Switch layers or Smart dials?

[dfaris]

What's easier to control and have the best results. switch layers or dials?

I can imagine things like hand flips and such would be switch but what about mouth moves and eye blinks?

[dfaris]

I'll answer my own question.

Switch layers.

Smart dials are a great idea but I feel they need a lot of code work to make them behave properly. Perhaps in AS12.

[braj]

I do believe you probably just need to learn them properly. I like switch layers myself for many things, but dials definitely work and I have found it is my misunderstanding/mistakes regardibg bone parenting, actions, binding etc that are usually the source of my issues when using them. If you have issues with your rigs, try sharing them in Anime format via Dropbox or similar and usually someone here will be able to help you understand what is wrong with them.

[funksmaname]

Personally I like smart bones where possible... switches are great for drastic (vector changing) changes, but other than that smart bones all the way!

[dfaris]

I dont know.
I'll keep trying them but I dont understand if I can use them for the eyes and make it work then do the same for a mouth and it doesn't, leaves me wondering what is wrong.

What does it mean when you go the a dial's timeline and it is red?

[dueyftw]

Red is an only an action. Read your other post about it. I answered it there.

As far as using bones and switch layers, they do different things and both have their place. Lean how both work.

Dale

[funksmaname]

It's red if you're editing an action that isn't a smart action (misnamed bone/action?)
It's blue if it is a smart action.

[dfaris]

Hi all,

First off, thanks for all your help. Im 2 weeks into AS and have a lot to learn and your help has been great for motivation and encouragement. I've been into animation for a few years, mostly 3dmax and a little maya, but that was a while ago. I sort of think along those terms and programs and its been steering me off course a bit.

I redid my face dials and all is good. I think my problem was that when I clicked off a bone, thinking that it was unselected, I inadvertently selected the nearest bone wherever I clicked. I now choose Edit> Select none, whenever I start a new dial.

[braj]

I think my problem was that when I clicked off a bone, thinking that it was unselected, I inadvertently selected the nearest bone wherever I clicked. I now choose Edit> Select none, whenever I start a new dial.

I do believe all you have to do is hit ESC as of V11

[funksmaname]

I think it's ENTER - ESC zooms the canvas...

[braj]

I think it's ENTER - ESC zooms the canvas...

Ah, I did change the default for ESC to select none, it is very handy that way. But I don't think enter does that. I changed 'Reset view' to ctrl-alt-r. Just glad we can do that. And sorry for the bad info dfaris. D'oh!

[funksmaname]

Sorry, I mean RETURN not ENTER (not num pad enter)

[macmonkey_1975]

Hi everyone,
I just wondered what everyones thoughts were on using smart bones linked to switch layers to make timing animations easier?
I have been working on a project and i couldn't find a way to make both the bones and the switch layers appear in the timeline at the same time so to retime my animation I had to adjust the keyframes on the bones and then adjust the various switch layers separately which was a little time consuming. So I figured that linking the switch layers to smart bones might be one way to get everything on the same timeline.
BUT I may be missing something obvious on the whole retiming thing. Any input would be gratefully received.

[dfaris]

I'm going through the same thing Macmonkey and at first it didnt work for me but it now does and very well too.

What you need to do is make your switch layers first and make sure the desired layer is active when you make the dial. You must make a dial for every switch layer you want to animate.

[wizaerd]

I love SmartBones, and use them a lot. However, I've never been very clear on how to use a mouth that uses SmartBones with lip synching... I like the style of animation of a mouth using SbartBones, but I don't wish to manually animate a character mouth for a long piece of dialog...