Please Help..

Xooperz · Post by **Xooperz** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 7:12 am

I have had Moho for a long while and I really want to learn it but I cant find any tutorials besides steve ryans..I watched them but they didnt cover that much....I just wanted to know where I can go to get video tuts or readable ones, I wanna learn this program asap!

Thnx!

Xooperz · Post by **Xooperz** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 7:16 am

ok, i found the help file, before it was being blocked, but is this the best way to learn is by the help file?

and my layout of moho, theres like 5 differ windows, how do I get it into 1 big window like steve ryans?

thnx!

Postality · Post by **Postality** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 8:00 am

he was on an old version before 5 when he did those

and the 5+ windows are muh better because you can maximise the work area and move the other windows around to where you're not working etc.

7feet · Post by **7feet** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 8:01 am

The best way is to right to the tutorials in the help file. If you really go through them, thoroughly, you will have a decent grounding in the basics, they really are good tutorials and if you look around you'll find that same statement probably a hundred times or more through the forums. They really are pretty damn good.

The files to use in the tutorials are in their own respective folders (tut01, tut02, etc) in the "help" folder within your Moho installation folder. Really, do 'em. Once you have, you'll either know what to search for in the forum, or what you really need to ask for, and we'll help.

To make it one big window... Really, that's just maximizing the basic "work", do your animation window. The one main problem with that is if you have any of the subwindows in the way, when you try to use any of the top pulldown menus (File, Bone, Animation, blahblah) they could be hidden behind the subwindows, which is a pain. I usually make the main window as big as I can while still having the tool, style, layer, action windows where I can see 'em.

And just a tip from the way I usually work. Learn the keyboard shortcuts for the tools you find yourself using most often, when you are animatin in particular moving the mouse all over the screen to get to tools when you really want to be keeping it over the bone (or whatever) you are working with will slow you down a lot.

Xooperz · Post by **Xooperz** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 8:39 am

I just went through the first tut and did it perfect

But I just had a question, if I draw a DBZ character in flash then save it as a bitmap, can I import it into Moho and animate it, then export it and finish my video in flash?

If I cant then how can I animate a picture I have drawn in Flash, with Moho?

Thnx!

Postality · Post by **Postality** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 8:49 am

You can animate it the cut-out way.

You take your BMP etc and put it into several sections are a "joint" and apply bones to it and animate it that way.

as far as I know that's the only way you can do it properly using images as characters.

Cut-out animation leaves you with something like southpark.

if that's okay with you then give 'er a go that way.

jahnocli · Post by **jahnocli** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 9:13 am

Xooperz wrote:But I just had a question, if I draw a DBZ character in flash then save it as a bitmap, can I import it into Moho and animate it, then export it and finish my video in flash?

If I cant then how can I animate a picture I have drawn in Flash, with Moho?

Well, whatever you want to do, it's a lot of work, but this seems to be a bizarrely round-about route! Here are some alternative ideas:

1. Flash vectors can be exported as .ai files. You'll have a lot of cleaning-up to do if you want to keep file sizes down, but this will give you more flexibility in Moho. Re-exporting to Flash is then much less of a problem; if you start distorting bitmaps with bones, you won't be able to re-import to Flash...unless you export as a picture sequence to After Effects, then export it from there as a large Flash file...which kind of defeats the object of using Flash in the first place...

2. You probably don't want to hear this, but the quickest thing to do would be to draw them again in Moho. Probably. And this way would give you the smallest file size and the most control.

Hope this helps,

J

Xooperz · Post by **Xooperz** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 9:25 am

I cant draw, I have to trace, and in flash, you can trace.Can you trace in Moho?

DK · Post by DK » Tue Aug 08, 2006 9:41 am

Try - view/select tracing image

D.K

Xooperz · Post by **Xooperz** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 9:56 am

ok, that works, but in flash after you let go from tracing, it can smooth,sharpen or something else to it after you let go,to make it look better or just how you want it.Can Moho do this?

DK · Post by DK » Tue Aug 08, 2006 10:01 am

Use the point sharpen/smooth tool in the in the tool menu.

D.K

Xooperz · Post by **Xooperz** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 10:07 am

thnx, now im trying to add a bone to the frank animal thing, but the button isnt lit up so I cant select it, so what do I do?

Xooperz · Post by **Xooperz** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 10:26 am

ok, i got that working, but i tried the tracing adn its alot easier in flash, is there any other tool i could use to trace?

I just cant draw and the tracing is looking crappy, I'm not sure I can be an animator since I cant trace or draw

DK · Post by DK » Tue Aug 08, 2006 10:37 am

It takes a little practice to get used to point plotting in Moho. After a while you will get so used to it you'll be able to whip out characters in seconds.

D.K

jahnocli · Post by **jahnocli** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 10:41 am

Yeah, tracing is a lot easier in Flash. The drawing tools in Moho are a disappointment -- but on the other hand, animation is a whole lot easier. So you pays your money and you makes your choice.

Here's what I do if I'm tracing something. I use a vector drawing program -- Xara Xtreme. Anything like that will do - Illustrator, Freehand, whatever. Xara is good because it's cheap, fast and uncomplicated. It also has a number of different "line profiles" -- the one I use most is thick in the middle, and tapers towards each end. Like a brontosaurus...

I import the image I want to trace, and trace it using the drawing tools. These are MUCH better than Moho's drawing tools; (let's hope these improve in the future). Before I export the drawing, I save a copy. Then I convert all lines to fills before exporting. That way I still have the original for editing, but I optimise the resulting file for Moho.

Then I spend a *long* time in Moho getting rid of all the nodes I don't want. There are scripts that can help, but I go into "wireframe" mode and go mental circling bunches of nodes and hitting "delete" till my fingers hurt. After that I can pull the nodes about and I'm ready to animate!! Phew!

J