AS Pro 9.5 nested layers control question.

[hammerjammer]

Wow, I think I just went cross eyed.

Just when I thought I was starting to know what I was doing, bam, pow, smack, right in the face.

Just kidding, I have no clue what just went down here. I'm so confused.

Don't mind me, I'm just taking it all in. Someday I WILL KNOW WHAT THIS ALL MEANS...

He he, there I go laughing at my own jokes again, sorry.

Hammerjammer

[funksmaname]

sounds about right - but let it be known that doing it this way is pretty unnecessary since you can just put the bone in the top layer to begin with (and now with bone colouring, you can separate bone animation channels, so don't want to hear a separation argument )

This is really just for converting files created in older version in the most lazy way

[RichardU]

You're saying "lazy" like it's a bad thing.

Where I find this useful is, I import a complicated mouth switch layer into new characters and bind it to the head. This lets me control the children of that switch layer from TopBone which is awesome.

[hammerjammer]

nice file!
Why didn't you have a mouth shape bone? seems to be the only thing missing...

Hello again Funksmaname,

I have added a "mouth shape bone" to my Minion rig. I agree with you, this was the only thing missing. It just made sense to add it since upgrading to 9.5.

Most importantly to me, I figured out how to do it without asking anyone. I figure by this weekend I will be as good as you at this stuff. ok, I'm just kidding. he he.... Hey, what can I say I'm a dreamer.

Not only did I teach myself this new trick, But, I think I stumbled onto something cool in the process. Once I figured out how to make the mouth shape bone, I wanted to display which mouth shape was currently showing in text form as well. So I first added a text layer to each of the mouth shapes group that I have in the file.(AI for A or I sounds ect. ect. ect.) But, I found that the text would follow the movements of the head rather than stay in one place like the rest of the smart bones dial labels I have.
So I thought, maybe I can just create another switch layer dedicated to just showing the text labels for the mouth shapes. So, then I opened the smart bone I created for the mouth shape bone and went through the same process I did for the mouth shapes only this time using the Switch layer I created for just the text....
I'm using the same smart bone to control BOTH switch layers at the same time.
If others have done this before, then I'm sorry I wasted your time.
But if this is something new, then I'm the Man(this is an American saying)....

Here's the file NOW with the "mouth shape bone".
Thanks for the Idea Funksmaname.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zy66o049wypyw ... %2017.anme

Thanks and good day Sir.
Hammerjammer

[funksmaname]

Haha you're funny.

Yes - you could control as many switch layers as your heart desires. It's a nice idea to control a text label only switch though, or more broadly to take advantage of separate rigging options for different switches.

Personally I wouldn't get too caught up on visualising the name of the phenome being used... if it looks right on the character that's all that matters, but as a proof of concept, it's a nice idea!

Keep discovering new workflows and you may just stumble on one no-one has thought of!

[hammerjammer]

Haha you're funny.

Yes - you could control as many switch layers as your heart desires. It's a nice idea to control a text label only switch though, or more broadly to take advantage of separate rigging options for different switches.

Personally I wouldn't get too caught up on visualising the name of the phenome being used... if it looks right on the character that's all that matters, but as a proof of concept, it's a nice idea!

Keep discovering new workflows and you may just stumble on one no-one has thought of!

Hello,

Thanks Funksmaname.

Oh well, I thought I might have found something new.

As for "visualising the name of the phenome being used", I did that just for the hell of it, and as you said "proof of concept".

I do enjoy this stuff. Some days you just want to pull your hair out. But most days its fun.

Thanks again. You have a nice day.
Hammerjammer

[RichardU]

Hammerjammer, I just looked at your character. I'll offer you a couple of comments, with the caveat that what I'm telling you could easily be worthless.

On the mouth shapes, the upper teeth should always be in the same position. You can move your lower teeth, but you can't move your upper teeth relative to the rest of your face. (don't hurt yourself trying)

If you want to add some depth to the eyes, when you move the iris in a direction, move the pupil even more so it gets close to the edge of the iris.

Great to see you're enjoying your work.

[hammerjammer]

Hammerjammer, I just looked at your character. I'll offer you a couple of comments, with the caveat that what I'm telling you could easily be worthless.

On the mouth shapes, the upper teeth should always be in the same position. You can move your lower teeth, but you can't move your upper teeth relative to the rest of your face. (don't hurt yourself trying)

If you want to add some depth to the eyes, when you move the iris in a direction, move the pupil even more so it gets close to the edge of the iris.

Great to see you're enjoying your work.

Hello RichardU,

I don't think them tips are worthless, especially the one about the upper teeth because It does makes sense.
Quality is in the details, right? "Don't hurt myself trying" that was funny!

As for the eyes, I had to think about that one for a minute. But, I understand what you mean now. Even though the pupils do not naturally do that(I went cross eyed trying that one-- the wife caught me looking in the mirror). It creates the illusion of the eyes roundness. Or something like that.

By the way, If those were your only constructive criticisms, and not something about the rig or something technical. Then I feel pretty good. Thanks. Although if you have read all of this thread, you would see that it took me weeks to get to this point. But it was fun.

Thanks

Hammerjammer

[RichardU]

On the rig, for me, the jury is still out on mouth shape bones. I don't know how they affect .DAT files, but I believe they cause you to lose the ability to animate on the timeline. And there's no intuitive relationship to me between the angle of a bone and a mouth shape. Plus, now that you can change switch layers with Ctrl-Alt-right click, a mouth shape bone seems like an awkward gimmick. But I'm no expert.

[funksmaname]

I think you make good points about the switch bone... I have a feeling interpolation doesn't work wither when it's controlled by a smart bone...

[heyvern]

The issue with smart bone controlled switches is "non-linear" selection of the switches. Smart bone actions are based on changes that progress linearly through the rotation, rather than a non-linear "random access" type thing needed for a switch.

Switch layers need to be able to activate a specific switch without having to go through all of them to get there. You have to use step keys on the SB rotations in the main time line to avoid cycling all the switches when moving from one to another.

Funk, you right. Interpolation doesn't work when keying switches with a smart bone... dang! That is unfortunate. Never noticed before. I have been "eliminating" switches with smart bones. Instead of using an interpolated switch layer, I key the points the same way in an SB.