Duplicating object, bones, and smart bone settings?
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Duplicating object, bones, and smart bone settings?
As an example, let's say I had the left hand of a character rigged to perfection, and I just wanted to duplicate it, flip it horizontally, and put it on the other arm as well. How does one do that?
Re: Duplicating object, bones, and smart bone settings?
It's tricky to mirror limbs without breaking existing Smart Bone Actions, so I typically make my mirrored limbs before adding the Smart Bone Actions, and just copy/paste the keyframes.
But if the Smart Bones already exist, I know of two methods that will preserve them:
#1 Manual Method
In a nutshell...
1. Make a duplicate project file.
2. Isolate the part to duplicate and mirror, and make the necessary changes.
3. Import or copy the modified part into the original project and parent it.
There are a few things to be aware of...
It's important to maintain the hierarchy, so I make sure those bones remain in the duplicate file.
Rename any items that have a L/R designation in the duplicate file. This includes bones and Smart Bone actions. There are scripts available that can batch process part of the task. I can look up what I use later and update this post, or try searching mohoscripts.com...that's probably where I got them.
After importing the items, you'll need to copy and paste all the bones from the duplicate into the original bones layer. Then, without fully unparenting Smart Bones and skeleton bones, reparent the mirrored items to the original rig. This is necessary so you don't break Actions. If you don't do this correctly, some of the rotation values for the bones can get offset, and you'll need to remove and re-key the keyframes.
The above may seem complicated, but it's really not bad after you've done it a couple of times.
Tip: Instead of importing, you can use Copy Layer & Paste Layer to move the bones layer between projects. This is not the same as Copy/Paste, so make sure you're using the right command.
#2 MR Transform Rig Tool
Another way is to use MR Transform Rig Tool. This tool is capable of duplicating selected limbs and mirroring them (including item renaming) without breaking the actions.
This method is technically much easier to do than #1, but MR Transform Rig Tool is an advanced script, so expect to spend a bit of time experimenting with it first.
Hope this is helpful. I may have to update the info above later because I wrote it from memory, but I think it's accurate.
But if the Smart Bones already exist, I know of two methods that will preserve them:
#1 Manual Method
In a nutshell...
1. Make a duplicate project file.
2. Isolate the part to duplicate and mirror, and make the necessary changes.
3. Import or copy the modified part into the original project and parent it.
There are a few things to be aware of...
It's important to maintain the hierarchy, so I make sure those bones remain in the duplicate file.
Rename any items that have a L/R designation in the duplicate file. This includes bones and Smart Bone actions. There are scripts available that can batch process part of the task. I can look up what I use later and update this post, or try searching mohoscripts.com...that's probably where I got them.
After importing the items, you'll need to copy and paste all the bones from the duplicate into the original bones layer. Then, without fully unparenting Smart Bones and skeleton bones, reparent the mirrored items to the original rig. This is necessary so you don't break Actions. If you don't do this correctly, some of the rotation values for the bones can get offset, and you'll need to remove and re-key the keyframes.
The above may seem complicated, but it's really not bad after you've done it a couple of times.
Tip: Instead of importing, you can use Copy Layer & Paste Layer to move the bones layer between projects. This is not the same as Copy/Paste, so make sure you're using the right command.
#2 MR Transform Rig Tool
Another way is to use MR Transform Rig Tool. This tool is capable of duplicating selected limbs and mirroring them (including item renaming) without breaking the actions.
This method is technically much easier to do than #1, but MR Transform Rig Tool is an advanced script, so expect to spend a bit of time experimenting with it first.
Hope this is helpful. I may have to update the info above later because I wrote it from memory, but I think it's accurate.
Last edited by Greenlaw on Fri Sep 19, 2025 2:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Duplicating object, bones, and smart bone settings?
Much appreciated!