Uber_-Smart Bones

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otonal
Posts: 39
Joined: Tue Jun 05, 2012 4:44 pm

Uber_-Smart Bones

Post by otonal »

so my idea was to control several smartbone dials at once with a nonsmart/regular "Master"Bone via angle constraints.

lets say you have 2 smartbone dial setups, for each vectoreyelid closing.
now i wanted to have a third, "superior" bone that would allow me to rotate both smartbonesdials =shut both eylids with the turn of this single masterbone, while still remaining the seperate singleeyelid dialcontrols as well if needed.

ok you could say why make it complicated just create a third action/smartbonedial with both eyelids shut, adjust whatever dial you need( left eye, right or both) be careful that the values dont add up on each other and done.
its possible to work that way,
but i wanted a more "modular" setup, where at different frames of the timeline, i could assign any given dialsmartbones to a Mastercontrolbone which would then turn them all in sync.

i use angle constraints to the masterbone for the dialbones that sould be controlled by it with an angle of 1 which transfers the angle 1:1.
you must be aware that once you made the dialbone anglecontrolbones this way, you cant use manipulate bones tool on them
individually to offset from the angle transfered to them form the mastercontrobone.
you must be aware as well that once you break/change the constraint assignment to move the dials indivdually again later on, that everything that you thought you keyed for them via turning the masterbone before is lost as well.
so ho does i work at all?
well there is a little trick to it. After you setup an angle for the mastercontrolbone that is transfered to the angle contraint dialbones you take your rotate bone tool and rotate the bonedials. They are locked of course and nothing moves BUT the position it holds at that frame tranfered from the masterbone with constraints akctive is now recorded nevertheless!
Now if you change or deselect the bone constraints it is still all there and you can move forward(or backward) in the timeline to move things individually again.
(but be carful at any time you setup the constaints again the constrainbonedials alway jump to the angle of the master in an absolute manner -no relative offsetting sadly, so be aware how you wan to carefully key that switching)

dont see this limited to my simplified example of the two eyelids/both of them in sync
see it as a quite flexible apporach to assign numerous dialsbonesetups to mastercontrolbone at certian times,whenever you want to trigger a number of dials in sync.

In many cases though it is certainly easier to solve this in a more direct but also fixed and static setup with a masterbone that is a dial itself that controls the bone position of several other “lower hierachy” dialbones.
But there i encountered some difficulties:
in a simple setup where you have 2 dialsmartbones triggering vectormovement for example and a third dialbone that controls only the rotation of these other 2 in sync- all works fine.
but once you change the angle of the single dialbones directly after/on top of the synced movement to a degree where it exceeds the angle from the master bone it jumps and looses connection!- from that point on it does not dont follow the Bonecontrolling dialbone anymore! for me this does not happen with regular bones controlled by a dialbone only by dialbones themselves controled by another dialbone.
but there is hope:
when you experiement with turning back that "lost" dialbone into a range that is functioning for anime on another frame you can get that connection to the masterdialbone back working again perfectly.

so a careful offsetting from the transfered masterangle is possible in this setup as opposed to the first method described above with a "regular" masterbone and constraints.
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funksmaname
Posts: 3174
Joined: Tue May 29, 2007 11:31 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: Uber_-Smart Bones

Post by funksmaname »

why not create a 3rd smart bone that turns the first two bones?
Since 9.2 smart bones can rotate other bones (as though constrained, but doesn't lock the child bones)

Also, your post is pretty hard to follow :P Might I suggest you record a screencast, or show some screenshots?
otonal
Posts: 39
Joined: Tue Jun 05, 2012 4:44 pm

Re: Uber_-Smart Bones

Post by otonal »

yes right, for a tip the text turned out way too long and i am of foreign tongue so to speak which does not make it easier ;)


"Since 9.2 smart bones can rotate other bones (as though constrained, but doesn't lock the child bones)"-
hm-the second half/lower part of my post already dealt with just that..the third smartbone i mean as an alternative to the angle constraints method above and the issue that happended to me with that.
but shame on me when people dont read to the end fully, next time i try to explain better an use images thx.
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funksmaname
Posts: 3174
Joined: Tue May 29, 2007 11:31 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: Uber_-Smart Bones

Post by funksmaname »

ha! I got caught for not reading till the end... I just found it all a bit too confusing and hard to follow by then :)
I didn't mean to sound like an ass. I think it's great that you're sharing a technique... if at all possible, make a screen cast, even if your english isn't perfect, as watching makes a lot more sense (to me at least)

Thanks for sharing!
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