://www.dropbox.com/basic

To upload, move your file to Dropbox and then right-click on your file and choose Copy Link. Paste the link into the forum’s post editor window.

For a file download, change the 0 at the end of the link to 1. This makes Dropbox automatically download the file instead of sending the user to the Dropbox website. Then select the link and click the Link button. This formats is for the forum. You can find additional options by hovering over a button.

For an image, change the end dl=0 to raw=1. Then select the link and click the Image button.

BTW, I like to use custom names (see the hover options) so I can add an underscore to make it look more like a clickable link.

A very nice feature with Dropbox is that you can move and rename the file, and the original Dropbox link will remain valid. This helps when you need to reorganize your files or when you save a file to the wrong folder.

Hope this helps.

Re: Smart bone looks fine - points move when switching back to Main timeline

Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2025 11:10 pm
by NealF2
For some reason I'm not getting notified when there's a response. So I'm late to respond.

Anyway, I just redid it and got it to work. It's been a while since I posted this question so I'm not sure exactly what I did. But once it worked I moved on to other problems. Trying to work as fast as I can. Working on a 2 hours animated musical all by myself. I know - crazy. :)

But anyway, thanks, Greenlaw for getting back to me. I'll just make it a habit to check every day or so.

Re: Smart bone looks fine - points move when switching back to Main timeline

Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2025 5:38 am
by Greenlaw
Hi Neal!

Glad you got it fixed!
NealF2 wrote: Sat Jun 07, 2025 11:10 pm Trying to work as fast as I can. Working on a 2 hours animated musical all by myself. I know - crazy.
Wow! And here I thought I was crazy. :wink:

Re: Smart bone looks fine - points move when switching back to Main timeline

Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2025 5:04 pm
by NealF2
We're probably all a bit crazy.
But let's call it "dedicated." :)