Problems with Walking Motion

[chiefr_suthrland]

Can someone PLEASE view the picture I have attached and tell me what I'm doing wrong...this crap is driving me insane.

[chucky]

It's the binding, chiefr.
There are several ways to bind the leg to the bone.
you have selected one bone and pressed the bind button.
What you want to do is bind to both bones, you can use point binding , flexi binding or elbow binding.
Try selecting both bones and in the menu chose use selected bones for flexi binding.
Or use the point binding tool in conjunction with the alt key to choose and bind points to the individual bones.
Don't forget to press the BIND button at the top of the tool bar.
Read through the manual or look for rigging videos on youtube.

[Greenlaw]

Looks like you're using Layer Binding for the leg layer. If so, you should be using Flexi-Binding or Point Binding instead.

Select the leg layer and choose Reset All Bone Rigging. This will set the layer to the default Flexi-binding. (Note: this command only affects the selected layer. It does not affect the rigging for unselected layer.)

What you do next is up to you.

If you want to use Flexi-Binding, you might select the leg layer, then select the two leg bones, and choose Use Selected Bones for Flexi-Binding. This excludes all other bones from affecting the leg layer, which is typically what you want.

Point Binding also works well but it's more rigid. To use that, select the bone with the tool, then select the points you want to bind to it. You'll need to do the upper and lower limb bindings separately.

I use both and sometimes a hybrid method depending on the character design and the type of deformation I need.

[Greenlaw]

Additionally, how well it deforms depends on how you've drawn the vectors. If you don't place any points at the joints (i.e., the knee, elbow,) the shape will not bend there. The curvature of the point will affect how it bends--Peak gives you a sharp bend, Smooth gives you a rounded bend.

You can switch Curvature modes using a Smart Bone Action so, for example, the outside of a knee is rounded and the inside is creased, and then switch modes when the bone the other way, so the opposite sides are rounded and creased.

[chiefr_suthrland]

Looks like you're using Layer Binding for the leg layer. If so, you should be using Flexi-Binding or Point Binding instead.

Select the leg layer and choose Reset All Bone Rigging. This will set the layer to the default Flexi-binding. (Note: this command only affects the selected layer. It does not affect the rigging for unselected layer.)

What you do next is up to you.

If you want to use Flexi-Binding, you might select the leg layer, then select the two leg bones, and choose Use Selected Bones for Flexi-Binding. This excludes all other bones from affecting the leg layer, which is typically what you want.

Point Binding also works well but it's more rigid. To use that, select the bone with the tool, then select the points you want to bind to it. You'll need to do the upper and lower limb bindings separately.

I use both and sometimes a hybrid method depending on the character design and the type of deformation I need.

I've been trying to use point binding. It shows up as transparent/unclickable. Also, where is this "Reset All Bone Rigging" option?

[Greenlaw]

I'm not sure what you mean by 'transparent/unclickable'. Can you post a screen cap?

The way it should work is you select the tool, Alt-click the bone you wish to bind points to, then select the points and click Bind (or press Enter.)

If you're not able to select the tool, the layer you have selected may be using Layer Binding or some other mode that overrides or prevents Point Binding. This is why I suggest using Reset Bone Rigging for the layer. When I don't know the cause of the binding problem, I find it's faster and easier to start with the default state.

Another cause may be that you have multiple bones selected. With point binding, you can use mutliple bones but the binding process must be done one bone at a time. (Unlike Use Selected Bones for Flex-binding, which does let you bind to multiple bones at once.)

Hope this helps.

[chiefr_suthrland]

[synthsin75]

Your screenshot shows that layer is bound to one bone. You need to select the bind layer tool and click where there isn't any bone. This will allow you to use the bind points tool.

[Greenlaw]

The screen cap shows what I described--the tool is being blocked by another binding method (in this case, Layer Binding, as described by Wes.) Note that this can also happen if you have multiple bones selected.

Release the layer as described by Wes or, alternatively, you can select the 'mis-bound' Layer and apply Reset All Bone Rigging. This releases the layer from Layer binding or any other binding and resets it to the default Flexi-binding state.

From there, you can use Point Binding or whatever binding method you wish.

[chiefr_suthrland]

SynthSin75 & Greenlaw, you guys are the best! Fuck Flex-Binding, that shit's not working right. But creating the circle joints like you suggested in my previous post is working perfectly, Greenlaw. & your suggestion worked like a charm, Synth, appreciate the help. Everything's working smooth as butter now, I'll let you guys know if I need any further assistance. Thx again