When to use which binding

[Jkoseattle]

I'm trying to get better at rigging, and am of course learning about the different kinds of bone binding. I understand how to do each and how each type of binding behaves, but I'm a little foggy on why to choose one type or another. For example, tutorials remind me frequently that flexi-binding is the "default" type that I will use most often, but when I have tried rigging a character, it seems like the least likely one I would choose, and I always seem to gravitate toward point or layer binding, depending on the situation. Point binding has been introduced on multiple occasions as a sort of advanced, only-in-rare-instances kind of thing, yet other tutorials only ever use point binding.

I would like to approach a given rig armed with confidence that I know which type of binding I will use for each situation and be able to explain why. Because I don't want to start developing bad habits early on, and because I don't want to make more work for myself than necessary, what can anyone tell me about this topic?

[synthsin75]

Personally, I use point binding almost exclusively. This allows more control, but at the expense of looser, more flexible looking joints (that can be more cartoony or give the impression of muscle). I almost never use layer binding, except for rigid props, etc., because it gives a very cut-out animation look. Flexible binding is good for image layers, since every bone has some influence on the whole layer, and this helps keep the layer from looking torn with too localized of influence. I consider region binding to be the preferred default for vector layers. This gives the flexible look without distant bones warping the wrong parts of the art.

With flexible and region, Use Selected Bones for Flexibinding is very important for isolating influence of specific bones to specific layers, so they can flex but make sure other art is unaffected. And even though that should cover all your influence isolation needs, there is also the older offset bone method. You probably won't need this, but sometimes it helps to be able to separate the parts of a rig while rigging it, like moving an upstage limb out from behind the body, etc..

So as you can see, it depends on what you need the rig to do. If you're only doing cut-out style animation, layer binding is preferred. If you're only doing limited animation, where turns are just switches between separately rigged views, almost any method will work. But in my experience, if you're wanting to use a lot of smart bones and interpolated turns, point and region binding are preferred. But no one method is usually used by itself.

[Greenlaw]

A few tips...

Personally, I like to use Use Selected Bones for Flexibinding most of the time. It's easy to setup up, deforms nicely most of the time and reasonably predictable.

Sometimes I'll combine the above with Point Binding. For example, last year I had to rig a character whose head had to move with the head bone but she didn't really have a neck--the 'neck' part just flowed into the collar of the shirt and needed to stay 'pinned' to the upper body bone along with the rest of the clothing. I wound up using Flexibinding for the head and the head and neck bones, but Point Binding for the points 'attached' to the collar to only the upper body bone. This allowed the head and neck to flex but kept the base of the neck rigidly fixed to the clothing art.

I also like to use Create Smooth Joint For Bone Pair wherever it's appropriate in a character. I used to think this binding method was going to be too limited since you can only bind between two bones but in practice, I've found it super useful, especially if you work with a lot of bitmap art. For joints that need tight bends, this method can look much nicer that what you get with regular bones. (If you do a search, Victor made a great demo video showing how to get around the two-bone limit.)

I use Layer Binding mostly for props that need to be attached to a character, like a hat or sword, etc. You can use it for Switch Layers too, which might sounds like a good idea since it can move all the contents as a group, but just be aware that Layer Binding a group prevents you from binding items inside the group to other bones in the bone layer. This is important, for example, you have eyes inside a Switch Layer and you want to use bones to animate the pupil positions for each eyes layer. In this case, you'll want to avoid Layer Binding, and use Use Selected or Point Binding for all the artwork layer inside the switch instead.

I could probably go on for many pages on this subject because Moho offers endless combinations of possibilities. But the above is probably some of the more common tricks I use almost daily.

[p8guitar]

As a beginner I'm still struggling to find my way through the various options of bone binding. Although this thread is quite old, I'd like to add two links that I found yesterday:
Rigging Types tutorial video by Mr. Animation (set the playback speed to 0,25... )
https://youtu.be/bc2jk-1NMAA
and his very comprehensive, well structured overview, which is even more helpful to me:
http://bit.ly/2TErM8f
His favourite method is the (use selected bones for) flexi-binding in combination with smart bones where necessary.

[MrMiracle77]

For large, flexible masses like capes, full heads of hair, chests, etc, I like the default bind by weight. I do tend to set tight angle limits to keep it from deforming too much.

For very discrete, inflexible parts like arm/leg armor plating, held objects like props (as Greenlaw said), layer binding works well. Layer binding also cuts a layer off from being deformed by another bone's weight.

If I need a well-defined limb joint or to tie two layers together in a way that doesn't work well with patches, I use point binding.

[Greenlaw]

A small update for I wrote in the post above 4 years ago...

I still use Use Selected Bones For Flexi-binding for much of a character's body, but I'm also using Point Binding now to lock down specific regions of these layers (typically in joint regions.) It's not unusual for me to use both methods for the same vector layers. For parts of the face, I like to use Layer binding or Point binding because I don't want them affected by any of the body bones or other face bones. Nearly all of the Boss Baby: Back In Business rigs I created were rigged this way.

(I'll explain some of my favorite rigging techniques in upcoming videos.)

[Daxel]

As a beginner I'm still struggling to find my way through the various options of bone binding. Although this thread is quite old, I'd like to add two links that I found yesterday:
Rigging Types tutorial video by Mr. Animation (set the playback speed to 0,25... )
https://youtu.be/bc2jk-1NMAA
and his very comprehensive, well structured overview, which is even more helpful to me:
http://bit.ly/2TErM8f
His favourite method is the (use selected bones for) flexi-binding in combination with smart bones where necessary.

Thanks, I didn't know him but that's good content.

[Hamedss]

A few tips...

Personally, I like to use Use Selected Bones for Flexibinding most of the time. It's easy to setup up, deforms nicely most of the time and reasonably predictable.

Sometimes I'll combine the above with Point Binding. For example, last year I had to rig a character whose head had to move with the head bone but she didn't really have a neck--the 'neck' part just flowed into the collar of the shirt and needed to stay 'pinned' to the upper body bone along with the rest of the clothing. I wound up using Flexibinding for the head and the head and neck bones, but Point Binding for the points 'attached' to the collar to only the upper body bone. This allowed the head and neck to flex but kept the base of the neck rigidly fixed to the clothing art.

I also like to use Create Smooth Joint For Bone Pair wherever it's appropriate in a character. I used to think this binding method was going to be too limited since you can only bind between two bones but in practice, I've found it super useful, especially if you work with a lot of bitmap art. For joints that need tight bends, this method can look much nicer that what you get with regular bones. (If you do a search, Victor made a great demo video showing how to get around the two-bone limit.)

I use Layer Binding mostly for props that need to be attached to a character, like a hat or sword, etc. You can use it for Switch Layers too, which might sounds like a good idea since it can move all the contents as a group, but just be aware that Layer Binding a group prevents you from binding items inside the group to other bones in the bone layer. This is important, for example, you have eyes inside a Switch Layer and you want to use bones to animate the pupil positions for each eyes layer. In this case, you'll want to avoid Layer Binding, and use Use Selected or Point Binding for all the artwork layer inside the switch instead.

I could probably go on for many pages on this subject because Moho offers endless combinations of possibilities. But the above is probably some of the more common tricks I use almost daily.

thanks my friend . this also very useful for me but consider some thing like this bare foot
http://www.lostmarble.com/forum/viewtop ... 13&t=33787
is there any way to prevent shine bone to not affect the fingers and heel.

[Greenlaw]

I haven't had a chance to look at your file but, at a glance, I'd use Point Binding for the toes and heel. Bind these directly to the toe and heel bones, and the other bones should have no effect on them.

If I'm able to make time, I'll take a look this evening.

[Hamedss]

I haven't had a chance to look at your file but, at a glance, I'd use Point Binding for the toes and heel. Bind these directly to the toe and heel bones, and the other bones should have no effect on them.

If I'm able to make time, I'll take a look this evening.

thank you. but i need solid binding for foot sole (heel and thumbs) and flexible binding for ankle and knee. Is there any way to tell moho exclude foot sole from shin bone influence ?