can't access BIND BONES TOOLS. please help

[ironhorse64]

i am unable to access BIND BONES TOOLS on recent purchase of MOHO PRO 12 . i draw simple arms and legs with point to point tool or freehand. then i add bones the bones move fine, but then i am unable to combine the layers BIND, or access any of the binding tools. they are grayed out in drop down menu and not showing up in tools menu. i am sure this is a common problem. please help.

[synthsin75]

Did you drag the vector layer into the bone layer?

[ironhorse64]

I'm having trouble dragging the vector layers into the bone layer. and when i think their in the bind layer tools and menu items still don't appear. i have made both simple vector arms with free hand and then with the point to point tool but the same thing happens.

[synthsin75]

If you're not on frame zero and have "Enable drawing tools only on frame 0" checked in the Tools tab of the preferences, it won't let you use them.
The only time I can remember having trouble moving layers into or out of groups is when I'm on a frame other than zero and trying to pull a layer out of a layer sorted group.

The vector layer shouldn't be the problem.

[ironhorse64]

I'm trying to drag the layers to the bone layer but it does not want to do it. i unchecked the ENABLE DRAWING TOOLS ON FRAME ZREO no difference i tried going back and forth from frame six to frame zero still no binding tools. so now it looks like the issue is why i can't drag the layers into the bone layer. they go there but its just not registering with the bone layer. tried this many times many combinations but the software doesn't want to preform the way it did in tutorial manual.

[ironhorse64]

i purchased moho pro 12 from amazon. could this have something to do with my issues ?

[Greenlaw]

There are probably multiple vendors selling Moho on Amazon but if you have an official installer and your serial number was accepted by Smith-Micro's license server, you should be okay.

What version of Moho Pro 12 is it? The earliest releases were a little buggy. Look under About Moho. The latest is 12.4 Build 22203, and it's pretty stable.

Select Check For Updates under the Help menu to see if there's a later version than your installer.

Moving layers into the Bone layer is just drag and drop, and with few special exceptions, you should be able to do this at any frame. With a new project file and using default settings, it should just work.

Are you sure you're dragging the vector layer on top of a bone layer to insert it, and not just dragging it under the bone layer? The layer highlighting will be different for each: Dragging it into a bone layer will draw a box highlight around the bone layer; dragging it under a bone layer will draw a line highlight between the layers.

If you can record a video to show what you're doing or at least post a screen cap, we might be able to help.

[ironhorse64]

]im sending you some photos and a video from my 35MM camera hopefully it won't be too blurry, its not the best camera. the MOHO PRO 12 VERSION IS 12.4 build 22203 [ 64-bit ] i have checked for updates and it says you are up to date. as far as i can tell I'm dragging the layers the way they should be, I've done it probably 60 times already with same result. i have noticed that when i drag one of the layers to the bone layer tries to slide down. and some times the bone layer will show and arrow pointing down . if you can't see it clearly let me know i will try and get closer focus. thanks I'm having trouble uploading video. [youtube] https://youtu.be/l-8IkTn3670 i hope the video comes through ok. if not let me know and i will do it differently. thank you i appreciate the help.

[synthsin75]

You're dragging those layers ABOVE the bone layer. When you drag, there's a highlighted line above the bone layer. You should see a highlighted rectangle AROUND the bone layer and drop the layer directly on the bone layer.

[ironhorse64]

I'm doing this they way you say and its not working. I've done this over and over again at least 60 times. I've started from scratch and still the same result. all bone binding tools and options grayed out including the drop down menu. i have the DVD version so maybe i should delete the who program and reload it ? and if that doesn't work than amazon must have sold me a bad copy with some sort of licensing issues ? there is something wrong with my current version or maybe the way i have installed it ? i hope i can fix the issue, i mean I've been trying to do this every way you can think of with the same results every time. NO BONE BINDING TOOLS or bond binding tools from the drop down BONE menu. i talked to amazon yesterday and they told me since its been over 30 days they could only refund me $30.00. i hope Smith Micro could help or I'm burned by amazon.

[synthsin75]

I'm doing this they way you say and its not working. I've done this over and over again at least 60 times. I've started from scratch and still the same result. all bone binding tools and options grayed out including the drop down menu. i have the DVD version so maybe i should delete the who program and reload it ? and if that doesn't work than amazon must have sold me a bad copy with some sort of licensing issues ? there is something wrong with my current version or maybe the way i have installed it ? i hope i can fix the issue, i mean I've been trying to do this every way you can think of with the same results every time. NO BONE BINDING TOOLS or bond binding tools from the drop down BONE menu. i talked to amazon yesterday and they told me since its been over 30 days they could only refund me $30.00. i hope Smith Micro could help or I'm burned by amazon.

No, you are not doing what I'm saying. In your video, you clearly click a layer, drag upward (past when the bone layer has a highlighted outline all the way around it), and drop the layer when there is only a single highlighted line above the bone layer. If you continue doing that exact same thing, you're not going to get it...nor show that there's any kind of bug with the software. Do it slowly, watch for the bone layer to have a highlighted line all the way around it, and then let off the mouse button without moving the mouse.

Watch this video, starting at 4:22 very carefully. He shows exactly what you are doing at 4:35.


While it won't have anything to do with the problem you're having, I would suggest using Help>Check For Updates to ensure you are using the newest version.

[Greenlaw]

Hi,

Sorry, I finally got around to looking at your video. I agree with Wes, you're not dropping the vector layers on top of the bone layer as described earlier. You are dragging the layer above the bone layer.

By 'on top', I don't mean above the layer, I really mean RIGHT ON the bone layer itself. When you drag the vector layer RIGHT ON the bone layer, the bone layer will have a BOX highlight around itself. Then, when you release the layer, it will be dropped INSIDE of the bone layer. If you don't see the box highlight, you will see a LINE highlight above or below the bone layer, and when you release the layer it will be placed above or below the bones layer respectively.

Here's a GIF to illustrate:



Notice that when an item has been successfully dropped inside a group, a triangular toggle switch will appear next to the group (the bone layer in the above example.) You can close and reopen the group by clicking the toggle icon. Then is handy for managing a lot of layers.

Hope this helps.

[ironhorse64]

I've tried right on the bone layer, above, below, and every wich way you can think of. the bone rigging video was very helpful but the out come is the same no matter what i do. i have spent hours trying to do this the only since i have a late 2015 27" iMac with 16gigs of memory and very little hard drive space used it must be the software. i have the DVD version so I'm going to delete the program and reinstall it hopefully this will fix it. if not than AMAZON SERVICES.COM sold me a bogus copy. i called them Friday, and they told me they won't refund the money past 30 days but if they sold me a pirated, or bogus copy they should because thats fraud.

[Greenlaw]

As mentioned, If your Moho serial number was accepted by Smith-Micro's online server after you installed it, you definitely have a legitimate copy. If you didn't need to activate or register the software to run it, then I would question its legitimacy.

FWIW, I had purchased a copy through Amazon several years ago because, at the time, a full copy was actually cheaper than the upgrade. So, at least in my case, buying from Amazon worked out fine. I'm guessing that if the vendor was Amazon and not a third party seller, it's highly likely that you have a legitimate copy.

In any case, try deactivating your copy and remove it. Then download the trial from the SM website. After activating the trial using your serial number, you should have the latest copy. (Remember to deactivate first. You only get three activations, so you don't want to waste them. But if you happen to 'lose' an activation, don't worry, you can still get them back through your user account.)

Getting back to the issue. I'm not sure why drag-and-drop is not working for you. What you showed in the video was inconclusive because you didn't show the steps correctly in it. But assuming drag-and-drop really is broken in your installed software, and you have registered your license with Smith-Micro, their tech support should be able to help you get this going.

Good luck!

[hayasidist]

in your video - instead of creating a bone layer (around 0:13) try this:

select the two layers you have then go to new layer and "Group with selection". then with that layer selected (which should be the default action) right-click this new group layer and "Convert to bone".

That will get you started.



But you'll need to practice the drag "onto" as in Grenlaw's .gif